Amazon deliveries just left on doorstep

Probes

I've noticed the last couple of weeks that Amazon seem to be delivering through a company called Parcel King (or something similar?). They are just leaving the parcels at my front door, in what world do we live in where a parcel left at the front door will last a day? Not even talking about people taking them, what about just the rain?

If that's the service they've just given me the reason I needed to no longer use them.

Mezcita

Or you know... you could leave them a note saying to drop it at your neighbours....

Probes

Mezcita wrote: »

Or you know... you could leave them a note saying to drop it at your neighbours....

It was Christmas presents for the kids that I didn't order or know were coming so that's not possible without telepathy. I still don't think it's reasonable to leave a parcel at a doorstep in full view of everyone passing by.

Yuser.

Use parcel motel or something if your not going to be there

jam_mac_jam

They have done that with me as well, it was better when they were using An Post because you get the notice and then go and pick it up. Much safer.

Probes

Yuser. wrote: »

Use parcel motel or something if your not going to be there

Like I said, I didn't order them so I didn't even know they were coming. Doesn't seem acceptable to me to leave parcels on a doorstep but if this is the way we are moving forward then I guess I will go elsewhere. What's acceptable to me is leaving a card to either arrange delivery or give a pickup location.

Bikerman2019

Have you not seen all the "porch pirate" videos coming out of the US? They have so many packages on board, if you are not there, they either take it back increasing the workload, leave it with a neighbour, or put it on your doorstep.


A common irish idea is "they are paid to deliver it, so come back when I am home", may happen, may not, but the system will grind to a halt, they are out the door.

I take in parcels all the time for my neighbours, Amazon last week for example, and I just came home to a parcel thankfully left for me, with a neighbour.

You need to make arrangements for this situation.

machiavellianme

Yuser. wrote: »

Use parcel motel or something if your not going to be there

It sounds like someone else sent the gift to them via amazon. How are they supposed to divert it if they didn't order it?
I do think that the OP has a point. I've installed cctv to watch my doorstep with an objected added and object removed trigger for this very issue as many delivery folk don't press the doorbell (possibly due to covid fears or sheer laziness)

Probes

Bikerman2019 wrote: »

Have you not seen all the "porch pirate" videos coming out of the US? They have so many packages on board, if you are not there, they either take it back increasing the workload, leave it with a neighbour, or put it on your doorstep.


A common irish idea is "they are paid to deliver it, so come back when I am home", may happen, may not, but the system will grind to a halt, they are out the door.

I take in parcels all the time for my neighbours, Amazon last week for example, and I just came home to a parcel thankfully left for me, with a neighbour.

You need to make arrangements for this situation.

They don't even try to deliver it to a neighbour, they knock on your door, put the parcel down and walk off. Like I say, perhaps that's acceptable to others but not to me, I guess I need to stop using them.

MonkstownHoop

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

They have done that with me as well, it was better when they were using An Post because you get the notice and then go and pick it up. Much safer.

Yeah but you'd be getting Christmas orders in February, last Amazon delivery they called me and I was able to say put it around the side in the green bin, last night they knocked on the door and waited.

ted1

Probes wrote: »

Like I said, I didn't order them so I didn't even know they were coming. Doesn't seem acceptable to me to leave parcels on a doorstep but if this is the way we are moving forward then I guess I will go elsewhere. What's acceptable to me is leaving a card to either arrange delivery or give a pickup location.

That’s a pain. I’m fine with them leaving it on the doorstep. If it goes missing. I’ll get a refund as I never received it.

My one issue is yoy shops like Smyths doing it with obvious Christmas presents and not putting them in a brown box. I’ve heard of kids coming home and seen their presents on the door step. You wouldn’t deliver a dildo without a bit of discretion

Bikerman2019

Probes wrote: »

They don't even try to deliver it to a neighbour, they knock on your door, put the parcel down and walk off. Like I say, perhaps that's acceptable to others but not to me, I guess I need to stop using them.

