Jack Bennett, a John Lewis customer, was recently left stunned after placing an order for a new £800 mobile phone only to have two bars of chocolate arrive in its place.

Bennett, 36, a project manager from Rugby, Warwickshire, believed he had found the ideal Christmas gift for his wife, Katie, when he purchased a brand new Apple iPhone 17 from the luxury retail store John Lewis. The package arrived in just under two weeks via a DPD courier.

British department store chain John Lewis first opened its doors in 1864 and now generates roughly £4.8 billion in sales annually. The brand prides itself on beating high street prices and has pledged to do so for many years. However, in Bennett’s Christmas nightmare, he received a pair of superglued Tony’s Chocolonely bars, which retail at around £4 each, in exchange for his £799.

The father of two described the ordeal, saying:

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“I ordered the phone on November 17. When the courier delivered the package, I opened the door and he had placed it on the ground by my feet.”

He took a photograph, I thanked him, picked it up and put it on the meter cupboard by the front door while I got ready to go out. Bennett added:

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“Before we left the house I thought I’d better just check the contents and couldn’t believe it when I opened it and found two bars of chocolate.”

Bennett did what any unsatisfied customer would do and contacted John Lewis’ customer service, only to be told he was ineligible for a refund. To add insult to injury, Bennett was told that because he had torn the parcel label while opening the box, he had “damaged” the package. John Lewis’ team added that neither John Lewis nor DPD stocked that particular chocolate bar and therefore could not be held responsible for the error.

Bennett said the lack of accountability left him “quite angry” and added that he suspected some “fraud” had taken place because the chocolate bars were “glued together” as if to mimic a phone.

With Bennett left with no one to hold responsible other than the mythical Grinch for stealing his Christmas, he had yet another problem to face. Bennett had signed up for a no interest payment plan with John Lewis, resulting in £200 being taken from his account every two weeks despite him never actually receiving the phone.

Initially, the retailer advised him that he would need to file a claim through his bank to reclaim his money. But after Bennett took his story public and the Daily Mail intervened, John Lewis made it clear that they had now issued Bennett a refund.

In a statement, John Lewis said:

“We were very sorry to hear about Mr Bennett’s case.
We serve millions of happy customers and cases like this remain rare, especially as we regularly review our security measures to stay one step ahead of fraudsters.
We take all reports of fraud incredibly seriously and conduct thorough investigations. Having fully investigated Mr Bennett’s case, we were able to offer a refund and are grateful for his patience.”

Reports suggest that Mr Bennett was likely the victim of a scam known as refund or return fraud. This involves fraudsters buying or intercepting a product, removing it from the box, and replacing it with lower value items of similar weight. They then try to return the package for a full refund, which can result in an unsuspecting customer receiving the downgraded items instead.