Warning: Package Theft

O

OldCorpse

Rockin the Boat
A dear friend of mine decided to get me a fantastic gift for X-mas. Over Thanksgiving, I mentioned to him a lens I was hankering after - we were just talking, and I had no idea he was going to buy it, but that's exactly what he did, and had it sent to me. It was a close to $2000 lens. It got stolen from my front door. No recourse, as it shows "delivered" and UPS doesn't care.

So here is my PSA:

Please do not send surprise expensive gifts to someone if you don't know what their delivery situation looks like. You may be sending it to a building or house that has a lot of package theft - which has recently been a problem in our area. Also: right around the holidays, especially end of the year X-mas, Hannukah etc., is when the thieves are extra active.

If at least it wasn't a "surprise" gift, I could have been tracking it and gotten notifications to look out for it. But I was away for a couple of days over the holidays, and now it's gone. My friend feels bad, I feel bad, and only the thief is happy.

You have been warned.
 
Damn, also remember to INSURE any package that's worth something so they are forced to get a direct signature or re-direct it to a UPS location. Package thieves had hit my neighborhood too.
 
I can't stand a thief. There was a rash of this going on in the surrounding areas leading into Christmas. One of the local stations did a story centered around surveillance video from a families home of some low-lifes doing the very thing. An SUV pulled up in the driveway, the female passenger jumped out and grabbed the packages on the porch then jumped back in the vehicle with them and they took off.

Double check that the shipment didn't require a direct signature. There have been cases of drivers falsifying signatures and showing packages as being "delivered". Some merchants require signatures for items well under $2,000(even on items only valued at a few $100 or less). Of course, if your friend shipped it himself and didn't note to require a sig, then the shipper is probably in the clear.

But again, hate to hear this for both of you.
 
My local post office offers a service that allows packages be delivered to the post office if you have a po box at the post office. They will sign for the package if required and will place a card in your po box when the package arrived. UPS and Fed Ex now deliver to po boxes. This service is free if you have a po box. I now have all of my packages delivered to my po box.
 
Thank you everybody, I just felt rotten when it happened, I guess we'll chalk it up to "experience". Re: signature and insurance - another lesson learned, my friend sent his son to the UPS store to mail the package, and whelp, lesson is, next time spell out everything, because young people don't know.
 
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