A man ordered a pricey iPad but claims he received a packet of Cadbury Cookies instead - only for Amazon to insist on charging him hundreds of pounds for the £1 biscuits. Carl Harper received the parcel, which he believed to contain the £569 tablet, last month and noticed that the package seemed 'really light'.
It was only when he tore open the 'partly-opened' packaging that the 43-year-old says he spotted the sweet imposter nestled inside. Unable to catch the delivery driver before he drove off, Carl contacted the retail giant and informed them of the mix-up.
Carl, who forked out the first installment of £113.80 when he ordered the tablet, claims he was told to send the biscuits back.
Despite doing so on October 7, Carl says he received an email saying he was still going to be charged four more monthly instalment payments of £113.80 with the next due on October 16. Still waiting for a refund but in need of an iPad in the meantime, Carl has been forced to buy one from the high street.
After being contacted by journalists about the customer's complaint, Amazon said they were making 'things right' and have now promised Carl a refund within seven days. Carl, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: "I'd ordered a new iPad because my old one had packed in.
"Because it was over a certain amount of money, there was a passcode that I had to read out to the delivery driver when he came to the door. I read it, he passed me the parcel and disappeared. As soon as I got into the house, I thought 'this is really light for a tablet'.
"The box looked like it had been slightly opened up anyway, so I looked inside.
Carl Harper noticed the package was unusually light before the cookies fell out
"As I opened it up, out fell a box of Cadbury cookies. I shot straight out the front door to chase the guy from Amazon, but he'd long gone. I was straight on the phone to Amazon and explained the situation to this lady. She said she'd register my complaint and get my money back.
"She asked me to send some photos, which I did."
After claiming not to have heard anything further from Amazon, Carl followed it up a week later when he was told the complaint 'wasn't registered properly'. Carl said: "I didn't hear anything back so I phoned back a week later. They said 'we didn't register your complaint properly, I'll do it now'.
"Still nothing. In the end, I lost my temper. I rang up again and said 'look, this isn't acceptable. I've not got a tablet, I've got a box of cookies'.
"I then got an email saying I needed to send the box of cookies back to Amazon, which is ridiculous in itself. They were saying that once they received the cookies, they would deal with the complaint.
"They're saying that when I'm due to have £113.80 coming out of my account on October 16. I got an email saying they were going to take £113.80 out of my account for the next four months.
"I've asked to cancel the payments while they look into where the tablet has gone, but they haven't.
"Amazon's response to this has been really poor. There's no customer service, they don't even seem to understand what's happened.I just want them to send a refund for a tablet that I didn't receive.
"I sent the box of cookies back to them on October 7 and I've still had no response from them. I'm basically stuck in a limbo with it."
In need of a tablet, Carl hit the high street when he managed to buy one in person. Carl said: "I ended up going to PC World instead and buying an iPad Air there, but I'm still paying for this other one that I haven't received.
"I said to the guy in PC World 'I'm never buying anything that's worth a massive amount over Amazon again'. You just can't guarantee it'll be delivered.
"At the moment, this has put me off shopping at Amazon. It's made me feel really let down, because they're still taking money out of my account for an item I haven't got.
"I don't know where the tablet is, but it's missing."
After being contacted by journalists, Amazon got back in touch with Carl and promised him a refund within seven days.
A spokesperson for Amazon said: "We have been in touch with the customer directly and have made things right."
