Takeaway delivery driver recorded me and my house

[holliem91]

Hi all,

A little worried about this. I ordered a takeaway at about 7pm. It arrived at about 7.30pm. When the delivery driver showed up he was recording me. As soon as I opened the door he had his phone pretty much in my face, holding it up and pointing it directly at me whilst giving me my food. He was acting slightly weird and kept apologising which I also thought was really odd as he hadn't done anything wrong. The food was on time so there was no need for him to apologise for anything. I thought he was recording me but my first thought was maybe he was checking the order on his phone to make sure he had everything in the bag. But, he continued to hold his phone up even after he gave me my food. I closed the door and watched him through my living room window and he continued to turn around and record the house. I also have a Ring camera so I've rewatched the footage back numerous times to make sure I wasn't just being paranoid and he was 100% recording me and the house.

I rang the restaurant up and told them, the owner spoke to me and apologised and said he probably did it to prove he delivered the food as a couple of days ago someone scammed them and made out their food never got delivered. I went on to explain how he could've just asked to take a picture with the food in my doorway or at least told me that's why he was recording but he didn't and it was very creepy. I live alone and I've seen footage circulating around on social media recently where gangs record peoples homes to later go back and break in and I'm quite scared now. I don't know what more I can do though. I don't feel like this is a matter for the police as what could they do? I don't want to waste their time but I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

It could just be a genuine thing and he was proving he delivered the food but it's just really strange how even after he gave me the food he continued to stand on my drive and record the house for a good 20 seconds afterwards. The owner asked to see the footage, so I sent it to him and he replied saying "That's not very good at all" and that was it.

What would you all do if this happened to you?

Astounds me how rude and obnoxious people can be in response to someone's genuine fears. I don't think the OP would have been freaked out if he'd just take a photo - filming and continuing to film is extreme and completely understandable why that could feel unsettling. If she's not called the restaurant she wouldn't know they'd been scammed recently, information which can help allay any fears.

Very harsh to say things like 'just eat beans' etc and also very silly.

What can't people just be nice?

*taken
*she'd

Every delivery driver I’ve had recently has rung the doorbell, dropped the parcel on the mat, jumped back and then being taking a photo as I’ve opened the door. They’ve all,said it’s to prove it’s here.....not a problem.

MN is the only place I come across these women, scared to open doors, thinking everyone is going to attack/burgle them.
This poor guy has probably lost his job now due to OPs ridiculous behaviour.

whereisthejoy

I was being serious. If I felt vulnerable or worried about opening g the door to someone, I wouldn’t be phoning for takeaways and having random people turn up to my door.

Fine if you think that silly but if I was on that frame of mind, that is what I’d do. My ex husband made me feel like that for a while and I kept inside with the door locked.

But you crack on and say ‘harsh’ - being ‘nice’ works both ways.

I think the driver was being very overzealous, however, my DH works in the gig economy as an extra income and it only takes a couple of people claiming not to have received orders and their accounts are deactivated with very little notice and it is very rare to have them reactivated unless there is compelling evidence. So I think this driver has received a warning about a complaint and is trying to protect himself.
I agree that he is going about it the wrong way though and should have explained to you though and I would have found it strange too.

Almost every time I order in Uber Eats it includes a recording of the delivery guy arriving and handing the food over. It seems standard for the app, rather than restaurant specific. It doesn't really bother me much, they just want to prove it was delivered.

I think you've done the right thing by having a word with the owner. I can see that a recording rather than a photo is a bit disconcerting but I'm sure it was just over keenness on his part to provide proof of delivery. If it's still bothering you, ask the owner if the footage can be deleted from the driver's phone (if it hasn't already been).

I agree with those who think it's funny that you were filming each other. His was in a rude, in your face kind of way, whilst yours was done discreetly. Our filming everything culture has got out of control.
You should have asked him to switch off the camera and he should have asked you to do the same.

I wish I could post the footage for you all to see. To those saying it sounds completely normal, I guarantee you, if you saw the footage you wouldn’t be saying that. I had no idea why he was apologising, it didn’t make sense to me, I thought he was strange. He took ages to give me the food, kept huffing and puffing all whilst holding his camera up in my face. I said before that once I collected the food and closed the door, I watched him stand on my drive and continue to record the whole of my house for a good 20 seconds and it felt like half an hour because he stood there for that long! I’m sorry but, that’s not normal. Yes fair enough record me getting the food or whatever but after that just go. There was absolutely no need for him to record my house afterwards. I’ve never experienced anything like this before and no one close to me has.

I do have a sign at the end of my drive to let people know that we have CCTV. My ring camera only picks up a certain range. If anyone is walking by on the street, it wouldn’t detect it, it only starts recording when someone is actually near my front door. I only check it when motion has been detected. He didn’t even ring my doorbell, he knocked on my window which makes me think that he probably didn’t even realise it was there. Anyway, I’m still here, no one broke in and I think we have all established that I was being a bit ridiculous but I have been burgled before so anything out of the ordinary I like to double check, especially with it just being me and my baby.

Just as a side note - he probably wouldn’t have been so blatant about it if he was going to burgle me. But, don’t always assume that as my mums house got burgled a few years back and the person who did it came to her house before and after he did it and the police officer said that’s normally what they do.

But thank you all anyway. I obviously won’t order from them again but I’m not worrying now either