In recent times the Royal Mail’s posties have acquired a reputation for never actually attempting to deliver anything larger than can fit through a UK letterbox. The pop a note through the door along the lines of “We attempted a delivery but you were out” which IMO is complete bollocks… should say “We didn’t bother to knock and just stuck this note through your door”.
I am getting sick of having to drive to the sorting office to go and get my deliveries (‘deliveries’?) and it’s worse when I can’t drive my car because it needs work.
So I am thinking of creating a laminated note to attach to my door with a message “To the Postie: I am in. If you are delivering a parcel please knock and wait”
Sorry that I’m neither in the UK nor do I have helpful advice, but I can sympathize because here in the U.S. UPS (private mail carrier but widely used) does the exact same thing. I’ll be sitting in my apartment and the delivery guy comes and goes only leaving the “sorry we missed you” slip; not even bothering to knock.
It’s a real problem. We should revolt or something.
BTW, one solution might be to see if anywhere near you does that collect at shop thing, where you can designate a local shop or other business that’s signed up to the scheme, and the parcel’s delivered there instead. I know it’s not ideal, when they should just bloody deliver, but it’s a handy scheme for when you’re not in. (I presume you already know you can have it redelivered to your home or to a nearby post office).
They’re still better than DHbloodyL, which is saying something.
I’m in the US, but I would think things works similarly. I get larger things delivered to work, usually, since that eliminates the whole business of whether I’m home, plus if they do leave the package when I’m not home, there’s no telling whether it will still be there once I arrive.
If I’m getting something too big to haul home, I make sure it’s delivered UPS or FedEx, then leave a note on the outside door with the date so they know it’s not an old note. I also track the package so I know the exact day it will arrive, and try to make sure it comes on my day off so I really will be home all day. But the note so far has worked - they really do buzz my apartment.
I imagine your local postie has a boss? Each of our postal-code areas has a Postmaster, who I would contact if this was happening regularly. If I complain, the problem is usually taken care of quickly. If no one complains, the postmaster has no idea whether the deliverer (postie) is really knocking or not. They really do rely on customers to tell them if their postie isn’t doing their job!
My mail carrier leaves parcels on my front porch. My FedEx driver leaves them at the back door and gives my dogs Milkbones. The UPS driver just puts a sticky on the mailbox saying “Dogs!” and I pick up my package when I’m in town next.
So you have “posties”? We in Wisconsin have “pasties.” Same thing, eh?
My UPS, Fedex and USPS delivery dudes usually put the package on the porch, ring the bell, and leave as fast as humanly possible. If I’m home, I see their tailfeathers as I retrieve the package. If not, it’s there when I drive in. Maybe it’s a local custom.
I get mad at the occasional shipping firm that puts a “signature required” sticker on the package without telling me about it. All this does is delay my receiving it a day or two if I’m not home without increasing the security one bit.
I suppose if your postie is really bad you could make pasties out of him a la Hannibal Leckter.
Can’t help on the OP. The few times I’ve been in when a delivery comes he always rings the bell. I have a sort of outside closet at the front of my house where the wheelie bin lives that most delivery guys use for stuff that won’t fit thru the door.
Quite often they won’t even have the item with them… the rounds are getting longer and longer, meaning more and more mail to carry, so a lot of deliveries are left behind. That means whether you’re in or not you’ll still get the “sorry you were out” note.
I’ve made a ‘please knock loudly, I’m in bed’ sign before, when I’ve decided to have a nap after getting back from morning lectures and the post hasn’t been yet.
Maybe they’ve gone the way of DHL? Apparently if you’re on the tail end of the drivers route, and they have had a few big items and couldn’t fit your package in the van (assuming it gets packed in order of drop offs) they just leave a card without bothering to knock because your package wont even be in the van!
and if ineptitude isn’t the case, theft may be - my dissertation supervisor, when the Xbox 360 launched, had a driver try and steal the package! Plus when it’s Royal Mail at least the depot tends to be somewhere near, or your local post office if it’s big enough. With the other delivery firms the depots tend to be a few towns/cities over.
I’d rather hand some random guy on the street a package and $20 and ask him to deliver it than trust DHL with anything.
I’ve been lucky - UPS and FedEx generally come to this neighborhood after 5:30, so there’s a good chance someone is home when they drop a box on the front steps, ring the bell and vamoose.
The mail, OTOH, comes by around noon and they too, will just leave boxes at the front door. So far, we’ve been lucky and nothing’s grown legs and wandered away with someone else.
However, my worst package claim experience was with the USPS. They didn’t even ring when delivering an overnight express package. Guess they were expecting me to be camped out at the mailbox waiting for an envelope containing airline tickets for a flight the next morning? Nope. They left a tag and I had to drive like a maniac into the skeevy part of town to find the main sorting facility before they closed.
This does come after a couple of years where none of my mail was delivered at all.