Amazon packages dumped: Boxes retrieved but still no explanation

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. (KABC) -- After dozens of unopened Amazon packages were found dumped in Rolling Hills Estates, the company has yet to explain how something like this could happen.

When it comes to selling things, Amazon is a force to be reckoned with. It shipped more than 5 billion packages last year through its Prime service alone.

But not all those packages make it to their buyers. Kim and his wife Valerie, who only want to use their first names, were on a walk on Tuesday when they noticed a heaping pile of Amazon packages nestled next to a dumpster in Rolling Hills Estates.

"They were hidden behind the dumpster that you could not see if you were driving along the street," Valerie said.

There were 34 boxes total, and their delivery address were not even close to the spot where they were found.

"All of the addresses that they were sent to were a good 15-20 miles from here, so reached out to Amazon and they are the ones who confirmed that it was a private delivery company hired by Amazon," Valerie said.

West Los Angeles resident Shabrea Singleton's Amazon package was one of the boxes left sitting in the public parking lot. It was a present from her brother for her daughter.

"I don't know if she would have got the gift that she's supposed to get come this Christmas," Singleton said. "He told me that it was supposed to be here Tuesday but it didn't come, so I'm like maybe it will come today, and then I was going to wait until I got home."

Amazon did send a quality assurance crew to retrieve the packages from Valerie's office. The pile was so large, the worker had a hard time fitting it into an SUV.

It took several trips to load them all. The Amazon worker packed but did not explain how the deliveries ended up being dumped.

The quality assurance employee didn't talk - but what about Amazon corporate?

The online retailer issued this written statement:

"This does not reflect the standards we have for delivery partners as we expect every package to be handled with care. The packages have been retrieved, and we'll work with customers directly to make things right."

Valerie hopes Amazon resolves this problem soon.

"Somebody dropped the ball for them somewhere and hopefully they'll get to the bottom of it, whoever this carrier was," she said.