Thursday, August 2, 2012
Posted in
Life
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Thirty years ago, shipping companies never left packages outside. They would come to your door, ring the bell, and if there wasn't an answer, leave a notice. There would then be additional delivery attempts.
But that has changed. Leaving packages outside, and therefore unprotected, is now the standard practice. All of them seem to be doing it: the post office, UPS, Federal Express, DHL. I have a home-based business in which I sell jewelry components on the internet, and in early July UPS left boxes containing $3,000 worth of products at the front door of my building. My entrance is on the side of the building, but the delivery man didn't make an effort to ascertain that. Fortunately, the front door is partially hidden from the street by a hedge, and I found the boxes.
I decided that I would fight this trend, and I put a sign on my mailbox that said:
I'm posting this article in the hope that other people will follow my lead and start insisting that packages not be left outside where they can be stolen. It is apparently more economical for delivery services to dump your package on your doorstep, and then let insurance pay for it if it is stolen, than to pay their delivery men to make additional visits. But this is a bad trend, and it needs to stop.
But that has changed. Leaving packages outside, and therefore unprotected, is now the standard practice. All of them seem to be doing it: the post office, UPS, Federal Express, DHL. I have a home-based business in which I sell jewelry components on the internet, and in early July UPS left boxes containing $3,000 worth of products at the front door of my building. My entrance is on the side of the building, but the delivery man didn't make an effort to ascertain that. Fortunately, the front door is partially hidden from the street by a hedge, and I found the boxes.
I decided that I would fight this trend, and I put a sign on my mailbox that said:
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE PACKAGES OUTSIDE THE DOOR OR IN THE MAILBOX. If there is no answer, please leave a notice. Please give me a couple minutes to answer the door. Thank you!Well, when the mail carrier showed up with a package, he was angry that he had to wait for me to answer the door (it took me less than a minute). One has to wonder what kind of mindset that mailman has that he not only thinks it's okay to leave people's personal property outside, but that he feels so free to criticize a customer for being concerned about the security of his packages.
I'm posting this article in the hope that other people will follow my lead and start insisting that packages not be left outside where they can be stolen. It is apparently more economical for delivery services to dump your package on your doorstep, and then let insurance pay for it if it is stolen, than to pay their delivery men to make additional visits. But this is a bad trend, and it needs to stop.
1 comments:
Today FedEx has done just that. I live on the corner of my block so everyone who walks north to south or east to west will see the package. Their is nowhere to hide it. Unfortunately it came up stolen. Common sense has gone out the window with FedEx.
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