Why don’t (some) delivery drivers ring the fucking doorbell

[fencedispute2024]

I’ve missed another delivery this morning as apparently I wasn’t in.

i was in but the deliver driver DPD chose to only knock quietly on the door. If he’d rung the door bell it would have alerted me on my phone/watch and I would have answered. Now I have to wait until Monday to get a parcel that I needed for this weekend, which I will then have to return as I’ll have to go to the shops now to get said item.

although perhaps I’ve just answered my own question as no doubt the return will have to be done via DPD thus creating more chargeable work for them.

This is true. The amount of drops also is insane, you have to run just to get finished on time. It's shocking, never mind doing it this heat too, there's no escaping it and absolutely no time for a break

I have a sign on the door saying please ring the doorbell or I can't hear you. The doorbell is still pristine and unused, I even had a special one fitted that rings in every room in the house.
Now if I'm in I just leave the front door open and they all know just to come in and put the parcel on the hall floor.
You can do things like that in rural Somerset. I wouldn't fancy my chances in London.

I've had an amazon delivery leaving a parcel in our hallway. We were in and had forgotten to lock the front door. Next time we were in the hallway a parcel was lying on the floor. Totally our fault for forgetting the front door but a bit odd to even try the door I thought

Weve just installed a doorbell that rings in the house and the garden office. You would need the ears of a bat to hear someone knocking on a door from a garden office!

And how long does it take you to answer it from the garden shed?. Many drivers have 100plus drops per day. If you are taking 2 mins at every house waiting for people to answer the door that's over 3 hours waiting. At 40/50p a drop. Then have to also drive to next customer as well unpqid

The same time to answer from inside the house since the office is next to the garden gate actually.

But the point you can't answer a door you can't hear. It take no more effort to ring a bell than knock on the door. Or do both.

Fortunately we have good drivers who do do both.

A difference to the ones at our old address who will declare they couldn't find the house (or got put off by the security arrangements... we did just get sent to a nearby locker instead)

Lucky if they even knock here. I can see them on the ring doorbell, its so frustrating!

Ours bang the door down like it’s the police with a big baton. Drives me nuts

No idea. We have a doorbell and a knocker and sometimes you hear a gentle tap on the door (not the knocker). Thank goodness we have a dog that can hear a postie fart so she alerts us when someone is there.

Just this minute the pharmacy delivery driver hurled my meds in through the open front door then left, didn't ring or knock. I was literally sitting on an armchair a couple of feet away working from home. I got up immediately and he was already driving away.

As a previous delivery driver posted on here only 10% answer anyway.

I don't do multi drops but do food delivery. Annoyances from drivers point of view are people that have to go and hunt out bunches of keys and release fort Knox ( seriously if you've ordered food you should expect it be arriving and be ready), those who have chosen cash payment then waste 5 mins hunting for their purse, people who have broken doorbells and no sign,

You know on a previous near identical thread someone posted a picture of their front door with a homemade sign saying this is a doorbell please use it to summon my attention. I am not psychic.

I think I may need to make a sign asking people to ring the doorbell…

just remembered a time when a driver had claimed to be unable to deliver to my house due to my road being closed because of an accident. There was no accident,

Because our dogs can be out in the garden we have a "dog lock" with a second gate and a shed between the gates. We also have a doorbell on the first gate in case anything needs signing for. On the first gate we have a big bright red sign - A4 size - saying loose dogs please out in shed if signature needed ring bell (next to sign). We also put that on any delivery instructions. You'd be amazed how many people come through the second gate and complain there are dogs loose.

Our have started just leaving packages by the front door without knocking, ringing or doing anything else that might alert us (assuming we're even in!). We have a front garden with no wall so it's totally visible and open to anyone walking passed - nothing been stolen yet but it's only a matter of time

I try to avoid smart doorbells for 3 reasons.

1. They often take ages to connect
2. People have prerecorded messages on them, but never update them. So 'please wait I'm just on my way' means you're then stuck there like an idiot, not wanting to look uncaring for a disabled person struggling to the door, when actually they've just gone out.
3. People start giving unreasonable instructions through them. 'I'm just at the hairdressers round the corner, I'll be there in 5 minutes'. 'Could you bring it to my work address, it's only 2 roads round' (yeah in the direction I've just come from). 'Try number 7, 8 or failing that 11. If no-one's in put it in the meter box'. I'd rather just go straight to meter box if that's OK.

I used to be able to do 25 an hour, but with recent pay cuts I need to do about 30 now. I'm sorry when I don't have time for extras, but I do make sure you get your parcel

Or tell me to put it in the wheelie bin. I'm not allowed to

I have been having the same issue with my postman of Royal Mail! Does not knock door and instead writes a note and puts through letter box. Does he think it is quicker to write the note than just knocking the door and handing over the delivery??

DON'T EVEN GO THERE!
Every delivery driver I've ever had knocks very quietly just to make sure they don't disturb me.
Even if I leave a note on the damned door.

They won't take any notice of it.

But it gives us a fighting chance of KNOWING if you've dumped a parcel by the door in full view of the street, doesn't it?

I've got a perfectly working doorbell but hardly any delivery drivers use it. They knock on the door, which I don't always hear or I had one last week lifted the letterbox flap and let it fall - just why?

I knew the Evri man was delivering something so made sure I was up as he always comes between 9,30 and 10. I was sitting in the living room, all of 6 feet from the front door. He made no attempt to come to my door but went straight to my neighbour and left my parcel there. So annoying.

Yes and I would like an option when ordering from say John Lewis, to make the order conditional on not using Evri for the delivery. To avoid them at present I use click and collect as much as possible.

My village had a temporary evri driver this week. I'm it's been a free for all with match the parcel to the house! Not a single one correct.

Ours often don’t ring, but leave the parcel on the doorstep anyway, so it’s not too big a deal.