A pair of Victoria student societies are on the receiving end of what would appear to be an expensive practical joke.
Student societies at the University of Victoria and Camosun College have been receiving mysterious parcels in recent weeks, containing everything from electronic items to sex toys.
“I wouldn’t say anything’s worth over $50 at this point, but it’s pretty substantial,” said Michael Glover, Camosun Student Society services co-ordinator. “We got a turntable that plugs into USB, but none of us have any records.”
He said they’ve probably received 30 or 40 items in all over the past three months or so, all coming in Amazon packaging.
“We’ve talked to Amazon to try and find out what’s going on and they’re as perplexed as we are,” said Glover.
Pierre-Paul Angelblazer, UVic Student Society’s interim director of outreach and university relations, said they have also been receiving numerous packages for the past few weeks.
“They’re generally fairly valuable things,” he said, adding the first packages were donated to the campus food bank.
“We’re continuing to get the packages but we’re just turning them away and having them shipped back to Amazon. We’re not opening the boxes anymore.”
Glover says Victoria schools aren’t alone in receiving the mysterious packages, as he’s heard of schools around B.C. and across the country who have been receiving them.
He said the student society hasn’t decided what to do with all of the merchandise that includes a dash cam, a pair of HDTV antennas, fishing tackle and sex toys.
“We’ve got about $1,000 worth of merchandise here. If they’re sending them to 100 student unions, that’s $100,000 [not including the shipping],” he said. “Amazon is winning, someone is winning, but what all this junk is for … I have no idea. We’ll go fishing later? Some lucky student will win a vibrator?”
Glover said the latest shipment arrived on Thursday, and the student society is just waiting for the issue to resolve itself.
“For us it’s kind of neat – it’s like ‘Oh, what did we get today?’ And if you need an HDTV antenna in black or white, we’re your guy.”
