Huh. I’m wondering if it’s a Canadian policy to not leave packages if no one picks them up (other Canucks chime in?). Doesn’t matter if it’s Canada Post, FedEx or Purolator, if you aren’t there to pick it up, they leave a document for you and take the package back to the local facility. You can then take the document to the facility and pick it up yourself.
I like it when they do that. I mean, it sucks if you have to wait until the next day, but if I absolutely need it on the delivery date I ship it to work. That way there’s no chance of my package being stolen.
Our mail carrier leans the parcel against the front door, which is fine with me. We have six steps that make it difficult to see the porch from the street. Besides, we’ve got more valuable stuff on the porch anyway.
It’s a royal pain to have to go to the post office/delivery depot to pick up packages. They often have the same or shorter hours than you do and it can take days to fit it into your work schedule. If it requires a signature, they’re just going to leave a form for you to post on the door and leave it unattended on your doorstep the next day. And you’ve had that form waving around all day to inform passers-by that something juicy is going to be delivered if they see the truck in the neighborhood.
People are much better than anyone gives them credit for. Your deliveryman usually knows the character of the neighborhood and his supervisor would tell him to be wary if they had a lot of theft claims in that area. If you’re worried about theft, pay for insurance.
Our delivery depends on the deliverer and the way the wind is blowing that particular day, I think. For USPS packages, the carrier places the package between the screen door and front door if the package will fit there (most times, it does). If it doesn’t, he’ll leave it next to the screen door. Sometimes he’ll knock on the door and then continue on his way, just to let someone inside the house know to come to the door – that’s cool.
I had a large multiple-box shipment of homebrewing supplies (mostly malted barley) delivered by FedEx that was split between left on the doorstep and me having to go claim it at a Kinko’s. The smaller box of the two was left on the doorstep, and the one that contained all of the grain (and which weighed about 50 pounds) was the one I had to go pick up. It’s been seven or eight years ago, but if I remember right it was FedEx who left a computer, monitor, and other hardware across the street with a neighbor who was home, along with a note to that effect.
UPS is the one that I really can’t figure out; I’m sure they have a company policy but it’s up to individual drivers to interpret it. I’ve had packages delivered on the doorstep (and one was stolen from there – a neighbor found it torn open and mostly full while walking his dog; I guess the miscreants weren’t interested in my cigars); others take the packages to our back deck (not an insignificant walk around our house) and leave them there.
I’ve had packages sit on our front porch, which is easily visible from the sidewalk and street, for several days; the cigar one was stolen one afternoon while I was home.
We get packages left all the time (unless they say “signature required”). Detached house. When we lived in Washington, DC, they would leave them with a neighbor who happened to be home all the time; I don’t think they’d have left them at our door (but we were on the 3rd floor and it was a walkup).
I suspect it varies by where you are and their perceived risk of the item being stolen.
One time, we were home, and had left the garage door open. The UPS guy put it in the garage, right by the steps into the house. That was confusing. I think we realized it was there when I checked the tracking online and it said “left in garage”.
Other times, they’ve put the items behind the shrubs on either side of the door, so we’ve learned to check there as well.
