Amazon sent me a $240 mini PC that I didn't order.

[Markbnj]

I've heard of it happening. Some people will say that the law allows you to keep it, but I believe that's not true. However, I have heard of cases where Amazon, on being contacted about the mistake, has told the recipient to keep the product. I guess it could conceivably be cheaper than dealing with the return and restocking, etc.

 

[rsutoratosu]

I got a snoopy easter flag sent to me from amazon. it had my correct name but i never order it. I call them, they say its not worth the return shipping. Item was like 6.99 and it'll cost 5+ to send it back.

Win!

 

[Rickyyy369]

Maybe these little things have such low margins that it wouldn't be cost effective to pay me to return it, then have to sell it as an open box product and lose more money on it. Its probably just a drop in the bucket to them.

This thing has the most bloatware of any device I've ever seen. But I guess thats how they can subsidise its cost.

Still though, free computer.

 

[evident]

Exactly what I was planning to do. This thing has less power than my laptop but It would make a decent file server. Thank you Amazon :biggrin:

that thing has HTPC written all over it. set up a cable card and windows media center and give your cable company the middle finger!

 

[Phoenix86]

Get your own illegitimate mini PC.

Sounds like that's exactly what he's doing!

 

[zoiks]

I also got an external dvd drive in the mail from Amazon that I didn't order. This happened a few months ago. I called their support and was on hold for a long time and they weren't able to find out what happened. They told me to keep it in the end.

 

[GoPackGo]

I've heard of it happening. Some people will say that the law allows you to keep it, but I believe that's not true. However, I have heard of cases where Amazon, on being contacted about the mistake, has told the recipient to keep the product. I guess it could conceivably be cheaper than dealing with the return and restocking, etc.

It is true. You can keep it if it was unordered:

http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise

 

[imagoon]

This model in particular:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KU54KPQ/ref=s9_simh_gw_p147_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1V2MBG8F6TBRXK2E1Z9M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200382&pf_rd_i=507846

I absolutely didn't order this. I ordered some coffee from Amazon on monday so I was expecting that. But I also got this little surprise with my coffee from the UPS man this morning. None of my credit or debit cards show a $240 Amazon purchase and it doesn't show up in the "My orders" page on my Amazon account. All it came with was a little receipt that shows the item and total price. None of my friends would gift me something like this.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Yes with Dell. 2 (yes two!) complete Alienware laptops when a single Dell Precision laptop was ordered. Precision showed also.

 

[Rickyyy369]

Yes with Dell. 2 (yes two!) complete Alienware laptops when a single Dell Precision laptop was ordered. Precision showed also.

Holy crap, did you get to keep them?

 

[imagoon]

Holy crap, did you get to keep them?

Yup.

Called Dell, they wanted to charge me a restock fee on them + shipping (wtf? I'm trying to send back $8000 is free hardware you sent me.) Eventually it came down to that I couldn't provide them a) the credit card number that was used b) the order number c) customer number so they didn't seem to have a way to get an RMA number.

I tried this 3 times with various levels of disbelief from the reps, escalation to managers etc.

They said they would call me back. 3 Months later hadn't heard from them so their loss at that point. Never heard from them again and now it is about 4 years later. I have ordered things since then also so they never black listed me.

 

[SKORPI0]

Happened to me about 2 years ago, late Aug 2012.

Got shipped a 2nd Yamasaki 2703 (2560x1440) LED IPS monitor a few weeks after I received via DHL the 1st one that I actually ordered via eBay. I wasn't at home when it was delivered and left at my front door.
Item was selling for $290 that time. 2nd Package had my name, address but different order#. Emailed S. Korean seller about it and got no response. Emailed again after a week, still no response. Emailed 3rd time after a month, no response. Checked my spam folder just in case.

Waited +6 months (mid March 2013) before I opened and used it. Monitor was pixel perfect. Shipping was extra ordinarily fast, got it 2 days after I ordered the 1st monitor.

 

[Imp]

Shit happens.

Just hope someone doesn't show up looking for it.

 

[Imp]

Just got done with Amazon support. Apparently it was suppose to go to a guy named Tony. Oh poor Tony.. he must be worried sick. Anyway, they said I can send it back or "dispose of it". Yeah ill dispose of it alight.. I don't know what the hell im going to do with this thing.

Seriously, Amazon? Assuming a 100% markup, they're still out $125. Shipping would be $20?

