Imagine a delivery driver turning up at your door with that PlayStation 5 you ordered. Exciting stuff, right? Now imagine tearing open the box to find not the much-sought-after gaming console but instead a large bag of rice. Or a Nerf gun.
A number of customers in the U.K. claim to have experienced this bizarre outcome after the PS5 launched there on Friday, November 20, with all of the erroneous deliveries apparently the result of orders placed with Amazon.
Journalist and presenter Bex May was one of the first to hit Twitter to share her tale of wrongful delivery after she received an air fryer instead of a PS5 console …
Happy #PS5 day everyone. Tried to document our one’s unveiling, but Amazon have tricked us with an unsolicited air fryer instead (after giving delivery password). Anyone else had this problem today? pic.twitter.com/99IUSzSJUU
— Bex April May (@bexlectric) November 19, 2020
London-based Adam Sullivan fared no better, happening upon something that most definitely was not a PS5 …
So went to open my PlayStation 5 that I ordered from @AmazonUK and found this! Some one has replaced it with rice!I wish I was joking! Pls RT! pic.twitter.com/VcSNce4Zgo
— iamadamsullivan (@iamadamsullivan) November 19, 2020
Another claimed to find cat food instead of the $500 Sony gaming console that they ordered, while someone else said they received a Nerf gun.
It’s not clear what’s going on, suffice to say that either at the warehouse, or at some point after, there are some very weird shenanigans taking place.
A spokesman for Amazon U.K. told The Guardian: “We’re all about making our customers happy, and that hasn’t happened for a small proportion of these orders.”
He added: “We’re really sorry about that and are investigating exactly what’s happened. We’re reaching out to every customer who’s had a problem and made us aware so we can put it right. Anyone who has had an issue with any order can contact our customer services team for help.”
Sony’s PlayStation 5 has been selling out around the world as gaming fans clamber to get their hands on the popular machine. The latest version of the PlayStation console has been winning rave reviews, with this site, for example, awarding it four-and-a-half stars out of a possible five for its attractive design, speedy hardware, and excellent load times. It certainly performs better than a bag of rice.
Digital Trends has reached out to Amazon to try to find out more about what on earth is going on and we will update this article when we hear back.