‘My heart sank’ cries mum after teen daughter opens £2,000 Amazon present to find a pile of rocks

A MUM has revealed her "heart sank" after her daughter opened a fancy £2,000 gift to discover a pile of rocks inside instead.

Andrea Langan, 52, and husband Aidan, 46, had splashed out on an expensive camera to help 17-year-old Morgan pursue her career in media.

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Morgan had also saved £1,000 of her own money to put towards the high-spec Sony A7 IV camera, which cost £2,299, for her Christmas.

It lay sealed for 12 days before being wrapped and popped under the tree for December 25.

But Andrea, from Waterloo near Wishaw, Lanarkshire, said the big day ended in disaster when her teen opened the gift.

She said: “There was no reason to think it had been tampered with.

“On Christmas Day we were all unwrapping our presents, Morgan opened it and the Sony camera box was inside the Amazon box but the security tag was broken. I couldn’t believe it.

“My heart just sank and we sat in disbelief for a few minutes. I just kept thinking, ‘How could this have happened, the box is sealed?’.

Speaking to Lanarkshire Live, she added: “I got on the phone to Amazon and they said we would need to get a crime reference number.

“We drove down and spent an hour-and-a-half at the police station in Motherwell, and even had our DNA taken.

“There are no words that can explain the anxiety this caused. It totally spoiled Christmas and we won’t get that back.

Morgan had also saved £1,000 of her own money to put towards the high-spec Sony A7 IV camera, which cost £2,299, for her Christmas

But Andrea, from Waterloo near Wishaw, Lanarkshire, said the big day ended in disaster when the teen opened her gift.

She said: “It lay for 12 days and then it was wrapped, still in the box, to go under the tree.

“There was no reason to think it had been tampered with.

“On Christmas Day we were all unwrapping our presents, Morgan opened it and the Sony camera box was inside the Amazon box but the security tag was broken. I couldn’t believe it.

“My heart just sank and we sat in disbelief for a few minutes. I just kept thinking, ‘How could this have happened, the box is sealed?’.

Speaking to Lanarkshire Live, she added: “I got on the phone to Amazon and they said we would need to get a crime reference number.

“We drove down and spent an hour-and-a-half at the police station in Motherwell, and even had our DNA taken.”

Andrea continued: “To rub salt in the wounds Amazon advised us to get the crime reference number, but then wouldn't accept it.

“There are no words that can explain the anxiety this caused. It totally spoiled Christmas and we won’t get that back.

Morgan added: “I was just in shock. I’d spent a year saving up for the camera and then I opened it on Christmas morning and it was just rocks.

“I looked at my dad to see if it was a joke, but then obviously realised it wasn’t. It ruined Christmas and I spent most of the day in the police station.”

Sneaky thieves had filled the box with 141g of rocks, ensuring it passed a "weight test" for the 1.4kg camera.

Morgan recalled: “I was just in shock. I’d spent a year saving up for the camera and then I opened it on Christmas morning and it was just rocks.

“I looked at my dad to see if it was a joke, but then obviously realised it wasn’t. It ruined Christmas and I spent most of the day in the police station.”

Amazon have since issued Morgan with a full refund, allowing her to purchase another camera.

And they have vowed to tighten security measures to prevent issues like this happening again.

A spokesperson for the online retailer said: “We work hard to protect customers, selling partners and Amazon from abuse and we have systems in place to detect suspicious behaviour.

“Customer satisfaction is our utmost priority, and we’re sorry the customer experience did not meet the high standards we expect.

“We have apologised to the customer, refunded them in full and offered a gesture of goodwill.”