to expect a courier not to put a parcel in the wheelie bin??!!

we sometimes had stuff left on our doorstep when we lived in the uk very annoying.

here in france everyone has boxes outside the house with letterbox type openings the postmen and parcel delivery men have keys to open them and stick larger parcels in. Terraced houses have them as well attatched to the house wall. it must make life easier for the posties as well no risk of dogs biting them, fighting with those annoying letterboxes that are at the bottom of the door.

housemum- we do too the post lady knows us all by name (and my Mam and Dad too!)

Doormouse box still too big for us, I want a veg box but nowhere to leave it

I don't think you are being unreasonable. If there is a space to specify when ordering, I usually suggest parcels are left in the DC's play house in the back garden. Next have done this, and my veg box is left there too, it is fairly dry and away from the road but we live on a quiet cul-de-sac in an OK area.

maybe there should be a central collection area, i know if i were delivering parcels and no-one were in, i'd be tempted to leave them somewhere like a recycling box, ours usually put a note in

The box would be OK for terrace with front garden, otherwise you could have a doormouse box for small parcels I suppose.

No good for a terraced house though

You mean your green bin gets emptied?!!!!

The only thing we're allowed to put in our green bins is grass cuttings. It was cardboard too, but they decided to let us know after it had been filled with cardboard.

Putting a package in a bin and considering it safe is insane

they're a good idea, only a matter of time and i suppose it'll be standard to leave them in there

Southeastastra, such boxes do exist - we have one, and it is called a Hippo Box . Some couriers won't use it though [rolling eyes emoticon], although more are using it now than when we first got it last year.

but seriously if you do so much online ordering, where do you expect the driver to leave it if you're not home.

if you're in that's a different matter sparklygothcat!

kimi -- I'll lay you even money that that was White Arrow, who the Wine Society use when they are particularly busy and don't have enough of their normal delivery people.

My mother once watched a White Arrow van "deliver" a parcel to her neighbour by slowing down slightly as it passed her house and lobbing it out of the driver's window in the general direction of her door.

the thorntons chocs my OH ordered for me for valentines were left in our wheelie bin!!! - why would they think that's ok??

I had parcels thrown over my side gate, where they were left in the rain. Would have preferred them left in the covered porch obviously, but that would have been too logical...

V stupid to put it in the bin.

Recently a parcel sent to me was just dumped on the ground about a metre away from our doorstep - our front garden isn't enclosed at all so it was in full view. Whoever delivered the post that day really excelled themselves, because they also put a letter with a "signed for" label through the letterbox with the label peeled off to indicate we'd signed for it, when we hadn't. And they put our neighbour's (correctly addressed) bank statement through our letterbox at the same time.

I had a parcel just shoved into my porch, at the top on a ledge, wouldn't have minded, but it was on full view to everyone and I was in!!!

it'd be a good idea if we have big lockable boxes to keep parcels in wouldn't it, they have to leave them somewhere

Some bookswere thrown over my mams wall and landed in the compost heap

I had a parcel left in my bin once. My bin isn't normally out, but it was bin day. Luckily the bin men had been first so it was empty otherwise I think they still would have put it in with the rubbish! I was fuming as it was books for ds and I wanted them to be relatively clean before I gave them to him. I am always stunned at where couriers think it is ok to leave parcels. I'd rather collect from the depot if I'm not in. Quite often a neighbour will come round with a parcel that I have no idea has been left with them as no card was put through our door. I always feel really bad then because not only has the neighbour had to take our parcel in, she then has to bring it round (I say neighbour, she lives 3 doors up so it's not just like handing it over the fence). Luckily she is very honest, but I'm sure their are some people who wouldn't bother bringing it round.

last xmas royal mail delivered a pink gameboy advance to us and popped it in the bbq - no note! it was xmas who would look in their bbq. only found out when we chased up toys r us and they got onto the post office and the delivery guy remembered "delivering" it. Toys r us refunded postage .... I had paid £4.95 for that.

The wine society dropped a case of wine over my 7 foot fence

We once ordered a book from the AA which never arrived, so we claimed our money back - refunded without question - the AA said they have a special arrangement with Royal Mail because so many of their parcels go astray
Two years later we we taking out a particularly dense bush that grew up behind the fence next to the back gate - and stuck right in the middle was the book! The delivery guy had just dropped it over the fence and hadn't even bothered to leave a card.....

My postman posts stuff through the catflap if he can, which is fine, but sometimes it blocks it - so the cats pee on the parcels

Putting stuff in a bin is just dumb though!

Happens to us too ad I'm left trying to reach tings from the bottom of the bin. Or they leave them in the outside bin cupboard. The kids in the area love to go through the cupboards and I once had over £100 worth of clothes (lost weight and didnt know what size to get) stolen from out there.
Thing is the courier who left them usually delivers around here first as he's worried about the safety of his van later in the day!