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Making the extra effort can make the difference in you receiving your package, or your package being stolen.  It might sound crazy, but leaving a package on a porch that is visible has a greater chance of being stolen, than you the homeowner being struck by lightning.  Since the world had to deal with the Coronavirus epidemic in 2020, people have made wearing a mask part of their daily routine, so for a porch pirate to walk up to a porch, to steal a package is hardly questioned if it’s not caught on camera, or the porch pirate is seen running away from a porch to a waiting vehicle with a package in hand.  What can delivery merchants do to ensure that a delivery is safe, and accurate for a customer, who might be waiting on diabetic medication?

1. Check to make sure that you’re at the right house, if there’s no number on the house, walk out to the street, and look at the curb, sometimes the customer will have their address painted on the curb, or sidewalk, when the delivery driver pulls up to the house that is receiving a package delivery.

2, If the driver knocks, or rings your doorbell, don’t ignore the knock, or ring, because your package might require a signature, in order for the carrier to be able to leave the package at your residence.

3. If you don’t have a porch, try to have a barrier that a delivery merchant can hide your package from the street, remember if it can’t be seen then likely it will not be stolen.

4. Use an arrow that points to where you would like for the carrier to leave your package, often if a carrier, or delivery merchant sees an arrow, they will leave the package where the customer requested for the item to be left, if the homeowner isn’t at home during the delivery.

5.  With the recent time change leave your light on at your house for safer deliveries from your delivery merchants, and porch pirates don’t care for lights, they’d rather work in the dark.

Making the extra effort can make the difference in you receiving your package, or your package being stolen.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Paying attention to your doorbell can save your packages from porch pirates.  In today’s world since the pandemic, more people are being allowed to work from

home versus going into the office for the typical 9a.m.-5p.m., Monday-Friday work week, so while working from home, and taking a break from the job

more people start to browse the internet looking for deals to shop, and buy things for themselves, or their children.  So you place your order, and you select

two day shipping from United Parcel Service, as the delivery merchant to deliver your package that you have ordered from Neiman Marcus, but you receive

an alert that the Postal Service will be delivering your package instead, so you wait patiently for the day to arrive for your delivery, and you begin to track

the delivery location of your package online.  While at work, you decide to take a break, and when you wake up from your sleep, you realize that the package

has already been delivered because you have received an alert on your cellphone, but on your Ring doorbell, you have a sign that says, “please don’t ring doorbell,

I work from home!”  So the letter carrier hides your package, behind your flower pot, and continues on with their day delivering mail, and packages to other

residents in your neighborhood, and a van with tented windows pulls up, and five minutes later, a lady jumps out of the van, runs up to your porch, and steals

your package, it’s obvious, the van has been trailing the letter carrier, and stealing packages, wherever the letter carrier leaves a package, this event happens

everyday, people are taking advantage of the pandemic, and using masks to commit porch piracy, what can be done to stop this?

1. Turn your volume down on your doorbell if you think that it’s too loud, but don’t turn it off, because the minute that you don’t think that someone will not

steal in your neighborhood, you could easily become a victim.

2.  Communicate with your neighbor, if they’re retired, normally if you ask them, they will pick up your package, and hold it for you, while you’re at work, or

if you take a trip out of town.

3.  Place a sign on your porch, where you think that a package would be safe if placed behind a barrier, normally a courteous note will get a delivery

carriers attention.

4, If a delivery is scheduled to be delivered at night, turn on your porch light, because porch pirates normally don’t like lights, they prefer to steal

your packages in the dark.

Hopefully these tips will help you to combat porch piracy at your home, and in your neighborhood.  Paying attention to your doorbell can save your packages

from porch pirates.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Leaving packages out in the open in a mailroom is a porch pirates dream.  The mailroom is designed to be secure for residents to be able to come to pick up their mail, and packages, there are also indicators to let other couriers know that packages aren’t to be left in the mailroom, but with time being a factor, and not wanting to be late, a courier will leave a package in a

mailroom figuring that the letter carrier will pick up the package to deliver the package to the front door.  That’s not always the case especially if the carrier has attempted to deliver a package  to the front door of a customer, and you need a code to enter the elevator, and you don’t happen to have the new code, and the area is restricted to  residents only, then you will not have access to deliver packages to residents doors.  What should you do as a courier, if the package specifically says to leave the item at the residence, and the office will not accept packages for their residents?  Scan the package, as being attempted, and take the item back to your office, so that the resident will have to be able to come in person to pick up the package.  What can be done to remedy the situation?

