Keep receiving OPP (other people’s packages)

[monarch64]

I’ve been in the process of buying a new place and moving for the past couple months. It’s taking this long due to renovations, and the new place never went on the market, it just kind of fell in my lap because my realtor knows the project manager. Since I’ve been in limbo in temporary housing (or “purgatory” as I like to call it) I have been ordering furniture, holiday decorations, gifts, and other items and having everything shipped to the new place since I closed early November. I’ve received everything I have ordered. I go by every day and make sure the items are actually in the box and that there are no issues.

Last week I pulled into my driveway and noticed a MOUNTAIN of packages, way more than I was expecting. I figured it was a case of one order being shipped in multiple packages and didn’t think much of it. Then I started opening everything and started to see things I hadn’t ordered. I checked the packages and every one had a sticker with my name and address on it…in ADDITION to the shipping label. The shipping labels had someone else’s name and address, some local, some in towns hours away from me. There were at least 6 packages with this issue that day. Since then I’ve discovered at least one a day with this problem.

This is a huge hassle. No carrier has tried to contact me to retrieve the items. I get multiple things a day from Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and I don’t even know where to look on the label to figure out who the carrier is. I’m honestly really pissed that this is happening and I don’t have time to go through it all and try to get it all sorted out! One box was very clearly marked as baby formula! It’s obviously a promotional item for a new mom, but it’s at least 4 containers of formula and that is just a crime that someone could’ve been using it, especially in light of the recent formula shortage. It’s not a local address. Another package I just assumed was mine and opened it to find a women’s North Face jacket—I had coincidentally ordered one 2 weeks ago but thought I’d already received it. This was not it, this was a different size and color and upon further inspection the actual shipping label was for someone named Phil in another area of my state!

I’m keeping everything in its original packaging until I figure out what the expectation of me is in this situation. If it was just one package or maaaybe a couple, I’d do my best to return to sender or whatever but this is multiple packages and I’m not going to drive myself crazy worrying about it. I know that this time of year shipping companies hire people to use their own vehicles to deliver stuff so I wonder if that’s what’s happening—just mistakes by random seasonal workers? I don’t have cameras installed yet so I can’t check footage to get more information. Anyone else having this happen? What did you do?

 

[Dee*Jay]

That's crazy! If you happen to open a box and find a vintage vase made by Westmoreland Glass about a hundred years ago it belongs to one of my customers in Virginia LOL.

 

[monarch64]

That's crazy! If you happen to open a box and find a vintage vase made by Westmoreland Glass about a hundred years ago it belongs to one of my customers in Virginia LOL.

Aww, that’s too bad. So as a seller, what happens on your end when an item doesn’t make it to its intended destination? Does it just become an insurance thing and that’s the end of it?

 

[Dee*Jay]

I filed a USPS claim, which paid out. I had the receipt from dropping it off, which I'm sure helped. The other box I shipped the same day arrived at the destination in two days. This one... never ever even showed up on in the system. ???

ETA: I should also say the instant I realized it was MIA I refunded the buyer, so I'm glad the post office paid out!

 

[Autumn in New England]

That's insane! It reminds me of the time Sophia received $200k in Social Security by mistake on the Golden Girls. eek Hopefully they tell you to just donate it. Good luck with this!

 

[monarch64]

That's insane! It reminds me of the time Sophia received $200k in Social Security by mistake on the Golden Girls. eek Hopefully they tell you to just donate it. Good luck with this!

So I googled and apparently there’s an FTC ruling that says you’re under no obligation to return the items.

Bamboozled: If a retailer sends you stuff by mistake, can you keep it?

You might be surprised at what you're supposed to do with unordered merchandise.

www.nj.com

Now that seems like it means that if you received a package you didn’t order the company can’t ask you to pay for the goods nor ask you to send it back. That’s not exactly the case in my situation. These packages are labeled with someone else’s address (clearly) and THEN somehow there is also a label with MY name and address on each one! I really have no idea how this happens or what is going on here, I’ve never seen anything like this whether business or personal.

Obviously I understand that the right and ethical thing to do is try to mark all of return to sender and try to connect with the delivery companies of each package. But I’m not even there to accept packages until next week. I personally get a photo from the delivery company showing where the package was left in most cases, so surely these poor folks missing their items have reported them?

