Anya Carroll, 31, from Bristol, was shocked when her ordered iPhone 16 from Sky Mobile, part of a Black Friday deal, arrived as a lump of clay. After contacting Sky, she found customer service unhelpful, and they claimed there was insufficient evidence of tampering during delivery. Sky initially insisted she continue paying for a phone she never received. Eventually, after ongoing frustrations and feeling accused of fraud, Sky canceled her contract and agreed to refund her payments. Sky acknowledged the incident but stated their investigation concluded the delivery was intact. Carroll declined a replacement phone offer.
A woman was left stunned after ordering a brand new mobile phone from a high street retailer when she received a package containing a large lump of clay instead.
Anya Carroll, 31, from Bradley Stoke, Bristol, took advantage of November’s Black Friday sale by signing a 36-month contract with Sky Mobile and upgrading her phone to an iPhone 16 (worth around £800). Upgraded.
but she saidShe says she got the “biggest shock of her life” when she opened her package and discovered that instead of the cell phone she had been waiting for, it contained a craft item.
The bewildered project manager immediately alerted Sky, but claims customer service was unhelpful and his calls went unanswered.
After a brief investigation, Sky was told there was “insufficient evidence” that the package had been tampered with before delivery and there was nothing more it could do.
Compounding her distress, Miss Carroll advised her to continue paying for the mobile phone she never received. Because if the money stops, she is the one who will be in breach of contract.
She claims Sky “washed its hands of me” after the case reached an “impasse”, leaving her with only a lump of white clay to show for her monthly payments of £25.
Contacted by MailOnline, Sky agreed to cancel the contract and refund any money she had paid so far.
Anya Carroll, 31, from Bradley Stoke, Bristol, was left stunned after ordering a new mobile phone from Sky. Instead, I received a package containing a large lump of clay.
Carol took advantage of November’s Black Friday sale by signing a 36-month contract with Sky Mobile and upgrading her phone to an iPhone 16, worth around £900.
Carol said: “I needed a new phone so I went to the Sky Store in Cribbs Causeway and ordered what I thought was a great deal on a monthly contract.”
“Since I was a first-time customer, they tempted me to subscribe to broadband as well.”
Excited about her new purchase, Carol asked for a pink version of the iPhone, but the store didn’t have it in stock.
The store staff told me it would be delivered to my home the next day, but it was never delivered.
‘I thought so. It was a little strange because I had received a text message from Sky saying I was going to receive it.
“I contacted Sky and they reassured me that it might arrive from another warehouse and there might be a delay.
“Then we looked at the DPD tracker and saw that it had been stored in a warehouse, but there was no indication as to why.”
The package was finally delivered the next day, and Carol recalls feeling “a lot of weight” when it was handed to her.
After a brief investigation, Sky was told there was “insufficient evidence” that the package had been tampered with before delivery and there was nothing more it could do.
The circumstances suggest that Miss Carroll may have been the victim of a scam known as refund or return fraud.
She then opened the package and said she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“I was shocked,” she recalls. “I’ve been excited to get this phone for years. It took me a while to commit to getting this phone, but when I actually opened it… I wondered what this was all about.
“I’ve never been so shocked. I sent pictures to my family and they were like, ‘What is this? Where’s my phone?’
“I told them I only received clay. That was like the biggest shock.”
Carol claims she contacted Sky with all the details but no one got back to her and she had to chase her every few days to get updates.
“I hadn’t received this new phone yet, so I thought it must be pretty urgent, but I never heard back. At one point, I was even given the wrong email address to contact. did.
“Every time I called, I was told to wait 72 hours, then I would wait and call again, and I was told the same thing. It was a constant battle of always having to call them.
“Eventually I was told it was under investigation, but I got a call three weeks later.” The stuck letter said that the phone was not found in the warehouse and that I had received a photo from the courier showing the package given to me.
She claimed that Skye had “washed his hands of her” after the case reached an “impasse” and all he had to offer her for her monthly payments of £25 was a lump of white clay.
“As far as they could see, I had received the device.
“When I called again, I was told that I could not discuss this further as I had not received the actual item and was given a stuck letter.”
The letter, seen by MailOnline, said Sky had carried out a “thorough” investigation.
It said:After reviewing the claim, we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the iPhone 16 was not included in the package.
‘Upon delivery, DPD provided a clear and compliant image of the package.
“This image shows that prior to receiving the package in person, the box was completely intact and there were no visible signs of damage or tampering that would suggest any delivery contents were missing.”
“After this concern was brought to our attention, Sky worked with our fulfillment partners UTL and DPD to carry out a thorough investigation into our delivery process.
“Unfortunately, despite these efforts, we were unable to locate the device in our warehouse.
Carol bought her iPhone at the Sky Store in Cribbs Causeway, Bristol (pictured)
“We must therefore assume that the delivery was completed successfully. For the reasons stated above, your complaint has been dismissed.”
Carroll said the experience made him feel responsible for a fraud he did not commit.
“Sky made me feel like I was a fraud here and it became my word against theirs. I was literally being blamed for things I didn’t do.
“But I know I’m not the only one who’s had something like this happen. When I returned to Sky Store, I was told that there had been quite a few incidents of phones being exchanged for other items. He gave it to me.
“One person received a pack of wipes. That seems to be a common occurrence.”
Mr Carroll admitted that he contacted Avon and Somerset police, but the case made no progress.
“As it is unclear when and where this incident occurred, a criminal case has been filed at this time pending further information that may lead to an investigation,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.
The circumstances suggest that Miss Carroll may have been the victim of a scam known as refund or return fraud.
Carol recalled that when she was handed her luggage, she felt it was “quite heavy.”
In these situations, the scammer either buys the product or steals the purchased product, removes the product from the box, and replaces it with a lower value product of the same weight.
They then try to return the item and claim a refund.
In that case, a situation may arise where a package is mistakenly sent to a genuine customer while still containing a lower-priced product.
Last week, MailOnline highlighted the plight of Cornish resident Gemma Walley, 39. She bought a £700 Lenovo Yoga laptop from Currys, only to receive three moldy pies in return.
The trio of Yorkshire Handmade Pies were crammed into the box space where her new computer was supposed to be.
Wally is still waiting to see if he will receive a refund or replacement for his laptop.
In a statement to MailOnline, SkyMobile said it would apologize to Ms Carroll and offer her a full refund of her payment and cancellation of her contract.
A spokesperson said, “We apologize for the inconvenience caused to Dr. Carroll due to this delivery issue.”
“According to both our own investigation and DPD, the package arrived on time, unopened and intact.
“However, as a gesture of goodwill, we offered to send Dr. Carol a replacement iPhone.
“Miss Carol has declined this offer. The contract has now been canceled and we have refunded the full amount of the contract to date.”
