A woman in the US was left furious after a neighbour took her entire grocery delivery, but the situation was not as straightforward as it first seemed.
The Missing Groceries
The incident began when the woman, who shared her story on Reddit, realised her Walmart grocery order had not arrived. She soon discovered that her upstairs neighbours had received the bags and taken them inside their own flat without attempting to notify her.
Expressing her frustration on the 'Neighbour's From Hell' forum, she wrote about the inconvenience of proving a non-delivery to the company and the stress it caused. She mentioned that while she was angry, she was also conscious that some families might be struggling for food, noting there were children living upstairs.
She had already received a refund and stated she would not have wanted the food back after it had been in someone else's home. Her main grievance was the lack of communication, saying, "The audacity, right?... But even then, wouldn’t you tell your neighbour you have their food? I would…"
A Surprising Discovery
The plot thickened when she reordered her groceries after getting the refund. Upon receiving the second delivery, she made a critical discovery: the bags had no address labels or stickers.
This revealed the likely reason her neighbours had not returned the items – they physically could not identify who the rightful owner was. The woman concluded that they couldn't have come to tell her even if they had wanted to, and expressed relief that she had not confronted them or complained to the building manager.
The situation highlights a potential pitfall in food delivery services, especially in large apartment blocks where misdeliveries can occur. Without a building-wide communication system like a WhatsApp group, returning a misplaced order becomes significantly more difficult.
Online Reaction and Similar Stories
The Reddit post sparked a lively debate in the comments section. One user branded the neighbours "proven thieves," while another shared a similar experience where a neighbour took their Gopuff delivery, claiming they thought it was a gift for their new baby, but then acted offended when asked to return the opened items.
Others offered more charitable explanations, suggesting the children in the neighbour's flat might have brought the groceries inside, or that the neighbours could have contacted Walmart and been told to keep the incorrectly delivered food. One commenter noted that some companies have policies against redelivering food that has been in another person's possession.
The original poster later clarified that the delivery driver had placed the groceries in front of the neighbour's door by mistake, a problem she had not encountered before. She resolved to be more vigilant with future deliveries.
