Watch sent to wrong address - how to resolve?

[asharahmed]

Placed an Apple Watch order on May 23 and paid via Apple Pay. Immediately after paying I noticed the shipping address was set to my old address and I called apple to change this, and was told it was submitted.

A few days later I get a call and i’m told that the change was confirmed and that it will be sent to the new address. Fast forward to last week and it was delivered to the old address. Apple opened an investigation and mailed me a free stand for my trouble (a very nice gesture).

However I haven’t heard anything regarding fixing the situation, and right now since the Watch is still sitting in the mailbox of that old address, I don’t want someone to take it in the meantime.

It’s been around a week and haven’t gotten any updates from Apple. Wondering what to do in this situation and whether anyone else has been in this predicament.

 

[44267547]

Placed an Apple Watch order on May 23 and paid via Apple Pay. Immediately after paying I noticed the shipping address was set to my old address and I called apple to change this, and was told it was submitted.

A few days later I get a call and i’m told that the change was confirmed and that it will be sent to the new address. Fast forward to last week and it was delivered to the old address. Apple opened an investigation and mailed me a free stand for my trouble (a very nice gesture).

However I haven’t heard anything regarding fixing the situation, and right now since the Watch is still sitting in the mailbox of that old address, I don’t want someone to take it in the meantime.

It’s been around a week and haven’t gotten any updates from Apple. Wondering what to do in this situation and whether anyone else has been in this predicament.

If it’s in the mailbox as you’re claiming, For starters, how far do you live away from your ‘old address’ where you can retrieve it from the mailbox? Is this a house, apartment or condo or some sort? Is there anyone like a neighbor/friend that could retrieve it for you? Unless it’s under lock and key, say like an apartment/condo complex, then it should be perfectly safe.

Usually with Apple Watch packages, it’s ‘left at door/delivered to front door’, which means the Postal Service had to deliver your watch for you, as UPS/FedEx does not deliver Apple products in mailboxes, that’s against their policy.

If The watch has been delivered, there’s nothing Apple will do for you at this point, I would try to find a viable way to retrieve the watch ASAP and ‘close this case out’. If the watch is stolen, then Apple has to conduct an investigation with that specific carrier who delivered it, what happened to it, ect. (Which can take months with package investigations.)

I agree that Apple made a mistake by delivering to the wrong address, especially being that they attempted to input the new address as you alluded to, but if it’s ‘delivered’ and you know where it’s delivered, by all efforts, [If I was you], I would be making all reasonable efforts to retrieve it, if it’s in your mailbox. I think Apple would agree with me on these solutions.

 

[asharahmed]

If it’s in the mailbox as you’re claiming, For starters, how far do you live away from your ‘old address’ where you can retrieve it from the mailbox? Is this a house, apartment or condo or some sort? Is there anyone like a neighbor/friend that could retrieve it for you? Unless it’s under lock and key, say like an apartment/condo complex, then it should be perfectly safe.

Usually with Apple Watch packages, it’s ‘left at door/delivered to front door’, which means the Postal Service had to deliver your watch for you, as UPS/FedEx does not deliver Apple products in mailboxes, that’s against their policy.

If The watch has been delivered, there’s nothing Apple will do for you at this point, I would try to find a viable way to retrieve the watch ASAP and ‘close this case out’. If the watch is stolen, then Apple has to conduct an investigation with that specific carrier who delivered it, what happened to it, ect. (Which can take months with package investigations.)

I agree that Apple made a mistake by delivering to the wrong address, especially being that they attempted to input the new address as you alluded to, but if it’s ‘delivered’ and you know where it’s delivered, by all efforts, [If I was you], I would be making all reasonable efforts to retrieve it, if it’s in your mailbox. I think Apple would agree with me on these solutions.

The old address is halfway across the country so it’s not easily accessible. I’ve asked friends if they can go grab it and mail it to me but Apple says to leave it in the mailbox for now and that they wouldn’t pay for the shipping, and to wait on case resolution.

It was delivered by UPS to the door without signature due to COVID-19, they’ve waived that requirement.

 

[Phil77354]

The old address is halfway across the country so it’s not easily accessible. I’ve asked friends if they can go grab it and mail it to me but Apple says to leave it in the mailbox for now and that they wouldn’t pay for the shipping, and to wait on case resolution.

It was delivered by UPS to the door without signature due to COVID-19, they’ve waived that requirement.

"leave it in the mailbox" . . . "delivered . . to the door" -- which was it?

Sure seems like you could get one of your old neighbors to simply grab it and send it to you. Just because Apple says to leave it in the mailbox - if it is in the mailbox - didn't you leave forwarding instructions with the Post Office? - why is that stopping you from doing the sensible thing?

