Received An Unknown Package from FDC

Gwyneth Paltrow's head?

I order a lot of things through the mail, even before this whole online shopping thing.  I used to mail away for stuff and allow them 6-8 weeks for delivery.  Sometimes I will order something and do not remember what I ordered.

Holey damaged boxes, Batman!

Yesterday I got a suspicious package.  The box was damaged, corners were bent, flaps not secured, sides crushed, and hole on side.  The box measures 14 x 14 x 5 inches (it says it on the bottom) and weighs 4 pounds, 4 ounces (yeah, I weighed it).  I did not recognize the address nor sender so I went through my emails to see what it was it could possibly be.  I checked the usually online accounts, nothing was pending.  Little more one that later.

I checked the tracking number to see where and when the package was shipped.  Hopefully, giving me a clue of what I may have ordered.  Originating from Georgia and took ten days via USPS to get to me.

Tracking the package

Again, I cross referenced the date and location to try to get more information on the package.

The package came from a PO Box 61553 in Savannah, Georgia and from sender known as FDC.

Who in the blue hell, are you?

I did a quick search on Google, and it  seems that FDC is a fulfillment center.  This could mean that something was ordered and it just went through this place in Savannah to get to me.  Again, I checked my accounts and nothing is pending.

One thing that concerned me, if you look at the Google link, you will see there some links relating to scams.  The complaints center around a free trial of dietary supplements...which I never ordered.  Nor did I give out any payment information to any health related institute.

This company offered a free trial dietary supplement with no obligation. They asked for a CC# to pay for shipping only. We did not like the product and had no intention of reordering. Over the next 3 months, they sent us 3 shipments of product, billing our CC for $500. A confirmation email was never sent. the first 2 shipments contained paperwork with a disconnected phone number. The 3rd shipment contained 2 phone numbers, one of which was valid, allowing us to cancel. They claim we agreed to be automatically enrolled and refuse to refund our money.

Since I never ordered any dietary supplements, it was odd that this packaged showed up.  How did they get my shipping information?  Do they have my payment information?  Are they telling me I need to lose weight?

No only did I check my online shopping accounts, I immediately checked my payment accounts to see if it was hit.  Luckily, nothing...yet.  Again, why was this sent to me?  Normally, you get charged before it ships.

There is a chance that something was ordered way back and the merchant just used this fulfillment center to ship my stuff, having nothing to do with heath products.

I did some more digging and searched for received package I did not order.  Results were good, in my favour.  According to the government, I do not have to send it back, it is mine.  Also, since I never ordered the item(s), they are not supposed to charge me for it.

From the Federal Trade Commission website:

What do you do when you receive merchandise that you didn’t order? According to the Federal Trade Commission, you don’t have to pay for it. Federal laws prohibit mailing unordered merchandise to consumers and then demanding payment.

From the U.S. Postal Inspection Service website:

Furthermore, it is illegal for a company that sends you unordered merchandise to follow the mailing with a bill or dunning communication.  

Damaged goods?

So, I am in the clear.  Hopefully, I can find out who sent this.  Obviously, I am writing this to protect myself, just in case.  I have yet to open the box, I might wait a while to see if there are any actions in my payment statements.  One day I will open it and I will give an update.  I hope it is something that I ordered and be totally embarrassed by my stupidity and not some health supplies.  Stay tuned

Update:  Well, this is embarrassing...but good.  No scam, no fraud.

I finally open the box and realized what it was.  Guess what, it was something I ordered...back in June.  I guess I should have checked my records back to eight months ago.  It was a Kickstarter campaign for Reading Rainbow.  All that worrying for nothing, and I got some cool stuff.