Mailed 2 Apple Watches by Apple. Never ordered them. Never charged for them.

[collin_]

I just spontaneously received 2 Apple Watches (Series 4) in the mail. They appear to be sent directly from Apple, and they are addressed to my name and address. I didn't order them, and I've checked my bank statements and whatnot to confirm that I was never charged for them. They also don't show up in my Apple order history.

Does anybody have any idea what might be going on? Are the Apple police going to arrive at my house and make me send them back? Asking you guys because there's no way I'm asking Apple about it...

 

[velocityg4]

You should check your credit reports. To verify someone hasn't created a new account in your name.

 

[collin_]

You should check your credit reports. To verify someone hasn't created a new account in your name.

Thanks for the advice. I checked and it's all good. Even if this had happened I'm not sure why they'd want to mail it to me.

 

[Complex757]

That sounds odd.

Nobody at your house ordered them?

What about someone doing it through apple for your carrier?

 

[oeagleo]

I just spontaneously received 2 Apple Watches (Series 4) in the mail. They appear to be sent directly from Apple, and they are addressed to my name and address. I didn't order them, and I've checked my bank statements and whatnot to confirm that I was never charged for them. They also don't show up in my Apple order history.

Does anybody have any idea what might be going on? Are the Apple police going to arrive at my house and make me send them back? Asking you guys because there's no way I'm asking Apple about it...

Don't know what happened, but if/when you find out, let us know here so we can enjoy this little perk also!

 

[casperes1996]

I would be wary. I don't know about legislation in your area, but where I live, if you recieve a product that you know is not meant for you (or should logically be able to work out is not for you), taking the product and using it as if it were meant for you is akin to theft - though paying for the goods is often good enough to settle the deal. You are not necessarily obligated to send them back yourself, but you're not allowed to use them. You should wait until contacted and then give them back - There is a limitation to how long this can take, but I think it's like a year or two.

 

[velocityg4]

If you are in the US. As far as I can tell. You can keep them and not have to pay for them.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise

Thanks for the advice. I checked and it's all good. Even if this had happened I'm not sure why they'd want to mail it to me.

Screwing up when setting up billing vs shipping info. That's how a family member found out someone created a card in their name.

 

[collin_]

I still have no idea what's going on, but hey I'm not complaining! There is no packing slip or any sort of information. Just the watches. They are both the GPS + Cellular models so that's nice.
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If you are in the US. As far as I can tell. You can keep them and not have to pay for them.
https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0181-unordered-merchandise



Screwing up when setting up billing vs shipping info. That's how a family member found out someone created a card in their name.

Thanks for the info! Hm if they end up contacting me I don't want to get on their bad side but I also don't want to forfeit two $529 watches. I wonder if they would "ban" me in some way.

 

[michaelb5000]

I am not sure I understand the full contours of this scam, but also make sure they were not ordered using your cell phone plan account. It is possible to order iPhones and watches using your verizon/att account plan, and those are easy to spoof and hack and there aren't really controls on what can be ordered. Why they ship to the users address is a mystery to me, but we have seen that issue before.

 

[collin_]

I am not sure I understand the full contours of this scam, but also make sure they were not ordered using your cell phone plan account. It is possible to order iPhones and watches using your verizon/att account plan, and those are easy to spoof and hack and there aren't really controls on what can be ordered. Why they ship to the users address is a mystery to me, but we have seen that issue before.

Thanks for the info. That doesn't appear to have happened either. When I look up the serial numbers Apple's website tells me "We’re unable to display coverage details because your device hasn’t been registered. Please contact your Apple product retailer or your wireless carrier to register this device."

 

[snawaey]

Nice man! Lucky you enjoy them. Must have been system glitch on there end and since it seems to be only you, it’ll fly under apple security radar

 

[kenm22]

I just spontaneously received 2 Apple Watches (Series 4) in the mail. They appear to be sent directly from Apple, and they are addressed to my name and address. I didn't order them, and I've checked my bank statements and whatnot to confirm that I was never charged for them. They also don't show up in my Apple order history.

Does anybody have any idea what might be going on? Are the Apple police going to arrive at my house and make me send them back? Asking you guys because there's no way I'm asking Apple about it...

Forgetting about the legal aspect of this, the morally right thing to do is to contact Apple. I guess we'll find out about your morals...that is if you care to share with us what you decide to do.

 

[44267547]

Keeping the watches is a bad idea, even if that’s what the OP decides to do, that’s their prerogative. I certainly would not keep them, somehow A mistake was made, if anything, you could turn them over to local law-enforcement for ‘found property’ as another option, being they were never really intended to begin with you in the first place. But this is just how I would handle the situation.

