A woman in Karnataka's Bengaluru found a snake in the package she ordered online from Amazon App on Sunday, June 16. The woman had ordered Xbox controller from Amazon.
Sharing a video of the package on social media, the woman, Tanvi, said on X "Ordered an Xbox controller from @amazonIN and received a free snake with it!". Amazon's customer support reportedly put them on hold for over two hours, forcing them to handle the situation all by themselves "in the middle of the night."
"We ordered an Xbox controller 2 days ago from Amazon and received a live snake in the package. The package was directly handed over to us by the delivery partner (not left outside). We live on Sarjapur road and captured the entire incident on camera, plus we have eyewitnesses to the same," India Today quoted the customer as saying.
"Fortunately, it (snake) was stuck to the packaging tape and did not harm anyone in our household or apartment. Despite the danger, Amazon's customer support put us on hold for over 2 hours, forcing us to handle the situation all by ourselves in the middle of the night (again proof captured in videos and photos)," she added.
"We did receive a complete refund, but what do we get for risking our lives here with a highly venomous snake? This is clearly a safety breach caused solely by Amazon's negligence and their poor transportation/warehousing hygiene and supervision. Where is the accountability for such a serious lapse in safety?" she asked.
Responding to the incident, Amazon said it was "sorry" and asked for details from the customers.
"We're sorry to know about the inconvenience you've had with the Amazon order. We'd like to have this checked. Please share the required details here, and our team will get back to you soon with an update," Amazon said on X.
The customer later gave an update that Amazon "just shared a full refund" but did not offer any official apology beyond that.
"They have just shared a full refund, which they should have anyway. But we did not receive any compensation or an official apology beyond that. Their typical we regret the inconvenience caused to you, I believe does not count. This is by all means not acceptable to us as Amazon customers and to their delivery partner as an employee. This is a clear breach of safety. Also, I do not think we will receive a satisfactory resolution anytime soon," the customer said.
The snake is said to have been released somewhere safe away from public reach.
