Missing Christmas packages leave Nova Scotians frustrated with online order deliveries
CBC
The holiday season is proving anything but bright for some Nova Scotians whose Christmas packages have gone missing, despite delivery drivers claiming they were delivered.
Ashley Farnsworth of Torbrook, N.S., who had problems with two different orders, said she first became aware of the issue when she saw online posts about packages being delivered to the wrong addresses.
She said some people were emailed a photograph that was supposed to provide proof of delivery by showing their home — except the house was not theirs. In some instances, the same photo was sent to multiple people as proof of delivery.
Most of the packages had been ordered through online shopping platforms like Temu.
Farnsworth told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Nova Scotia she wasn't home when her first package went missing and the home in the photo that was sent to her to confirm delivery to her address wasn't hers.
She called the courier company, StraightShip, but she said they hung up on her before she even finished her sentence.
Two weeks ago, while she was home, she received notification with a photograph that another parcel had been delivered to her front step.
She rushed to the front door to find the driver attempting to take the parcel back. She stopped him and asked him where he had been intending to take it.
"He just kind of stuttered and didn't really have anything to say," Farnsworth said.
"And when I kept pursuing the question … he got back in his vehicle and hightailed it out of there."
That encounter prompted her to set up a Facebook group dedicated to the issue of missing parcels. The group now has around 1,600 members.
Farnsworth said she also contacted the vendor, Temu, which provided her with a credit.
She said Temu told her she could choose to block the courier on their website but it would still be used for delivery of certain parcel types.
Meanwhile, in Berwick, N.S., David Bent is worried his children may not have a proper Christmas after $200 worth of gifts he ordered for them went missing.