Wow, didnt realise that. Amazon knocked on my door last week and asked would I take a parcel for next door, of course I did. Knocking and dropping in is not on.

jam_mac_jam

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

Yeah but you'd be getting Christmas orders in February, last Amazon delivery they called me and I was able to say put it around the side in the green bin, last night they knocked on the door and waited.

No I wasn't getting anything two months late. The An post delivery times were fine. And they weren't left on the doorstep getting wet.

Snotty

Seen an idea recently, one of those garden storage boxes with a padlock and no key, note on top telling the delivery man to put it in box and close the padlock afterwards, nice and simple, but the idea kind of fails when there is more than one delivery that day:D

Jim_Hodge

Yuser. wrote: »

Use parcel motel or something if your not going to be there

He didn't arrange the delivery and even if he did why would we pay extra delivery charges because the courier is crap?

jam_mac_jam

They should have at least tried your neighbours. I won't be using them as much in future. I am not going to pay parcel motel for every delivery.

paddydriver

OP.. you are at pains to say that you didn't use them and you weren't expecting the delivery; and now you are at pains to say you need to stop using them..

Not sure what part of the country you are in but if this is Amazon's own delivery service then I have found it fantastic; I get a notification on the app that the delivery is close by and I also have a multitude of options to defer delivery etc. I know in this instance you say you were not expecting the delivery so don't think this is a telepathy issue (as you put it) but more a communications issue on your side. If you have deliveries coming to your home then invariably there are going to be times that the service does not meet your expectations, but like you've said - if you are not happy with the service then don't use the service and maybe say to the person who did place the order that they need to communicate that better in future so that you can be aware a delivery may be arriving. Hopefully in this instance nothing went missing and all has ended well.

Ger Roe

This 'stop and drop' approach has been happening for a long time, with several courier services.

I have had packages left at my door in the rain, while I waited inside for a ring on the doorbell. This happens with the various local courier firms used by the main internet shippers. I have seen the same thing happen on a near daily basis with neighbours across the road - van pulls up, parcel left on doorstep without any attempt to alert anyone inside.

Everytime it happens to me, I register a complaint with the main shipper, but I have never got a considered response - they just don't seem to care. Maybe if more people complained to the main shipper (not the local last drop courier company) they might take it more seriously?

Royale with Cheese

Since Amazon started doing their own deliveries in Dublin I've had problems with them leaving packages for me in another building in my apartment complex that I don't have access to. It's like they were already making a delivery to that building so just left the parcel in there and fúcked off.

The first time it happened I got a notification on my Amazon app to say it was delivered but I went downstairs and there was no sign of it. It was only two days later I got a call at the door from someone in the other building who had thankfully copped what had happened and brought it over, otherwise I'd never have known where it was. The next time it happened then I had a fair idea of where the package was, I complained to Amazon but they just told me it was still coming (eventually gave me a £5 voucher for the hassle). I had to go round and camp outside the building the next day until I could tailgate someone in, and there it was. Never had a single issue with an post.

Oh the tracking info doesn't work properly for me on their app. It always shows the van as just around the corner from my apartment even if it's 8 stops away. Sometimes it'll say it's 5+ stops away and then it'll be delivered 10 minutes later.

Probes

paddydriver wrote: »

OP.. you are at pains to say that you didn't use them and you weren't expecting the delivery; and now you are at pains to say you need to stop using them..

Not sure what part of the country you are in but if this is Amazon's own delivery service then I have found it fantastic; I get a notification on the app that the delivery is close by and I also have a multitude of options to defer delivery etc. I know in this instance you say you were not expecting the delivery so don't think this is a telepathy issue (as you put it) but more a communications issue on your side. If you have deliveries coming to your home then invariably there are going to be times that the service does not meet your expectations, but like you've said - if you are not happy with the service then don't use the service and maybe say to the person who did place the order that they need to communicate that better in future so that you can be aware a delivery may be arriving. Hopefully in this instance nothing went missing and all has ended well.

