E.g for us in South Africa, this would be unthinkable, regardless of how much time it saves the delivery company. The only time a parcel is left at the door is when it's UberEats. Otherwise delivery is rescheduled if we don't physically collect parcels in person. This is partly an access issue (many houses/apartments/estates have gated access) and largely a trust/crime issue.
But the US still seems to have some remnants of a high trust society, which has been only a temporary thing in many places, if at all.
Not having such a society adds frictions in all kind of interactions. In the end, that means cost. I can understand why people and company try to shift that cost when it comes up in areas where it wasn't present beforehand.
It's difficult to figure out exactly where the facilities are and you're not guaranteed the package won't still be on the original truck or on a new one. The facilities may only be open during the day, while you're at work.
Additionally, it's common that no delivery attempt is made at all -- the delivery driver will walk up to the door with a "we missed you we'll try again someday" slip already filled out and won't even knock.
The main reason we are cool with deliveries being left on the porch isn't that we trust our neighbors, it's that the alternative is so much worse.
when I lived in the urban core of a top 10 population US city, I still trusted my neighbors
another comment said the US still had "remnants" of a high trust society. I grew up in that high trust society. I am not old.
if our high trust society is gone, we should do whatever is necessary to get it back. It's clearly a better way to live.
It's not unknowable; FedEx and UPS at least will reattempt delivery every day for a certain number of days before giving up. At least that's the case in urban and suburban environments. Maybe you live somewhere rural where their policy is less clear?
> It's difficult to figure out exactly where the facilities are
No it's not. The tag they leave behind will often tell you, or you can enter the tracking number online and it'll tell you there. And usually it's the same place every time, so once you figure it out, you're good for future packages.
> and you're not guaranteed the package won't still be on the original truck or on a new one
This is the annoying thing. It's never clear when the package will actually get back to the facility (after they failed to deliver it to you), so you don't actually know if it'll be there when you show up. Many many years ago it was a simple matter of giving them a call, but nowadays you end up in customer support / phone menu hell, and it's incredibly difficult to talk to someone who is actually physically present at the facility.
> The main reason we are cool with deliveries being left on the porch isn't that we trust our neighbors, it's that the alternative is so much worse.
I'm absolutely not cool with this. I trust my neighbors just fine, but I don't trust all the random people who might be walking around, specifically looking for packages to steal.
I'd much rather have to drive over to a facility to pick up the package, or just wait until the next day for another delivery attempt, but most delivery drivers don't give me that choice.
If the package does get stolen (incredibly likely, if it's left outside), I'll usually have to wait several days for the merchant to ship a new one (because they figure it's possible it wasn't stolen, and want me to wait and see if it still gets delivered in a day or two). And then I have to wait for another shipping-time cycle.
No lol, you just enter the tracking number of the missed delivery tag into the carriers website and they tell you where to go pick it up.
I'm friends with all my neighbors but I find this practice completely bizarre.
It varies greatly depending on where you live. My sister lives in suburban Maryland, and leaving a package outside on a porch is just no big deal. The probability that it gets stolen is actually ridiculously low. In this case the high trust is completely warranted.
I live in San Francisco, and if a delivery person ever leaves a package outside, it's always a scramble to either get there to take it in, or find a neighbor who can do it for you. (I live in a 4-unit condo building, so we all try to look out for each other's packages when this happens.) It's just bizarre to me that delivery people aren't specifically instructed to never leave packages outside here. I suspect they may be, but they're overworked and don't want to have to add yet another package to their delivery schedule for the next day. And/or they may be evaluated on number of completed deliveries, no idea.
(On the flip side, there are some neighborhoods in SF where it's ok for a package to sit on a doorstep for a while. Not many, but... they exist.)
Places in the US that have high level of porch piracy also have high levels of gun control, and low levels of gun ownership.
You have to really want my $5 towel to risk your life doing that around my parts of the US
Yeah, in a city I would expect the mail person to leave a receipt in your mailbox.
In the countryside, though, that's not unheard of :-)
Just like I would easily leave my bike unattended and unlocked in the country side but not in a city.
To put things in perspective, it's common over here for people selling things on Facebook/Gumtree to just leave the item outside and have the buyer slide the cash under the doormat. It's less secure but way more convenient, since you don't need to be home to complete the transaction.
I've left tools and other semi-valuables in my unsecured carport, in clear sight from the street, on a main road, for years now and they've never gone missing.
My sister in law lost her iPhone in a public bathroom and got it back simply by calling it and working out a time and location to meet up with the person who found it.
These aren't just freak anecdotes, by the way, they're the norm.
You should really consider coming over here. We need more Saffas in Australia!
This obvs does not work for other delivery companies but now you can see an option in the order forms to allow the delivery company leave the package at the door (e.g. IKEA). Otherwise, it is just unthinkable that someone would leave the package at the door without ringing you and agreeing in advance.
Physically, they're about as secure as an Amazon cardboard box.
Not sure what effect this has but I live in an area with a lot of Ring (or other) front door cameras which is a rather severe disincentive to theft of packages left at the door (as well as mishandling of package delivery by the driver)
