To want the delivery driver to give me 25 seconds to answer the door?

[TheOrigRights]

Some of them just ring the bell and then immediately come round the back and start throwing things over the gate.
It takes me about 20 seconds to leave my garden office, skip across the garden, enter the house and answer the door.
So, I'm standing there waiting for them to come back round, or I could chase them round the side.
If they wait they could hand me the delivery, which would probably be easier than having to indicate they've left it somewhere.

I expect it's not the individual drivers' faults as they have targets to meet to get paid. However it is hugely annoying.

This afternoon I've had a notification on my phone saying my parcel (which the main present for my DC's third birthday) has been left with a neighbour across the road who I don't know.

I was sitting in my front room with the curtain open when this supposedly happened. There's been no knock at the door or anyone through the front gate - they've not even tried to deliver it here. I guess maybe they were driving in the wrong direction and didn't have time to cross the road. Argh

My parcels get dumped on the doorstep while they run away. Sometimes they ring the bill, sometimes they dont bother. I can answer the door in 5 seconds, less sometimes, and half the time they have left already.

I don't see Amazon as actually waiting for you to answer. They're ringing the doorbell to simply notify you that it's there. Delivery drivers are under so much pressure to get all their parcels delivered that 20 seconds extra at each house on a 150 drop round adds up to quite a lot of time!

Our front door is quite secluded and it's safe to leave a parcel there, so I don't mind.

Could you get a Ring doorbell OP so that you at least have a chance to tell them where to leave it before you get there?

I did scare the shit out of a delivery driver a while ago. I happened to be passing the front door as I saw his arm reach for the doorbell, so I opened the door before he even pressed it.

It did make us both laugh though as he jumped a mile!

but they aren't personally acquainted with everyone they deliver to. He was doing you a favour, maybe you're a deaf person or hard of hearing or who knows what. Put a sign on the door, or don't order things if it makes things difficult for you.

No, but they must realise that most people are subject to the laws of physics and will almost certainly not use the space directly behind their front door as their normal living area, standing as they relax.

Surely you don't need to put a sign up to inform people of this?! Even if you did, as I said before, the only people who tend to actually bother reading signs are also the ones who are sensible enough not to need them - you'd end up offending them by making them feel deeply patronised and the others would be none the wiser anyway!

Mine don't bother knocking, I have a reactive barky dog. They just stick a note through the door and leave it in the shed. It's great as I don't get disturbed when working.

I don't see Amazon as actually waiting for you to answer. They're ringing the doorbell to simply notify you that it's there. Delivery drivers are under so much pressure to get all their parcels delivered that 20 seconds extra at each house on a 150 drop round adds up to quite a lot of time!

Our front door is quite secluded and it's safe to leave a parcel there, so I don't mind.

Same with us, but that's not the case for a lot of people - many front doors open straight on to busy pavements. Anybody walking along could swipe it the second the delivery person leaves - they could even just lurk on streets like that waiting for a house to have a delivery and seeing where the van pulls up. What happens if you can't guarantee being in all day, or not needing the toilet, or not being upstairs, or not attending to a young child, or not being on a call/work meeting; let alone being disabled, elderly or slow for any reason?

Many houses like that wouldn't even have anywhere to instal a parcel box, as it would encroach on the public pavement - not that many delivery people ever use them, anyway, as we've found ourselves.

I get that it's a pressured job, and that people aren't given anywhere like long enough to do it properly; but even with items that do fit through the letterbox, so many people don't even push it all the way through - advertising that you're out and letting all the heat escape. Worst are the junk mail leaflets that you never asked for or wanted in the first place.

I'll bet the same takeaways that send people around to leave their leaflets hanging in your open letterbox and letting the heat out would be furious if you stood holding their door open for hours on a cold winter day.

You keep saying 15 seconds. If someone said hold your hand out while they burn it with a lighter for 15 seconds, it would feel like a long time. If a driver has say 3 minutes a stop those 15 seconds could tip them out of their window. They don't have time to faff around for what is ages to them. Especially if you're not in and they then have to faff on with a safe space and couriers are really struggling for drivers ATM and it's Christmas workload.

Point is, it's not going to stop. If you want to dawdle in courier world then they won't wait.

Oh I agree on that. We've had local reports of people following delivery vans nearer to Christmas particularly and snaffling up the parcels as they're left behind.

Ultimately the delivery companies put too much pressure on their drivers to be able to set achievable targets without having to resort to knocking and running. Unfortunately it's not going to change, so a Ring doorbell would at least give proof that your parcel had subsequently been nicked after delivery.

