Hi, this is a bit of a weird one. The usual response to these threads is usually a million more questions rather than answers or placing the blame on the buyer so I will try to provide as much context as possible now. I just hope someone who knows more about the ins and outs of logistics can wade through this and eloquently explain exactly what happened and how, though I have a vague idea with my laywoman's understand. Not sure if to be really concerned about my personal details as I've had phishing emails, texts and changed all my passwords months ago as Google told me to etc.
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I was due to receive an eBay package on Friday but instead I received a phone case that I did not order alongside a third package that arrived. There is no record of this sale in my purchase history. I think it was a pure coincidence because the item I am still waiting on is still in transit, has a totally different tracking number and accompanying information/has no details relating to the phone case package. I have contacted the seller just for extra confirmation. The third package is positively accounted for as an item ordered the previous day (I'm amazed- faster than Amazon Prime) and the order tracking dates suggest the other eBay purchase had nothing at all to do with this.
Oddly, despite being tracked and marked as delivered by Hermes with a photo, there is also a 'delivered by Royal Mail' sticker on it. I have thoroughly scanned my purchase history on eBay, Amazon etc to check everything lines up. Yes I am certain the tracking is for the unsolicited item and not the other one. I am pretty certain these weren't two separate purchases that were combined into one package as AliExpress does sometimes. Is it possible Hermes misdelivered the package and someone handed it to Royal Mail to deliver instead? But how did my my details end up on the shipping label?
On the commercial invoice on the back it had the address of a car business in Tunbridge Wells. I have no relation to the business and own an iPhone 6, so nothing to do with me. The printed delivery note inside only has the address of eBay returns (E10 7FE). So the package must have come from a seller on the eBay platform.
After very carefully steaming and peeling several layers of labels, underneath the commercial invoice is a customs declaration. I believe the package was sent by a R** W*. I can see a company called Orange Connex which appears to be a fulfilment centre. I found the original tracking number and recipient. T***** B**** apparently ordered this iPhone 12 phone case; it was despatched from China via SpeedPak on 24th August and handed over to local post in the UK on 2nd September. The destination address was still correct at the time (going to the car business). But there is no indication of a merchant/business the item could have come from anywhere on/in the package besides the eBay London returns address inside.
I tried looking for a 12 digit listing number and searching for listings with a similar item but haven't found anything. There were 3 different tracking numbers on it though.
When I check the UK leg of the tracking (couriered by Hermes) it says they were expecting the package on 31st August, so it was a planned transfer from CN to UK rather than received, opened and manually forwarded by someone. There is no destination address on the Hermes tracking. The Orange Connect tracking number works on no tracking website besides their own and shows the origin as Shenzhen and the destination address is this car business. The sender is listed as 'C2C' which I believe means 'consumer to consumer,' so this was sent by an individual not a registered business??. It was received by Hermes on 2nd September then delivered to me on Friday 3rd September with a 'delivered by Royal Mail' sticker on it.
I have contacted the car company asking if one of their employees ordered anything or is running a dropshipping company using their work address or something (but in less accusatory tone). I have contacted Hermes and am waiting for someone from customer service to get back to me. The chat bot script is woefully bad and their feedback survey doesn't even load on their site so I haven't much faith.
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I have no idea how this happened. The intended destination address is still attached to the Orange Connex tracking number so why did it go to me? If this is down to Hermes, I'm not sure how they attributed my name and address to someone else's order and I'm uncomfortable with the fact that my full name and phone number are printed on the label as I'm a vulnerable person and have experienced stalking/harassment/threats/actual assaults against my person to the point I basically haven't used social media, gone outside or spoken to my friends or family in 4 years. I know this is a given for many couriers and supposed to be so they can contact you about your package if there's a problem, but this almost never happens... I very rarely get an email about Royal Mail 48 packages if it iss my medication and DPD have their own app with notifications but that's it. AFAIK Royal Mail don't require the customer's number for international packages . I have no idea how that sticker got on there.
Is it possible one of the car company's staff simply used their work address to order something because it was convenient and it somehow ended up going to me, or are they running an eBay business on the side using their work address and potentially trading merchandise for lower value items or soliciting for reviews- a common tactic employed by Chinese sellers, dropshippers etc????
I don't want to speculate and cast aspersions too much but this is weird. If my details have been skimmed from a website I need to sort it out and if you just randomly sent goods to my house attributing my details to someone else's order, that's a major problem, too. Hermes only wants to deal with the sender and I cannot find out who the sender is from this Chinese fulfilment centre. I am physically disabled living in a rural area so rely on these packages a lot. I hope you can understand why I find this alarming.
Many thanks for your time.
