AIBU to be freaked out by delivery drivers doing this

[Sunnyoctday]

Been ordering stuff online for years...various companies....no major issues. During COVID generally deliveries fine...knock, wait, socially distanced handover...cheery banter about weather etc.
In last 4 weeks though on 3 occasions with 3 different drivers from 2 companies....
First thing heard is door being opened..parcel put into hall..door slammed shut. No knock, no bell...
On second occasion I called out to driver to say why didn’t you knock and wait..why did you let yourself into my house...his answer..it’s a porch ( it isn’t) ...you should lock your door ( hubby had gone out into garage so door wasn’t locked)...he was rude and patronising that I was not happy that he simply let himself in.
On 3rd occasion the door was locked. The driver was trying the door handle numerous times...eventually he banged on door really hard repeatedly and seemed very impatient when I opened it,

I have never experienced this in all these years- then 3 times in as many weeks.

AIBU to think delievrry drivers should not let themselves into your home unless there is explicitly a notice to say leave in porch etc ( if you have one)...is anyone else experiencing this weird new behaviour..is it a new thing? AIBU to say it is scary and weird to have random strangers trying to get into your house

Anne of queen sables, golly that was hard to reply to stripeydeckchair, without my random thought punctuation 😂😂😂

Can you tell I've spent part of the day editing and putting virtual red lines through shoddy punctuation?

@halcyondays

Usually they just knock and leave it on the doorstep. No need to open the door.

Once we came back to find a box on the doorstep and the cat sitting on top of it. It had been put down as “handed to resident”

Sounds like the cat took his responsibilities seriously though and hadn’t shirked waiting for you🤣🤣

@Danni91

Does your house set up from the outside look like it could be a porch?

Have you double checked your instructions for 'leave parcel ... if im not in' most places have in porch as a clickable option and you may have pressed it on a recent order.

I've a specific amazon guy and i always know when hes been because if i aint in most leave it on my doorstep but this 1 particular guy puts his hand over the back gate to undo the lock walks through garden to leave it somewhere in the back (usually back door step)

I love it and i think its thoughtful but the bastard never relocks it when he leaves and we have lots of expensive stuff in the garden/shed.

Ive never moaned to him though i'm always just happy i dont have to wait another day or visit a neighbour to pick it up!

Also no front door handle here, only out the back door.

No. Solid door. No glass. Just that pesky handle on the outside. Who knew handles vs no handles were so critical🤔😉

Another thread about delivery drivers ?

@AnneOfQueenSables

Can you tell I've spent part of the day editing and putting virtual red lines through shoddy punctuation?

Teacher? 🤣🤣🤣 Poor you💐

@Bramleyapples13

YANBU. I'm a delivery driver and it would never occur to me to open someone's door! 🤣 That's horrendous! I wouldn't view it as a crime, just unbelievably rude. If someone's doors open I do leave it on the door frame but still knock or shout. Not just let myself in!

Good to hear your views that you’d not do this. Thank you for doing what you do 💐💐💐

I’m lucky this hasn’t happened to us because my big soppy dog sleeps at the bottom of the stairs opposite the front door (makes it an Olympic event trying to clamber over her ).

While she’s a softy I do worry she would potentially go for a complete stranger walking in unannounced and unaccompanied. What would be the legal position there? Or if the driver scratched themselves on a rusty nail or any manner of things? Would I be at fault?

Forty years ago in the Isle of Man, the postman would enter the house, walk through the entrance hall, enter the sitting room and put the parcels on the dining table.

Surprised me a bit, at first. I got used to it.

No-one locked their doors in those days. Sometimes there would be a radio announcement to 'Lock your doors because there's a criminal element on the ferry from Liverpool right now', and always, if the Young Farmers were on the way, we were warned to keep an eye on our daughters.

This is all true.

We've had delivery drivers do this too. Scared me to death the first time (husband had gone to the corner shop and left it unlocked). Having said that it doesn't bother me too much and think it's a way of keeping distance and allows them to crack on with deliveries.
If it did bother me I'd keep the door locked (although I actually had a delivery left outside when the door was locked). If they are rude when you open the door you can complain or decide they aren't worth worrying about. I'd probably do the second but nothing to say you shouldn't complain.

is there an equivalent of a penguin with holding a sign saying plonk parcel under my skirt !

I've heard of people having a big box outside the front door for deliveries.

I've thought about making one that looks like a bench with a lift-up seat and a ply box inside. Or a wooden planter. It could have a self-latching Yale nightlatch or similar.