To be in shock about what a delivery driver just did??

[ArghhhWhatToDo]

Happy to be told IABU but a delivery driver pulled up outside my house, I was in the kitchen washing up so saw him walking down the path, I waited for the knock to go and answer but instead they just OPENED MY FRONT DOOR and placed the parcel in the hallway.

Usually the door is locked but I have a handyman in fixing our shower so have left it unlocked so he can come and go to his van as he needs.

I am not over reacting, this is shocking right???? I had my 4 year old playing in the front room who screamed when she saw the man.

I ran out and confronted them, telling him it was not acceptable to just open a persons front door and they should have knocked and waited, he responded that it is raining...WTAF?

Just sent a rather ranty email to the delivery company he works for and my DH is equally shocked as is the handyman who heard me shouting and rushed down to see if everything was ok.

I would never dream of opening the front door of people I know well, so why would they think it is ok to enter a house of strangers.

Am 4 weeks from my due date and have been slightly irrational so happy to be told I am OTT here.

Think youself lucky op. You could've had a crap delivery... www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/amazon-parcel-left-womans-toilet-2301962?892342&fbclid=IwAR2wmUvY5omvZST5kuX74SOBNA67jeAoMyBAmyw9lqdQ0UTtibwudRwAf0I

'Shock is subsiding' and you have no underlying issues? Right.

TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge OMG!!!

If you were one second from the door - how did the driver not see you when he opened the door and why didn't he give the parcel directly to you, rather than leave it inside the doorway?

If you were a second from the door, why did your daughter scream - surely she would have seen you were right by the door?

Why did you have to run outside to remonstrate with him, if you were a second from the door when he came in?

'Shock is subsiding' and you have no underlying issues? Right

So I must be living in a different world to some people - as I have already said this is obviously normal for some people but apart from when my shared house was burgled when I was at Uni I have never experienced a stranger entering my house, especially right in front of my face.

Hopefully this won't happen to an elderly person who has maybe forgotten to lock their door and gets a freight.

It’s very tricky because my mum is an elderly person, a bit deaf and very slow. She leaves the top of her stable door open and prefers people to use that to pop things on the side. Thankfully they do. It is a security risk, her leaving it unlocked, but it’s her choice and she’s sound of mind. If she gets a card through the door instead it’s a massive inconvenience for her.
Your delivery driver didn’t linger, you have no reason to believe he was doing anything other than use his discretion and (wrongly) assume you’d prefer to receive your delivery dry and on time, at a very busy time of year.

We quite often leave the front door unlocked when we're in the house for the specific purpose of delivery drivers being able to leave parcels in. I would have absolutely no problem with a driver who did what yours did. Good initiative.

Now my postman does this and leaves the package in the porch. But then again I know him well as our dd’s go to school together. I don’t mind at all

@Nursejackie1
Ohcomeonron...the reason locks exist is to stop unwanted people entering your house. I am quite shocked at the amount of people stating that doors are left unlocked for only particular people when to be honest anybody could walk in. I don't see an issue with someone doing their job popping a parcel in and actually know that alot of people leave their doors open for this reason. But in your relatives case it does not make sense to leave the door unlocked for only you. Why don't you have a key to reduce the risk of just anybody walking in?!

I'm shocked that people would even ATTEMPT to open a door without knocking unless it was their own or they knew it was ok. Their job is to deliver a parcel and I do not agree that that extends to being able to let themselves into your house, locked door or not.

Our door automatically locks from the outside when closed. My MIL's doesn't. We don't have a key as they don't lock the door - entirely their decision. However I think they are still allowed the expectation that the only people cheeky enough to actually let themselves into their house are people they know!! Or I guess people trying to rob them in the middle of the day while they're in - but why would a locked door stop them :)

@Youmadorwhat
See I think that is different. I get parcels delivered to my parents as they have a porch and they delivery drivers are instructed to leave it in there. The front door is still locked. Porch is different to entering your actual house.

Thanks everyone, I have a new perspective and now understand this happens in some places. Door will be locked 100% of the time going forward to regardless of how I feel it won't be happening again.

