Two Canberra residents have found themselves in an unexpected battle with Amazon Australia after receiving completely different items instead of the expensive virtual reality headsets they ordered, with one customer getting breakfast cereal and the other a travel pillow.
The Coco Pops Surprise
Fadden resident Beth Chapman, a long-time Amazon Prime customer, made what should have been an exciting purchase on September 13, 2025. She ordered a Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset along with a charging dock and elite head strap with batteries, totalling $1,235.
"I bought a headset, a charging dock, and an elite head strap with batteries," Mrs Chapman told The Canberra Times about her substantial purchase.
The following afternoon, the 47-year-old mother of two collected an intact parcel from her doorstep with no visible signs of tampering. Her excitement quickly turned to confusion when she opened the package to discover three boxes of 650-gram Coco Pops cereal instead of her high-tech VR equipment.
"I took it inside and opened it to find three boxes of 650 grams of Coco Pops," she recounted, describing how she went into "a bit of a panic" upon making the bizarre discovery.
Amazon's Response and Double Charging
Mrs Chapman immediately contacted Amazon's customer care, requesting a phone call to locate her missing VR headset. The initial response seemed promising when an Amazon agent had her upload photos of the cereal packages to temporary Dropbox links and resolved the situation within 10 to 15 minutes.
By September 16, she finally received the correct VR headset, charging dock, and headgear she had originally ordered. She alerted Amazon about the Coco Pops, worth approximately $17, that she wanted to return.
The situation took another frustrating turn on October 6 when Mrs Chapman received an email from Amazon reminding her to "return incorrectly delivered items." She engaged in conversations with Amazon agents about returning the mislabelled cereal boxes.
"I assumed I would only be charged $17 for the Coco Pops," said Mrs Chapman. However, her assumptions were proven wrong when on October 30, she discovered Amazon had deducted $798, $218, and $219 from her bank account - effectively charging her twice for the VR headset, charging dock, and head strap.
Realising she had been "charged twice," the Canberran began her ongoing struggle to obtain a rightful refund and return the cereal. "I'm yet to receive the refund," she confirmed on Tuesday morning.
Friend Receives Neck Pillow Instead
In a strikingly similar incident, Mrs Chapman's friend Ryan from Higgins experienced an equally perplexing delivery issue. After taking his friend's recommendation about the Meta Quest 3 - unaware of her delivery fiasco - Ryan ordered the same VR headset from Amazon on November 3.
The 46-year-old, who preferred to be identified only by his first name, received a small box that showed no signs of suspicion. Upon opening it, he discovered a small blue vacuum neck pillow instead of the anticipated virtual reality system.
"I received a small box and nothing suspicious. I opened it to find a small blue vacuum neck pillow," the Higgins resident said.
Ryan promptly raised the issue with the e-commerce giant and has since placed a fresh order for the VR headset, which he successfully received. He returned the neck pillow through the post on Thursday but, like his friend, has yet to receive a refund for his initial order.
Amazon's Official Stance and Next Steps
Amazon Australia has confirmed they are reviewing the cases of both Canberra customers and will take necessary action to provide resolutions.
In an official statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the e-commerce platform works hard to create a trustworthy shopping experience by protecting customers, selling partners, and the firm from fraud and abuse, noting they have systems in place to detect suspicious behaviour.
The company representative encouraged customers experiencing problems with their orders to contact Amazon Customer Service directly so issues could be investigated and appropriate action taken.
With Amazon not having refunded the excess money deducted for more than two weeks, one of the affected customers now plans to approach the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the country's fair trading and product safety regulator, for proper redress.
The incidents highlight ongoing concerns about delivery reliability and customer service responsiveness in Australia's rapidly growing e-commerce sector, particularly for high-value items where customers stand to lose significant amounts of money when things go wrong.