I got three packages one three separate days that someone else ordered for the children. Like you say, I won't be using them if this is the service, seems mad.

Del2005

paddydriver wrote: »

OP.. you are at pains to say that you didn't use them and you weren't expecting the delivery; and now you are at pains to say you need to stop using them..

Not sure what part of the country you are in but if this is Amazon's own delivery service then I have found it fantastic; I get a notification on the app that the delivery is close by and I also have a multitude of options to defer delivery etc. I know in this instance you say you were not expecting the delivery so don't think this is a telepathy issue (as you put it) but more a communications issue on your side. If you have deliveries coming to your home then invariably there are going to be times that the service does not meet your expectations, but like you've said - if you are not happy with the service then don't use the service and maybe say to the person who did place the order that they need to communicate that better in future so that you can be aware a delivery may be arriving. Hopefully in this instance nothing went missing and all has ended well.

I live in an apartment so don't have a porch or back garden but do have bins beside the door. With Amazon delivery there's no option to say put it in the bin next to the door.

Jafin

An Post are not particularly much better. About 6 months we ordered a new Sky remote because our one was on its last legs. A few days after it was scheduled to arrive we found it thrown over the side gate. God knows how long it was there, because we only go over there when the bins are due to go out. The package was all damp so it was out there for probably a day at the very least, in which there had been heavy rain. No note or anything left to let us know that it had been delivered. Granted at least it was behind a gate where nobody could see it, but it's a tall gate so there's a chance it could have been broken by being thrown over it.

Same thing happened to my aunt a few weeks ago, just by chance she found whatever thing she had ordered left at the side of her house.

That all being said, I normally have no issues with An Post, this was the first time something like that happened.

newbie18892

I have the same issue since Amazon started their own deliveries in Dublin. The delivery guy just leaves the package on the doorstep without knocking or ringing the doorbell and hops back into his van and drives off. Really odd. I'm glad my dogs bark when their hear someone in the driveway as otherwise I wouldn't know and my packages would be sitting on the doorstep clear for everyone to see.

Probes

newbie18892 wrote: »

I have the same issue since Amazon started their own deliveries in Dublin. The delivery guy just leaves the package on the doorstep without knocking or ringing the doorbell and hops back into his van and drives off. Really odd. I'm glad my dogs bark when their hear someone in the driveway as otherwise I wouldn't know and my packages would be sitting on the doorstep clear for everyone to see.

I just had another one today, a children's book in a small thin piece of cardboard left outside our front door to be blown about in the wind and rain. Seems completely mad to me and unacceptable.

Sonics2k

Blame the courier companies, and not the drivers. And while you're at it, blame the buyers.

Courier drivers are constantly under immense pressure to deliver hundreds of parcels on a daily basis in a set amount of time.

OP, consider getting a parcel box or similar for the courier to leave the packages in, leave a note on the door or similar about it if it's not obviously out.

As an example for myself from when I worked as a courier, I'd often have deliveries by the South Link business park in Cork City, and have approximately 3 minutes to get from there to the South Douglas Road in Cork. At best that's a 7 minute drive, so I'm already behind time before I get there. Couriers can get an absolute bollocking from managers for being behind schedule, in some cases getting docked pay.

Dravokivich

Sonics2k wrote: »

Blame the courier companies, and not the drivers. And while you're at it, blame the buyers.

Courier drivers are constantly under immense pressure to deliver hundreds of parcels on a daily basis in a set amount of time.

OP, consider getting a parcel box or similar for the courier to leave the packages in, leave a note on the door or similar about it if it's not obviously out.

As an example for myself from when I worked as a courier, I'd often have deliveries by the South Link business park in Cork City, and have approximately 3 minutes to get from there to the South Douglas Road in Cork. At best that's a 7 minute drive, so I'm already behind time before I get there. Couriers can get an absolute bollocking from managers for being behind schedule, in some cases getting docked pay.

