Porch Pirates

Leann

Leann

Traveler
I've often heard about packages being delivered and left on the homeowner's doorstep only to be stolen by 'porch pirates'. I live in a rural community and although there is one house across the street, it's up a long hill behind tall trees. If you think rolling hills with houses occasionally dotting the landscape, you'll get an idea of where I live.

I have never had any problem with theft or vandalism or even noise disturbances. Until last week.

I had placed an order online ( a Christmas gift for my SO). The company (not Amazon) kept me abreast with shipping updates and the box was scheduled to arrive last Sunday. I was home. I kept checking to see if it had been delivered. Then I received an email telling me it was delivered at 10:45am. But it wasn't anywhere to be found. Some carriers provide photos of the boxes on the doorstep but this one didn't.

I should mention that runners and bicyclists love this area for their exercise because of the hills and lack of traffic. And if it's a weekend when the weather is nice, they are out in force.

All of this is to say that someone stole the box. Was it someone running by? Or a bicyclist? Or someone else? I don't know and never will. All I know is that it was stolen by what are commonly called 'porch pirates'.

I don't have cameras or a video door bell BUT I will now. They will be installed next week. Beyond the box, someone has stolen my sense of certainty that I live in a safe community where things like this "just don't happen". I hope the bast**ds that helped themselves to my box come back for more once the cameras are installed so I can get a nice, crisp, clear picture of them for the police.
 

I haven't had issues with porch pirates. I read that a homeowner had issues with porch pirates and he filled an Amazon box with "used" cat litter and left the box on the porch!!
 

Sis... I don't know if you remember me saying about our Porch Pirate , Christmas before last.. ?

Our Video ring doorbell captured this guy on a bike, lift a whole box of Wine that had been left on our doorstep by the delivery company..which a business sends to my husband every year ... I'm not kidding, complete with the name of the well known Wine company (Virgin wines) all over the box...the driver just left it on the doorstep, while we were out.

The doorbell picked up the whole theft, and we contacted the police not really believing they would do anything, and in the meantime, we printed off stills from the camera of the guy stealing the wine box, and distributed them throughout the neighbourhood... in people's letterboxes.. pinned everywhere in one day.. within the week, the Police had caught him, and had charged him.. apparently he was well known to him.

We were super impressed because the police here barely come out for a home burglary.. ..the guy appeared in court last march and was fined.. and told to pay us compensation.. which he hasn't, but it matter not to us, because the company themselves after viewing the footage, sent another box of wine... and probably he's not paid his fine.. but just to show that the Video ring doorbells do work, and are taken seriously at least by some police..
 
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hollydolly said:
Sis... I don't know if you remember me saying about our Porch Pirate , Christmas before last.. ?

Our Video ring doorbell captured this guy on a bike, lift a whole box of Wine that had been left on our doorstep by the delivery company..which a business sends to my husband every year ... I'm not kidding, complete with the name of the well known Wine company (Virgin wines) all over the box...the driver just left it on the doorstep, while we were out.

The doorbell picked up the whole theft, and we contacted the police not really believing they would do anything, and in the meantime, we printed off still from the camera of the guy stealing the wine box, and distributed them throughout the neighbourhood... in people's letterboxes.. pinned everywhere in one day.. within the week, the Police had caught him, and had charged him.. apparently he was well known to him.

We were super impressed because the police here barely come out for a home burglary.. ..the guy appeared in court last march and was fined.. and told to pay us compensation.. which hae hasn't, but it matter not because the company themselves after viewing the footage, sent another box of wine... but just to show that the Video ring doorbells do work, and are taken seriously at least by some police..
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I remember that!
 
Nathan said:
Carriers are ALL notorious for leaving packages where porch pirates can steal. :mad:

About the only workaround I can see is to leave standing orders to require a signature, or go pick up package at the carriers terminal. View attachment 244254
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yes , just this week, a Hermes driver didn't even knock my door, he just threw my parcel over the hedge.. if I hadn't noticed, it could have been stolen by a passer by
 
I had a couple of incidents with the carriers saying the items were delivered and I was home and looking for them and did not see them come. Then found out they were delivered to the wrong addresses, which is a problem in a remote area. One man called me. FedEx had delivered my package to him, he called them, they said they would pick it back up but never did. He called them again and they gave him my phone number! We met midway and he gave it to me. Another time a package that never came eventually showed up as "returned". I never got it but evidently someone did.
 
Thanks to myQ technology which enables opening my garage door remotely, along with Amazon Key, my Amazon orders are delivered securely INSIDE my garage! I have RING cameras as well, but Amazon Key together with myQ makes porch pirates a thing of the past, at least for me.
 
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The apartment I live in has an Amazon hub; but UPS often leaves packages in front of the door. But I’ve never had anything stolen. I have had packages misdelivered, I think. But Amazon has also refunded for anything I didn’t get.
 
debodun said:
I am surprised people are willing to take the risk of theft with all the electronic video surveillance gadgets available now.
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This is what surprised us.....nay.. shocked us, that our Video Ring doorbell was /is clearly visible .. yet the Wine nicker, clearly wasn't concerned...

His booze addiction or his penchant for theft clearly over-rode any concerns he might be seen.. or perhaps he didn't know we'd go to the lengths we did to have him caught, or cared less if he got caught.. being the seasoned thief that he turned out to be..
 
With apartment living, you get other problems with deliveries.

In my apartment building over time, I've had a few things, said to be delivered, that never got to me directly.
But as it turned out, these deliveries were left in the building, at the wrong apt.

I have found people to be honest around here - they bring the package to the right person if they are home when it comes.

