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19th July 2023
06:44am BST
An Amazon shopper says he’ll “think twice” about ordering online again after his £500 laptop was replaced - by two boxes of Weetabix.
Adam Yearsley, 40, had purchased the HP ProBook as a “treat” through the retailer but was left stunned when he opened the box and found the breakfast cereal instead.
The health care assistant first thought he’d got the wrong order when he opened the surprisingly “light” parcel last Wednesday (June 12).
But after checking the label, he realised he may have been the victim of a pricey scam, leaving him "distressed".
Adam was forced to send back his parcel as part of the refund policy, and while he’s now got his money back, he warned others about the dangers of online shopping.
He said: “When I opened the cardboard box, I discovered the boxes of Weetabix.
"There was a box of 24 and two boxes of 12 sellotaped together in the shape of a laptop.
“I went to work and I was quite distressed thinking I’d spent £500 but just got some Weetabix. I was thinking ‘I’ve been scammed’.
“It made me think twice about ordering anything online again. You’re probably better off going into a shop and purchasing something you can physically see.”
Adam said he had received the package from a delivery driver in the late afternoon on Wednesday at his home in Manchester, just before starting his regular night shift.
But the loyal Amazon customer said he was shocked that his new computer was not waiting for him in the box.
He said: “It was an HP pro-book laptop. I paid £500 for it. It took a couple of days for the purchase to arrive.
I’ve been an Amazon customer for many years. I’ve never had any issues with them before. I’m a loyal customer. I was just buying it as a treat.
“The package felt quite light to be a laptop, and I was just on my way to work, but I decided to open it.
“At first, I thought it was for my partner who is often orders stuff online. Or maybe I’d opened the wrong parcel?
“But I looked at the label, and it was for me, and after five minutes, I realised I’d been scammed.”
Adam said he had contacted Amazon straight away and later called the police to try and get to the bottom of the possible theft.
But he said the company were originally “reluctant” to hand him back his cash, adding he’d had to pay postage costs of £7.40 to send the parcel back to them.
Adam said: “Amazon were quite reluctant to give the money back.
“They told me it would take a long time and I had to post the parcel and send them the receipt. They said it could be a long wait.
“When I went to the post office to send it back, the person there said, ‘You shouldn’t be paying for it’.
"I paid £7.40, but I chose to send it record delivery. I wanted it back straight away.”
A spokesperson from Amazon said: “This has been resolved. We’ve contacted the customer directly, apologised and refunded in full."
Greater Manchester Police has been contacted for comment.
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