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AIBU?

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Original poster

Yodel delivery driver opened my front door..

333 replies

harboromummy · 30/12/2015 13:44

This is the second time in two weeks! Same guy!

I went to go into the hall way to go upstairs and the delivery man literally came up to the door, didn't knock, opened my front door and went to put the parcel on the stairs!! He about pooed himself when he saw me then asked me to sign the thing.

The first time I heard the front door go went to check and he had done it then too!!

😡😡

OP posts:
BackInTheRealWorld · 30/12/2015 16:21

Me and my friends don't knock, we just walk in...
And I leave my windows open.
I don't have house insurance mind you so I don't have to worry about that.
Fortunately I've also nothing worth nicking!

BackInTheRealWorld · 30/12/2015 16:22

I was a little more safety conscious when I lived in London, but not round here...

Kaytee1987 · 30/12/2015 16:23

Elf the problem is that he didn't even ring the doorbell. I've never had a delivery driver open our door had a few parcels left in our green house though or wheely bin.

Pipistrella · 30/12/2015 16:23

That would make me quite cross.

Our DPD driver just came back, after I called the depot to ask where our parcel was - apparently instead of telling me where he had left it, it was easier for him to come and collect it and deliver it properly.

I was waiting - he went straight for the side gate across the road, and reappeared with my parcel, then proceeded to tell me that he had got the number wrong and to have a nice evening.

The problem being that he hadn't left me a card, and the tracking said I'd signed for it at 12.35 using my name.

Hopefully he won't fuck around with my stuff next time.

OurBlanche · 30/12/2015 16:23

We walk in through back doors, I leave upstairs windows open all the time in good weather (you really couldn't get in through them if you are wider than a chip).

We have no extra requirement for specific locks on doors or windows.

And I like living in a place like this. It feel safe and people are friendly, say hello and look out for each other, hold keys for each other, etc etc.

baffledmummy · 30/12/2015 16:33

It wouldn't upset me to be honest...one of our parcel delivery guys (not sure which company) does this occasionally - its not like he is ransacking the house. I think it started when he'd ring in the middle of me feeding/changing/bathing the baby and he could see it was inconvenient...now he doesn't even ring...just puts it in the hall. I'm very happy with that.

5madthings · 30/12/2015 16:35

My frirnds knock, wait a min and then come in, I tend to be expecting them. Not all friends would just knock and come in but close friends will. You can't get round to our back door from.the front of the house.

Re leaving sleeping baby, we moved here when ds3 was a baby, he is now 11 and have had Ds4 and dd and expecting in April. When coming back from.school run etc if baby is asleep then taking pram into front porch would likely wake them.so just left out front by door, I can see from living room and kitchen and hear and just kept a check. I often deliberately pushed them up and down front driveway so they would doze off then left them by the door it meant they slept better in fresh air.

I quite often look after friends toddler and do same with her, her mum is quite happy with that and does the same herself. It's perfectly normal in plenty of countries to leave babies to sleep outside. Again if my front door opened right onto the street and no where safe to leave the pram I wouldn't do it but it's fine where I am now.

Neighbours have done yhe same with their kids, as I said kids all play out etc and neighbours say hello to each other and would look out for each other.

PrettyBrightFireflies · 30/12/2015 16:36

Fortunately I've also nothing worth nicking!

No handbag - purse, bank cards, mobile?

Bags and wallets are stolen, turned out, diaries scanned for possible PIN numbers and attempts made to use the cards at cash points known not to have CCTV. You'd be amazed how many people write their PIN number on a scrap of paper in their purse. Discarded empty handbags turn up in streams, up trees, in storm drains - anywhere they aren't easily seen by passers by.

Phones are sold on for a few quid, and five or six phones will be enough to cover whatever it is the burglars need the money for.

These aren't high value, targeted offences - they are opportunistic, petty crimes that can easily be prevented through simple crime prevention methods.

Jux · 30/12/2015 16:37

What sort of locks do people have on front doors? I am struggling to picture it. I am nearly 60, and remember living in a town where we never locked the side or back doors. The front door was locked because it automatically locked if it was shut, ie, had a yale lock.

I have never lived in a place which didn't have a yale lock.

Do most front doors have chubbs then?

Kaytee1987 · 30/12/2015 16:42

Jux loads of houses were built before yales were invented. In my neighbourhood it would be uncommon to see a yale - maybe only if a front door had been replaced.
Think I've only lived in one place with a yale and that was a flat years ago.