1. Install a package delivery smart parcel delivery system like Luxer One so that residents can pick up their packages in the comfort of their building.

2. The reason why the system works is because both the courier, and the resident must verify who they are before they can put a package into a parcel locker, and

the resident must verify who they are before they can pick up their package, without having to deal with a middleman.

3. A porch pirate doesn’t live in the building nor can they access the smart parcel locker to verify who they are, and the Luxer One system has a camera installed that

can capture your picture so they don’t want to be seen on camera to potentially blow their cover.

Leaving packages out in the open in a mailroom should never happen, it’s like leaving your front door open so that a thief can enter your residence

without being challenged.  Luxer One is one solution that works in a large apartment complex, as well as a small complex as well.  www.iwantmymail.com  More

than just a blog!

The grinch that’s stealing your packages before Christmas.  The title sounds crazy, but it’s true, it’s happening in certain cities in the United States.

Criminals are attacking letter carriers, on the street, and have begun stealing arrow keys from them so that they can duplicate arrow keys to be able

to open up boxes at apartment complexes, cluster boxes that are located in neighborhoods, and some that are located on the curb, or sometimes before you enter

into a neighborhood, depending on how the community wants the boxes to be located for its residents.  When do these theft attempts occur, one might

ask, and the answer is mostly at night, or when the criminal feels like most people aren’t paying attention.  People often order packages, and if they can

fit into the mailbox, the letter carrier will leave the package in your mailbox, you leave to go out of town, thinking that your package will be safe, but when

you return from vacation, you realize that your box of checks are missing that you ordered, your bank card is missing, and your small package that you ordered

from Amazon is missing as well, but you received an alert from the United States Postal Service stating that your item has been delivered to your mailbox.

What can be done to fix this problem?

1. Install cameras above the mailroom to be able to observe all activity 24 hours a day.

2.  Hire security to patrol the area, if there is a security presence then theft will unlikely occur.

3.  Check your boxes on a daily basis, if you order something, and you know that you might be out of town, place your mail on hold until you return.

4.  Install a sign in the mailroom to notify all delivery companies to attempt deliveries at the residents door, and don’t leave packages in the mailroom.

These are a few suggestions to keep the grinch from stealing your packages from your mailbox, or your house, condo, apartment, and etc., stay alert, and

report any suspicious activity at all times.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Disconnecting your doorbell, could turn out to be a problem for your packages.  Why do people buy a doorbell, only to disconnect it?  One of the biggest reasons that people might disconnect their doorbell could be because they might have a newborn baby, and a ringing doorbell, could turn a sleeping baby into a cranky baby in a matter of seconds with a doorbell that is being rung to notify the homeowners that a package has been left by your letter carrier at 10:50a.m., behind the flower pot on your porch, hiding it from the eyes of a potential porch pirate.  What are some of the pro’s, and con’s of leaving your doorbell disconnected, we’ll start with the pro’s first:

1.  A sleeping baby, is a happy baby, and constantly ringing a doorbell throughout the day, will have an effect on your sleep at night.

2.  More professionals are working from home, so getting up to go downstairs to answer a doorbell, during a critical team meeting , would probably be considered  a problem with your team leader, when you’re being paid to work from home.

3.  A doorbell ringing throughout the day could be considered unprofessional if your call is tied in with other team members and they can hear the audio from your conversations, mute your microphone , unless called on by the team leader.

Con’s:  1.  A porch pirate can walk up on your porch, and steal three packages that Amazon has left at your house.

2.  Turning off your camera doesn’t allow you to see activity that your camera could capture during the day, while a porch pirate walks up, and sees packages that have been left by your delivery merchant.

3.  Having your camera on could capture porch piracy, while turning your camera off could let them walk away with your package with no identity, of who they are when they walk up, and steal your packages, and also your food that you ordered from DoorDash.

What can you do to prevent porch piracy in your apartment complex, condos,  your place of business, and your home?

