Steam Deck showed up at sister's doorstep, and...

[Martimus Prime]

Last week my sister received a package which had a steam deck in it. It wasn't shipped 'new' and the box had no addresses on it, just serial number and QR codes/labels.

She had no idea what the item was and figured it was part of the things she had ordered for my nephew's Christmas (He has no idea what a Steam deck is and is special needs).

I am the only person in our family who has any idea what one of those things is and does, and she asked me what it was.

We think it ended up at her door by mistake and was possibly a repaired unit. They went to their immediate neighbors (only one of whom has a teenage son in the area) and nobody has any idea who's it is nor are they missing one.

Is there a way to look up the serial number and find out the name attached to the device so they can make sure it gets to that person?

Our family is broken hearted over what could be some kid's Christmas gift not making its way to their home this year.

We don't know what to do. No name, no addresses, just a cardboard box with QR codes, barcodes and serial number that we can't find any names out of.

She thinks it was FedEx who dropped it off..

We don't see any tracking number on the box or inside.

What should we do?

Thanks in advance.

[ReBoot]

That kid who's missing their preset, their parents can contact Steam support and get a replacement unit. Some delivery dude made a mistake, not you so keep it.

[Martimus Prime]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

That kid who's missing their preset, their parents can contact Steam support and get a replacement unit. Some delivery dude made a mistake, not you so keep it.

We would rather not keep it.

I agree, it wasn't our fault, but we want to do anything we can to make sure it gets to that owner. I know how I would feel if that happened to me as a kid.

Thank you for your suggestion.

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Martimus Prime:

Originally posted by ReBoot:

That kid who's missing their preset, their parents can contact Steam support and get a replacement unit. Some delivery dude made a mistake, not you so keep it.

We would rather not keep it.

I agree, it wasn't our fault, but we want to do anything we can to make sure it gets to that owner. I know how I would feel if that happened to me as a kid.

Thank you for your suggestion.

As I said, this kid's parents can contact Steam support and get a replacement unit. What's the legal situation about "random" stuff appearing at your door step?

[Mad Scientist]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

That kid who's missing their preset, their parents can contact Steam support and get a replacement unit. Some delivery dude made a mistake, not you so keep it.

This is considered Theft in many countries.

The better recommendation is to contact the shipping company and inform Valve of what they received, serial # etc. Keeping it and failing to report, some companies can and do often report for Theft, which can lead to prosecution. Some companies may just say to keep it and there's no warranty, others will have it picked up and re-delivered at their expense etc.

Originally posted by Martimus Prime:

She thinks it was FedEx who dropped it off..

We don't see any tracking number on the box or inside.

Typically every shipper has delivery info on a delivery, a tracking #, or other sign of who may have delivered it. You can call your local shipping companies and inform them as well, one of them will likely be able to see it was them and handle it accordingly.

[REZ₪NIK]

A box was delivered with no name or address? "Thinks" it was FedEx. Lucky it wern't a be O em Be, KaBoom!! lol

[Martimus Prime]

Originally posted by REZ₪NIK:

A box was delivered with no name or address? "Thinks" it was FedEx. Lucky it wern't a be O em Be, KaBoom!! lol

What a silly thing to think.

LOL

[Wolfman-RIP]

Originally posted by Martimus Prime:

Last week my sister received a package which had a steam deck in it. It wasn't shipped 'new' and the box had no addresses on it, just serial number and QR codes/labels.

She had no idea what the item was and figured it was part of the things she had ordered for my nephew's Christmas (He has no idea what a Steam deck is and is special needs).

I am the only person in our family who has any idea what one of those things is and does, and she asked me what it was.

We think it ended up at her door by mistake and was possibly a repaired unit. They went to their immediate neighbors (only one of whom has a teenage son in the area) and nobody has any idea who's it is nor are they missing one.

Is there a way to look up the serial number and find out the name attached to the device so they can make sure it gets to that person?

Our family is broken hearted over what could be some kid's Christmas gift not making its way to their home this year.

