She ordered a new phone for her daughter but opened package to find the handset had been replaced by cakes
A Sutton Coldfield mum was left in shock when she discovered her daughter’s brand new iPhone 17 had been replaced by flapjacks(Image: Serena Whitehead)
A Sutton Coldfield mum who ordered a new iPhone 17 for her daughter was stunned when the package arrived with the handset missing – and two flapjacks in its place.
Serena Whitehead bought the expensive Christmas present from phone network Three for her 14-year-old daughter.
But when the DPD package arrived, instead of finding Apple’s latest handset, two flapjacks fell out of the box.
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Serena said her daughter, whom she would not name, was “gutted” after discovering her phone had been replaced with the white chocolate and ‘sultana surprise’-flavoured treats.
She told BirminghamLive she had no idea how the baked goods ended up in the box. She said: “It was delivered by DPD and, when I opened the box, it had been replaced by two flapjacks.
“I was like ‘what the…’ as it was a Christmas present for my daughter. I had to tell her what had happened. She was gutted.”
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The mum feared that even if a replacement device was sent out, it might not arrive in time for December 25.
“I couldn’t tell my daughter that Santa was late,” she joked.
Serena was initially told by the network that it would take “seven days to investigate”. But, following a BirminghamLive intervention, Three agreed to send out a replacement phone in time for Christmas.
In an email seen by us, the network confirmed the original phone had been blacklisted and a new device was being dispatched to the family’s address.
“Three want to ensure you have this phone in time for Christmas,” wrote the network.
“As our internal investigation will take longer, we don’t want you to suffer due to that. Our fraud team will be liaising with DPD regarding this matter.”
Serena said she was delighted with how quickly the issue had been resolved.
A Three spokesperson told us: “We can confirm we’ve sent out a replacement iPhone to arrive before Christmas, while we continue our internal investigation.”
We have contacted DPD for comment.