Speaking of Porch Pirates. . .

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

DH lives in a southern city and has been their since college. I always send his "care packages" priority mail.

He now has an "apartment," which is actually a small house divided in two. He has a covered front porch that is divided into two. There is a gate from the sidewalk.

Last month I sent a package containing some Christmas gifts he didn't have room to take back on the plane when he left after Christmas. I also included some homemade cookies and a few other small items. The value was close to $100 without the cost of mailing.

The package never got there. The post office said it was delivered. What DS thinks is they had a substitute mail deliverer for a while, and this person left the package by the gate. His regular mail deliverer leaves it on his porch.

I called the main number for situations like this, and the first thing the customer service rep asked me was does he have a Ring doorbell. He doesn't. She advised me to call his local post office. I did, and the representative there sent paperwork for a claim and said she would talk to the mail carrier. I submitted the claim, with copies of the receipts for his gifts. Meanwhile the carrier said he delivered the package. The post office denied the claim, as we can't prove the package wasn't delivered. I'm not happy, but there's nothing I can do.

Right before Easter I sent another package. I talked to a postal worker I've known for years. He advised me to send it signature required, and to request an actual signature, not an electronic one.

He didn't get the package. Someone else signed for it, and signed their name. He didn't recognize the name. His neighbors hadn't seen it. I called the post office in the city again, and I wasn't happy. I asked them why they would allow someone else to sign for it! It turns out the signature belonged to a staff member at the post office. But why would that person sign for it when it REQUIRED my son's name? They found the package and said they would deliver it. I asked her to please ask them to leave a slip, since he wouldn't be home. She said that is what they are supposed to do.

He finally picked up his package yesterday.

Franklinbell · ‎01-04-2015

@beach-mom Good Grief!! That is just crazy. I saw a segment on the today show about this and showed a person disguised as a trash bag. It was just moving across the porch...my word. Glad he finally got a package!

Mz iMac · ‎07-26-2014

@beach-mom Tell your son to get a PO box.

"Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference."

elated · ‎06-09-2010

Your son should sign up for Informed Delivery from.the post office. It lets you know about all mail coming that day and packages. He can put a hold on his mail.and pick it up at a later date. This will save him the hassle and loss of packages. I have it and it is very helpful.

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

@Mz iMac wrote:
@beach-mom Tell your son to get a PO box.

@Mz iMac - Thanks. His local post office is not that close to where he lives.

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

@elated wrote:
Your son should sign up for Informed Delivery from.the post office. It lets you know about all mail coming that day and packages. He can put a hold on his mail.and pick it up at a later date. This will save him the hassle and loss of packages. I have it and it is very helpful.

@elated - I'd never heard of this! I will certainly tell him about it. It's never been a problem before, so it's something we never thought about!

Ronettes · ‎12-13-2022

@beach-mom

Tell him to have all packages delivered to his place of employment, if possible.

Either that or to a trusted neighbor's address, who is at home during the day.

We've been having all types of mail and package issues here for years, as well as getting other people's mail from other streets delivered to us.

Also had the same exact issues you described, as well as a large box which was delivered to our porch, totally empty.

That one was the worst, and when I had everything delivered to my job.

beach-mom · ‎03-09-2010

Thanks for the suggestion @Ronettes! Unfortunately all of his neighbors are in and out, like he is. They are all 20-somethings. His "other half of the house mate " is a flight attendant, and she is rarely there.

I guess we were just too naive to think this would happen. He's in a pretty nice part of the city.