One day, I got a random delivery from one of the e-commerce sites. I’m not expecting anything, but it’s got my name/address on it. It also came directly to my door, which was a little weird because we’ve got a locker hub at my complex, but my unit is close to the complex entrance, so occasionally lazy drivers drop stuff off directly.

I’m thinking it’s strange, but nothing to raise my “problem” flags. I open the package and see a bunch of stuff I don’t need, want, or use (there was some whitening toothpaste, some water flavor enhancer things, two pairs of men’s compression tights/socks, a horror movie, and a bottle of lube.

It should be noted that a.) I’m female, b.) I’m single and live alone, and c.) None of these items were things I had on any wish-list anywhere on this site, or any site for that matter.

I dig through the box and find a gift receipt, but all it says is “enjoy your gift,” and there’s no indicator of who sent it. I called a couple of friends/family who might have sent stuff as a joke or something like that, and got confirmation that none of them had sent me anything.

I get on the customer service chat with one of the site’s stupid bots.

Bot: “Hello, how can I help?”

Me: “Hi. I received an order, [Order], and while it’s addressed to me, none of this is stuff I would ever put on a wish-list or even order from your site.”

Bot: “Sometimes stuff comes addressed to one person, but it’s for someone else at the address.”

Me: “I’m the only one who lives here. I think this order got sent to me by mistake.”

Bot: “Sometimes it gets sent to one name but is for someone else at the address.”

Me: “Again, I’m the only one here. This is not an order for me.”

Bot: “Feel free to enjoy the items!”

Since I wasn’t getting anywhere, I just ended the chat. At that point, I’d tried to get them to take it back, but they hadn’t wanted to investigate/listen.

Since they didn’t want to take the items back initially, I waited until the return window opened up and returned what I could. I ended up with a credit of $70 that I used to buy some things I actually wanted/needed. The stuff I couldn’t return, I donated. 

I still don’t know if this was the lamest scam attempt in the world (since the only contact info on there was for said e-commerce site) or if my address got mixed up somehow or what.

I was promoted to a Project Coordinator at my job a little over a year ago. It’s my job to help communicate and coordinate various aspects of my assigned project amongst the different departments, so while I’m certainly not the highest rung on the corporate ladder, I’m basically entrenched in the center of everything going on for my project. This will be relevant.

Cut to today, where I’m chatting with my direct boss via the communication app my company uses:

Me: “I got a response from our developers about those questions we had.”

Boss: “Ok, good! Could you share it in the full team chat?”

Me: “Which chat? I’ve got so many…”

Boss: “It’s called ‘[Project Name] Full Project Team'”

The group chat name doesn’t sound familiar to me, but I try using the search function to see if I can find it. The search turns up nothing.

I let my boss know I’m not finding it, and she shares a screenshot of the most recent posts from the chat to try to help me recognize it. The screenshot appears to feature a bunch of birthday wishes for someone, posted last Friday. A big part of my job is communicating, so I make sure to keep up with all my chats, and I definitely didn’t see any with birthday posts last week.

Me: “Are you sure I’m on this chat? The last time I saw birthday wishes was for [Coworker], and that was several weeks ago.”

After a few more moments, where she presumably looked through the list of people on the chat:

Boss: “Holy moly… You are NOT on the list! Seriously! How could that have happened?”

We had a bit of a laugh over how I’d been in my position for over a year, but had never been invited to the full team chat, and the irony given my job. (No harm was done. People who need my help tend to reach out directly.)

The funniest part for me, though, was when I was finally added to the chat, I decided to scroll back a ways to see what was going on in it. About 6 months back, I found more birthday wishes… but these ones were directed at me. Which I never saw until today because I wasn’t even in the chat. Whoops! Belated thanks on the birthday wishes, I guess!

One day, I randomly got a package. It’s strange for a number of reasons including: It was dropped directly at my door despite us having a locker hub where everything is supposed to be left, and when I open it, even though it’s addressed specifically to me/my address, it’s filled with items with gift receipts that have nothing to do with anything I’m even close to interested in, and nothing is on any wishlist I’ve ever had anywhere.

I comb through everything I can find in and on the package to try and figure out who sent it, but even the gift receipts are generic “enjoy your gift!” messages. I reach out to a handful of people I know who might send me something, and everyone says not it. So, I get into the chat for the company because I have no use for the items, so I don’t even want them.

After fighting with the AI, I get to a rep.

Rep: “How can I help?”

Me: “Hi, so I got an order that looks like it’s supposed to be a gift, but none of the items are anything I use and wouldn’t have been on any wishlist I have.”

Rep: “Sometimes stuff comes addressed to one person but is for someone else in the residence.”

Me: “I’m literally the only one here.”

Rep: “Feel free to keep the items.”

The chat then ended, and I was stuck with this stuff. I tried to process a return directly through the gift returns part of the site, but it said nothing was eligible. I gave it a couple of days and tried again, figuring I’d just donate the stuff if it was ineligible again.

But lucky me! This time, some of the items were eligible.

So, I processed a return for what I could and donated the rest. With the returns, I got like $70 added to my account, and I bought stuff that I actually wanted instead. I also didn’t feel that bad because I tried to return it earlier, and the company didn’t seem to care that I’d gotten a package by mistake. A friend told me it was a scam attempt, but I’m not sure what the scam actually was since no one reached out to me about anything.

I rented a home through a popular rental app. There was a $2000 deposit that I would get back at the end of the rental period as long as everything went well and I followed the checkout instructions provided when I was ready to leave.