  1.  Make sure that your camera covers the entire porch, or area where packages are left.
  2.   If you have children, you can adjust the volume to your ring camera, so that when the doorbell is rung, there is very little noise, so that your baby, continue to sleep.
  3.   Some deliveries are made at night, so make sure that you leave a light on, to help the delivery merchant with safety, and also the delivery of your package in a safe area.

www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

 

Taking care of your relatives mail, and affairs, when they transition.  This is a subject that probably many of us don’t want to talk about, but it has to be discussed.  Most of the time, we expect our older relatives, to have a will, or a trust, that lays out how they might want their property to be split up amongst family members, but more than often we witness that our relative didn’t have a will, and the house that they were renting before they transitioned, has an owner that is ready to clean up their property so that they can move the next tenant into their property to start collecting rent checks from the new tenant.  If your relative lived in the house before they transitioned, it’s the responsibility of the family to meet with the owner of the property so that they can move the deceased relatives belongings out of the rental property.  While taking out the time to do this it’s important to put in a change of address for the deceased relative so that important mail can be forwarded to a good mailing address, also check to see if your relative might of had a safe deposit box that might contain a will, or other important things such as burial insurance, as well as a burial plot.  If they had credit cards, it’s important to cancel all of them, and notify the credit card companies that your relative is now deceased.  Unfortunately fraud sometimes occurs when our loved ones transition because some relatives figure that their relative can’t question them about a shopping spree if they’re no longer here, but fraud is fraud, and if your caught making fraudulent charges you could face jail time  if you are caught, and prosecuted by a court.  It’s also important to make sure to cancel any recurring deliveries that might come from Amazon, or any other delivery merchant.  Taking care of your relatives mail, and affairs, when they transition, can make a difference if done right, and in a timely manner.   www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Using your first name on a package is like rolling the dice, especially if you live in an apartment complex.  Let’s say that your on vacation, and you decide to order a package online through amazon.com, and you enter your first name, Jeff, and the address that you enter is 14370 Pickle Valley Way, but you forget to enter your apartment number, and you confirm your order by hitting the submit button, and the package has a two day delivery window that states that Amazon should be delivering your package in two days to your apartment complex.  The very next day you arrive back into town, and you wait for the arrival of your package, and you receive a message stating that your package has been delayed, because your address is undeliverable.  You wonder why this has happened, and the answer is quite simple.

1. You only entered your first name, no last name, and at the new luxury apartment complex, where you reside at  has 25 individuals with the first name of Jeff, so who is Amazon going to deliver the package to, when there are so many people with the first name of Jeff living at this new luxury apartment complex.

2. When you live in an apartment complex, it’s always important to put your apartment number on your package, when you order items online, because if delivery merchants have to play the guessing game, then more than likely your package will be returned to the sender.

3. Putting your last name inside of your mailbox, can be a lifesaver for you if you order a package with no apartment number, then sometimes your mail carrier can figure out where you live, by having your name in your mailbox, the regular carrier might know, but someone covering the route when the regular carrier is on vacation, might be unfamiliar with the residents who live at the apartment complex.

4.  Relatives don’t always keep in touch, and people will address packages with names like, Uncle Mike, Aunt Shirley, Grandma Emma, Grandpa Roy, and unfortunately these names will not be able to get a package forwarded if you don’t include a last name, and it hasn’t been more than a year since they moved.

Using your first name on a package, should always include a last name, unless one likes to gamble on the package being returned to the sender.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Having packages sent to your job, a good idea, or a bad idea?   With porch piracy being on the rise, and consumers continuing to shop more from their smart devices, and actually sending the package to their places of employment is actually really a good idea.  Why is this such a good idea?  Well this is actually your place of employment, normally you work there for an average of 5 days a week, and normally 40 hours a week, so normally during your business hours most delivery merchants will deliver your packages during office hours, however, if your delivery merchant is short-staffed, it could be possible that the delivery of mail, and packages, could occur when the office has closed for the day, and you might have to wait until the next day to receive your package, versus having the package mailed to your home, and when you arrive, hopefully it’s hidden in secure area, that porch pirates can’t see from the street.  Some offices are closed on the weekends, and so weather could also play a factor in your package arriving on time, or being delayed possibly by up to 3-5 days, depending on how bad the weather is, or it could be coming from a foreign country.

