- An Amazon customer found a vial of blood in a chair she bought on the site.
- Jen Begakis shared a video of the vial and an apology from Amazon on social media.
- In an email shared by Begakis, Amazon offered her a refund and a $100 gift card.
An Amazon customer received an unexpected but very unwelcome bonus when opening the chair she bought from the online retailer: a vial of blood.
In a tweet on Thursday, Jen Begakis said: "If I told you the leather chair I ordered from Amazon was packaged with a blood collection tube that is … full, would you believe me? because I'm lost for — words."
Begakis added: "I'm as terrified as I am confused."
In a later tweet, Begakis shared an email she received from Amazon, apologizing for the delivery and offering a $156.59 refund for the chair and a $100 gift card.
In the email, Amazon said: "First and foremost, I'm truly sorry for your experience! I can certainly understand the concern of receiving bodily fluids in your package. I've made sure the seller has been reported, and all appropriate actions have been taken to prevent this from happening again in the future."
Begakis, a doctoral student at Cornell University, told Insider that the tone of the response was "almost laughable in its attempt at normalcy".
She remained unsure about how to dispose of the vial: "Tossing it in the trash seems about as wrong headed as hanging onto it."
Begakis added: "A $100 gift card is pretty paltry an apology if you ask me. Say with inflation, that's $75 'I'm sorry we shipped you a biohazard'."
Amazon operates with a range of third-party clients that sell through its website. The email Begakis received from Amazon appeared to confirm it was supplied by one of these vendors.
Amazon didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.