A few days before I left, I sent a message to the owner:

Me: “Good morning, could you send the checkout instructions?”

Owner: “Yes”

Nothing is sent for a full day.

Me: “Hi, I didn’t receive the instructions. Can you double-check that it was sent?”

Owner: “Yes”

Another day, no instructions.

Me: “Hello again, I still don’t see the instructions.”

Owner: “K”

The day of checkout came, and I had no instructions. I really wanted that $2000 back, so I cleaned every inch of the house, mopping, vacuuming, doing all the dishes, and laundry. Honestly, I think it was cleaner when I left than when I arrived.

I took time-stamped photos, told the owner I was leaving, and left. There was no communication for a full week, nor did I get my deposit back. I reached out again.

Me: “Hello, just checking on the status of my deposit.”

Owner: “0”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Owner: “house is disgusting reporting you”

Me: “I’m going to need an itemized list of what was wrong because I left it cleaner than it was when I got there.”

Owner: “K”

The owner sent a series of photos of the rental. It did look disgusting. The itemized list included things like “piles of trash, bedding destroyed, furniture stained, and did not follow checkout instructions.” I disputed this list with my own photos, thinking, “Surely the timestamp and the record of asking for the instructions will help me.”

Nope.

The app sided with the owner, stating that they had provided photographic evidence of the condition of the house. I reported the owner to the service team, along with screenshots of our conversation and all my photos. I also added that if it came to it, I would seek legal action. It took two more weeks before my full deposit was returned.

I left the owner a one-star review with the same photos I submitted. He turned around and left me a one-star review, saying I was difficult to communicate with and lied about the state of the home.

I review a lot on one of the online e-commerce sites. I’m pretty good about not including anything that goes against their “guidelines,” but if something slips through, it usually gets flagged before it posts, and I’m able to fix and resubmit.

One day, I get an email that says I can no longer review because I’ve consistently posted things against guidelines and ignored the warnings that were sent. First, I never received any warnings (I went through every email account that’s even remotely related to this account and made sure to look through spam and every single folder/rule I have, just to make sure, and still no warnings). Second, there was no example of what I posted against the guidelines, so I’m extremely confused. When it happens, I get into their chat, but I have to fight their stupid AI bot first.

AI: Provides a bunch of options unrelated to what I’m looking for.

Me: “Representative.”

AI: Continues to provide options unrelated to my issue.

Me: “Representative.”

Rinse and repeat for about five more cycles before it finally kicks me to an actual rep.

Rep: “How can I assist?”

Me: “My ability to review was just pulled for no reason, and I want to know why, and I want it back.”

Rep: “I can’t help you. You’ll need to work with our Community side. You can find them if you go to [steps].”

Me: “I did that, and it brought me to you.”

Rep: “I apologize, but I can’t assist you. The Community side is different.”

Me: “So how do I figure this out?”

Rep: “You can respond to the email they provided.”

Me: “Okay, fine. Thank you.”

I ended that chat and replied to the email. When I hit send, I got an automated response back saying someone would reach out in six hours. I give it like eighteen because overnight and work, etc., and still no response. I click on one of my items to review and get a big red “You can’t review. If you think this is in error, send an email to [address]” (same address I responded to the day before). I do, and get a response that someone will respond within twenty-four hours.

I give it almost a week and still nothing. So, I turn to social media because I’ve gotten nothing.

Me: “Since I’m being ignored otherwise, @[companyhelp], I’ve been trying to get in touch with someone on the Community side for a week because my ability to review stuff has been removed for no reason. I’ve sent several emails and have heard nothing.”

Rep #2: “We’re sorry to hear you’re having issues with your reviews. You can reach out to us by following these steps [includes all the steps I’ve already tried].”

Me: “I’ve already tried that and have heard nothing in a week.”

Rep #3: “Thank you for the additional information. Please connect with us at this link: [link]”

Me: “None of those options are related to my issue.”

Rep #3: “Please follow the steps for forgot password, and you’ll be able to talk to someone.”

So, I call.

Rep #4: Company spiel “How can I help?”

Me: “Hi, I can sign into my account, but I’m having issues with my review ability. I’ve sent several emails and heard nothing, so I called you out on [Social Media] and was told to call this number for help.”

Rep #4: “So are you able to sign into your account?”

Me: “Yes, my password isn’t the issue. I just want my ability to review back. I don’t know why it was pulled in the first place.”

She seems to be marginally more helpful than the previous people I’ve talked to.

Rep #4: “Hmm, I do see that they flagged your reviews, but I see no explanation. Okay, let me send up a request for follow-up, and someone will reach out in seventy-two hours.”

Me: “Considering tomorrow is July 4th and then we’re in the weekend, is that seventy-two business hours, so middle of next week? Or are you telling me someone will be reaching out by Sunday?”

Rep #4: “It’s seventy-two hours, so you should hear back soon.”

Me: “Oh, okay. Thank you.”

It’s been three weeks, and I have heard nothing. Although they keep sending me “Hey, why don’t you review recent purchases” emails, which annoys me.

I’ve been dealing with some work stuff, so this hasn’t been a priority, but I’m going to have to call again soon because I’m kind of annoyed. Mainly because I mostly review books on this particular site, and while my one review won’t make or break most authors, I know the algorithm on the site is crap, so every review helps. At least I have reviews on other sites so I can retroactively post after this gets resolved.