Man Claims He Ordered Colgate Mouthwash on Amazon But Got Sent Smartphone

An Indian man claims that Amazon recently sent him a smartphone instead of the package of mouthwash that he ordered.

Lokesh Daga, of Mumbai, India, spent 396 Indian Rupees— roughly U.S.$5—on a four-pack of Colgate mouthwash, but instead received a Redmi Note 10 smartphone worth over 30 times as much.

While tweeting about the mishap last week, Daga said that because Amazon considered his mouthwash order a "consumable product," he was unable to exchange the phone.

Although the shipping label was addressed to Daga, the invoice inside the package included the name of the person who had presumably ordered the phone. Daga said that he emailed the person listed on the invoice in order to "get the product delivered to the right person."

News of the shipping mistake went viral in India. At least one Twitter user offered to send Daga mouthwash in exchange for the phone. On Tuesday, Daga tweeted photos of a mouthwash gift basket sent to him by Listerine India, while commenting that he was still waiting on a response from Amazon concerning the phone.

Newsweek reached out to Amazon India for comment.

The company has made similar mistakes in the past. A man placed an Amazon order for skin lotion worth 300 rupees—$4 U.S.—but received a pair of Bose headphones worth 19,000 rupees—around $260 U.S.—last year, according to The Indian Express. Amazon reportedly barred him from returning the headphones due to the lotion being deemed "non-returnable."

Some Amazon shipping mistakes have been less than desirable.

In November 2019, Vishal Solanki of Ontario, Canada told Newsweek that he received a children's art set that he ordered as a gift for his 8-year-old niece alongside an unexpected baggie containing a mysterious assortment of pills. Solanki noted that if his niece had assumed the pills were "candy" and consumed them, "a whole other conversation" would be taking place.

A New Jersey family got a decidedly unpleasant surprise when they received a package of dirty diapers apparently sent from Amazon in January of this year. Nassly Sales and Sid Mukherjee were shocked to discover the soiled diapers in the mail after ordering one package marked "new" and another marked "used: like new," according to The Jersey Journal.

"I picked up the pack to kind of take a closer look [and] that's when the stench hit me," Mukherjee told the outlet. "Oh! This is not right ... one actually has poop in it."

It is not clear how the mistake was made. An Amazon spokesperson told Newsweek that the company "worked directly with the customer to address this situation," while expressing "regret that this situation did not live up to our high standards."