I do appreciate those of you explaining why it is appropriate and OK in some places, not so much the people who have reported me to MN (not sure why).

Hope you all have a good weekend :)

Wouldn't bother me, I'd rather have my parcel delivered than have to rearrange it for another day

I'm puzzled though, you say you saw the delivery driver coming up the path so you "waited for him to knock" but in subsequent posts you say you were drying your hands and "had every intention of answering the door"

Can't be both

Exact same reason why when I lived in a block of flats with security door. Sometimes postman would just walk in and bang on my door. I would t answer. I'm in a block, if you need me press my buzzer!

YANBU. The delivery driver here does it but only because we have the standing instruction with companies we use often to leave the item in the porch and have the inside door locked. If we didn't then I'd be furious.

I would be furious if this happened to me as my bathroom is next to my
front door and If I’m home alone then I will shower/bathe/go to the toilet with the door open as no point shutting it when I’m the only one there. It would scare the life out of me if I was in the shower and a strange man appeared outside the room with a parcel

I moved to a remote rural location from London. I had a big surprise the first time the postman nonchalantly opened my front door and put a parcel on the hall floor. Now it doesn't faze me at all. (Sometimes go to bed forgetting to lock back or front door).
But if you're not used to it, it can come as a bit of a shock that a stranger is coming into your house.

I automatically tend to lock our door when I come into the house (yes it's one of those ghastly UPVC things that MN clutch their pearls in horror about) so wouldn't be likely to happen here. All the delivery companies though will try the outer door (we've got a porch) if they're delivering as most people tend to lock the inner door and leave the outer porch one open for parcel related purposes. I've got no issue with that.

@zukiecat I just assumed that in the time it took me to grab the tea towel, dry my hands and get to the door he would be knocking - I had no intention of making him wait whilst I finished washing up.

Think all the "shock" is ridiculously OTT. He opened the door "in full view" of your daughter? He didn't strip off in front of her, I don't see why she screamed?! Maybe you need to work on socialising her to normal adult workers.

I don't think it's okay that the courier walked in but I do think your reaction is hilarious. YABU. But I'm not sure you're understanding this topic correctly if you won't accept you're wrong.

YABU lock your door if you don't want it opened. He is probably in a massive rush this time of year.

Even at work we have a sort of code.

Closed door, definitely knock and wait to be invited in.

Door ajar, best to knock to alert someone is going in, but don't necessarily wait outside (apart from my very shy student).

Open door, enter at will and your peril.

I would have thought that that's only OK if it has been cleared with the homeowner first.

Odd that you waited for them to knock though.

Sorry, I misquoted "opened the door in clear view of my DD was just shocking to me"

I’m a bit perplexed at the person outraged by a delivery person opening her back gate, and knocking on her back door while she was breastfeeding or expressing “with her boobs out”. Delivery people aren’t provided with a third eye! Surely they did what we all hope a delivery driver would do? I get that might be a little embarrassing for both of them, although hopefully not, but it’s accidental and I don’t know what she thought they should do. Loads of people never use the front door, the vast majority in the village I grew up in, and on my husband’s council estate. The delivery driver was being diligent.
I’m in danger of developing sympathy with the drop [a card] and run brigade, previously my personal nemesis.
This thread really demonstrates our tendency to assume our normal is normal. Presumably breastfeeder does use the front door (as I do) and the back door is only family use, whereas when collecting sponsors as a child, I knew I’d be wasting my time and annoying people if I went to the front door; they’d either rap on the window and gesture me round the side or back, or there’d be a kerfuffle as keys were found, draught excluder and other gubbins were moved out of the way before the door opened to a grumpy face asking why I hadn’t gone round the back.

So now you understand that its perfectly normal practice in many areas and for many people and that if you don't like it you will lock your door OP are you going to retract your complaint? Because some poor working person is about to get a possible bollocking for doing something which is not unusual to alot of people. In fact for doing something that alot of people would prefer to the alternative.