I think you're making this more difficult than it has to be. If you give your old neighbors or local friends permission to get it, whether in the mailbox or on your porch, they can just go get it. Tell them you'll reimburse them for the cost to send it to you. Or maybe they just write 'forward to . . . ' on the box and it won't even cost them anything.

The longer you leave it there the more opportunity for someone who doesn't have your permission to grab it. Instead of spending time asking people here what to do, pick up the phone and get your old neighbors to give you a hand!

 

[asharahmed]

"leave it in the mailbox" . . . "delivered . . to the door" -- which was it?

Sure seems like you could get one of your old neighbors to simply grab it and send it to you. Just because Apple says to leave it in the mailbox - if it is in the mailbox - didn't you leave forwarding instructions with the Post Office? - why is that stopping you from doing the sensible thing?

I think you're making this more difficult than it has to be. If you give your old neighbors or local friends permission to get it, whether in the mailbox or on your porch, they can just go get it. Tell them you'll reimburse them for the cost to send it to you. Or maybe they just write 'forward to . . . ' on the box and it won't even cost them anything.

The longer you leave it there the more opportunity for someone who doesn't have your permission to grab it. Instead of spending time asking people here what to do, pick up the phone and get your old neighbors to give you a hand!

The tracking says DELIVERED TO: MAILBOX - FRONT DOOR.

It wasn’t mailed via the Post Office so Canada Post wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I did put a forwarding request in with UPS though.

My main concern is getting reimbursed by Apple for the shipping and insurance in that case as Apple said they wouldn’t support it

 

[Phil77354]

It wasn’t mailed via the Post Office so Canada Post wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I did put a forwarding request in with UPS though.

My main concern is getting reimbursed by Apple for the shipping and insurance.

Let's see if we understand this correctly - Apple sent it to the address you gave them, right? It was your fault, that you didn't catch that your old address was still present, when you placed the order. Despite that when you order from Apple, they give you a summary of the order, including the shipping address, and it is right in front of you to check, before the order is placed.

So you made an honest mistake, but it was your mistake. Isn't that right?

And why in the world do you think that Apple should now pay shipping and insurance, to send it from the address specified in the order, to your new address which you did not specify in the order??

OK, you also said that you called them and they told you it would be corrected, and it was not. So someone at Apple mistakenly thought that they could get the address changed in time, before the order was processed. But the fact is, Apple processes orders darn fast and that was the mistake of the Apple person in thinking that could be done - at best you should have been told that they would try but could not guarantee.

Doesn't change my point - just get someone to pick it up for you and send it to you. What's the big deal? Take some responsibility for making the mistake in the first place.

 

[asharahmed]

Let's see if we understand this correctly - Apple sent it to the address you gave them, right? It was your fault, that you didn't catch that your old address was still present, when you placed the order. Despite that when you order from Apple, they give you a summary of the order, including the shipping address, and it is right in front of you to check, before the order is placed.

So you made an honest mistake, but it was your mistake. Isn't that right?

And why in the world do you think that Apple should now pay shipping and insurance, to send it from the address specified in the order, to your new address which you did not specify in the order??

OK, you also said that you called them and they told you it would be corrected, and it was not. So someone at Apple mistakenly thought that they could get the address changed in time, before the order was processed. But the fact is, Apple processes orders darn fast and that was the mistake of the Apple person in thinking that could be done - at best you should have been told that they would try but could not guarantee.

I see. I did not know it was an attempt and not a guarantee - I was told by Apple multiple times that the address had indeed been changed and that they would take responsibility if it was delivered to the old one.

 

[TiggrToo]

The old address is halfway across the country so it’s not easily accessible. I’ve asked friends if they can go grab it and mail it to me but Apple says to leave it in the mailbox for now and that they wouldn’t pay for the shipping, and to wait on case resolution.

It was delivered by UPS to the door without signature due to COVID-19, they’ve waived that requirement.

Just to clarify a couple of things:

1) Neither UPS nor FedEx are allowed to place items in a US mailbox. The mailbox is for USPS use only.
2) You've always had the ability to speak to UPS and FedEx and request a redirection.
3) Apple are not required here to do anything. The mistake was unfortunately yours and yours alone. Anything they do do to help is a plus.
4) How do you prove theft? UPS and FedEx will claim the item was delivered. If the new owner of the address so desires they can keep the item in question - it's not up to them to prove anything.

Normally one could leverage 18 U.S. Code § 1702, (in the US) but that only covers USPS deliveries.

agree that Apple made a mistake by delivering to the wrong address,

How so? They delivered it to the address submitted on the order. Ergo it was, to all intents and purposes, the "right" address.