Surely you're not suggesting that me answering the door in 15 seconds is dawdling?

I work upstairs at home. Often I will have somebody ring the doorbell and then literally five seconds later start banging on the door really loud.

Drives me crazy - I know they have to get things delivered but I hate it when I'm working in my upstairs office, doorbell goes and I go downstairs only for the package to be sitting there but driver has left. Why can't they just text that they have delivered? I mean they often do that anyway, so no need to ring the bell and interrupt me.
I so rarely see the Royal mail guy I think they're an endangered species around here. I think they deliver a big pile once a week (I live in London and it's appalling - a neighbour said she rings them up asking where her mail is and the next day they deliver a bundle).

I have one delivery person who will sometimes just hand my parcel directly to my neighbour if he happens to be out on the drive (which is oddly a lot!)

I see it happen on the video doorbell, bolt down to the door, delivery driver already whizzing off, neighbour has gone in to put the parcel away so I have to wait for him to slowly answer the door then slowly go and retrieve it. A supreme pain in the arse!

I know there are issues with these couriers and their targets/working conditions, so for the most part my annoyance is directed at whoever’s responsible.

My regular Amazon delivery guy, is the nicest delivery driver ever, and I reckon a thoroughly decent bloke.

He's worked out we work in an outside office, so happily waits for us to get there (he's also worked out that if a car is outside, one of us is definitely in).

He also will lift things into the house if one of my daughter's answers the door (we took delivery of some power tools and as I came through he was stacking them neatly in the hallway next to our door)

He loves having a laugh and a joke and talking about whichever new car we have (it changed 4 times in as many months). I wish I could sing his praises to Amazon themselves.

Evri on the other hand, don't even ring the doorbell, I literally watched him walk straight down the drive and throw my parcel over the 6ft gate. In a paper outer, and breakable contents, straight into a puddle. Fucking awesome.

He does it every bloody time.

Hit and miss.

Postie....dunno when I last saw one actually....they just drop them behind the bins.

I managed to scare a delivery man yesterday by opening the door too promptly. We have the ones who put it on the doorstep, knock and run, which normally works great. But I was leaving the house at the time and I opened the door before he had time to leave.
So he knocked, I opened the door and he made a loud suprised "Wurghh" noise and stared at me annoyed as if I had snuck up on him.

I want mine to ring the bell not bang the door as if the hounds of hell are after them...

@CapMarvel if even 15 seconds is too long, what would be reasonable to you? Instant teleportation?

I get what you’re saying, but I did Amazon delivery for a bit.

The amount of people who:
hover behind the door, but won’t actually open it…….

peer out from behind the curtains, then refuse to come to the door…….

open the window and try to give you long instructions about where they want you to put it, rather than coming out themselves…..

look at you blankly and want to know what’s inside the parcel but won’t take it……..

claim they don’t remember ordering anything, despite their name being on the label……..

ask you if their husband/son/brother ordered the parcel………

look at you like you’re insane, rambling about covid and won’t take the parcel…….

The drivers honestly don’t have time in the day for all the crap from customers adding extra time onto their round.
It’s seconds/minutes for you, but at 180 parcels, the time adds up and drivers are paid per delivery, not per hour.

Yeah, and it's absolutely rubbish for those of us with houses that get mistaken for other houses!

They don’t get paid much per parcel and have a lot to deliver. Mine nearly always ring the bell and leave on doorstep now unless they need a photo of it on my doorstep to prove I’ve accepted delivery. I’m fine with that. Amazon would have to replace if it went awol I guess as I’ve not signed to say I accept responsibility like you have to with some companies

I’d rather they just left it and didn’t knock. I once had a hell of a manoeuvre early on in my parenting journey getting off the sofa, DS latched to my boob, to answer the door to no one. And the times the door would wake him and there would be no one there!!!

It's the ones that ring and immediately batter the door that annoy me! No Mr Postman I don't stand behind my front door just waiting for you to ring the bell.

I admit I used to ring the doorbell and knock most times If you can’t hear the doorbell from outside you don’t know if it’s worked so I’d knock as well just in case. I’d also knock really loudly as you’d inevitably get the customers who ‘didn’t hear the knock’.

I do not miss it, not a tiny little bit.

But seriously, a little sign saying you might take a bit longer to get to the door really does work. Just because we’re under pressure doesn’t mean we can’t read.

But seriously, a little sign saying you might take a bit longer to get to the door really does work. Just because we’re under pressure doesn’t mean we can’t read.

No one suggested delivery people couldn't read, more that they didn't stop long enough to read a sign.
But what's "longer"? Maybe just "please wait, I will answer the door"