Jeff Bezos intervened to help a desperate Amazon customer find their stolen dog

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Jeff Bezos intervened to help a desperate Amazon customer find their stolen dog

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Wilma

Richard Guttfield

Wilma, the stolen dog.

  • Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos intervened to help reunite a British customer with their stolen dog.
  • Schnauzer Wilma went missing last week and was found in the home of a delivery driver who was employed by a company contracted by Amazon.
  • Wilma's owner Richard Guttfield emailed Bezos directly after growing frustrated with the lack of urgency from the Amazon customer services team.
  • Bezos has said that he reads most customer emails - and forwards them on to the relevant executive with a simple call to action.


Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos intervened to help a desperate customer find a stolen dog.

Richard Guttfield said Wilma, his 11-month-old miniature schnauzer, vanished from his home in Hertfordshire, UK, last Friday after he received an Amazon delivery.

For the three days after Wilma disappeared, Guttfield told Business Insider that he made "non-stop" attempts to convince the Amazon customer services team to investigate. It was only after he emailed CEO Bezos in desperation, however, that the company swung into action.

Wilma was returned to Guttfield earlier this week after being found in the home of the delivery driver, who worked for an unnamed Amazon logistics supplier. Amazon located the driver using its tracking software, Guttfield said. The motive for the theft is not clear and the police are now investigating.

Amazon said there was no excuse for the incident. "This is inexcusable and does not reflect the high standards we have for our delivery partners," a spokesman said.

Richard Guttfield and Wilma

Richard Guttfield

Richard Guttfield and Wilma, the stolen dog.

"We take these matters seriously and this individual is no longer delivering Amazon packages for the independent delivery service provider."

Guttfield was angry that it took an email to the CEO for Amazon to take the issue seriously. He said:

"Nobody appeared to have the authority to look into this quickly. All we wanted was the drivers' details so we could ask if he saw the dog. We weren't on a witch hunt.

"It was rather a long shot to go right to the top and email Jeff Bezos, but then all of a sudden things started to happen. We got a reply from someone who said he [Jeff] was in receipt of my email and had asked him to contact us.

"It was in a sense [reassuring], but something that was pretty serious in the outset was pretty much ignored for three or four days. You never know what could have happened to the dog and we would have appreciated some sort of help sooner."

Bezos said last month that he still personally reads "most" customer-complaint emails sent to him - and if he believes they should be dealt with, he forwards them on with single character message.

"I see most of those emails. I see them and I forward them to the executives in charge of the area with a question mark. It's shorthand [for], 'Can you look into this?' 'Why is this happening?'" Bezos said.

Jeff Bezos

Getty/Chip Somodevilla

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Guttfield, who runs small tech firm 4quotes4me in Britain, was happy to have Wilma home but said the dog was a little out of sorts. He thanked charity Dog Lost for its support and said he wanted to raise awareness for another stolen dog near where he lives.

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