StealthPolarBear · 30/12/2015 16:43

We have a lock thay a key goes into and you turn the key to lock the door. If you don't turn the key the door can be opener using the handle.

thelaundryfairy · 30/12/2015 16:43

I can see why you feel uncomfortable about this and I can understand why others are deeming it unacceptable, but personally I would rather the delivery driver left my parcel on the stair than took it to a sorting office or left it in the porch, etc. Maybe he has a huge number of deliveries to make in order to meet his target so just dumps and runs? He must know that he is putting himself at risk by entering private homes unsolicited. If something did go missing from your doorway area, then the delivered parcel would incriminate him quite strongly?

Kaytee1987 · 30/12/2015 16:44

I have a mortice lock on inside door and going to find out what the lock on porch door is when I go home because can't remember but defiantly not yale - maybe it is chubb

StealthPolarBear · 30/12/2015 16:44

Laundry can you explain why he'd have had to have taken it to a sorting office or left it on the porch?

fresta · 30/12/2015 16:47

Gosh? No house insurance? The contents of our house alone are worth thousands and thousands and that is before you even consider the value of the house if it need rebuilding, or serious structural work? What would you do if the house was completely gutted in a fire, or a tree fell on it, or a something crashed into it, or you were flooded etc etc?

goodnightdarthvader1 · 30/12/2015 16:48

stealth Exactly, people are acting like his only options were to a) open OP's door and drop it on the step, or b) take it away with him. Why the hell can't he knock/ ring doorbell?

I used to live in London so despite living in a naice semi-rural area now, I keep the door consistently locked. If a delivery person tried my door handle without having knocked first, I'd be livid.

Kaytee1987 · 30/12/2015 16:50

I know StealthPolarBear the delivery driver could have rang the doorbell and got op to sign for the delivery. I wonder if he fakea her signature when he does this as most parcels have to be signed for by someone.

thelaundryfairy · 30/12/2015 16:51

Hello Stealth, apologies, in my - admittedly limited - experience, delivery drivers often don´t wait very long for you to answer the door, or I suppose they might assume you are out. When the children were babies sometimes it took me ages to get to the door (maybe I´m just very faffy).

Despite being home at the time we have twice found slips where our parcel has been taken off to the sorting office, we have had drivers leaving stuff on the doorstep, and we have also taken in parcels for neighbours (most recently last week) who were actually home at the time.

I appreciate I wasn´t very clear, sorry.

goodnightdarthvader1 · 30/12/2015 16:52

In fact, if a delivery person tried my door handle at all, I'd be livid. IT'S MY HOUSE!

StealthPolarBear · 30/12/2015 16:53

But that's my point. Why can't he do what they're actually meant to do which is deliver the parcel? Surely leaving it somewhere or taking it back to the depot is what they do when no one answers the door?

thelaundryfairy · 30/12/2015 16:53

Agree with fresta, home insurance is something to consider seriously. Shop around for a good deal, as a new customer, you should be able to haggle the provider down to a reasonable price.

wonkylegs · 30/12/2015 16:58

Our front door that barely anybody uses is locked but our back door which we and everybody else uses for access isn't locked (doesn't have a Yale) if we are around BUT we have a beep on the door everytime it's opened so you can't walk in unannounced. Generally you can see people coming down our very long drive way before they get anywhere near a door.
Funnily enough all the burglaries in our village recently have been on the modern estate which has front doors with Yale locks. I think it's badly designed with lots of places to hide out of sight so burglars can wander round without being observed so they can take their time looking. My neighbour would be out in a flash to say hi if somebody wandered round near ours.

liletsthepink · 30/12/2015 17:00

The Yodel delivery man was completely wrong not to knock or ring first.

I'm guessing that most pp who state that they leave their doors unlocked haven't been burgled (yet!). Replacing handbags, bank cards or mobile phones isn't the worst thing about a break-in - it's the knowledge that someone has been through your house. It wasn't us who were burgled it was our neighbours because our doors and windows were all locked as usual.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 30/12/2015 17:03

If I was comfortable leaving the door unlocked, I'd be comfortable with someone with a legitimate reason eg postie/yodel opening the door to out a parcel through.

However, I'm not comfortable with allowing folks in uninvited so there is Yale type lock used when we are in, and an additional dead lock used when we are out (although the Yale type lock is of a standard acceptable to insurance companies on its own). Have never locked myself out accidentally - I snib the lock open in case of the door blowing shut.

I have laways lived in properties where the front door has a deadbolt lock in the middle and a Yale type lock towards the top.

fiverabbits · 30/12/2015 17:11

When I bought my first house it had sash windows. One day I came home from work and went in the front room, didn't go in there often as it was empty, to find a parcel on the floor. Didn't understand why until the next day when the postman rang the bell and said Oh you are in today and did you get your parcel that I put through the window. It turned out that the sash window could be lifted up to 3 feet high and the previous owners liked it like that so the postmen could leave parcels indoors but they didn't think to tell us. We soon put a bolt on it as we thought that if anyone saw the postman open it so could they and then they would have access to the whole house.

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