I suppose if I had a full surveillance setup inside my house so that I could review the footage every time I received a package in order to ensure that nothing was stolen, it might be workable, but I don’t think I’d use that service personally for that and other reasons.
Like the fact that now the front door is connected to the internet. No freaking way I’m doing that.
Yes, I realize that some of the places talked about are apartment buildings and not the actual dwellings, but the article is clear that there are plenty of residences that are accessed.
I just don’t think this is a good idea, for the customers or for society at large.
On the plus side if this service is abused or cracked its easier to sue Amazon than Schlage.
I probably wouldn’t get it but there is no chance of my packages getting stolen if they are in front of my house. If I lived somewhere with porch pirates it would make more sense to expose myself to risks to an entity I could get renumeration from rather than random thiefs.
A while back, when they first started offering in home deliveries, we discussed it here. Someone made the point, and they’re likely correct, that by giving them key access like this, they’ve go their foot in the door (pun intended) to push other services like dog walking or housecleaning or anything else they can come up with (tech support, dry cleaning drop off etc).
This is giving them access to the apartment building lobby, not individual apartments. BTW, my building has an Amazon parcel locker, which can be used by Amazon and other delivery services to secure packages. I think some of these delivery people have a key or perhaps a code to open the front door.
Oh hell no! I don’t trust the drivers! Those vans get hijacked and stolen with alarming frequency and one incident locally the driver was an accomplice. I avoid Amazon completely, and I see their vans in the neighborhood every day. Circling aimlessly it seems.
On delivery day, you receive a notification with a 4-hour delivery window.
The driver sends an Arriving Now notification upon arrival, along with an option to watch the delivery live.
The driver knocks on the door, and then requests to unlock the door via their Amazon handheld scanner.
Amazon verifies that the driver is near your door, and that the package belongs to your address.
Once confirmed, if available, the security camera is turned on and then the door is unlocked.
The driver places the package just inside your door and requests to lock the door.
Once the delivery is complete and your door locked, the driver sends a final notification.
Though in this case, you unlock the door and watch the delivery.
Regarding the “circling aimlessly”, there was a proposal that they would just send certain items to your town or neighborhood, on the expectation that someone would order those items in the next few hours or days.
I don’t see a big problem with letting them into the lobby of the building. It’s not like it’s hard for someone to get some resident or another to let them in, anyway. My previous apartment didn’t even lock the building door.
My own personal residence? Yeah, if you want to do that, go ahead, but I won’t. I don’t think that Bezos has any nefarious plans for me or anything, but right now, they’re hiring anyone and everyone they can get their hands on. You’re effectively giving access to your home to some random schmuck whose only qualifications are a drivers’ license and the ability to fill out a job application.
Did y’all read the OP and the article linked therein?
So, yes, this is also about giving the companies access to your dwelling.
I can see a scenario where one person in an apartment building gives Amazon access to their dwelling and now all the other residents have to know that Amazon has access to their building.
The OP is titled “Let’s debate the wisdom of allowing Amazon and others to access your home while you are not present”. I don’t think it’s too hard to stick to that. Regardless, my WiFi-connected garage door goes through the MyQ app, which Amazon has an agreement with to connect with customers who want to grant access to Amazon so they can drop packages off inside your garage:
The wisdom of that is, in my opinion, poor. There’s no way I’m allowing delivery drivers to open my garage door. Porch pirates aren’t an issue in my neighborhood (yet). I guess when they are, I’ll come up with a better idea. Maybe that is giving Amazon access, and just being diligent about dead locking the inside garage door. Maybe it’s getting a lockbox for outside the door.
One possibility, and we may very well see more homes designed with this in mind in the future, is a specific delivery room. You’ve got the front door, which leads into a small entryway, beyond which is a second door. You let Amazon (or other delivery services) in through the outer door, but not the inner one.
Aye; that’s what I envision as well, Babale. We all like having stuff brought to us and I can see how a “package foyer” could become a standard addition to a domicile.
Before my apartment building got a parcel locker, I would have the packages delivered to an Amazon Locker location nearby. It was a slight detour on the way home, but I liked that the packages were secure until I got there.