Amazon driver fired after allegedly stealing PS5 birthday present

An Amazon delivery driver has been fired after they allegedly stole a PS5 that was out for delivery to a 16-year-old who was expecting it as a birthday present.

As if those of us who have purchased PlayStation 5’s online don’t have enough to worry about as our new consoles make their way to us, now a new episode out of the UK shows you apparently can’t trust anyone when it comes to the next generation of gaming.

On November 20, a Twitter user named Richard Walker posted security camera footage which he claimed showed an Amazon delivery driver taking the PS5 meant for his son’s birthday for themselves.

The driver took the package out and scanned it to make it seem like it was delivered, before simply shoving it back into the van. After the family contacted Amazon, the company said they would look into the incident before giving them a full refund for the machine — but apparently didn’t replace the PS5 itself.

That wasn’t enough for the family though, who took the footage to their local Amazon location where the PS5 was shipped out from, and heard from the boss that the employee responsible would be fired.

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“We have very high standards for our delivery service providers and how they serve customers,” an Amazon rep told Oxford Mail. “The delivery associate will no longer be delivering on behalf of Amazon.”

It’s funny to imagine that the driver took the PS5 to get in some epic gaming of his own, but the more likely scenario is that they swiped it to cash in on the resell value. The next-gen consoles are listed for over $1,000 each on sites like eBay.

Whatever their reason was, they might have a hot new next-gen console, but they’re now out of a job, which definitely isn’t a trade-off we would make, at least.

• Read More: PS5 fans slam Sony scalper group stockpiling consoles during shortage

Package thiefs who steal deliveries off of peoples doorsteps, or so-called “porch pirates,” are not a new phenomenon in our internet-connected day and age, but a delivery driver taking a kid’s PS5, especially when they’re in such high demand, has definitely rubbed people the wrong way.