 

[MrDudeMan]

I would probably dispose of that like they said. POS. lol

 

[cbrsurfr]

I wonder if you can get the $20 mail in rebate with the packing slip

 

[Rickyyy369]

I wonder if you can get the $20 mail in rebate with the packing slip

I bet I could but I wont punish ASUS for Amazon's mistake. I already got a free PC out of it.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I used to work for a rather large gaming PC company. We used to have computers delivered to the wrong place a few times. The problem is, there is no real obligation or way to force the recipient to ship it back to you. All you can do is hope the person is a good person and give them a shipping label to send it back or set up a carrier to come pick it up from them.

 

[Rickyyy369]

I would probably dispose of that like they said. POS. lol

This thing runs surprisingly hot for how low power it is. CPU temps are 60C at idle and get into the mid 60s-70s just running a web browser. I guess thats the trade off for it being dead quiet, the fan must be tiny.

Im still not 100% sure on what i'm going to do with it. Obviously it wont be taking over any desktop duties. I might throw in a 2TB HDD and make it into a mini server but im still exploring HTPC ideas.

 

[Phoenix86]

This thing runs surprisingly hot for how low power it is. CPU temps are 60C at idle and get into the mid 60s-70s just running a web browser. I guess thats the trade off for it being dead quiet, the fan must be tiny.

Im still not 100% sure on what i'm going to do with it. Obviously it wont be taking over any desktop duties. I might throw in a 2TB HDD and make it into a mini server but im still exploring HTPC ideas.

It's probably fanless (CPU and power supply), and because of that the processor is lower power/processing. You might actually have a hard time pushing full HD video depending on the specific processor...

 

[Ichinisan]

Get a Silicondust HDHomeRun Prime.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Maybe these little things have such low margins that it wouldn't be cost effective to pay me to return it, then have to sell it as an open box product and lose more money on it. Its probably just a drop in the bucket to them.

I doubt that the margins are that low. Probably just a customer service rep taking the easy way out. ("Pretend you never called us.") I'm surprised that they didn't just issue you a call tag for return shipping.

But there's still the larger question about _how_ it came to be shipped to you. I'd be a little concerned, and, to tell the truth, I'd want to know what happened.

Either:

It was ordered legitimately and sent to the wrong address. Amazon will most likely just send another one out to the original buyer at the right address. Not a problem for you.

- or -

As mentioned above, someone may have ordered it using a stolen credit card number and had planned on scooping it off your porch before you got to it. This is the one that I'd be worried about. Someone specifically said to themselves "That place looks ideal for my little fraudulent purchase." If this is the case, it could be a neighbor or someone living close by and they could just as easily scoop something that you've ordered off of your porch.

 

[Rickyyy369]

I doubt that the margins are that low. Probably just a customer service rep taking the easy way out. ("Pretend you never called us.") I'm surprised that they didn't just issue you a call tag for return shipping.

But there's still the larger question about _how_ it came to be shipped to you. I'd be a little concerned, and, to tell the truth, I'd want to know what happened.

Either:

It was ordered legitimately and sent to the wrong address. Amazon will most likely just send another one out to the original buyer at the right address. Not a problem for you.

- or -

As mentioned above, someone may have ordered it using a stolen credit card number and had planned on scooping it off your porch before you got to it. This is the one that I'd be worried about. Someone specifically said to themselves "That place looks ideal for my little fraudulent purchase." If this is the case, it could be a neighbor or someone living close by and they could just as easily scoop something that you've ordered off of your porch.

I honestly think it was just a mistake in Amazon's system. The shipping label had my name and address on it, but when I talked to the Amazon representative she said the order number I gave her belonged to a shipment that was suppose to go to a man named Tony.

So it sounds like a shipping error. I highly doubt anyone was trying to scam me. There is a minimum of 2 cars in my driveway at all times and we have huge bay windows in the front of the house where the packages arrive, so I doubt anyone would choose my house to send their fraudulent packages to.

 

[stlc8tr]

Just got done with Amazon support. Apparently it was suppose to go to a guy named Tony. Oh poor Tony.. he must be worried sick. Anyway, they said I can send it back or "dispose of it". Yeah ill dispose of it alight.. I don't know what the hell im going to do with this thing.

They didn't email you a label to send it back?

That's weird. The last time I had to return something to Amazon, they sent me a label that I just slapped on the box and had UPS pick it up the next day.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Seriously, Amazon? Assuming a 100% markup, they're still out $125. Shipping would be $20?

Where do you get the idea they have a 100% markup

 

[KentState]

According to the FTC, it's yours. Spent number of years with various B2C companies and have seen much more expensive stuff go to the wrong customer.