I guess I’ll update the thread when or if I find out more and in the meantime store all this stuff. Because that’s just what I wanted—more stuff. Lol

 

[m-cubed]

It’s possible you’ve got a stressed driver who is just dumping all the random stuff off at your place. You know, like those stories of mail carriers who toss the mail into a heap in the woods? I would try to figure out which carrier (this should be quite obvious from the labels) and be in touch with them.

 

[monarch64]

It’s possible you’ve got a stressed driver who is just dumping all the random stuff off at your place. You know, like those stories of mail carriers who toss the mail into a heap in the woods? I would try to figure out which carrier (this should be quite obvious from the labels) and be in touch with them.

It’s really odd to me that every single one of these misdelivered packages has a separate label with my name, address, and bar code on it. It’s clear that they are secondary labels. There is nothing on these secondary labels with my name and address that mentions a carrier! It’s just so strange.

 

[missy]

@monarch64 sorry if I missed this but is it from one carrier or is this happening with multiple carriers? If one carrier I would contact them and explain the situation. If multiple carriers I understand why at this time it would be challenging to contact all of them and instead I would keep all the packages that are not yours in your garage (if you have one) and just go about your day until you hear from them. I mean something is not right and who knows what is happening. But in time I am confident you will hear from someone about this. Just save all the packages (hopefully you have a garage and space to do so) and wait for the solution to present itself.


What a crazy and stressful situation and in the middle of a big move too. Unreal. I so do not trust any of the carriers any more and just make sure all my packages are insured. What a hassle and I am sorry you are going through this.


To answer the question how would I handle this. I have more time than you and so if I were in this situation I would contact each carrier personally or better yet try to talk to the specific delivery people (fed ex, ups, amazon, dhl and usps- I know them all since we get deliveries daily lol just doing my part for the economy haha). I think speaking to the delivery people would be the easiest way to resolve this as they would take the packages back and someone could figure out what the heck was happening. But you cannot do this as one you are not there when they are delivered and two you are in the middle of a very busy time. That is why, if I were you, I would just save them as you are doing and go on about my life and I am sure you will hear from someone about this. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but at some future date. Or maybe, as mysteriously and suddenly as this started it might stop.

 

[missy]

Just asked my dh. He said get in touch with each carrier. He said there is a major glitch in multiple systems but it started somewhere and this will continue to happen until you do something about it. He doesn't think this will resolve itself unless/until you do something about it. He agrees it is bizarre. He also said if it were him he'd be very curious WTF is going on...two labels is completely nuts.

He said it could also be a hacking issue which could be a security risk which you should not ignore.
Someone has access to your info. It could be a malware issue. Someone could be causing issues maliciously just for fun.

OK I shared his thoughts FWIW.

 

[monarch64]

@missy I would like to hire Greg as my admin assistant. I will pay him enough money to keep you covered in bling.

 

[missy]

@missy I would like to hire Greg as my admin assistant. I will pay him enough money to keep you covered in bling.

Haha yassss

I am happy to add to his job description of my personal secretary and lend him out to you Monnie

 

[monarch64]

Haha yassss

I am happy to add to his job description of my personal secretary and lend him out to you Monnie

You are so generous and kind! Wow if only we could help each other out like this. The world truly might be a better place. Thank you for your replies and advice! Really appreciate your thoughts and his. That was really cool of you to ask him and for him to answer!

 

[lilmosun]

In addition to notifying the carriers, I would call the police.

What comes to my mind, is the possibility that someone is using stolen credit cards to make these purchases and then changing the address to your house for drop-off/pick-up.

Using an unaware party's address as a drop off/pick up for illegal activities is very common.

(I had an incident where someone was using my house to drop off packages for Fedex to ship overseas. I only became aware of it when I started received a collection notice from Fedex for hundreds of dollars - not in my name but for pickups at my address. Fedex said it happens all the time and told me to call the police to file a report. The police didn't do much as the activity had stropped by then...they move around so as not to get caught.. but at least I had it on record)

 

[Lookinagain]

It’s really odd to me that every single one of these misdelivered packages has a separate label with my name, address, and bar code on it. It’s clear that they are secondary labels. There is nothing on these secondary labels with my name and address that mentions a carrier! It’s just so strange.