 

[Phil77354]

I see. I did not know it was an attempt and not a guarantee - I was told by Apple multiple times that the address had indeed been changed and that they would take responsibility if it was delivered to the old one.

Regardless of what they told you, and they are just as capable of making mistakes as anyone else, you can either fuss about it for as long as you want, and keep trying to get some kind of satisfaction from Apple or whomever else you think has responsibility here besides yourself, or you can accept that the root cause of the problem was your own error. So have someone pick it up from your old place and send it to you, and pay them for whatever it costs, and move on. Or not. Your choice.

 

[44267547]

The old address is halfway across the country so it’s not easily accessible. I’ve asked friends if they can go grab it and mail it to me but Apple says to leave it in the mailbox for now and that they wouldn’t pay for the shipping, and to wait on case resolution.

Honestly, I don’t care what Apple told you to do. If you know in fact the Apple Watch is in your mailbox and you have friends readily available to pick it up for you that you trust, then have them do it, case closed. Then they can ship the watch to you certified with a tracking manifest. Otherwise, you’re looking at a pending investigation from Apple direct with the carrier, which as I said Prior, which can take months before they’ll make any decision.

I don’t think it needs to be that difficult of a situation, if your friends have access to the mailbox, have them pick it up for you, and then make arrangements to have the package delivered to you from there. Then notify Apple the package is Retrieved, and they will close it out. If it was me, I wouldn’t worry about the shipping, I would probably just be happy enough to have the Apple Watch that I paid for.

 

[Bandaman]

Have your friends send it to you. The end.

 

[TiggrToo]

Honestly, I don’t care what Apple told you to do. If you know in fact the Apple Watch is in your mailbox and you have friends readily available to pick it up for you that you trust, then have them do it, case closed. Then they can ship the watch to you certified with a tracking manifest. Otherwise, you’re looking at a pending investigation from Apple direct with the carrier, which as I said Prior, which can take months before they’ll make any decision.

I don’t think it needs to be that difficult of a situation, if your friends have access to the mailbox, have them pick it up for you, and then make arrangements to have the package delivered to you from there. Then notify Apple the package is Retrieved, and they will close it out. If it was me, I wouldn’t worry about the shipping, I would probably just be happy enough to have the Apple Watch that I paid for.

Could not such an action be construed by the current homeowners as theft?

I know if I saw someone I didn't know walk up to my porch and remove a package therein then I'd be the first to call the police.

Your friends could then be charged with theft as a result and you too might be held liable if they were acting as your agent.

 

[Bandaman]

Could not such an action be construed by the current homeowners as theft?

I know if I saw someone I didn't know walk up to my porch and remove a package therein then I'd be the first to call the police.

Your friends could then be charged with theft as a result and you too might be held liable if they were acting as your agent.

If people are living there they could simply knock on their door and tell them what happened.

 

[planteater]

You can’t just go to another persons mailbox and grab what you think is yours. That is theft. It does not matter who’s name is on the package. This needs to be dealt with via the shipper and shipping carrier. An alternative would be to contact the owners of the mailbox, explain the error and take your chances on them being reasonable and work with you.

 

[Phil77354]

Good grief. That Apple Watch is going to sit on that doorstep, or in the mailbox, or wherever it is, with anyone and everyone afraid to approach it, until the Series 6 watch comes out, then the complaint will be that it is obsolete and Apple should give him an upgrade!

This started with the OP's plead that, after a week sitting idly by waiting for - what exactly? - to take place, he finally turns to his best source of advice - the MacRumors forum!! That should have been a warning sign right there, that sign of near total desperation!

His reward for asking advice here has basically been a 50/50 split of opinion, one side saying not to touch it with a 10 ft pole lest some law be violated, the other saying to simply have someone walk up to the porch and get the darn thing and quit messing around!

We don't even know if there is someone living at the old address now, that was never stated one way or another, was it? If it is still sitting in the mailbox (which is what the OP said), then presumably the place is still vacant. Unless so much time has now gone by that it is occupied, in which case the new occupants probably took it out of the mailbox and did something with it - why not call them and ask? (Or get someone to go by there on your behalf, as 50% of us have been recommending here).

This isn't that hard. If the new owners, or neighborhood, or whatever the circumstances are where this poor Apple Watch is shipwrecked, are so bad that a friend can't just go to the place and get it, then first send your friend a power-of-attorney, along with all sale paperwork demonstrating your ownership of said package, to act on your behalf with respect to this poor misplaced shipment, then have your friend call 911 and get a police escort to accompany him and pick it up, while at all times following all local, regional, national and international laws. Have I overlooked anything?!?