 

[rdy0329]

Morally, just give them a heads up. I've heard similar stories about Amazon and the rep would 90% of the time just tell you to keep it.

 

[staggerlee41]

I would contact Apple and explain what has happened. They may be able to shed light on when they were ordered and how they were paid for. If nothing else, that piece of mind would be worthwhile. Let alone the fact that you are being honest about it. If you want one, buy one legitimately.

 

[JWGold]

There’s a form of identity theft scam where a thief will steal your details and identity to open a credit account in your name and have items sent, hoping to intercept them off your porch before you do. They won’t show up on your bank statements or credit card statements, because they are not accounts that you opened. In some cases, the only way you will eventually find out is when the unpaid accounts go to collections and your credit score starts to suffer.

 

[44267547]

As the above poster mentioned, I’m not convinced that this is not some type of security breach with the OP‘s personal information. If I had to make an educated guess (I also used to work in Loss Prevention for years with these types of cases), I would say JWGold is correct, that somehow an account was opened in the OP’s name, they are not aware of it _yet_, but they will be when their credit store starts to drop When the balance goes unpaid for these watches. Security/financial fraud happens *every* single day to people that unsuspectedly have no idea how and when it happened, and I truly believe this might be a case right here in this very thread.

 

[Ifti]

Morally, we know what the 'right' thing to do it. Although it seems the OP has already made his mind up about 'forfeiting' the Apple watches..... although he's not really forfeiting anything, since they do not belong to him in the first instance.

Thanks for the info! Hm if they end up contacting me I don't want to get on their bad side but I also don't want to forfeit two $529 watches. I wonder if they would "ban" me in some way.

Even so, to protect your credit secure and your identity from identity theft if anything else, its best to contact Apple. Just air on the side of caution.....

 

[Phone Junky]

Even so, to protect your credit secure and your identity from identity theft if anything else, its best to contact Apple. Just air on the side of caution.....

This.
Personally, I wouldn't be looking at this as some sort of accidental good luck and bask in the the excitement of 2 "free" watches. I'd be more worried about why this "luck" happened to me and the very real possibility of some type of scam or identity theft. But that's just me.

 

[KarimLeVallois]

Personally, I'd contact Apple and return them. You never know, you may get some good old karma down the line.

 

[Ifti]

This.
Personally, I wouldn't be looking at this as some sort of accidental good luck and bask in the the excitement of 2 "free" watches. I'd be more worried about why this "luck" happened to me and the very real possibility of some type of scam or identity theft. But that's just me.

100% agreed.

 

[KarimLeVallois]

100% agreed.

200% agree! Things like this just don't happen! I'd put money on the fact that someone has probably cloned your card/details/identity and more than likely ordered the watches on the intention of intercepting them before they were delivered to your door.

 

[Ifti]

200% agree! Things like this just don't happen! I'd put money on the fact that someone has probably cloned your card/details/identity and more than likely ordered the watches on the intention of intercepting them before they were delivered to your door.

300% agree.
Definitely something dodgy going on.
And don't expect Apple to let you keep a unit out of goodwill either! Those days are long gone! lol

 

[casperes1996]

300% agree.
Definitely something dodgy going on.
And don't expect Apple to let you keep a unit out of goodwill either! Those days are long gone! lol

400% losing my grasp on how percentages are meant to work‍♂️

 

[collin_]

There’s a form of identity theft scam where a thief will steal your details and identity to open a credit account in your name and have items sent, hoping to intercept them off your porch before you do. They won’t show up on your bank statements or credit card statements, because they are not accounts that you opened. In some cases, the only way you will eventually find out is when the unpaid accounts go to collections and your credit score starts to suffer.

Morally, we know what the 'right' thing to do it. Although it seems the OP has already made his mind up about 'forfeiting' the Apple watches..... although he's not really forfeiting anything, since they do not belong to him in the first instance.



Even so, to protect your credit secure and your identity from identity theft if anything else, its best to contact Apple. Just air on the side of caution.....

This.
Personally, I wouldn't be looking at this as some sort of accidental good luck and bask in the the excitement of 2 "free" watches. I'd be more worried about why this "luck" happened to me and the very real possibility of some type of scam or identity theft. But that's just me.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I have already checked my credit report to verify that this is not the case.
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Morally, we know what the 'right' thing to do it. Although it seems the OP has already made his mind up about 'forfeiting' the Apple watches..... although he's not really forfeiting anything, since they do not belong to him in the first instance.

Well... that is debatable considering that they literally had my name on them and that the FTC says they're legally mine. lol