This package came with more scare than care.
A Lower East Side man claims he was given a hair-raising surprise when he discovered his Nike delivery was filled with dozens of live maggot-like worms.
Benjamin Smithee, who calls himself a total “Nike fanboy,” was excited to unpack his newly ordered pullovers and vest, when he unearthed the creepy crawlies on Wednesday.
“I seriously have never heard of something like this,” he told The Post. “I was so shocked and trying not to add vomit on top of the situation.”
Smithee shared the horrifying experience in a Facebook post Friday: “Freaking worms. Alive. Crawling on the clothes and in their individual plastic bags,” he wrote.
He believes that since “the package was taped closed and not damaged” that the bugs “were [probably] there from the go and did not get in during shipping.”
The horrified CEO of The Smithee Group immediately took the package out of his sixth-floor apartment and “flicked those demons out of the box,” he said, adding that there were between 25 and 30 worms total.
The bugs appeared to be mealworms, which mature into beetles “and then I think dragons after that,” he joked.
The 35-year-old also had to discreetly remove the unfashionable accessories so as not to upset his wife.
“I had to do this without causing alarm,” he wrote. “Then I would not only have pest issue but also have to take my wife to the hospital to be revived in the middle of a pandemic issue.”
Nike did not return The Post’s request for comment.
Smithee, who said he’s a loyal Nike customer, had ordered two Nike Therma Repel golf top pullovers in gray and white and one Reversible Synthetic-Fill Golf Vest in black and dark smoke gray online, which totaled close to $200.
But when he contacted customer service for a refund, he was asked to repackage the wormy clothes and send them back.
“After deworming the items I washed them immediately on like sanitize super COVID mode,” he wrote in the post. “And I’m not going to now make a special trip to package stuff up and go to the Post office in a pandemic to ship you back clothes.”
Not to mention, he said, “I immediately threw away the box and packaging to make sure no worm residue remained, or God forbid, eggs.”
Determined to get some help from customer service, Smithee posted his pleas on social media, but received no response.
“Am I crazy in thinking the LEAST they could do is refund my money and let me keep my freshly sanitized clothes?” he wrote. “If I were them I’d be giving me the refund plus an ‘I’m so freaking sorry, please forgive us’ gift card and a note promising we will never have this happen again note of shame.”
Smithee didn’t intend to make a big stink, but felt railroaded by the corporation.
“I just do not like when ‘too big to fail’ actually turns into ‘too big to care.’ ”