Just wondering, since you say you are in the midst of a move, if you have filed change of addresses with carriers? If so, maybe there is a mix up in their systems that is causing things to be forwarded to you. Since there are actually second labels with your name and address, it sounds like something with forwarding to me. It wouldn't be someone just dropping random packages at your new house, since these are addressed to you, albeit by a second label, not the original label (which I assume is what the sender affixed). I would probably call each carrier, explain the situation, and ask if there is possibly some forwarding system for packages that is messing things up. That's the only thing I can think of that might explain the labels with your address.

 

[KaeKae]

Are you on social media?
This may be more involved than you want to get
One time I received a shipment of a rug
It wasn't mine and the address was in my zip code but not near me
I took a picture of the label and posted to a Facebook page for the town
(FYI: I did black out the street address for the customer's privacy/safety)
A friend of the customer immediately got in touch and came over for the package
MAYBE you could do this for the more local items?

 

[m-cubed]

It’s really odd to me that every single one of these misdelivered packages has a separate label with my name, address, and bar code on it. It’s clear that they are secondary labels. There is nothing on these secondary labels with my name and address that mentions a carrier! It’s just so strange.

Okay, the secondary label thing is nuts! Maybe download a barcode scanner app to your phone (I’ve used Scandit) so you can pull the # off the barcode. YOu might be able to figure out which carrier based on the tracking # format, assuming that’s what hte barcode is. Really it seems like some kind of crazy scam, but I can’t imagine what.

 

[monarch64]

In the middle of moving this weekend but I’m reading everyone’s posts. Some good suggestions, thank you!

 

[mrs-b]

Since you're not living there yet, it's entirely possible someone is having stuff directed to your address, knowing they can use it as drop off and pick up, probably without anyone knowing. Why - I have no idea, tho no good, above board suggestions spring to mind.

 

[rainydaze]

To piggy-back off of what @mrs-b posted.... police notified our town that scammers were hacking accounts to purchase items on other people's dime, and entering a shipping address of homes around our town. They would wait near that address and as soon as the package was delivered, they would run over and grab the package.

So, they used one person's account to purchase items, and another person's address for shipping.

It is possible someone is hacking into the accounts of the people on your original labels to purchase things, then having the address 'forwarded' to your address thinking, as mrs-b suggested, that you are not a presence there and thus no one will catch on just yet. I don't know why or how they would get the pacakages forwarded though, which gives me pause. If it really is a scammer at work, it would be easier to just enter your address at the point of purchase.

 

[mrs-b]

In the middle of moving this weekend but I’m reading everyone’s posts. Some good suggestions, thank you!

Welcome to your new home, Monnie!

 

[monarch64]

Welcome to your new home, Monnie!

Thank you!

Update: one of the carriers returned to retrieve the North Face jacket while the workers were at the condo. I was not around. I found an email address on another package from Harley Davidson and informed that recipient, who had already resolved it with HD. I dropped that one off at UPS per his instructions. I donated the formula as it was clearly a promotional item and when I contacted Enfamil I was told to keep or donate and they would resend to the recipient. Hmm what else…oh, another package was addressed to a student at the university here and I left it out for the postal carrier to redeliver. The last item was from Amazon and I haven’t been able to get that one resolved yet. What a mess and a shit ton of work I didn’t have time for. I still don’t understand what happened, but I haven’t received anything for anyone else since a couple weeks ago. Fingers crossed it was just a strange few days and they were all random mistakes.

 

[monarch64]

To piggy-back off of what @mrs-b posted.... police notified our town that scammers were hacking accounts to purchase items on other people's dime, and entering a shipping address of homes around our town. They would wait near that address and as soon as the package was delivered, they would run over and grab the package.

So, they used one person's account to purchase items, and another person's address for shipping.

It is possible someone is hacking into the accounts of the people on your original labels to purchase things, then having the address 'forwarded' to your address thinking, as mrs-b suggested, that you are not a presence there and thus no one will catch on just yet. I don't know why or how they would get the pacakages forwarded though, which gives me pause. If it really is a scammer at work, it would be easier to just enter your address at the point of purchase.

I thought about the scammer thing a lot. I’m hesitant to go with that theory just because of the neighborhood. There are only 20 units, in the midst of a country club golf course. These aren’t people hurting for money and almost everyone is older. It’s very secure and separated from any other neighboring areas so if it WAS a scam it would have had to be an inside job by one of the crew. But they left the packages here, so that doesn’t make sense. I’m 99.99% sure this was all happenstance at this point. It was just odd that there were so many “mistakes” at once.