A woman writes in asking for advice after her Amazon package was stolen by her neighbor and then later returned by her neighbor’s kids, opened and used. Now she’s wondering how she should handle the situation because the neighbor has been avoiding her.
A member of the community asks:
“Alrighty, I need opinions. So I have a neighbor who is a single mom of 4 and we live in an apartment complex. Yesterday, I had a package sent to my home from Amazon. I was home doing my homework for college and my phone died at the time the package notification was sent that my package was delivered. Amazon sent a picture with my package on my porch. I went outside, it was gone. It was outside less than an hour, and it was nowhere to be found. I contacted Amazon they said, ‘Wait until Monday.
Fast forward the next day and one of my other neighbors came over to my house to visit. I told her about my package being stolen off my porch, she said that my neighbor asked her if she was expecting some kind of keto diet pills. This was what I ordered from Amazon. So I then went to my next-door neighbor’s door and her kids answer the door. They handed me the pills right away, but my other item (a foot massager) was upstairs, so they went and got it. Everything was out of the box, the kids handed it to me with no box. My neighbor never talked to me after and she walked right past me and never said a word to me.
I went to my house and realized my pills are already opened and I counted two were taken from the bottle. I realized at that moment this was not a mix-up. I compared my porch to her porch with the picture Amazon took of the package they left and it, in fact, was on my porch. I then looked and saw clear as day her porch had a welcome mat and flowers and mine did not so that would mean the picture Amazon took was in fact delivered to my house and not hers as she claims.
So my question is what should I do? Should I confront her? File a police report like Amazon says? Show them the pics and compare themselves or tell my apartment manager what happened? It’s clear as day she purposely stole my package thinking it was something valuable (free Christmas presents for her kids)? Or if her kids took it, why were the pills opened and used and also why didn’t she send the package to me in the first place if she realized this wasn’t hers?
– Mamas Uncut Community Member
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Community Advice for This Woman Whose Neighbor Reportedly Stole Her Amazon Package
To see what advice the Mamas Uncut Facebook community has for this mom in need, read the comments of the post embedded below.
Advice Summary
Many people believe the kids took the package without their mom knowing. One commenter wrote, “I can’t imagine a single mom would intentionally steal something from her neighbor. If the kids gave it to you right away that says to me that one of them took it, opened it, and the stuff, and then when you come to the door they gave it back to you. Yes, kids will open pill bottles if they can. I’d be willing to bet they didn’t tell their mom either, they know they’d get in trouble.”
Another person added, “Probably the kids took the package, opened the bottle, tasted the pills, and threw it away. Really, how did the kids know about the package and give it back to you if they didn’t take it? Nowadays kids will take anything that isn’t nailed down…”
And one commenter said, “I would talk to her about it. As some said the children might have taken it.”
Though the consensus seemed to be that the kids were likely responsible for taking the package, others chimed in with feedback about how they’d deal with this situation if the neighbor herself were responsible.
“I would contact the apartment manager,” one said. “I don’t think filing a police report would do anything unless they need a paper trail but I would definitely contact the police and explain the situation and ask them what you should do. It sounds like you got everything back minus 2 pills, though I wouldn’t trust the pills after she opened them, so I’m not sure you could really get her on anything at the moment.”
Another offered advice on how to prevent this from happening in the future: “Police aren’t going to do anything. Your stolen property was returned to you. I would have all future shipments sent to my work or you can pick it up from the shipper. As for the neighbors, I would drop the kids off a “thank you, for doing the right thing” plate of cookies and make sure you tell their mother how proud you are of the kids for returning your items.”
One commenter suggested taking the matter to the police, whether or not the kids were responsible. “Regardless if it was her or her children. She is responsible for everyone. I would take a trip to the police station. Tell them your story and show them your proof. She can reimburse you for a new order. Then I would let your manager know as well. Also, take a trip to Walmart. Buy some wi-fi security cameras. Have them pointed at your entrance for future events.”
Another vote for contacting the apartment manager: “Don’t talk to her. Contact your apartment manager and file a report with the police in case it happens again. (She probably did it before, which is why she said nothing to you and she was mad and embarrassed to be caught.) Invest in some security cameras also (2 for front and one for the back).”
And another vote for buying some kind of security camera or system to prevent things like this from happening in the future: “Definitely get a security camera set up pointed directly at the ground in front of your door. You will be able to see anything that is going on. Whatever you do have it pointing down at your property, otherwise you can get in trouble. Inform your apartment manager what happened and why you are doing it, and maybe send a note to your neighbor that you installed a camera for the safety of everyone, because you ordered diet pills and 2 were taken and be real nice in the letter. You do not want major issues with neighbors. I would give a copy of the letter you gave her to the apartment manager to keep on file. You shouldn’t have a problem with her again. 🙂 I would also let her know that the apartment manager has the same letter on file.”
This mom suggests reporting the incident to either the apartment managers or the police, saying that she has had a similar experience. “Report it. This happened to me the other day except I was the person who took the package. Amazon left 2 packages in the communal building, 1 for me 1 for the neighbor. I took them both assuming they were mine, as I had placed multiple orders. Ripped then open then realized my mistake.”
She continues: “Straight away I returned the package to my neighbor’s doorstep with a letter explaining the mistake.m today she said thank you and that was the end of it. If your neighbor was innocent, she would have approached you as I did with mine. Her silence speaks volumes. I guess she thinks she’s gotten away with it. She is an arrogant thief that needs reporting smh.”
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