A California woman's driveway has been inundated with hundreds of oversized packages she never ordered after a Chinese seller listed her home as their return address.
The San Jose resident, identified as Kay, has been dealing with the issue for over a year.
Kay said she can no longer park her car due to the number of large packages piling up outside her home.
Highlights
- A woman received hundreds of unwanted Amazon packages due to a Chinese seller using her address as their return center.
- The packages blocked the driveway and caused difficulties for the woman's disabled 88-year-old mother to enter the home.
- The woman claims Amazon initially offered little help and told her to handle returns herself.
The situation has also affected her 88-year-old mother, who is disabled and struggles to reach the front door.
Image credits: ABC7
"I couldn't even get my mother in the house... It's just been another form of hell," Kay told ABC 7.
The packages contain faux leather car seat covers made by a China-based Amazon seller called Liusandedian.
Because the covers don't fit the car models they're supposedly designed for, many dissatisfied customers send them back—unaware that they're not returning them to the seller, but to Kay's home in San Jose.
Image credits: ABC7
"What you see now is a fraction, because I have refused delivery on more packages than you see here," she said.
Kay claimed that Amazon told her she had to resolve the problem herself, by either donating the products or shipping them back to the sender via USPS or FedEx.
The Amazon packages accumulating outside Kay's home were originally shipped by the Chinese seller Liusandedian
Image credits: ABC7
She said the company offered her no solution for months and that she has filed at least six complaint tickets.
"Why is it my responsibility to get rid of this, when your seller is not following your rules, Amazon?" she asked.
"Every time I was absolutely assured this will stop," the woman continued. "'You won't get any more of these packages, you'll hear from us in 24, 48 hours.'"
Image credits: ABC7
Kay further claimed that Amazon once offered her a $100 gift card as compensation for the issue.
According to the ABC 7 report, the tech company denies telling Kay to return the boxes via USPS or FedEx.
Image credits: ABC7
Amazon's return policy states that international sellers must either provide a US address for which to send the item, issue a "returnless refund" where the buyer does not have to send the item back, or provide a pre-paid international shipping label within two days of the return request.
If a seller doesn't take action within that timeframe, Amazon may step in, refund the customer on the seller's behalf, and charge the amount to the seller.
Image credits: ABC7
Liusandedian, which has no presence online outside its Amazon listings, seems to have bypassed the rules by setting Kay's address as their own.
After Kay's frustrating situation was reported by ABC, the tech giant collected all the packages on her property and vowed to take permanent action.
"We'd like to thank [ABC affiliate KGO] for bringing this to our attention," Amazon stated. "We've apologized to the customer and are working directly with her to pick-up any packages while taking steps to permanently resolve this issue."
"I couldn't even get my mother in the house... It's just been another form of hell," Kay described
Image credits: ABC7
Kay said the good news left her "in tears" after "a year of trying to get somebody to just listen to me."
"It was such a relief!"
More than 40% of Liusandedian's Amazon reviews have a one-star rating. One reviewer wrote, "It's going to cost me $124 to return this item!!!" referring to a product that she had already paid at least $129 for.
Another person asked, "Why haven't I received my refund? Was sent thru UPS 3 weeks ago."
Image credits: ABC7
Kay's year-long Amazon nightmare isn't an isolated incident. A number of sellers have strategically listed the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London as their return center.
According to a recent report by The Sun, the museum is being targeted as a fake returns hub for low-value products from Chinese and Indian online retailers. The address—221B Baker Street—is easy to remember, as it's the same as the fictional detective's London residence.
For instance, one package, which weighed only 100 grams, had been dispatched from an address in Beauvais, France, and was supposed to be returned to the Indian company Mandasa Technologies.
Image credits: ABC7
Mohamed Ahmed, the museum's gift shop manager, told the tabloid that the number of packages sent to the address had increased over the past six months.
"The first time we got a parcel, we opened it and it was just some cables, so we realized quickly it wasn't for us.
"Now all our staff know to just reject them. It is annoying and confusing.
"It needs someone like Sherlock Holmes to solve where they are all coming from and what we can do to stop it. We have tried to ask Amazon and eBay for help, but they say it's difficult to stop each one."
The same situation has been unfolding at the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, with Chinese and Indian retailers listing the property as their return address
Image credits: Sherlock Holmes Museum
Image credits: CNBC
Daniel, one of the buyers, explained that he had ordered a gift for his son, but it turned out to be "broken" and the product advertised on the site was "obviously fake."
He added, "When they sent over information to send the product back, my wife laughed and told me that was Sherlock's address."
"Just open up an Amazon store," one reader jokingly suggested
