Couple Says Their Amazon Delivery Came with a 'Live Snake in Package,' Shares Video of Reptile in Box

Abigail Adams

19 June 2024 at 1:36 pm·3-min read

A couple living in Bengaluru, India, claim they found a live cobra in the box containing their delivery

<p>Viral Press</p> A snake attached to an Amazon package — Viral Press
A snake attached to an Amazon package

A couple expecting to receive an Xbox controller from Amazon claims they also found a dangerous live snake in the box.

On June 14, Tanvi and her husband, engineers who live in Bengaluru, India, purchased the item from Amazon, according to the Associated Press and Economic Times.

Two days later, the package containing the controller was delivered to their home. The couple told AP they were home for the delivery and took the box from the delivery driver, so the package did not spend time sitting outside their home.

'The package was directly handed over to us by the delivery partner and not left outside. We live on Sarjapur road and captured the entire incident on camera, plus we have eyewitnesses," Tanvi told AP.

Tanvi and her husband added that they opened the box shortly after receiving it and found a spectacled cobra inside. Cobras are venomous snakes. According to the couple, the snake was stuck to the adhesive of the tape sealing the box. After finding the snake inside the box stuck to the tape, Tanvi filmed the wildlife encounter.

"Ordered an Xbox controller from @amazonIN and received a free snake 🐍 with it!" Tanvi wrote on X alongside a clip of the snake wriggling inside the box while stuck to the package.

In response to PEOPLE's request for comment on this incident, Amazon shared the following statement: "The safety of our customers, employees, and associates is a top priority for us. We take all customer complaints seriously and are investigating this incident."

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After filming the snake, the couple put the box with the cobra in a bucket and waited for wildlife officials to handle the animal, per AP.

Tanvi told the outlet she reported the incident to an Amazon Help customer representative. She received the response: "We're sorry to know about the inconvenience you've had with the Amazon order. We'd like to have this checked. Please share the required details here, and our team will get back to you soon with an update."

Tanvi said Amazon also gave her a refund for the controller, but she still has concerns.

"This is clearly a safety breach caused solely by Amazon's negligence and their poor transportation or warehousing hygiene and supervision," she said. "Where is the accountability for such a serious lapse in safety?"

The cobra has since been caught and released by wildlife officials, according to the AP.

The spectacled cobra is one of four species of snakes that deliver most of the snakebites in India, according to Britannica.

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