As the title states, I ordered a watch through Amazon. It was handled by an outside vendor. The vendor sent the package via UPS to my apartment building. I wasn’t home so the delivery man left it with a neighbor.
Or so I’ve been told as I didn’t get a note from UPS indicating this and only found this out 8 days after the package was delivered when I wondered where it was.
Is it my responsibility to go knocking on everyone’s door to get the package back or it it the responsibility of UPS?
It is absolutely without a doubt UPS responsibility. There had to have been some kind of note on your door. If said note was not there, - and hopefully no one took it - then you should be in the clear. They would have to prove they put a note on your door, if they can’t, it is thier fault.
There was no note on the door. However, I had two packages from UPS sent to me at that time. And apparently one of them that my neighbor had did get left on my door.
But I guess they didn’t want to read a book about the 1964 Phillies. But the other had the word “Watches” in the sender’s name, so that may have made them a bit more interested in the contents.
With future purchases, is there a way you can require the shipper to require a delivery signature? That is, when you place your next order with Amazon, is there a box in the web form for shipping instructions?
I think there are ways to indicate how you want something shipped. I just didn’t expect that someone in my building would engage in such behavior. It’s a pretty mellow place with families.
The only comparable situation was about 8 years ago when a pair of shoes from LL Bean never made it to me. They were delivered to a neighbor who apparently forgot about them and gave them to me before they moved out, about six months later.
I had gotten replacements for those however.
I’ve never had such trouble with UPS or FedEx.
The only time in my life I’ve lived in an apartment complex packages weren’t delivered to my door.
All my packages, and mail, went to the mail room. When a parcel company like FedEx or UPS delivered a package they gave it to the mailroom guy, and you were given a slip in your mailbox telling you to go over to the guy and get your package.
You had to sign a sheet saying you got the package out of the mailroom and show a form of ID (although once I’d lived there long enough the mailroom guy recognized me, so that stopped being necessary.)
The one time I ordered a package that had to be signed for (computer) they (FedEx) wouldn’t even drop it off to the mailroom worker. They just put a slip in my mailbox asking me to arrange a time I would be available to sign for the package.
My building has no onsite manager and certainly no mail room. It is a small two-story complex with 16 units around a courtyard.
I usually just have stuff left at the door or with a neighbor. The neighbor who used to get stuff dropped off for me was great about getting it back to me. That’s how I got my standup mixer.
I think the box for a watch may be too small that they’ve forgotten about it. Not that that is a good excuse.
Filing a lost package claim with UPS pretty much guarantees they will require a signature in the future. My record is flagged that way and they won’t leave anything.
We had a FedEx package go astray. The hubby called them, and they said they had delievered it two days ago. He told them that we didn’t get it, double checked that our landlady hadn’t gotten it, made sure they had the right address, etc. They said, no, it had been delivered to our address—and signed for. Signed for? By whom? They couldn’t tell us, of course. all they had was an illegible signature on the electronic signinty thingamajiggie. Perhaps, they said, the last name began with an ‘S’? Blood pressure rising, the hubby told them that these were his personal educational records, that they most definitely had not been signed for by anyone at this address, and he could not imagine who would sign for them when they were not the addressee, and he wanted to know who the hell had his college transcripts!
They told us to give them a day to track it down.
The envelope arrived the next day, unopened and intact. The letter from the office of the registrar was dated for the day of my husband’s request, so we believe this was the original package.
Forgive me if I have little faith in this, how do you say?, delivery signature.
The advantage (supposedly) of the “digital” whatever signature tablets is from what I understand it can immediatel transmit the signature data to the UPS regional office and it immediately marks a package as signed for and delivered.
The enormous disadvantage is, no matter how you write on it your signature looks like illegible nonsense.
Related question: what if I sign for a package and then the box is stolen from in front of your door (where I placed it)? Am I responsible for something now?
I remember a commercial many years ago that said if you receive a package in the mail that was delivered to your house but you didn’t order, you can legally keep it. The commercial shows an Eskimo in an igloo opening a package only to find an electric fan. Does anyone else remember this commercial?
drhess, if someone signed for a package of mine and left it unattended on my doorstep I would certainly try to hold that person legally responsible under a negligence theory. It was certainly foreseeable that a package left unattended on a doorstep could be stolen. I don’t know if there’s law that specifically backs up that theory but OTTOMH if you didn’t agree to make good that’s how I’d approach it.
x-ray vision, the commercial (and law) you’re remembering was regarding companies that would mail items to you unsolicited and then bill you for them. It wouldn’t pertain to your signing for a package on behalf of your neighbor nor would it allow you to keep something sent to your neighbor and inadvertantly or deliberately delivered to you instead.
IANAL etc.
Have you already contacted Amazon? We once had a similar thing happen: Our neighbors (not so friendly) signed for one of our packages and moved out of the apartment before the package got to us. We contacted Amazon straightaway and they worked with us and with UPS to have the package located and have a replacement issued. And, the customer service people at Amazon were pretty great, too.
On preview: x-ray vision, that may depend on where you are, or this might have changed since that commercial aired. My parents were once delivered something (a clock-radio, I think) that they never ordered, but since they didn’t return it to the sender, they were obligated to pay for it.
Did they have some sort of relationship with the sender? If you sign up for a book club or something, that sends you something unless you say you don’t want it, you are still obligated. The scam when I was a kid was that some companies would send you wrapping paper or the like to sell unsolicited, and you were supposed to either return it or pay for it. This was called “on approval” IIRC. The law stopped that scam, by allowing people to keep the things without obligation. I can’t imagine anyone sending a clock radio, though, and it certainly would not apply to merchandise addessed to someone else.
I guess there’s the issue of how negligent it was. If the person only wanted to be signed by them, they could have specificed and signing for you is not greater than the USPS just leaving packages my doors, etc. Still, I don’t know what I’m really “signing”.
While my order was placed through Amazon, it was one of their outside vendors. So the box won’t say “Amazon” on it.
The vendor is looking into it and they seem to be a small operation since all my emails come from one guy and he’s already asked me to change my rating of the company on Amazon. (I gave them a 1-star rating.)
UPS does have a name listed as signing for it, but I don’t know the names of my neighbors and judging by the name it could be just about anyone in the building except for two units, one of which is mine.
One time, UPS delivered one of my packages to a neighbor when I wasn’t home. I had previously told them that I wanted signature delivery. I didn’t get along very well with these neighbors (they were Klan members, honsestly!), so I made UPS go get the package from them and deliver it to me.
I ordered a present for my mom and got a bit suspicious after about a week had gone by. UPS’s tracking site said that it had been delivered, and when I called them I discovered that it had been delivered to a neighbour. They gave me the person’s name and address. This person had signed for it, and UPS told me that if I wanted it, I could go ask them for it.
I decided to cancel the charge on my credit card instead.
I have to admit, I’m having a hard time deciphering what you wrote. I would think that by signing for it, you are responsible for making sure it gets to the recipient. Anyway, why are you signing for it if you’re just going to leave it on their doorstep? If I signed for someone elses package, I’d take it inside my house.