Why would leaving a package at a business be a bad idea?  If the office is closed, no packages should be left outside of the facility, but if the package has leave in the event that no one is available, or package doesn’t require a signature, leave at the address.  At this point the delivery driver should use common sense, knowing that if you leave a package unattended at a business, then more than likely there will be potential theft, even with a camera being present, because porch pirates, and potential criminals are still using masks to hide, and shield their identities.

What can help a business to prevent package theft?  Have a sign that says, don’t leave packages if office is closed, and make sure that it’s visible, so that delivery drivers can actually see the sign.  Having a camera is always a good idea to have, often porch pirates don’t want to deal with the potential of being caught by a doorbell camera.  It’s always good to have lighting as well, because porch pirates don’t want to be seen attempting to steal a package, or the contents inside of the package.  If the neighboring business has an agreement with the office that is closed, the delivery driver can leave the package in the business next door.  Having packages sent to your job, a good idea, or a bad idea.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

There has to be communication between the Real Estate Agent, the client, and the new resident that can affect mail, and packages.  Why does the writer make this statement, well because if there’s no communication then mail can be returned as well as packages, if delivery personnel assume that the resident, who is selling the property has moved, when the sign says sold on the real estate sign, when in fact the new resident doesn’t plan on moving  into their new home for 6 months because the previous owner has made an agreement to sub-lease the property until  their new home is finished being built in less than 3 months out of state, and the family is on vacation to visit the job site , where the new home is being built, so mail, and packages begin to accumulate on the porch, so delivery personnel assume that the previous owner has moved so they begin to forward packages, that will eventually end up being returned to the sender, and so the seller will be angry that packages are being  returned as well as mail, but the seller never put in a hold to let the letter carrier know that they were still living in the house until an official change of address has been submitted.

What can be done to prevent this problem from happening?

1. The owner can submit an official hold mail request to let the carrier know that they’re still living in the residence until they submit a change of address.

2.  Put a hold on any auto shipments of packages from Amazon, Target, or any other vendor until they return from out of state, because packages stacking up on a porch can attract porch pirates.

3.  The real estate company can make a note on their sign that says sellers here for another 180 days, and put the effective date of when the new resident is supposed to move into the new property.

4.  When the new tenant moves in have them to put their last name inside of their mailbox so that they can receive the correct mail, if the couple isn’t married. put both names inside of the mailbox, because sometimes mail might come for the wife in their maiden name, even if the couple is married, as well as any business names that the couple might be receiving mail for.

These are just simple tips that can help to save a lot of heartache with a customer receiving mail, and packages, the writer hopes that this might help someone out there.  There has to be communication between the Real Estate Agent, the client, and the new resident that can affect mail, and packages.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!

Having a barrier to hide packages always helps.  Porch piracy has become an everyday problem across not only America, but across the world.  If a package is left out in the open, in plain site, it has a better chance of being stolen, than being left where the delivery driver left the package, when the delivery was made at your residence.  If your porch has steps, and there isn’t an area where you can hide the package from being seen from the street, a flower pot is a great barrier to shield a package from being seen from the street, if the flower pot is big enough so that the delivery driver can hide the package behind it.  There are items that you can order online that will have an arrow that states that all packages should be left in this corner, so upon delivery of your package, the delivery driver, should make an effort to leave the package out of the site of potential porch pirates, who might be roaming door to door in your neighborhood.

What can be done to help the delivery driver make a safe delivery to your home?   1.  Make sure that your address is visible, this will help the driver feel more comfortable about delivering the package if your house is clearly identified with an address, or you have your address on the curb so that they can match the number with the house.

2.  If you have your name in your mailbox, along with the address of your house, this can help in the event that the package has been rained on, and the letter’s have become hard to read, sometimes this can make a difference.

3.  Taking your address off of your house, or door could lead to a misdelivery, especially if you live in a duplex, and the driver has to play the guessing game to try to figure out which home is yours, so if you want your package, it’s important to have an address that is visible to not only the delivery driver, but Doordash, and other delivery services as well that deliver groceries, and food to your front door.

Having a barrier to hide packages always helps.  www.iwantmymail.com  More than just a blog!