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Some package thieves nabbed in Somerville
By adamg on Thu, 12/22/2016 - 1:56pm
Robin reports on an incident last night on Highland Road:
I had no idea why there were at least three police SUVs parked there w/their blue lights on as I came walking down from Highland Ave., until I saw the two guys in handcuffs and the rather large piles of packages, mostly from Amazon, piled up on the sidewalk in front of my place ...
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Comments
YES
I've had packages stolen from my doorstep before, so this story really gives me the warm fuzzies! So glad they might be able to return those packages to their rightful owners.
Ave. vs. Road
Highland Ave. and Highland Road in Somerville are two different (though nearby) streets.
ETA: Okay, I see that both are mentioned in the original post. Nevermind.
Yes, that's correct.
Robin (whom I happen to know) lives on Highland Road. She was walking home from Highland Avenue.
Grinching
I noticed some people with what looked like USPS contractor signs in the windows of their car "grinching" near Highland Road a couple of years ago.
They were pretending to deliver packages, but actually collecting them (walking up to a house with a package and taking two back to the car). I saw this twice before it dawned on me what was going on. There were also two people in the car, which is kind of odd.
I quietly moved to another street, phoned in the details on the vehicle, and went on my way. No idea if there were any arrests, or if it was somehow legit after all.
Amazon
Amazon Prime is the worst. They just drop off packages without even ringing the doorbell. This has happened to me twice in the past two weeks with gifts from family. I was home both times and our doorbell is so loud it can be heard on three different floors. Where I work they do not take packages to individual offices they just leave them by the mailboxes which are in an unsupervised public, easily accessible area. It's no wonder they are so easy to steal. I've yet to see anyone in my neighborhood following the UPS, Fedex, or US Mail trucks around but I've heard of it being done.
Not just amazon
No one--not UPS, not USPS, not FedEx, and not amazon--rings the bell at my house.
Amazon calls my house. I wish
Amazon calls my house. I wish they'd just drop things off on the back porch, I'm usually on the john or something when they call. Also, all the other companies have a key to the house (a triple decker) and leave packages inside the front door - except amazon.
Random Amazon
Amazon never rings my bell either. They just toss the package onto the front stairs outside the house without even attempting to find out if somebody is home. I wonder why they are so random, calling some people on the phone and just tossing the packages of others? They need to get their act together.
Amazon deliveries are the worst
Our UPS driver, and I think Fedex too, seems to make an effort to tuck packages out of sight behind my solid porch railing if I don't come to the door. Amazon packages are tossed right in front of the door, in plain sight from the street.
Also, I've signed up for MyUPS and the FedEx equivalent so I get notified when anything is coming to my address and then as soon as it's been delivered; with Amazon deliveries, if I didn't order it (e.g. a gift), I only know what the sender may have told me. (In the case of a package that arrived this morning, that was nothing.)
The key thing has to be
The key thing has to be difficult logistically (unless they use those password protected key boxes).
UPS has been helpful.
I don't know if they ring the bell, but I've had UPS drivers put my deliveries out of the way. When I was expecting something, and it didn't seem to be there, I'd check the tracking and there would be a location.
Glad Somerville caught some people!
Hmm
I think it might be dependent on the driver for deliveries outside of USPS. All of the others have rang my doorbell, albeit inconsistently. While it is nice, it also drives my dog nuts.
Amazon Locker
I haven't used it myself so can't speak for its usefulness, but I believe there's an option at checkout to have packages delivered to a secure location, of which there are many in greater Boston. Maybe try that.
locker
Amazon does have a feature where you can have the package delivered to one of their
local secure dropoffs. Here on the North shore it's usually a Speedway, but there are
others. Granted, not as convenient as doorstep delivery, but way more secure. Prime also utilizes every delivery service, UPS, USPS, Fed Ex etc, and yup, there's bad in all of them but I've been using it more and more and haven't had any shipping damage or loss. My gripe, Prime doesn't mean priority anymore. It might offer two day shipping, but it's still four days or more by the time they pick and ship it. The warehouses are close enough now, the two day shipping is irrelevant. So, maybe skip paying for Prime.
Amazon Logistics....
Their new delivery people are horribly incompetent... agree, skip paying for Prime.
I used Locker for the first
I used Locker for the first time today. There is one (at a Speedway!) on my way home from work. They send you an email when the item is in the locker, with a barcode or six letter code to put in. After you put in the code the correct door pops open. The cubbies are clearly matched up with Amazon's box sizes and it was kind of hard to get the boxes out it was so tight. But overall I liked the option.
I live in a locked apartment building and none of the package carriers have a front door key, except for the Post Office. Because Amazon ship whatever is cheapest that minute, you don't know if something will come by USPS, UPS, Fed Ex, or one of their couriers. I keep getting screwed- if it's something that I think will have to be signed for, I'll have it sent to my workplace, but of course Amazon decides to send it by USPS and it goes to my work's post office box and I have to wait at least an extra day to get it. Or something I wouldn't expect to need to be signed for will be sent by UPS and they will insist on a signature so I have to reroute the package to my work or pick it up at the distribution center. I've had two things delivered by the Amazon courier and the first time the guy was incredibly rude to me, and the second time my package got stolen.
Now UPS don't seem to be even making second attempts anymore. They left a package for me at a (different) convince store today. Unfortunately the store is only open until 9 pm and I couldn't get there in time today!
Amazon Prime Is The Best
They usually ring my doorbell. Sometimes, when I haven't answered, they've even brought packages through my yard and left them on the back porch. (the driver didn't know it was just a bag of cat food) In the rare cases when an Amazon package has gone awry, they graciously resolve the problem and always make it right.
A while back, there was a critical item I needed for work during a long holiday weekend. I was so grateful to receive the package, I tried to tip the Amazon driver — they don't get paid as much as other carriers and he was working so hard on a day when he'd probably rather be with his family. No matter what I said, the Amazon driver refused to accept the tip.
Amazon
partners with a lot of sketchy third-party delivery companies.
In Boston, I had the most trouble with LaserShip: they'd just leave packages in random places and run. They never rang at my apartment and sometimes wouldn't even bother to open the unlocked vestible, which kept the packages out of plain sight. They'd just leave it outside.
At the same time, rather than walking the 50 feet into the office at work, they'd leave them on top of the sprinkler box right in front of the door. It drove the admins crazy, as this was a public classroom building that got a lot of traffic. Having packages just sitting outside or just in the hallway was a theft problem and also a safety hazard, depending on the size of the package.
Amazon secure dropoff
Amazon does have a feature where you can have the package delivered to one of their local secure dropoffs. Here on the North shore it's usually a Speedway, but there are others.
Granted, not as convenient as doorstep delivery, but way more secure. Prime also utilizes every delivery service, UPS, USPS, Fed Ex etc, and yup, there's bad in all of them but I've been using it more and more and haven't had any shipping damage or loss. My gripe, Prime doesn't mean priority anymore. It might offer two day shipping, but it's still four days or more by the time they pick and ship it. The warehouses are close enough now, the two day shipping is irrelevant. So, maybe skip paying for Prime.
You can write to them if they
You can write to them if they don't stick with their two day guarantee, and they will give you a free month of Prime. Your mileage may vary, but I've done this a couple of times. Just be sure that the item was guaranteed for two days.
The lockers work great, if they aren't full. The one at the 7 11 here in JP is very busy this time of year.
props to the Police
THIS is the kind of stuff that police can do to improve community relation -- nail the sorts of people who would create a world where we can't trust as much.