“return fraud” — the process of returning fake items to retailers, with the intent to embezzle. Return fraud can take many forms, including the return of used items, stolen items, and returns of repackaged items with the same approximate weight in the original boxes they came in.

That might explain how a shopper could end up with a can of tuna fish instead of an ashtray — it’s possible the box was opened somewhere in the shipping process, the ashtray swapped out, the box recovered in cellophane and the original item returned, without anybody being the wiser.

In addition to a slowing economy, Saks Fifth Avenue, which split its e-commerce and brick and mortar businesses in 2021, now faces the wrath of unhappy shoppers with TikTok accounts. Its automated fulfillment centers manage millions of shipments every year, adding to the challenge of proving which complaints are real.

....spoke to a Saks Fifth Avenue customer service representative who asked her to send photos of the item she had received, then arranged a refund for Ms. Cormier and helped her reorder the ashtray again. Saks Fifth Avenue also sent Ms. Cormier a $100 e-giftcard for her troubles.