PARENTS are being warned that a major toy retailer has a mistake in its click-and-collect service that could ruin Christmas for kids forever.
Smyths Toys has confessed they have a click-and-collect service which delivers all of its packaging in clear plastic bags.
If the delivery comes when your children are home they will very clearly be able to see anything you order from the store.
Hardly ideal if you trying to keep a Christmas gift secret until the big day.
The toy retailer is open about policy on the Smyths website it says: “Please note your Click & Collect items will be in clear packaging with contents visible.”
Parents take to social media every year to warn others that they need to be careful when ordering from the retailer.
One X, formerly known as Twitter, user said: “This is your seasonal reminder that Smyths plastic bags are still SEE THROUGH.”
She added: “I repeat, the bag is CLEAR.”
Another confessed: “I carry a roll of black bin bags in my boot at this time of year.”
“I didn’t get a bag when I collected my Xbox a few weeks ago. I asked and they said we don’t have any. Had to leg it across the Car Park with my jacket hiding it, in the rain,” said a third.
A fourth user said: “Yes!! We did the little man a few weeks ago and I could have had a heart attack! Talk about a ninja operation gettin’ them in!”
One woman claimed in 2022 that her Christmas was ruined after Smyths Toys sent gifts that were “only three-quarters wrapped”.
It turns out Smyths Toys aren’t the only ones with a lack of discrete packaging.
X users complained that Lego had gone for a poor choice of packaging in recent years using bags that visibly displayed its logo.
Although the exact toy would have remained hidden, it wouldn’t have stopped your children from figuring out their Christmas gift was Lego-related.
One X user said: “The Lego online shop was shipping all their stuff last year in big Lego-branded boxes. Pure grace of God none of our kids came to the door when DPD delivered it.”
Another store to be mindful of is the Disney store, the name and or logo will usually be branded somewhere on its packaging when ordering online.
Again if you have kids they may be able to suss out your gift if they see the delivery taking place.
Amazon was also mentioned as a brand that could cause a Christmas disaster not because of its packaging but because of the Amazon Alexa.
The device has a feature that notifies you if you have a delivery update on your Amazon account.
If you have a gift on the way for a loved one and want Alexa to stay quiet about it, you will need to manually change the setting.
To do this head to setting on the section of the Amazon app on your phone, choose notifications and select Amazon Shopping.
You’re going to want to untick the box titled “For items in delivery updates” under the section “Let Alexa say or show titles for items you’ve ordered.”
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