I was thinking that not too long from now new homes will be offered with a “book return” turning-cylinder type of portal in the wall where Amazon or whoever was delivering could pull down a handle, put the box in, let go, and then presto! It’s secure on the floor of your home.
Only problem with this is it would have to be HUGE to fit the majority of packages. Or at least, the majority of packages that I order. Probably have to be big enough to contain a box at least 2 feet wide on each side, and even then there’s a decent number that still wouldn’t fit. I can’t really see that being practical to add to most houses, and it definitely ain’t practical to add to apartments.
My apartment complex has one of those Amazon Locker-type boxes, run by a service called My Parcel Pending, but the delivery services don’t use it. I paid $25 to sign up for it when I moved in, but FedEx, UPS, and USPS all either deliver straight to my door (and take the package back if it requires a signature,) or leave in in the mail room.
That idea stinks.
I just find it bizarre that delivery people leave packages outside your homes in the U.S.
Most delivery attempts are made after 4 p.m. in my neighbourhood – and I’ve had deliveries as late as 9.
I have never had a package left outside my house in Canada. If it doesn’t fit through the slot in my front door, and I’m not home, I have a sticker left on my door saying they made an attempt and they’ll be back the next day, or I can go pick it up.
(And you need to show photo ID too, so it’s no use just stealing the sticker)
If it’s Canada Post, the nearest location is down the block.
If it’s a private company (Purolator, UPS, Fedex) it’s usually a bit more of a schlep, but not too much trouble unless it’s from Lego because they only route it through two locations in my city.
Door tags telling you to pick up parcels isn’t uncommon in the US, but it varies a lot based on the value of the items and what level of service the shipper paid for. UPS generally won’t leave packages (and conveniently has a pickup location only a block away), but FedEx, USPS, and Amazon (who runs their own shipping company now) will leave things a lot. The Postal Service in particular defaults to leaving the package; I’ve had things held for pickup maybe twice in ten years. Otherwise, they’ll leave it on the stoop or, in a couple cases, I’ve had them throw it on to my second-story porch.
We live in a scuzzy apartment building. We’ve had two packages vanish so far. We just decided to have them delivered to Mr CK’s parents’ home, because it is less likely that packages will be left on the porch; they rarely both leave the house. It means an hour drive to pick packages up, but we moved to this area to be near them, so we want to visit them anyway.
Another possible weakness is that if it is large enough for typical packages, it could be large enough for a small person to go through it and be ‘secure inside your home’. You might see package thieves taking their small children* with them, so they can get thru these portals and then unlock the door to let parental thieves into the house. So package stolen plus house burglary.
- I seem to recall reading about Victorian thieves who had small children trained to shimmy up to open 2nd floor windows, or onto roofs and down chimneys to get into houses.
Yeah, it’s called being home and actually answering the door when someone knocks or rings the doorbell. Although I guess ‘technically’ that isn’t something you make, but rather something you do.
Which works well for those who don’t have to go to work.
Also, this only works if the package deliverer actually takes the time to ring or knock on the door. Often they simply set the package by the door and leave without ringing/knocking at all. (Probably due to the excessive piece work delivery quota these delivery company have imposed on their workers.)
This is utterly useless when the police REFUSE to investigate, prosecute or usually even file, a complaint of porch theft of packages.
Example: in the same video the Op refers to, at about 0:45
“And then i took this to the police, and even with the video evidence they said its just NOT WORTH THEIR TIME to look into”
This, here, is the root of the problem.
Re: Amazon having access to your home
I’d be interested in what you think could go wrong, given the multiple elaborate safeties they seem to have put in place (they watch it on video; monitor the door locking/unlocking; know the time, duration, and driver present, etc.). Sure, there will probably be one or two employees that manage to steal anyway (we’re talking hundreds or thousands of people), but this has to be as close to completely secure as is reasonably practical.
This lock box device came across in my local news feed.
Summary: It’s a lock box which looks like a bench. An app is used to enter tracking numbers, and then delivery drivers can open the lock box by entering the last four digits of the tracking number into the keypad. According to the company, during testing delivery drivers have been willing to use it.
It seems pretty cool, and I’d be tempted to take it if I found one in the wild.
If I were you, I would look into getting a box at a UPS Store, or other private mailbox, and then have all my mail and packages delivered there. I looked into it for myself but was surprised that it would cost like $200 annually. Too much when I’ve never lost a package that was delivered to my apartment and I usually have them sent to the closest Amazon Locker location anyhow. When I worked at smaller companies, we’d have the packages delivered to the office, but it’s not encouraged at this large location.
If you make the camera obvious, they might not steal anything.
I don’t think that’s a practical solution. PO Boxes aren’t always big enough for a delivery.
Packages are normally delivered during work hours.
Now where I live, Canada Post takes missed deliveries to the post office. However, Amazon doesn’t tell me who is doing the shipping. Usually it’s Canada Post, but sometimes it’s UPS, Fedex, or Amazon Logistics. In Canada, Amazon Logistics doesn’t have a central repository, so they just keep trying to deliver, which isn’t helpful, as I’ll always be at work. There’s an American company that sometimes does this to me too.
My UPS delivery person does not knock or ring the bell. They may just think I’m not home. Seems like everyone does, since no cars are visible. Apparently no one else actually parks in their garage.
Same here for all delivery services. And yet, lately, somehow packages are listed as being handed directly to me on Amazon’s tracking.
We’re home a lot and still things get weird. A couple packages recently were left in front of my garage door. The first I would have run right over it (it was glue!) if I hadn’t noticed it out of the corner of my eye. The second I didn’t see it but luckily missed it backing out.
Or they’ll put a package behind a bush. So it’s like Easter Egg hunting sometimes.
You can’t trust “out for delivery”. It might mean there’s still a week before it actually shows up.
I say a barbed wire enclosure with German shepherds and guard towers every 40 feet will cut down on [del]escapes[/del] thefts. Of course then you have to probe for tunnels a couple times a week.
I bought a camera system recently (from Amazon, I’m glad that package wasn’t stolen… irony!). I haven’t got off my butt to hook it up yet but I have 4 outdoor cameras I can install that are motion sensing and have two-way audio, and connect to the internet through my home network. It can alert me via an app, I use the app to see what triggered it, and if it’s a person I can talk to them through the app. There’s also a 1TB drive to record video. I hope it works as well as it’s advertised to.
Japan has 24-hour convenience stores everywhere. Amazon Japan allows one to choose a local store that can receive a package and pick it up there.