It's a bit early for April Fools, isn't it? One disgruntled shopper in the United Kingdom has been left outraged and practising his 'compensation face' after he opened a box and expected to find a $1,000 iPhone, only to be greeted by just $10 of goods.
Worse yet, 36-year-old Jack Bennett's costly experience didn't come at the hands of some eBay scammer or backdoor deal, with him stumping up the $1,000 to get his hands on a shiny new iPhone from a major retailer.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Bennett had wanted to buy a new iPhone 17 for his wife at Christmas. Seeing the phone on the John Lewis website, Bennett paid the £700 ($1,000) price tag in installments and waited for the box to be delivered by DPD. Imagine his shock when he opened the parcel but was greeted by two Tony's Chocolonely bars instead of the latest iPhone.
Considering these retail at £4/$5 each, it leaves Bennett $990 down on the deal. While we've got to admit that Tony's is some of the best chocolate around, it's not exactly a fair swap for an iPhone 17.
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Assuming John Lewis would be there to deal with his plight, Bennett said he contacted customer service but was left 'dumbfounded' by the response. Apparently, he wasn't eligible for a refund because he'd ripped the label when opening the package and had therefore 'damaged' it.
He was also told that because John Lewis doesn't stock that specific chocolate bar, it wasn't at fault.
In order to get his money back, Bennett was told he'd need to raise a claim through his bank.
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Thankfully for Bennett, the Daily Mail intervened when he approached the outlet with his story, eventually confirming that John Lewis gave him a full refund.
Referring to this 'really unpleasant experience', an angry Bennett said John Lewis tried to "wash their hands of me" instead of believing he was the victim of fraud.
Explaining exactly what happened, Bennett said: "I thought I'd better just check the contents - and couldn't believe it when I opened it and found two bars of chocolate.
"I was trying to think back and wondered whether I had made a mistake, but I definitely hadn't - and then realised it was a fraud because they were glued together."
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Saying that he expected help because it was such a high-value item, Bennett was left feeling that his concerns weren't taken seriously: "Either there had been an error, which I suspect was not the case, or it was malicious and deliberate.
"I was highlighting this issue to them, but they were happy to fob me off."
John Lewis has issued its own statement, reiterating: "We were very sorry to hear about Mr Bennett's case.
"We serve millions of happy customers and cases like this remain rare, especially as we regularly review our security measures to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
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“We take all reports of fraud incredibly seriously, and conduct thorough investigations. Having fully investigated Mr Bennet's case, we were able to offer a refund - and are grateful for his patience."
DPD was also approached for comment, adding: "We have carried out a full investigation, including a review of all security footage and can confirm that the parcel was delivered compliantly and without any sign of the packaging having been tampered with.
"We also have no reason to suspect the driver, who has been with us for eight years."
This kind of scam is known as refund of return fraud, where scammers will buy or intercept a high-value item, replace it with items of a lesser value but similar weight, and then attempt to return it to claim a refund.
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The Daily Mail tells us to look out for these schemes amid a spike in cases of similar incidents to Bennett's.