The block of flats in which I live has two entrances. One is at the front, giving access to the front car park, and on which there is an intercom for visitors and delivery drivers to contact the relevant flat and, if necessary, be ‘buzzed in’.
The second is at the rear, giving residents access to the rear and side parking areas, and which doesn’t have an intercom. The only way in through that door is with a key (or coded fob).
Therefore, you can logically expect delivery drivers to come to the front entrance.
However, today I needed to pop out and used the rear entrance – only to discover a small pile of packages left on the ground outside the door. There were four or five, one approximately shoebox sized (but heavier) and the rest smaller cardboard envelope types of various sizes. All were from Amazon.
I assumed they were all for one customer, and noted the flat number from one. I then nipped to the front entrance to buzz that flat using the intercom, but didn’t get a response. I therefore decided to grab the parcels, take them up and leave them outside the front door of the flat in question.
Picking them up, I realised I was wrong about them all being for one flat – one of them was for a different one. No problem, I’d just have to visit two floors.
At the lifts, I bumped into the resident of the flat I’d buzzed – I hadn’t waited at the intercom long enough for her to answer, and when she did answer and nobody was there, she guessed it might have been the Amazon delivery person, so hopped in the lift to come down.
I explained to her what had happened – that I’d literally just found these packages outside, and that some were hers and one was for a different flat. Because I was on my way out she took them all from me and said she’d pop the other one to its rightful owner.
So in this case, all’s well that ends well – but I really hope she is going to make a formal complaint to Amazon about it. Luckily it was me that found them – and I’d hope most if not all of the residents here would have equally made the effort to get them to their proper recipients – but they were left outside where anyone could have happened upon them.
While the entrance itself isn’t visible from the street, so these parcels weren’t either, that’s no guarantee of anything. For one thing, I am aware that people sometimes park here who shouldn’t – annoying, given the number of spaces vs the number of flats (even though not all residents drive), and I’ve sometimes ended up giving people directions when they wander through the grounds thinking there may be a shortcut to the adjacent greenspace and path.
I double checked my satnav to see where it would take me if I was trying to find these flats, and it does take me to the gate/drive leading to the front entrance – telling me to turn into it as I approach.
I can only guess, therefore, as to how these packages ended up at the rear. Perhaps the delivery driver buzzed but got no answer, so wandered around to the back to leave them there? However, those items were for two different flats, so he should have buzzed two different numbers. Did he get no answer to either? And if not, did he try buzzing any neighbouring flats?
I don’t have parcels delivered here because unless I can be sure of when they’re going to arrive, I can’t be sure that I’m going to be here to recieve them. My stuff goes to my parents’ house – and if they aren’t in, most delivery people are sensible enough to walk a few yards to the door on the other side of the driveway, and leave things with a neighbour.
Having said that, this is from November 2017:
I arrived there early that evening to find it like that. I’d parked just around the corner, and even though it was starting to get dark, I could see it from the street – which means anyone else walking past would also have been able to see it.
The door is immediately to the right of that photograph. Wouldn’t knocking or ringing have been a better choice than just leaving it there like that?
