We've all heard of sleeping on the job, but now, a bizarre claim maintains that one delivery driver was doing something far more 'active' while doing his rounds.
From its humble roots as a bookstore in Jeff Bezos' garage, Amazon has grown to become one of the world's biggest companies and is worth an impressive $2.37 trillion. That's not to say that Amazon hasn't come with its problems as it has continued to grow, with complaints about a 'ruthless' culture being injected into the workforce and staff being 'forced' back into the workplace.
After Amazon garnered negative press for supposedly delivering a package to the burned ruins of a home amid the California wildfires, we're back with another out-there story.
As reported by The Guardian, a woman living in Spain has complained to Amazon after claiming she caught a delivery driver performing a lewd act in her bedroom. 'Jane' says that the man delivered a package from Amazon and snuck into her house.
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Recalling how she returned from the bathroom to find him in her bedroom, Jane explained: "I was stunned. He was masturbating vigorously.
“He turned his back and it was apparent that he ejaculated. He shook his hand and when he turned to me his shorts were wet."
Although she says she can think of a lot of things to say to him now, she was too shocked at the time and followed him out of the house. When the man supposedly struggled to register that the package had been delivered, an older colleague stepped out of their van and took the package from her.
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Jane's shock continued when the same men were said to have delivered a package two days later: She added: “I felt very vulnerable, especially when he came back another time."
Doorbell footage from the second visit captured an image of the suspected masturbator, which has now been handed over to the police.
Spanish police are looking further into the masturbation incident and have taken a suspected semen sample from the scene. Discussing the ordeal, Jane said: "I will not be using Amazon again. I want people to know that it’s unsafe."
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Amazon was quick to reiterate that the courier wasn't directly employed by the online marketplace, but instead, was a contractor for one of its local sellers.
When reporting the incident to the police and the Amazon helpline, Jane says the Amazon handler apologized for the 'inconvenience' as she responded: "I told her: ‘This is a police matter, it’s not an inconvenience. This is threatening behaviour by one of your couriers'.
Jane has continued her correspondence with Amazon, with her initial complaint stating: "Amazon should take immediate steps to safeguard their customers in a case such as this. Your helpline people were in not way equipped to deal such a situation of sexual abuse."
Calling to the company's founder and how Amazon makes 'squillions' from customers, she concluded: "I can’t imagine Jeff [Bezos] reading through complaints on his honeymoon. There doesn’t seem to be an adequate complaints system. There seems to have been no attempt to address what was a serious home invasion and sexual violence against me.”
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A reply from Amazon Spain was sent on July 18, stating that the altercation was 'extremely concerning' but maintained that those involved weren't Amazon employees or contracted directly by Amazon directly.
Jane was urged to contact the seller and was commended by Amazon for going to the police. A statement from Amazon read: "At Amazon, we take the security and protection of our customers and the communities we serve very seriously. This service was provided by a commercial carrier. We will keep investigating and clarifying the facts and we will cooperate with the parties that need our collaboration."