Horrified Brit orders £630 smartphone but receives wire cutters, Amazon won't issue refund

Thirty-four-year-old Clair Wilson from Colwick ordered a new OnePlus smartphone from Amazon on October 12. The parcel arrived a day later but contained a pair of wire cutters instead of her actual order. Although Clair got in touch with Amazon customer services, she was told that they could only issue a refund if she returned the phone she never received in the first place.

She recalled her experience, "So that was on the 12th of October. Just a side note, I've been with Amazon since 2015, loyal customer, and spent so much money with them. So the next day comes, I get a knock at the door and it's the Amazon delivery man. He asks for the one-time passcode, which I think is required for any purchase over £150, and I give it to him. He hands over the parcel."

"It feels heavy, it looks fine, nothing out of the ordinary. He goes on his merry way and I go inside, open up the parcel and I'm horrified to see a pair of automatic wire cutters!" she continued.

Nottinghamshire Live reports that Clair was left "flapping and hyperventilating" when she found the £20 pair of automatic wire cutters in her parcel instead of the £630 item she paid for.

Upon contacting customer service, she was told that a refund would be issued "no problem" if she returned the package with their return label. She was shocked when the company called her 10 days after the return to inform her that she had never returned the mobile phone and that the refund cannot be issued.

She recounts, "I posted it back on the 14th. Didn't hear back for 10 days, when I get emails saying that I sent the wrong item back. And I'm like 'No I sent back the item you gave me'. And they're saying 'We haven't got the phone and you're asking for a refund. If you send us the phone you can have a refund'.How am I meant to send you the phone I never got? They started an internal investigation and the outcome of that was that they had sent a phone."

This entire incident has left Clair extremely stressed. She said that not only has her physical and mental health suffered, but she has taken a big financial hit as well just as the Christmas season is fast approaching.