Surely that's some sort of unreasonable working condition type of issue there that can be challenged?

L1011

Dravokivich wrote: »

Surely that's some sort of unreasonable working condition type of issue there that can be challenged?

Many of them are spuriously 'self employed' so the employers can evade regulations.

If you're working for one company and have to report to a manager, you aren't self employed; but its very commonly done.

Probes

Sonics2k wrote: »

Blame the courier companies, and not the drivers. And while you're at it, blame the buyers.

Courier drivers are constantly under immense pressure to deliver hundreds of parcels on a daily basis in a set amount of time.

OP, consider getting a parcel box or similar for the courier to leave the packages in, leave a note on the door or similar about it if it's not obviously out.

As an example for myself from when I worked as a courier, I'd often have deliveries by the South Link business park in Cork City, and have approximately 3 minutes to get from there to the South Douglas Road in Cork. At best that's a 7 minute drive, so I'm already behind time before I get there. Couriers can get an absolute bollocking from managers for being behind schedule, in some cases getting docked pay.

It seems likely that it's the delivery company strategy rather than a rogue driver as it's happening with anything from Amazon now. It's a good reason to not use Amazon for sure though.

Sonics2k

Dravokivich wrote: »

Surely that's some sort of unreasonable working condition type of issue there that can be challenged?

Nope. Couriers, unlike truck drivers or even long distance van drivers don't have a tachograph card. Even the lads directly employed by the courier companies have nothing.

I distinctly remember being hired on the grounds of working from 7am to 5pm. The truth was that I was in the depot at 6am and often home sometime after 7pm when all collections were completed and I got back to the depot to unload the van.

Some courier lads can make a good amount of cash, if they own their own van and have a good route I know of lads who were making 2k a week, but they are pretty rare. Most drivers are making about 480 or 500 a week.

MOH

paddydriver wrote: »

OP.. you are at pains to say that you didn't use them and you weren't expecting the delivery; and now you are at pains to say you need to stop using them..

Not sure what part of the country you are in but if this is Amazon's own delivery service then I have found it fantastic; I get a notification on the app that the delivery is close by and I also have a multitude of options to defer delivery etc. I know in this instance you say you were not expecting the delivery so don't think this is a telepathy issue (as you put it) but more a communications issue on your side. If you have deliveries coming to your home then invariably there are going to be times that the service does not meet your expectations, but like you've said - if you are not happy with the service then don't use the service and maybe say to the person who did place the order that they need to communicate that better in future so that you can be aware a delivery may be arriving. Hopefully in this instance nothing went missing and all has ended well.

I found it atrocious.

Had a package out for delivery, got a mail saying "we ran into an issue when attempting your delivery. If you have information that would help drivers complete delivery to this address, please update delivery instructions"

Which was obviously impossible since they didn't bother giving me any clue what the issue actually was. For some reason a couple of hours later I decided to check the delivery instructions to see if I'd specified anything, and there was an option to enter a gate code which I presume was specific to my issue. Saying that in the mail would have been helpful.

There was also a radio button for "leave the parcel somewhere safe if I'm not at home". Which I initially ignored since there wasn't any means of specifying where the "somewhere safe" was. Again accidentally discovered that selecting that then brought up a list of options - in defiance of al UI conventions.

The list of options was useless since none of them applied to my situation, the closest was "leave it with caretaker", so I selected that. They totally ignored that an mailed me a few hours later to say the package had been "delivered to my mailroom". Found it on top of the row of postboxes.

The email and website were both really badly implemented, and then they actually ignored the instructions I gave. Not really a great service.

Caranica

Amazon delivery today (own driver) left a book on the doorstep today without ringing the bell. Would easily have fit in the letterbox. Only saw it on ring doorbell, I'm not there so waiting to hear if it's still there from neighbour