Company sends package to wrong address, asks random recipient to print out a label and take it to UPS: 'This isn't my problem'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Nov 16, 2025 10:00 PM EST

Dealing with packages is one of those things that you have to deal with as an adult more frequently than you ever imagined. Some folks might quantify true adulthood as living independently, having a full-time job, or paying for your own phone bill. But no. Real adulthood doesn't start until the moment you successfully drop off a parcel at UPS. It's harder than it seems. You have to know what shipping label is correct, wait in line at a store that keeps random hours, and is somehow always packed. Then you have to swallow your pride and pay whatever arbitrary fee they've asked for to transport your package. It's utterly joyless and yet unavoidable. 

But these are the risks you assume when you shop online. The convenience of it is too hard to deny. You can get anything in the world shipped to you? How are we supposed to turn that down? If the price is having to deal with packages, we'll take it. But what if you didn't even order anything, and yet you still found yourself saddled with that annoying chore?

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  • A man holds a parcel in a cardboard box.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

  • That's what happened to this unlucky man who ended up with a package that wasn't his own. But in his attempt to do the right thing and find its rightful owner, the company responsible for the package expected too much of him. Read on to see what happened and decide what you would have done. 

  • Am I in the wrong for refusing to transport packages free of charge for a company I don't even do business with?

    Last week two medium sized packages arrived at my doorstep while I was at work. They had my home address on them, but the person they were addressed to was someone I had never even heard of before.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • Perplexed, I looked to see who sent it and called the company, but they were closed.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • So I brought the packages in and stored them for the weekend. Yesterday after work I called the company to inform them of this error.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • The representative asks me to print off shipping labels and use packing tape to attach the labels to the boxes.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • Then this company wants me to haul this stuff to a Fedex store. At this point I put the brakes on.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • In the nicest way I know how I tell the representative that this isn't my responsibility.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • I didn't ask for any of this. I'm already doing them a favor by storing their products in my home, plus using my own printer and tape to attach shipping labels.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • They need to arrange it so that the packages are picked up from my home, not ask me to drive the packages across town using my own vehicle (fuel, time, etc).
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • Eventually, they agreed that the packages would be picked up from my home. I didn't want to be rude, but I had spent approximately 25+ minutes on and off hold.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • And I found in kind of presumptuous that I was being asked to provide shipping supplies at my own expense, plus transport packages that I never ordered for a company I don't even do business with.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • I'm not trying to be a jerk, but this isn't my problem.
    via u/Noe_Wunn
  • A man affixes a shipping label to a box.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

  • Commenters agreed that there might be more to the story here.

    Ok_Aioli3897 NTA especially when you don't know what is in the parcel. It could be a legitimate business or it could be a front
    via u/Ok_Aioli3897
  • 09Klr650 NTA. PLUS you may have just facilitated a drug shipment. Because when the feds trace that package it ends at YOUR doorstep. New label means the tracking stops with you.
    via u/09Klr650
  • boazed_n_delivered Walmart wanted me to return some salsa in broken leaking jars. I cut my finger opening the package on a piece of glass stuck to the tape inside. I told them I could dropped them off at the store when I picked up my order but I wasn't opening a box and packing up broken leaking glass and cutting myself again. They told me to keep it and gave me a refund. Who packs glass with no padding whatsoever?
    via u/boazed_n_delivered
  • choneyisland I have heard of drug gangs sending packages to the wrong address and asking the occupant to resend it so the paper trail is broken so don't take the chance
    via u/choneyisland
  • LilacSerenique You didn't sign up to be their unpaid delivery driver. They messed up, they fix it. You were already nicer than most by even calling them instead of just marking it "return to sender."
    via u/LilacSerenique
  • Puce-moments Let them know that next time you will refuse delivery and leave the packages outside.
    via u/Puce-moments
  • Whybaby16154 Scam. Check out the scam subreddits. Package mule. Or maybe you can get in trouble for forwarding them because they're purchased with stolen credit card.
    via u/Whybaby16154
  • Rosebird17 It's a scam
    via u/Rosebird17
  • jbarneswilson i got scammed by an "employer" who did this. the packages would come to my address but have someone else's name on them, i had to open and inspect the package, upload photos of the item, print a new label then take it to fedex or ups and have them ship it off to the next stop. i was on 30-day probation then would get paid after the 30 days. i think you can guess what happened when i tried to get paid
    via u/jbarneswilson
  • Aven_Rosea IMO you handled this perfectly cuz you went above and beyond by storing their packages, and them expecting you to cover shipping supplies and drop them off is totally unreasonable. Setting boundaries without being rude is exactly how adults handle nonsense like this.
    via u/Aven_Rosea

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