A bizarre collection of Amazon items are arriving weekly, sometimes even daily, at the University of Moncton student federation office.
Some of the items being sent are record players, hygiene products, trail cameras and sex toys.
“It’s kind of a funny thing: every time a package comes in everyone in the office kind of runs to see what we received today,” explained Tristian Gaudet, president of the university’s student federation.
“We received essential oils today and we keep receiving just random stuff.”
The thing is, no one ordered any of this and more stuff continues to arrive.
Since November, about 30 packages have been delivered and the University of Moncton isn’t the only campus being targeted. Universities across the country including ones in Victoria, Winnipeg, Toronto and Halifax are receiving similar packages.
In Ontario, the RCMP in Thunder Bay launched an investigation and determined the products were being shipped from companies based in China.
“The companies were selecting different locations where they would send these items to just give certain items out. What it does is it puts their items out there, it almost gives the appearance that there’s a demand for a certain item,” explained Const. Darryl Waruk, while adding that the shipments are actually a form of marketing and isn’t necessarily illegal.
In an email statement, a spokesperson from Amazon explained that the company is conducting its own investigation into the unsolicited packages.
“We have confirmed the sellers involved did not receive names or shipping addresses from Amazon. We remove sellers in violation of our policies, withhold payments, and work with law enforcement to take appropriate action.”
Now students have been tasked with determining what to do with more than 30 packages. They’ve decided to donate the adult novelty items to the university for its annual “sex toy bingo” game, a fundraiser for the student body where the winner is awarded a sex toy.
“It was a way to kind of give back to students and hopefully they’ll be able to raise money with our odd Amazon packages,” said Gaudet.
Police say if you receive any unsolicited package, it’s best to contact the company who shipped it.