by Ariel van Spronsen
Ahoy mateys, let’s talk porch pirates.
The crimes
Here are a few of my recent experiences:
One time I made the mistake of having a package delivered very early in the morning. I awoke a bit later to two notifications from my Ring camera:
5:15 am: Amazon delivery person leaves a package at my doorstep.
5:19 am: Another woman walks up to my door, snags the package, and scurries away into the dark.
It was impressive how quickly the pirate followed the delivery person.
Earlier this week, I drove into my alley and saw a box that had been torn open and chucked right in the middle of the road. As I got out of my car to move it out of the way so I could continue, I knew what I’d find: An empty box.
Some solutions
Schedule packages to be delivered when you are home
Don’t make the same mistake I did. If you have the option, schedule packages to be delivered when you’ll be home to receive them.
Neighborly monitoring and assistance
There is power in community, and when we take care of each other, we can really make a difference. We’ve made arrangements with our closest neighbor to pick up each other’s packages and shoot a quick text to let them know.
Locking package delivery boxes
A decent box that you place outside your door can be had for around $100, but if you’re really looking to be secure, you can get “smart” boxes for around $400. We currently have a simple box with a combination lock. We’ve added the combination information to delivery instructions for the various services, but we’ve found that many personnel leave packages by our door regardless. We’ll be upgrading to a box with a delivery chute soon, which will hopefully be more convenient for them.
Lockers and access points
Many services offer the ability to have packages delivered to secure lockers or staffed access points. For the holiday season I’ll be using this option almost exclusively. Of course, it’s much more convenient to have things delivered to my door, but when I weigh the pain of a short drive or walk against the pain of having to reorder things (and spend twice as much), the balance weighs firmly in favor of the locker or access point options.
Your turn
What are your favorite porch pirate stories? And what other ideas do you have for thwarting them? Let us know in the comments!
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