There's no denying that Amazon has revolutionized the way we do our holiday shopping. If you can't face the mall in the run-up to the 25th of December, buying the lion's share online has become a convenient and stress-free alternative.
But some of the online retail giant's customers have been disappointed in recent days to find that presents are being delivered to their homes without Amazon's trademark brown cardboard packaging. Instead, items are arriving with a delivery label applied directly to the original packaging, which could spoil a family member's festive surprise.
Writing on Twitter, Amazon customer Mandy Squire accused the company of "ruining Christmas" after a Scalextric set arrived at her home without any additional packaging, and was seen by the person who was supposed to be opening it as their Christmas present.
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Absolutely fuming with @AmazonUK ordered a surprise Christmas present and it arrived just as it was, without the brown cardboard wrapping. So the person who was supposed to be getting it as a surprise saw it when it was delivered!!!! Furious!!! You've ruined Christmas! ??? pic.twitter.com/towxVjCTri
— Mandy Squire (@Dawberchoff) November 16, 2017
Other customers have also used Twitter and Amazon UK's Facebook page to complain about the lack of protective packaging on surprise Christmas presents.
@AmazonUK Thank you for nearly ruining a child’s Christmas #bahhumbug pic.twitter.com/TZiuKQgl2u
— lesley ewing (@lesleyewing35) November 18, 2017
I wonder if my wife will know what I got her for Christmas. Thanks @AmazonUK! pic.twitter.com/4NvcNsgnt8
— Andrew Byfield (@AndrewByfield) November 16, 2017
Responding to a customer who complained on Facebook, Deadline News reports, an Amazon representative explained that the company is trying to minimise the amount of packaging it uses, which is obviously an entirely admirable and environmentally-friend policy to adopt. The representative also pointed out that Amazon customers have a guaranteed way of making sure their Christmas presents arrive concealed in the company's familiar brown packaging.
The representative told the customer: "I’m so very sorry that your surprise was ruined. We try to minimise the amount of packaging materials we use as much as possible. For future orders, you can keep the contents of your package a surprise by selecting the gift option during checkout, or you may mark ‘Ship in Amazon box’ on the checkout page if you don’t wish to reveal the contents."
Amazon Prime, the company's next-day delivery service, turned ten years old earlier this week. To mark the milestone, the company revealed its best-selling products via Prime in the UK.