I received an exciting delivery. I never expected what was inside

I had just dropped my daughter at school when my phone rang. It was a number I didn’t recognise, and I almost didn’t pick up, as I rarely use my phone for speaking to people I don’t know. That day, however, I was feeling generous.

“Hello, Kerri?” the voice said. “This is DHL delivery. I have your package here, but no one is home.”

I grabbed a knife and ripped through the cardboard, feeling a shiver of anticipation as I peered inside. Credit: Getty Images

“Oh, cool,” I replied. I was expecting two mascaras I’d ordered online, though I hadn’t anticipated they’d arrive so soon. “Can you leave it in the letterbox?”

I heard the man snort. “No, it’s way too big for that,” he said.

I was confused. How large could a pair of mascaras be?

I asked the delivery man to leave the box by the front door and drove directly home. I had intended to head to the shops, but I needed to see this package. I’ve had the odd mishap with online shopping; I once accidentally ordered 10 kilograms of rice instead of one. Was it possible I’d ordered 200 mascaras?

I pulled into my driveway, and saw the box, sitting majestically on my doorstep. It was too big even for 200 mascaras; the thing was the size of a washing machine. It was, however, surprisingly light, and so I carried it inside and scrutinised the label, which told me it was from an outfit called MyUS.

I allowed myself a moment to fantasise about the options. Perhaps it was a gift from a secret admirer. Perhaps it was clothing, or chocolates, or trinkets, or cake. Maybe it was something I’d ordered and forgotten, and I would laugh, and marvel that it had slipped my mind.

I grabbed a knife and ripped through the cardboard, feeling a shiver of anticipation as I peered inside. My mouth dropped open and my heart sank. It wasn’t clothing, or chocolates, or trinkets, or cake. The box contained mop heads – specifically, eight boxes of 16 mop heads.

I was now the bewildered owner of 128 mop heads, for a brand of mop I did not own.

I phoned my partner. “You will not believe what was just delivered!” I exclaimed.

“Wow,” he said. “Good thing you weren’t charged.”

Was I going mad? Had I ordered mop heads in my sleep? I searched my emails, my Amazon app, and my text messages. There was no record of mop heads anywhere to be found.

I felt a surge of panic. With shaking hands, I opened my banking app. And there it was, from two days prior: a charge from MyUS, via PayPal, for $286. I rummaged through the box and found the invoice. The products appeared to have been ordered from Amazon. Was I going mad? Had I ordered mop heads in my sleep? I searched my emails, my Amazon app, and my text messages. There was no record of mop heads anywhere to be found.

I quickly raised a dispute with PayPal. The process was surprisingly easy, and within 10 minutes I received a notification that my issue had been resolved “in the vendor’s favour”.

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Sorry, what?

I phoned and spoke with a very helpful human. “You authorised the charge back in 2016,” they told me. It made no sense. Why would I pay, in 2016, to receive 128 mop heads nine years in the future? The rep seemed, gratifyingly, to understand. She raised a second dispute, but again, it was swiftly resolved in favour of the vendor.

I made four more calls to PayPal, three to MyUS and one to my bank. No one could explain what had happened. After I lodged disputes with each company, I retired grumpily to bed in a sea of mop heads, frustration and confusion.

In the middle of the night, I woke to go to the loo, and, stumbling past the giant box, I realised what had happened. MyUS is a package redirection service, used to ship goods internationally when a vendor does not offer shipping outside the US. I used it once, back in 2016, to purchase a dress from a US-based boutique. The mop heads must have been ordered by another customer, and sent in error to me in Australia, triggering MyUS to charge my PayPal account for the international postage.

It was a thrilling realisation. I was not going mad!

A few days later, MyUS acknowledged their error and refunded my money. They also allowed me to keep the mop heads, which has been far less rewarding than it sounds. Mop heads without a mop have no value, and that particular brand isn’t sold in this country.

I could, of course, order one from the States and have it shipped here via MyUS. On the other hand, maybe I’ll chuck them in the bin.

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