We don't know what to do. No name, no addresses, just a cardboard box with QR codes, barcodes and serial number that we can't find any names out of.

She thinks it was FedEx who dropped it off..

We don't see any tracking number on the box or inside.

What should we do?

Thanks in advance.

Contact valve support with the serial number explaining the situation
Check the inside of the box for any receipts or invoices
Try booting up the steam deck to see if there's any account attached to it

It's very strange that the address is missing as usually its stuck straight to the box as a very sticky label. Someone would have had too have removed the address on purpose.

I have heard that a lot of steam decks ended up stolen by delivery staff because it was easy to tell what they were due to the box type.

[christophercuya]

Did you receive a tracking number from FedEx? If so, some people said their delivery includes a picture of the package at their home, and I saw on YouTube that others have the tracking number or additional information on the side of the box.

[Stormer]

FedEx is notorious for quality control issues since they treat their workers poorly so someone probably messed up there.

If you havent found it already theres a serial number on the back of the steam deck itself under the tiny qr code you can ask valve about if FedEx isnt helping

[tedorikk]

Last Christmas my wife and I received (my wife corrected me, as it was three separate occasions) several boxes, (the 2nd time I *did cut one open to see what was inside and it was toys - dolls etc...) and the carrier whom I'll not name by color said "We're not responsible for bad addressing - throw it away if you don't want to keep them.". It was a terribly awkward situation, to the extent of which we eventually called the local police to have them carry them away. I think the policeman, in this case was familiar with the individual - which turned out to be a real blessing in our circumstance.

[rawWwRrr]

Speaking from experience, the parcel companies aren't going to put a lot of effort into correcting misrouted packages. It's much cheaper for them to have the shipper file a claim.

As for whether or not you can keep it, if it has your name on it, you can typically keep it without paying for it. That's a law in the US anyway. That came about years ago when companies thought they could force people to pay for things they didn't want by simply sending it to people randomly and then bill them for later.

If it has someone else's name on it, it can be considered theft unless you've been told to keep it by either the carrier or the shipper.

A big ticket item like a Steam Deck delivered to your door with someone else name on it, I would at least make a concerted effort to contact Valve or the carrier to let them know.

[tedorikk]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Speaking from experience, the parcel companies aren't going to put a lot of effort into correcting misrouted packages. It's much cheaper for them to have the shipper file a claim.

As for whether or not you can keep it, if it has your name on it, you can typically keep it without paying for it. That's a law in the US anyway. That came about years ago when companies thought they could force people to pay for things they didn't want by simply sending it to people randomly and then bill them for later.

If it has someone else's name on it, it can be considered theft unless you've been told to keep it by either the carrier or the shipper.

A big ticket item like a Steam Deck delivered to your door with someone else name on it, I would at least make a concerted effort to contact Valve or the carrier to let them know.

[Martimus Prime]

Originally posted by rawWwRrr:

Speaking from experience, the parcel companies aren't going to put a lot of effort into correcting misrouted packages. It's much cheaper for them to have the shipper file a claim.

As for whether or not you can keep it, if it has your name on it, you can typically keep it without paying for it. That's a law in the US anyway. That came about years ago when companies thought they could force people to pay for things they didn't want by simply sending it to people randomly and then bill them for later.

If it has someone else's name on it, it can be considered theft unless you've been told to keep it by either the carrier or the shipper.

A big ticket item like a Steam Deck delivered to your door with someone else name on it, I would at least make a concerted effort to contact Valve or the carrier to let them know.

There is no name on it.

There is nothing on the shipping box to indicate who's it is or meant for.

That's the big mystery. My sister would simply get it to that person. She's the kindest soul on earth.

But they don't have any route to get it back to that person.

I've created a Steam support ticket with the serial number attached. We will see what they say.

[Samuel]

correcto

[steven1mac]

At least you are trying to figure out who it belongs to, I have had several packages misdelivered, and most people just keep the contents. I even had a neighbor keep a package of fish food that was delivered to their house by mistake.