Hmm. I did not know this.
I feel you, I’m out $300 of shipped goods because my mail guy can’t figure out where I live. He gets it maybe half the time.
I’ve been doing this for years, mainly because UPS will not deliver to my door unless I am personally present to sign, even if I sign their notice. (My apartment building is open to the street.) Lately I’ve been switching to having most things delivered to my home because
a) hardly anyone uses vanilla UPS anymore; it’s all “Mail Innovations,” so USPS makes the actual delivery, and they don’t mind leaving things on my doorstep.
b) some online sellers have a problem including the company name on an address label even when they ask for it, and I’ve lately had trouble with small packages getting lost because we’re not the only company in the building (even though it’s *our *building).
c) US mail to our office gets delivered by a courier service, which adds an extra day of waiting time.
d) even though I live in a slightly dodgy neighborhood (hey, they let *me *in), nobody here seems desperate enough to steal parcels–usually books or weird CDs that no one else would want–off of my doormat.
Probably. The vast majority of packages don’t get stolen. Paying even ten cents more per package might not be worth it. And it might annoy more customers than it helps. I’ve stopped buying from one place because they always send even small orders with signature confirmation required.
What they will do eventually is ban your address if you keep having stuff stolen.
How is it that Amazon and the Postal Service are responsible for theft? Why not blame your neighbors that are thieves?
Is your office even open on Sundays? Most aren’t.
Seems like most of these problems can be laid on your building:
- no security cameras in the office/lobby/mailbox area.
- no locked package delivery boxes in the mailbox area.
- no (or inadequate) vetting of the residents & staff of the building.
As a resident in the building, you are in a better position to do something about this. Complain to the owner/management. Sue them for failure to take ‘reasonable measures’ to protect your property.
Or ask them for permission for you to install security cameras at your own expense (and then sell video from them to other tenants who get packages stolen).
I get at least one package from Amazon each week and a monthly BarkBox. I’ve never had a problem. Everything is sent to my work address.
Due to delivery problems at my residence, and the fact that over the past 10 years either I didn’t have a “place of employment” to have a package sent, or my employer wouldn’t allow me to have a package sent to me where I work (Just try to do this when you work a Fed agency like the Census. Can’t argue with City Hall? phfft! You really can’t argue with the Feds!), I got a PO Box.
So, I have the package sent USPS to my PO Box, and the package stays at that branch of the Post Office until I go pick it up. Never had anything stolen since. Have all my bills sent there, too, because I got tired of the local lowlives emptying my street-side mailbox for me and just tossing anything (like a bill) not immediately valuable to them in the street or gutter. Actually, I pretty much have everything sent to the PO box.
I’m not saying it’s the solution for everyone, but it worked for me.
Except for when some stupid law or rule requires something be sent to my street address. Which means when I get a replacement for a debit card or credit card I have to ask them to hold it at a bank branch for me to pick up, and when I was involved in a lawsuit I had to ask the Porter County court system to send things to my lawyer rather than directly to me. Thank Og the IRS direct deposits tax returns now.
My apartment building has a huge problem with packages being stolen. We have security cameras in the mail/package area.
We have lots and lots of full color video of packages being stolen. So does the police, apparently it’s an organized operation.
None of this has helped. Cameras work really well if it’s another resident stealing packages, not so much if it’s an outside job.
When it happened to me, I just reported that I never got the package and it was replaced. One of my neighbors claimed they refused to replace his packages unless he submitted a police report. I mentioned that he should keep the information he gave the sender to a minimum – just say you didn’t get it, don’t tell the story about the organized ring of package thieves.
I was considering getting a box at a UPS Store, so I could receive everything there including mail. But it was surprisingly expensive. I think it was a couple of hundred bucks a year. I don’t receive enough packages to justify the expense.
Really? Mine is under $100. Granted, mine is really tiny, but anything that doesn’t fit I just pick up at the counter. And since I use it for all my personal mail I do get a lot of utility out of it.
