Or am I being a parcel stealing, curtain twitching busybody?

[TwilightSkylightsAndA40WattBulb]

Name change.

A video has been posted on a local facebook group that looks like I have stolen parcels. The person who posted it said "what is the world coming to when the local druggy nicks your child's bedtime story books". I'm scared this will get back to my employer. I work for the civil service so if they dont get the full story, I will be sacked. I will tell my boss when she gets in. She wont find it funny and I'm humiliated. I dont take drugs but I did stumble in the video and I have a cold so was wiping my nose a lot which looks bad.

My husband thinks I was niave and shouldnt have got involved. I have the parcels but will I be liable for them if I put them back where I found them because they will get nicked? I dont really want to speak with the person as they are obviously looking for trouble.

I've already commented on the video and have asked admin the take it down.

Our Evri and Amazon driver has started leaving parcels on our doorsteps which are directly on the street. Obviously they arent there when we get home.

I walked past a neighbour's house yesterday. It is a few houses down but I dont know them. They had parcels leaning against their house (directly on the street/pavement). I thought I was being nice. I wish someone had taken in the ebay parcel I had stolen the other day because the item in that was irreplaceable. So I thoight I was being a good neighbour.

The video shows me look at the parcels as I walk past, then come back a few minutes later, pick them up and walk off with them. What actually happened was that I walk past, come back with a note, post it through the door and then walk away with the parcels. I didnt realise there was a camera or I would have made a big drama of posting the note. You can see the door on the video but because of how Im standing you can see Im doing sonething but not that I posted a letter through. The note was an A4 sheet of pink lined paper ripped from a book and folded in half so they would have seen it.

The note said that their parcels were left on the doorstep so Ive taken them in, my house number and that someone will be in for the rest of the day and today.

I dont know what to do with the parcels. I dont want to speak with this person but if I put them back they'll get stolen.

I'm humiliated. I wont do it again.

My husbabd thinks I was interfearing in sonething that didnt concern me and basically asked for trouble. I thought I was just being nice and doing what I wish other people did.

YABU - you should have left the parcels alone
YANBU - you were trying to be neighbourly

The OP asked me for an alternative explanation so I provided one. There are probably many scenarios

I dont want to know them now tbh.😪

Thats rubbish.

If some of them recognised you and vouched for you as it sounds they did then you don’t need to stress about this. Unless the neighbours are total @&7!s they are probably far more embarrassed themselves. It sounds like you have other stuff bothering you right now, but this incident really isn’t that deep

That's an entirely different situation to OP's. No good deed goes unpunished, but no need to punish yourself by taking people's property for their own good.

Sounds like with the admin and people who know you commenting, the big worries can ease a little bit (about how people see you, this getting back to your boss etc).

In future, if their parcels get nicked from their doorstep, they'll get very little sympathy from the neighbours by the sounds of things - and it'll serve them right.

I mean there's a lot of reasons a note would disappear in my house, the dog would eat it or the kids would pick it up thinking it was for drawing if they saw it before me and toddle off to draw on it. Sadly much as your intention was good it's not something I would do unless I actually knew my neighbour or lived in a small community where everyone knows everyone. What I don't think you have done right is not to instantly go around the minute you saw the video with the parcel and explain and give the parcel back, I find it odd you didn't tbh.

If they haven’t collected them today I’d put them back on the door stop, leave an obvious note on the door and take a photo.

I saw it at about 745 this morning. I got myself flustered. My husband went round about an hour later. We've been around twice since. We'll try again about 6ish probably.

OP knew the parcels would likely be stolen if left on the doorstep and is trying to give them back. Seems neighbourly to me.

If you read the thread you’d know they did.

Except it wasn’t an alternative explanation, it was a “I don’t believe you”. It was a perfectly reasonable thing for OP to do for a neighbour without the shitty comments she’s had on here.

Nobody bothers reading, it appears 🙄

Social media?

@TwilightSkylightsAndA40WattBulb you sound so lovely and fed up- I want to help! Tell me your style, size, colours etc and let’s find you a lovely bargainous Vinted coat.

Glad it has all been sorted out on the thread. Hopefully they might also remove photo after parcel is collected.

Which dog 🐶? 😂😂😂

Im sorry that your eBay parcel was stolen op, especially when it was irreplaceable. I know how upsetting this is because it's happened to me. Also I feel for you doing the nice thing that you did , only for it to backfire on you. If you don't want to face this neighbour couldn't you put another note through their door explaining what exactly happened. Sorry if you said you'd already done this. You sound like a nice person. I'm sorry that this is causing you anxiety over your job too. I would post on Facebook exactly what you were doing and why and ask the person that posted what they did if they would remove it. I don't really know what else to say but I just wanted you to know that I really empathise. Hope that this has resolved itself now and that the person who the parcels were for has got them and understands that you weren't stealing them.

Just to, hopefully, cheer you up OP - last year we had parcels delivered while we were away (not planned, they were meant to come later). Neighbour across the road noticed them and that we weren’t around and did exactly as you - we found the note and were absolutely grateful for him looking out for us - at most we’ve exchanged a hi and a handwave - so your actions were not unreasonable at all.:) I will wager, from what you’re saying, that your neighbours are away, got a ring notification about activity and jumped to conclusions - so they haven’t seen your note and now are feeling rather sheepish for going on attack rather than just asking on the group.

You were being nice, don’t bother anymore!

I wouldn't have moved them but its done now, you have learnt from it

I do think it's a bit much to take someone's delivered parcels even though you had good intentions. I would be a bit shocked to see it on my door cam footage as well but the note should explain it all which is bizarre why they wrote that as if they haven't seen the note and believe that their parcels were indeed stolen over being looked after by a neighbour.

I think a simple explanation should be suffice and then they will take down the post as well.

How has this neighbour not claimed their parcels yet? If the OP hadn’t taken them in then for sure they would have been stolen for real by now!

That's rubbish but I had to laugh at the "we didnt have the right charger so husband selflessly offered to go all the way to the pub to sort it and then support a local busibess while he wss there". 🤣

No good deed goes unpunished. I’m sorry this happened to you op. You did a good thing, you were a good neighbour. Don’t let this bad experience change you. They are the problem not you. I hope you get an apology, though I doubt it. If they were that concerned for their parcel they would have replied to you by now. I would say they have ordered free replacements.