To think that 9.30pm is too late to bang on the door for a parcel

[ScrambledEggAndToast]

I took in a parcel for a neighbour yesterday and she came round at 9.30pm to collect it. She knocked and I ignored it at first as I was in my pyjamas, she then started bashing on the letter box which set off the dog and woke up DS. I did then open it and gave it to her but fold her I thought it was too late. The dog then didn't calm down for 15 minutes and my son didn't get back to sleep for ages.

What do you reckon, is 9.30 too late on a weekday?

Not too late if lights are on, but since yours were off she was definitely BU.

YANBU - don't take anything in for her the next time, especially as she doesn't have the common decency to apologise for disturbing you.

Yes to late for this household as well.Myself and DH wouldn't be in bed by then but our 3 youngest would be and 2 of them are autistic and if they were woke up I would not be pleased!

She was really rude and ignorant,you could of all been ill for all she knew.Never do her a favor again.

The etiquette round here is that it is the person who receives teh parcel who takes it round to the person it is for, once they have seen their car outside their house. My lovely neighbours are always happy to take in a parcel and we do for them ( including loads of furniture we allowed to be put in our garage fro next door, which arrived on the wrong day. )

It always creates a nasty atmosphere if you fall out with a neighbour and for the sake of one parcel it isn't worth it. YABU

I think it's too late. Wtf.

She was rude banging on the door like that. But personally I wouldn't consider 9.30 too late, unless I could see the house was in darkness, or maybe if I knew there was a newborn baby in the house. The thing is that unless you know your neighbours every move, it's hard to know how what time suits them best. 7pm could be bathtime. 6pm could be dinner. 4pm could be a bad time if they're sleeping off a night shift. You can never be sure of getting it right.

9:30pm is definitely too late!!! Do not accept parcels for them again!

Too late for me, id have been in bed asleep.

But I'd have also taken it round to her once I saw she was in.

I wouldn't consider knocking on someone's door at 9:30pm unless it was prearranged. I might be a night owl, but everyone else isn't. Her response to you was beyond rude and I'd take her at her word and never accept a parcel for her again under any circumstances.

I would knock if lights were on but not if they were out folk are just rude some times I stopped taking In parcels for a neighbour they either came and rapped on the door at 10 at night if I didn't take it to them, cheeky sod

Unless it was an urgent parcel AND she apologised profusely for disturbing you so late, then yes she was being very UR.

And a rude one as well!

Given I'm normally eating my dinner & a good 2 hours off bedtime at this time I don't think it's too late however lights off downstairs & banging loudly is rude so on that's basis YANBU

9.30pm isn't that late.
Most people will still be up & about at that time.

However, if I knew that the people had a young child & all the lights were off, then I wouldn't dream of disturbing them that time of night.

I was about to go to bed in my old house at about 11pm, I'd just watched a trailer for the film 'Strangers' where 3 masked 'people' knock on the door. Scary. Then...my door banged and I nearly shit myself - it was next door picking up a parcel. They work late and my lights were on so I didn't mind.

I'm self employed, one neighbour is retired and another a sahm so we all take each other's in. The lights on/off or car in drive is what we go by.

But your neighbour sounds like a right bitch, with the lights off and the answer she gave. Let her trot off to the sorting office in future! Oh and if you order anything you can sometimes state on the any instructions bit to not leave your parcel next door.

9:30 wouldn't be too late for me but I wouldn't knock on the door of someone I didn't know at that time.
As for your neighbour, she's a right cheeky bitch!

No-who goes to bed at 9 o'clock?

I think it's too late.

Not necessarily to do with the fact that people might be in bed, but that there's a time after which you don't disturb people in the evening.

For me that's 9pm.

We try to make it to bed by 9:30 as we get up at 5:30am.. I'd be annoyed if lights were clearly not on.

No children but im often in bed by 9pm moaning. When sister two were alot younger sister went to bed around 7pm. I think if the lights are on ok...if the lights are off keep away...but in the case of this neighbour the banging on the door was very very rude.

It depends - my neighbour took a parcel for me the other day, and I didn't want to knock first thing in the morning, as I don't know when they usually get up and in any case, I had to be in work early. As it was, I got to the end of the street as he was coming back from the paper shop - he said he had the parcel, and he was fine when I said I wouldn't be back till after 9pm that day. I wouldn't have gone round that late if he hadn't said it was okay, nor if the lights weren't on, though.

If the lights were on, I may tap lightly at the door, but would not knock loudly or ring the bell. If the lights were off, I would wait until the daytime.

I don't think it 9:30pm is too late to knock on the door as it's normally still light here in summer and I'm not normally in bed till 11pm but she shouldn't have knocked if the lights were off.

Your neighbour was very rude in the way she banged on the door and not thanking her. Don't ever deliver a parcel again to her!

I was in bed at half-nine last night! I have a cough and am 23 weeks pregnant. My DS has a cough and isn't sleeping well. DH is away this week. It is a bit earlier that I'd usually be in bed (but I am usually in pjs by then!).

I'd have been miffed, too.

I'm really struggling to understand the people who say YABU on the basis that lots of people are still up. I was up at 5.45 this morning, but wouldn't be knocking on doors until at least 8 except in an emergency.

The alternative to the OP taking it in was presumably the parcel going back to the depot/collection office, which depending upon the company involved could have meant waiting until the next day, or having to trek to their office to collect, so the urgency of the parcel is neither here nor there. Assuming she hadn't had it for several days already, the neighbour should have left more time to order, or arranged a more foolproof way of receiving the parcel.

The OP was doing a favour and was treated very rudely.

I'm amazed people think 9.30pm isn't too late. If it's a family house then children normally are asleep at that time even if adults aren't. I would be hugely pissed off if sometime banged on the door at that time unless it was an emergency.

9.30pm definitely isn't too late (imo), sometimes have to work later than that so it wouldn't bother me.
I wouldn't take any more parcels for her after she was rude, though.