I understand your argument, though - if it was JUST for packages I don’t think I’d find min cost-effective, either.
Upon re-reading this, one thing that occurred to me is that you may be unreasonable for thinking of the USPS as “like every other delivery service.” Unlike other delivery services, they’re not just package delivery; they deliver mail (envelopes, magazines, etc.: the kind of things that fit in a mailbox). You’re expecting them to deliver packages to a different place than where they put the “regular” mail. Which, maybe they’d be willing to do if you asked them? Have you tried contacting the Post Office about what they do with packages they deliver?
I understand the OP’s frustration, but I’ll just say that what he’s mad at Amazon and the USPS for doing (delivering packages by mail and having the mailman quietly leave them at his door or by his mailbox) is precisely what I’d want them to do if theft weren’t an issue. (Which, I’m fortunate enough that it hasn’t been for me anywhere I’ve lived, but that hasn’t included any of the sort of large apartment buildings like the OP’s.)
It’s true the thief deserves 100% of the blame. On the other hand, this IS Amazon’s problem. I had a package stolen from my doorstep in February. Amazon made good – absorbed the loss itself. But I haven’t ordered from Amazon since.
Theft of packages is going to hurt Amazon’s bottom line, either in insurance costs (including self-insurance) or lost business. It behooves them to find a solution.
And they HAVE a solution: Amazon locker. Since they are always full, people must love to use them. Why isn’t Amazon putting lockers everywhere? Or expanding the banks of lockers they have now? There are lockers all over around here, near my work, near my home, and they are all ALWAYS full when I try to use them. Always Always full. I would even pay for shipping to get to use a locker, but that isn’t even an option for me.
I used Amazon Locker when they first offered the service here, and was able to do so when I selected the free shipping option. Now Amazon Locker is only available if I select one of the paid shipping options (overnight, two-day delivery, etc.) and possibly for Prime users, which I am not. I think they made the change because the Locker service was popular.
I highly prefer USPS for things I order over UPS and FedEx. The mail arrives between 10:30 AM and noon almost every day, so I KNOW when to expect my package and can be home at the time.
On the other hand, UPS and FedEx have shown up as early as 7:30 AM with my package… and as late as 8:45 PM… and at wildly different times in between.
I’ve only had one problem with a package being delivered by USPS: in that case, the post carrier delievered the package to my house’s address number… on the next street over. I can excuse that one, though: both my street and the other street start with the same letter and have the same number of letters, so on a steamy day like that one was, mistakes will be made.
Right, and buy some shipping insurance while you’re at it.
The problem with Amazon locker is that they don’t seem to understand there’s more than just Chicago between the coasts.
They left that one at the front door. The next one they left in front of my apartment door. The one yesterday was delivered to the office, directly across from the mailboxes. Some consistency would be nice, along with actually knocking on my door before just leaving the box there.
And for those who want me to blame my neighbors. :smack: No fucking shit? Those people I can’t do much about, and don’t be fucking stupid enough to suggest that I move over this. That’s just plain ‘blame the victim’ retarded logic. Slap yourself and shut the fuck up. The blame properly belongs on the party being paid to deliver them and failing to do so in a reasonable manner.
It’s nonsensical.
I ordered a large framed picture that got left on my doorstep while I was away from home running errands.
Then I ordered about $20 worth of spices. THAT I had to sign for! Which was annoying because I was fast asleep when the delivery man came knocking.
I’ve done this and it’s great.
I can no longer ship UPS or FedX to work because NOW you don’t no if they will take it to the street address, or my works USPOB (even if you give the street address for the delivery location, they will take it to the USPOB of where I work).
But UPS and FedX won’t ship to my OWN USPOB (that seems to be changing, but many retailers won’t let you put in a POB, so it’s a moot point). It’s nuts.
I don’t get mail delivery at home, and UPS and FedX to my house would be a problem. And nearly impossible six months out of the year due to snow.
We got completely fed up and got a UPS box, known as a PMB, but it has a street location address.