Her 8-year-old son bought nearly 70,000 lollipops. How to fix an online ordering error

Yahoo

08-05-2025

It's a cautionary lesson for parents with an Amazon account.
A Kentucky mother was stunned when an Amazon order arrived on May 4. Her 8-year-old son yelled, 'Mom, my suckers are here!'
It wasn't just a bag of suckers. Holly LaFavers' son Liam, 8, mistakenly ordered $4,200 worth of Dum-Dum suckers. That's 30 cases or nearly 70,000 lollipops.
'When I looked at my bank account … it was in the red,' LaFavers said, adding that she panicked because she'd recently gotten paid and the first of the month had just passed.
Liam was only trying to add some lollipops to the family's Amazon cart. However, he mistakenly ordered the candy instead. LaFavers immediately called Amazon to rectify the situation, and the company told her she needed to reject the delivery, and then she could get her money back.
The only problem was that the delivery carrier did not knock on her door, which is located at the back of a condominium building, LaFavers said. She had no idea the lollipops were delivered, so she couldn't reject them, leaving her with 22 boxes.
A few hours later, she stopped a second delivery driver from dropping off more candy.
'I went flying out the door and met the woman at the door screaming 'Don't take those out of your van,'' LaFavers recalled, adding that she was thankful she caught the second delivery driver so she could reject the remaining eight boxes of lollipops.
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While LaFavers was able to stop that second delivery, she said she was still left with 22 boxes of Dum-Dums. As a single mother who works with children and families, she needed to make sure she got her money back, so she took to social media to see if any locals wanted to buy them.
Some people stepped up to help, but after local news station WKYT contacted her and offered to connect her to Amazon, the company had a change of heart and said they'd refund her $4,200.
Amazon spokesperson Austin Stowe said on May 7 that the company worked with the family to resolve the situation.
'We're glad we were able to work directly with this customer to turn a sticky situation into something sweet,' Stowe said.
The LaFavers ended up donating the lollipops. Some went to those who previously offered to buy some, while others went to different organizations. Liam and his mother also went to donate some of the suckers on May 6 to their church, Immanuel Baptist Church.
"You can give some to your granddaughters," Liam told the church's lead pastor as he dropped off the lollipops on May 6.
As of May 7, they have about six boxes left, LaFavers said.
There are a number of ways to deal with purchasing errors. Here are a few tips:
Monitor your young children when they are on your computer, tablet or phone.
If your Amazon account is open when your child is on the computer, check your account to make sure nothing was purchased.
Log out of your account when done shopping online.
Close tabs on your internet browser when you are done shopping.
Sign up for text message notifications when a purchase is made from your Amazon account.
Contact your bank, credit card company or Amazon to try and recover funds if a purchase is made without your consent.
If you have noticed an order that was made by mistake or you've changed your mind, you can cancel the order on Amazon.
To cancel an order before they are shipped:
Log in to your account
Click on "Your Orders."
Select the item you want canceled and click "Cancel items."
If you would like, you can provide a reason for the cancellation.
To cancel an order after it was shipped:
Log in to your account
Go to your orders
Select the request cancellation option and proceed
The items will be returned to Amazon, and you will receive a refund if a payment was made
You can return eligible items to Amazon – whether 30 cases of Dum-Dums is eligible would be a question for Amazon. Here is the process for returns:
Log in to your Amazon account
Go to Your Orders to display your recent orders. To return a gift, go to Return a Gift.
Choose the order and select Return or Replace Items.
Select the item that you want to return. Then select an option from the Reason for return menu.
Choose how to process your return. If applicable, select to issue a refund or replacement. For items sold by an Amazon seller, submit a return request. The Amazon seller reviews return requests before issuing a refund or replacement. For more information, go to Returns to Third-Party Sellers. If you don't receive a response within two business days, you can request an A-to-Z Guarantee Refund.
Select your preferred return method.
Print your return label and return authorization.
Add your return label (if applicable) and package your items for return.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Child buys nearly 70,000 lollipops. How to prevent bad Amazon orders