It baffles me that "delivering" packages like this is a standard practice over there. I'm in the EU, and if I'm not home by the time the delivery is attempted, the company would call and ask when is a good time to try again, or would leave the thing to be collected at an office.
this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
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It used to be that they would not leave packages unattended at a residence, they would leave a note on the door about an attempted delivery. I suppose with the rise of online shopping things had to change. I don't see American delivery companies bothering with trying to contact you/retrying deliveries, they just want to get out as many packages as possible... and there is a LOT they have to deliver in a day.
You do have a lot of choices in how you want your items delivered depending on the delivery company. Most of the have apps/websites where you can choose to have them hold the package, or deliver it to a specific location on property. By default packages will be left at the door.
Personally I have never had a problem with porch pirates, and if a package is expensive or important I will have the delivery company hold it and pick it up there.
The seller can mandate a signature. I've had to sign for valuables like laptops, phones and ammo. (That last one was to prove I'm American.)
So it's possibly cheaper for the seller not to require a signature (since it's an extra service), but it's no biggie if the package gets stolen? Seems logical...
Well yeah, if it only gets stolen 1% of the time, and the cost of that service is more than the replacement cost when things get stolen, it makes sense to not require a signature. It's just like retail, they just factor in a certain amount of loss into the price of the items they sell.
Fair point, yeah. If it's a no-hassle process for the customer to report something as stolen and get a refund or another item shipped (even without proof - because I figure not everybody has surveillance cameras), sure.
Yeah, same up here in Norway. If I'm not home they will offer to leave the package at a collection point, or drop it off at my place of work. As far as I know, they're not allowed to just leave it at my door step and hope for the best.
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When I had my phone delivered it was from a special courier, not the normal post. I had to show ID in order to accept the delivery.
(EU)
In Germany you have to give permission in the tracking menu to have them drop the package off somewhere else. I live in an apartment building so I usually tell them to drop it in the hallway of the building, since there's usually someone at home to at least open the door downstairs if I'm not at home. I've seen packages outside the front door only once here and it is not a place I'd ever choose.
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Don't worry, it's shit in places in the EU as well. One delivery guy just left my whole apartment complex's packages, for thousands of households, in front of one apartment.
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Most of us wouldn't buy from someone who made us jump through hoops like that.
It's not really a lot of hoops to jump through, and this seems to be standard practice by DHL, UPS, FedEx and others, over here.
I actually appreciate getting the options on delivery day. E.g. I usually get to choose what collection point they leave the package at (so I can pick a spot I pass by going home from work or whatever), or if I want them to come back the next day, or have it dropped off at my office (not always an option, kinda seems to depend on how stressful a day the driver is having). I certainly prefer it to risk having the package stolen, then reporting, waiting for a new delivery..
Of course, if the package is large, heavy or otherwise unwieldy it might be a pain not having it delivered directly to the door, but if I'm expecting such a thing I try to be home to accept delivery.
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How inconvenient is getting your package stolen lmao
It's literally never happened to me and, if it did, is still less inconvenient than waiting for a delivery one single time. It's as simple as contacting the retailer and getting a replacement shipped in a day or two for anyone big. The worst case is maybe a week.
All of that is better than going out of my way to go to a pickup location or staying home waiting for a package.
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Welcome to the rest of the world mate. This issue here is another "no way to prevent this, says only nation where this happens" as The Onion would say.
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We UPS drivers at least get signatures for the damn things. Who would have thought the delivery drivers getting paid shitty wages would be working with thieves to augment their wages lmao
Really? Where at? Every phone delivery I’ve gotten via UPS does a ding, dong, dash (and sometimes not even ringing the bell). No I don’t have a release signed.
I have to either redirect it to UPS store (hard to do since it’s overnighted and I don’t want to pay an additional fee), or make sure I’m monitoring my camera for motion alerts all day.
FedEx too, even for packages marked signature required I've waited at home for them and the driver leaves the package and rushes off before I can even get to the door.
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I really do think UPS does a better job than FedEx overall, but I gotta say the last time UPS delivered a high ticket item to me, it was supposed to be signed for. The driver dropped it off, gave a knock on the door and immediately left. Did not wait, didn't leave a tag, didn't take it back. I reported it to them. I was across the country at the time and the original delivery estimate was supposed to be two days later, after my return home. It's possible Best buy was the one that fucked up and gave wrong info to UPS though.
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In the UK you’re not getting a phone delivered to your house and left without providing a pin to the delivery driver.
I’m all for leaving low value items outside but phones and stuff, come on people.
In France you can have it delivered to a post office. To pick it up you’ll need to show a state id card as proof.
In Germany you have to show your ID card to get it, at least in theory.
At least in my area, theft really isn't a thing. I don't know anyone on my street who has had a package stolen, and I've ordered TVs, phones, consoles, etc, all of which could be pawned pretty easily.
So the security around these things really should take area into account. A densely populated area like NYC or SF would probably need more strict protections than a place like mine.
I think at lot has to do with the company. Like Amazon don’t care as they make so much it’s just not worth waiting around for PINs or signatures as it’ll cost them more than lost stock. Plus they probably have some insurance.
Right, and we're talking about iPhones here, so Apple has certainly done the math on whether paying for the signature service costs more than buying insurance on the item.
As a customer, I don't particularly care which they do. When I order things from smaller retailers, I usually have to sign. When I order from larger retailers, I usually don't. Either way, I have never had a stolen package, and if I did, I'm confident I could report it and get a new one sent out quickly. If I had packages stolen frequently, I would expect the retailer to get suspicious and require signature and photo to make sure I'm not the one stealing them or something.
Apple don’t deliver their own parcels, at least in the UK, so that’s all on the courier. I was more referring to buying on contract from carriers anyway as this is also how they’re delivered and it’s the delivery companies that give drivers like 30 seconds per drop because they make more money delivering more parcels so it’s likely cheaper.
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Aren't these things trackable? Don't phones have an IMEI and can't they be remote-bricked if stolen?
I mean, police don't care, but Apple could render these useless if they wanted to.
Not completely bricked, but they can be blacklisted from all carriers
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Thinking when the "leaving packages before door" will stop (by shops refusing to send it that way due to cost related to stealing)
It's a bit of a rock and a hard place for then. If you won't leave my package and I have to be there or go somewhere else to pick it up? I'm not ordering your shit.
That's pretty much how the rest of the world works, either delivery to pickup points or delivery to person only
Really? At least 90% of packets I get are deposited without signature.
I think it is necessary to make a difference between delivering cheap stuff and a new iPhone or laptop.
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I for one prefer pick-up spots as there's "always" someone there, convenient for the driver and myself.
Big steel box with a one-way door and keyed access anchored into concrete next to your door, with a sign saying to drop packages into it. That's what I've started seeing some people do. Basically, a personal mail deposit box.
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Generally, phone delivery requires the residents signature at the time of delivery. At least that has been the case with T-Mobile and Verizon in my experience. Does AT&T not require signature?
It's in the article. Most of the time they don't, but in areas where theft is an issue they do. But I'm guessing they haven't caught on yet to change the signature policy.
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This just happened to a friend of mine on Wednesday. Had a new phone from AT&T delivered, and was almost immediately taken from their porch. Their doorbell camera caught both the delivery and the theft.
And then there's Kansas City...
PSA. Send stuff to your local post office and then go pick it up.
I wonder if this is similar to when weev & Goatse Security "hacked" AT&T by discovering that their website for managing iPad accounts was so poorly designed that you could just change the account number in the website's URL to access other people's accounts.