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RANT: package thieves

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jmelson:
Over a year ago, I had an $800 package of parts supposedly delivered by the carrier.  I went looking for it, and couldn't find it.  I eventually filed a police report for an expensive stolen package.  THEN, TWO DAYS LATER, the package was actually delivered!  I had to call the police and tell them that the package had finally arrived.  I informed the carrier that the delivery person had done this.

Another time, I had a package delivered to a gazebo nearly a block from my house.  Just by luck, I did see it while wandering around the neighborhood.

Another time I had a computer projector left out in the rain next to the mailbox.  If I hadn't found it very quickly, it would have been reduced to scrap.
In some other cases, the delivery person just threw boxes of expensive electronic parts on the very end of our driveway, just a foot from the sidewalk, to avoid having to walk down the driveway.
Jon

Black Phoenix:
Well my experience is mixed. While in Portugal it was common for packages not even been trying to be delivered. Mailman leaves the letter in the box and I have to pick up next day on the post office.

If it was a delivery company as DHL, TNT or FedEx the guy would call me early on the morning and I would get an arrangement with him. If I was at home I would most of the times meet him in a place close to his delivery route if my package was the only one on that part of the city (or the city itself) or to set a time he would arrive. For me was always easier to put my company address and then it would be delivered there and someone would leave it in my desk.

Now in Hong Kong/Shenzhen it depends. In Hong Kong is the same as in Portugal, letter on the box, pick up 2 days later at the post office.

In Shenzhen is where I have the best delivery experience. All packages are left in a automated recieving station (basically a big machine with small, medium and big drawers) and as soon the door closes I receive an SMS with a code to the lock and location of the machine where it was left.

If it doesn't fit the box it is delivered at my home door or he returns later the day and deliveres personally, calling me before. If it is more than one smaller, they put all inside the biggest box available and again the code on the phone for the lock.

If it requires signature it has to be myself signing on their PDA/phone, no other way around. If it is someone else to pick up instead of me I have to go to the app and say I authorize someone to pick up on my own and write the name and phone number of that person (but most of the time just calling and telling him that someone is going to pick up other than me is enough).

If you don't pick up by the end of the day, at midnight you pay an extra fee (normally 0.5rmb per day, free during Lunar New Year and October Festival holidays) for the package being left there more than a day.

Thank god I never had packages stolen but got some lost and scammed deliveries where nothing was sent. Also had 2 cases of packages sent, didn't delivered, got refund and then they arrived later that week. Both were in Portugal during the French Tunnel Truck blockage in 2018.

Nominal Animal:

--- Quote from: Black Phoenix on February 14, 2024, 05:40:34 am ---In Shenzhen is where I have the best delivery experience. All packages are left in a automated recieving station (basically a big machine with small, medium and big drawers) and as soon the door closes I receive an SMS with a code to the lock and location of the machine where it was left.
--- End quote ---
Ah yes, parcel lockers.  I like them too.  They're ubiquitous here in Finland, owned by the Finnish Post, but it requires the sender to supply the recipient's cellphone number (for SMS).  They're the usual way you receive domestic packages.  You have a week to pick up the package, too.  You can even send packages from a parcel locker, although the locker reservation for sending is only valid for 24 hours.

jpanhalt:
What if you value privacy and don't have a cell phone?  No postal service in Finland?

Nominal Animal:

--- Quote from: jpanhalt on February 14, 2024, 09:34:45 pm ---What if you value privacy and don't have a cell phone?  No postal service in Finland?

--- End quote ---
Pickup from post pickup point, typically located in/next to shops, or a (rare!) genuine Finnish Post Office.  Only the parcel locker service requires a cellphone number.  Ordinary mail, including smallest packages, are delivered to mailboxes.  I live in an apartment, and have a mail slot in my door.

Some post pickup points have excellent service (like the current one for my local area), others –– like the previous one for my local area –– can be 'lacking'.

As to package loss, it tends to happen either in the sorting center, or in a local pickup point (edit: I haven't heard any from parcel lockers).  For political reasons, the sorting centers employ some based on "social" reasons, and apparently their theft prevention measures are rather lacking.  For example, any cash money in envelopes or inside cards will invariably be stolen.  Local pickup points have various operators, and aren't too profitable per se; and sometimes can have serious problems with drug-addicted personnel and misplacing/misdelivering packages, and theft.

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