Woman fuming after Amazon courier's decision to put parcel in bin goes wrong

17 December 2023 , 10:00

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Amazon courier driver left parcel in a household waste bin (Image: Helen Verrill)

Nobody likes missing a parcel, especially when you've been dying for it to arrive.

Usually, a missed delivery is no big deal; couriers will either leave it in a designated safe space, rearrange delivery, or leave it with your neighbours. But for one woman, an unexpected item that turned up whilst she wasn't home ended in disaster.

Helen Verill was celebrating her 50th birthday with a mini-break when an Amazon courier knocked on the door. As nobody was in, the employee stored the box in her household waste bin, and left a calling card informing the biochemist of where the parcel had been left.

However, as the woman was returning from the Star Inn At Harome, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire - her neighbour innocently put the bins out. Before she arrived home, the parcel was already on its way to landfill.

Verill told Teesside Live back in 2019: "We went away for the night, came back the next morning and our neighbour had kindly put the bin out. When we picked up the post in the letter box there was a note to say there was a parcel for us in the bin. Neither of us ordered anything, we have no idea what it is. I have never known them put it in with your household waste."

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Helen's neighbour emptied her bin while she was away on holiday (Helen Verrill)

She added: "I think it's pretty poor to be honest, they could have left it with a neighbour, they could have done all sorts of things. My neighbours are retired and they are in all the time."

The note on the card left by the courier said: "Brown lid bin @ back to keep dry" and was accompanied by a smiley face scrawled on the card. But Helen has been left with little to smile about as she wonders quite why the package was ever placed in a domestic waste bin in the first place.

"It's possible somebody has sent me something for my birthday", she said, adding that Amazon has said it will send her a hamper and is investigating the incident.

An Amazon spokesperson said: "We have very high standards for our delivery service providers and expect every package to be handled with care. We've notified the right teams internally and will work with the customers directly on matters related to their package delivery."

Have you ever had a delivery nightmare? Let us know in the comments section below

Samuel Jones