Once I had some expensive items from Amazon left at the wrong residence ... luckily Amazon takes a picture of the delivery. I pulled up the proof of delivery picture and it showed the apartment door number.. I walked down to that apt on the second floor, and there was my package sitting there, 6 hours later! ... no one was home.
 
Leann said:
I've often heard about packages being delivered and left on the homeowner's doorstep only to be stolen by 'porch pirates'. I live in a rural community and although there is one house across the street, it's up a long hill behind tall trees. If you think rolling hills with houses occasionally dotting the landscape, you'll get an idea of where I live.

I have never had any problem with theft or vandalism or even noise disturbances. Until last week.

I had placed an order online ( a Christmas gift for my SO). The company (not Amazon) kept me abreast with shipping updates and the box was scheduled to arrive last Sunday. I was home. I kept checking to see if it had been delivered. Then I received an email telling me it was delivered at 10:45am. But it wasn't anywhere to be found. Some carriers provide photos of the boxes on the doorstep but this one didn't.

I should mention that runners and bicyclists love this area for their exercise because of the hills and lack of traffic. And if it's a weekend when the weather is nice, they are out in force.

All of this is to say that someone stole the box. Was it someone running by? Or a bicyclist? Or someone else? I don't know and never will. All I know is that it was stolen by what are commonly called 'porch pirates'.

I don't have cameras or a video door bell BUT I will now. They will be installed next week. Beyond the box, someone has stolen my sense of certainty that I live in a safe community where things like this "just don't happen". I hope the bast**ds that helped themselves to my box come back for more once the cameras are installed so I can get a nice, crisp, clear picture of them for the police.
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That sucks. You must feel so invaded! There is nothing like being stolen from to destroy your equilibrium!
 
Several years ago a distant neighbor put out his garbage can for the weekly pickup. Went out later, garbage hadn't been picked up yet, but 2 or 3 unopened Amazon boxes had been added to the can -- one was ours. A sheriffs deputy delivered it to our door. Other than that, so far so good.
 
I had things stolen but in an unexpected place. I had ordered a new blender and an iron and since I lived in an apartment at the time, I decided to have the things delivered to my place of work. At that time it was a nursing home. I got proof of delivery slip, with a barely legible scrawl of the person signing for the package, but no package. The secretary who received the mail swore up and down that they hadn't received the package, so I ordered the same items again. When the same thing happened, I realized that the secretary had stolen both shipments, but I had no way of proving it.
 
JustBonee said:
With apartment living, you get other problems with deliveries.

In my apartment building over time, I've had a few things, said to be delivered, that never got to me directly.
But as it turned out, these deliveries were left in the building, at the wrong apt.

I have found people to be honest around here - they bring the package to the right person if they are home when it comes.

Once I had some expensive items from Amazon left at the wrong residence ... luckily Amazon takes a picture of the delivery. I pulled up the proof of delivery picture and it showed the apartment door number.. I walked down to that apt on the second floor, and there was my package sitting there, 6 hours later! ... no one was home.
Click to expand...
here Amazon delivery drivers don't take a picture of the delivery but the Odious Hermes ( now Evri) do.. which is Ironic, because the Next door app is full of people posting photos of deliveries made supposedly to their homes , which are in fact on other people's doorsteps... so the cry goes up.. with an accompanied picture, for the person whose doorstep is in the picture along with the parcel to please reveal who they are..
 
I've never had a package stolen, but delivery people often leave my things where they're not visible from the street.
For those who think a security camera will prevent theft, they won't. You can view numerous videos of porch pirates right in front of cameras on You tube. Many don't even bother to hide their faces.
 
win231 said:
I've never had a package stolen, but delivery people often leave my things where they're not visible from the street.
For those who think a security camera will prevent theft, they won't. You can view numerous videos of porch pirates right in front of cameras on You tube. Many don't even bother to hide their faces.
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did you not read my post where I said exactly that.. which is how caught our doorstep Thief..
 
debodun said:
I am surprised people are willing to take the risk of theft with all the electronic video surveillance gadgets available now.
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It seems like the risk would outweigh the potential reward. For some, going to jail doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent. To me, being stuck in a jail cell would be pure hell, but for others, maybe it's that big of a deal.
 
win231 said:
I've never had a package stolen, but delivery people often leave my things where they're not visible from the street.
For those who think a security camera will prevent theft, they won't. You can view numerous videos of porch pirates right in front of cameras on You tube. Many don't even bother to hide their faces.
Click to expand...
I've been meaning to interject some thoughts: As much as we all think video surveillance is going to enhance security, does it really? Same thing with "monitored" alarm systems...the crook breaks in the house, or swipes a package off the porch and he's gone. That's it, if you or the monitoring agents call the cops, they show up long after the crooks are gone. Video 'might' be of some benefit if it gets a good shot of the crook's face, buried behind sunglasses and a hoody, and the person can be identified.
The only feature of a security system that I feel does any good is sensors that set off a loud siren, the louder the better. Makes the burglar more nervous, and draws attention to the break-in.
 
Leann said:
Then I received an email telling me it was delivered at 10:45am. But it wasn't anywhere to be found. Some carriers provide photos of the boxes on the doorstep but this one didn't.
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You need to check your carriers liability. Here in the UK, all carriers are responsible for the carriage of goods. That means if you didn't receive your item and the carrier says that it was left at your premises, all you have to do is ask for something known as: "Proof of Delivery."
Leann said:
All of this is to say that someone stole the box. Was it someone running by? Or a bicyclist? Or someone else? I don't know and never will. All I know is that it was stolen by what are commonly called 'porch pirates'.
Click to expand...
How do you know that it wasn't the delivery driver, or his accomplice, or even if a delivery attempt was ever made? The fact that the courier has put the onus on you is deplorable. Don't let it rest Leann.
 

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