Amazon driver came to deliver dog food... and pinched our puppy!
A DELIVERY driver dropped off an Amazon order at a £1.5million house – and walked away with the customer’s pet puppy.
Richard Guttfield, 51, said his miniature schnauzer Wilma vanished after he received a delivery of dog food from the online retailer.
The company director had been playing snooker with a friend at his luxury barn conversion on Friday when the driver arrived and left the order and a note at the front of the house.
Soon after, Mr Guttfield realised Wilma was missing. He and his daughter Emily, 17, searched their village of Marsworth in Buckinghamshire with no luck.
When they failed to find the 11-month-old pup, he contacted Amazon to ask if the driver had seen her.
‘After the driver left I realised Wilma was missing while our other puppy Fred was still there,’ he said. ‘I called Amazon in case he had accidentally let her out or seen her. It was the only lead I had – but never in a million years did I think the driver had actually taken Wilma.
‘I had no real suspicions, so I explained it was not a witch hunt. I said I just wanted to know if the driver could help us narrow down the search.’ Mr Guttfield spoke with Rob Levy, from Amazon’s logistics team.
After several conversations the company checked the delivery van’s GPS tracking software. It is believed the GPS log showed that before the next delivery the driver had gone home.
Wilma was found at the house on Tuesday. Mr Guttfield described the moment Mr Levy called again and asked him to describe his missing pet. ‘I described her and he said, “She is here with me right now”. He said she was safe and he was going to bring her straight over,’ he said.
‘He was a real star. I asked how they had found her. He said he couldn’t say as it was under investigation.’
Mr Guttfield believes Amazon only took his concerns seriously because he had emailed founder Jeff Bezos. ‘I assume the email to Jeff Bezos was then passed on to the logistics team as it was only then that matters progressed,’ he said.
Miniature schnauzer puppies can cost £1,200 each. Mr Guttfield’s property is protected by CCTV cameras, but the security system was in ‘geofencing’ mode – meaning it was set to operate only when his phone was away from the house.
He has now changed the setting to continuous monitoring. During the search for Wilma, Mr Guttfield registered her missing on the website DogLost. In a message to well-wishers, he said Wilma was ‘traumatised after being taken from our home’ but had been checked by a vet and was physically fine. He added: ‘I just want people to know this can happen. Our homes are all exposed to these drivers and the vast majority of them are great. But low-lifes will take advantage.’ An Amazon spokesman said: ‘This is inexcusable and does not reflect the high standards we have for our delivery partners. We take these matters seriously and this individual is no longer delivering Amazon packages for the independent delivery service provider.’ A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: ‘The dog has been safely returned to its owner. An investigation is taking place to establish the circumstances of the incident. No arrests have yet been made.’