AmazonCrime

It’s Friday the 30th of June and I’m looking forward to a shiny new Fujifilm lens I ordered 2 days ago on the 28th being delivered. Also being delivered are a couple of cheap plastic barbell spin locks. As the morning progresses I check the Amazon app and both items are marked as ‘Out for delivery’. Yay! Usually this means they’re on the same delivery van. This was confirmed a little later when I (excitedly) started checking the tracking info and got the map graphic stating ‘your item is N stops away’. Both the items said they were the same number of stops away.

One time passcode

Key to this story is the following: Amazon sometimes ask for a One Time Passcode (OTP) for certain items. These are generated on the day of delivery and are usually for items of a certain value. In this case the Fujifilm lens I ordered cost over £400 and required that I gave the driver a OTP. The other item I ordered, the plastic barbell spin locks did not require a OTP to be delivered. You can maybe guess where this is going already.

I answer the door at 1.38pm. My doorbell video is time-stamped. I straight away notice the delivery driver has just one item in his hand. And it’s not a package large enough to contain a Fujifilm lens box in it.

“Hi, can I get the passcode” That’s the first thing the delivery driver says.

“There should be another one” is my response.

“Sorry?”.

“There should be another one, a box”.

“There’s only this one” he says.

If that’s the only item he has, why is he asking for a OTP for the item he says he doesn’t have?

So I then get the orders list up on my amazon app to show him which two orders should be on his van. I show him my phone.

“It’s not on my route” he says.

He said this even though the tracking for both items clearly showed they were both the same number of stops away and the actual delivery time for both items was just 60 seconds apart. Any investigation into this will show BOTH items were tracking as being on this van at the same time.

“Well, why are you asking me for the confirmation code?” I ask. Meaning why are you asking me for the code for this particular item?

“To check if it’s the right address, I dunno, that’s what it asks me” he points to his phone.

Again, why would / how could he be asking for the OTP for the wrong item?

He passes me the item in his hands and I ask him to take a look for the other item on the van stating “It says it’s in your van”. By this I mean the app shows both items should now be at my doorstep and not just the one he has passed me.

A few seconds later, he shouts back from the van.

“I’m going to have to ring my boss. If I find anything I’ll come back”.

Within seconds of him driving away I check the amazon app and both items are marked as delivered.

I was surprised by this. Even though this has happened before (items being marked as delivered when they haven’t been) this was the first time it’s happened via an item having a OTP. Then I get a sinking feeling in my stomach. Did he see the OTP when I showed him my orders on the Amazon app? That’s the only explanation that I can think of. OTP are only 6 numbers. Easy to remember at a glance. And just to be clear, the main reason my focus is on the driver is because Amazon support are insisting the OTP has been used even though I never verbally or intentionally gave the code to the delivery driver.

My evidence

So at this point, I’m a little worried but then I remember I have a doorbell camera. I open up the app for the doorbell and download the three videos covering the entire conversation with the delivery driver. The doorbell camera records in 30 second clips, so maybe there’s a split second between each clip missing but it’s pretty much all there.

It clearly shows the following:

• Only one item being delivered.
• The one item being delivered is clearly not the right size or even type of package that contains a brand new Fujifilm camera lens.
• The delivery driver asking for the OTP for this wrong item.
• The delivery driver clearly saying he only has this one item with him.
• It’s time stamped at 1:38pm to 1:41pm

Also, here are two screen grabs from Amazon’s app of the tracking info for both items. Both show as delivered. But importantly, both show as delivered on Friday the 30th of June at 1:39pm and 1:40pm. Delivered less than 60 seconds apart but as you can see from the video footage, I only get one item. And it’s not the lens.

Since the delivery

Since the delivery I’ve contacted Amazon numerous times. I’ve tried to explain everything to them. It seems like a simple story to tell but actually, over the phone, when the signal isn’t great and there’s a script the support staff have to stick to it’s actually not that easy to convey. Each time I felt something wasn’t quite right as I would get passed around from person to person, whether it was on the online chat or a phone call.

The first time, they suggested I wait and contact them again in 5 days if the item hadn’t shown up by then. After waiting 5 days, I was told they can’t do anything until I file a Police report and have a crime number. When I went back to them with these details they finally told me there was nothing they could do as the delivery used a OTP.

After this I uploaded the van’s registration number, video footage and crime report to a DropBox folder in the vain hope that I could then chat to someone willing to take a look at it. But every time I tried they just repeat the same cut and paste text from their script and end the chat. It’s actually hard to tell the difference between Amazon’s chatbot and the humans. And that’s not a positive reflection of how good the chatbot is. The last person I interacted with left me feeling like they were accusing me of trying to scam Amazon. Not nice at all.

My biggest mistake? I should have asked the driver to go away and refused any items from him. With hindsight, that was probably the best thing to do. Instead, I showed him my phone to try and explain what other item I was expecting, the one that actually required the OTP. It’s because he asked for the OTP that I probably felt like he’d made a genuine mistake and had left the item on the van. But it looks like by showing him my phone, he got what he was asking for right from the start, which is the OTP.

Yes, I do feel a bit stupid. I’m normally quite good with this stuff.

What’s next?

Unfortunately, Amazon have no clear complaints procedure outlined on their website. There’s no way to escalate anything above their horrendous front line support channels. I’ve contacted my bank to enquire about a chargeback. I’ve filed a police report with the WYP and now have a crime number. They agree that the driver’s actions are ‘suspicious’. And I’ve contacted the Citizens Advice Bureau.

I’ll follow up with another post soon.