AIBU to think it was rude they kept my misdelivered parcel?

[FrostedCandyAngel]

Was expecting a parcel on Saturday. (Was a small package, in a padded envelope so could easily fit through letterbox, no signature required)

Didn’t get delivered. So I checked the tracking details online Sunday evening. Tracking details said it had been delivered at 09:30am Saturday. It had a photo of the delivery person handing it over. All you can see in the photo is the package, someone’s shoes and their driveway. Which had a particular unique pattern of paving.

It wasn’t my shoes, or my driveway.

I walked up and down my street trying the find the driveway. Found it. About 8 houses down.

Knocked on the door and luckily they answered. I said “Oh I’m just wondering if you have a parcel for number 60 please”. They said yes, and gave it me. No “sorry I was going to bring it round/post it through your letter box”.

I understand people are busy but they had my parcel for 30+ hours. I would have had no idea they had it unless I went out looking at everyone’s driveways.

Was this rude of them?

Currently 91% think OP is BU but she’s not backing down. I like the fight in this one.

I'm so pleased for you that this is the biggest thing you clearly have to worry about, giving it this much headspace and effort. But yes YABU, your parcel your job to collect it. You are lucky they still had it and kept it unopened. These days that's a rarity so you should be grateful not annoyed.

You keep saying it was a letterbox sized envelope so obviously the postie hadn't left you a card but if they took a delivery photo doesn't that mean it had to be handed to a person? If I was your (8 doors away) neighbour I would assume you weren't in to take delivery and you had been left a card telling you where your item was.

I used to box 😉 🥊

But why would they do so when the natural assumption would be you’ll have received a card telling you where the item is?

They already did you the favour by taking it in, surely?

There was someone on here ages ago absolutely INCENSED at the temerity of her neighbours for bringing the parcel round and not waiting until it suited her to come over and collect. It takes all sorts.

Whenever I take a parcel in for a neighbour. I don't do anything I wait for them to collect it as I would assume the delivery person has put a card through their door. They come and collect it and thank me for taking it in for them.

All of these comments are ridiculous. OP wasn’t told where it was and only discovered it due to her own sleuth work! The neighbours should have apologised profusely for hanging onto it for so long. Obviously the address was on it so they should have at least apologised. What is wrong with people!

Yes this.

OP did you even say thanks?

Also OP the title is misleading - it's sounds like they kept it and refused to give it back to you.

I think you’re assuming how much time your neighbours have/want to think through a delivery they’ve taken in for someone. The thought process is far more likely to be ‘I don’t mind taking it in until they collect’ rather than working through the details or the size of the package, why it wasn’t put through your door when no signature was required, what that might mean etc.

Why would they apologise for “hanging onto it”?

They did the OP a favour by taking it in. No one is going to assume Royal Mail didn’t put a card through the door advising of its location.

If anything, they may have been wondering why OP had taken so long to come pick up her post!

The issue was caused by the lack of a delivery card, not the neighbours, who have nothing to apologise for.

The neighbour absolutely shouldn't of apologised. Op should of thanked them for taking it in and apologised for taking so long to fetch it. Most people would say thanks for that sorry I would of been round sooner but the postman didn't put a card through the door

Obviously mistakes were made by the postman. But if you’re hanging into it you’re obstructing its delivery. I think in the case of official letters that’s considered an offence. In any case, I can’t believe so many on here absolutely refuse to think the neighbour should have shifted their arse and tried to make sure it got to its rightful owner.

I would have assumed that the delivery person had left a note saying where they had delivered it and I would have left it near the door waiting for you to come collect it. I wouldn’t be going and delivering the parcel though and I would t have apologised I’d have expected a ‘thanks for taking it in’.

Id assume since the neighbour hadn't come to collect it they where busy or not home

The neighbour shouldn’t have blindly accepted a parcel that wasn’t addressed to them, the number of delivery drivers that have tried to drop and run that I have had to call after because it’s not even my parcel!

They’re not “obstructing” delivery. They’re keeping it safe until the owner turns up to collect. Your neighbours, esp those who live 8 door down and don’t even know you, aren’t your personal courier service!

It had only been just over a day since they’d taken it in too, not 3 weeks. They’d probably taken it in, left it to one side, then put it out of their mind.

i wouldn’t be taking anything in for someone again if I caught the slightest whiff that they thought I owed them an apology for not immediately trotting over to hand deliver the delivery I had kindly taken in for them!

Hmmm 8 houses down is a bit of a distance. I live in a townhouse complex where parcels get delivered incorrectly all the time, so yes most of us would just take it to the correct house. I thought my neighbour directly opposite (so not across the street, just the other side of the driveway in the same complex) to be very rude last year for not bringing my parcel over. But in your case, 8 houses down is some way so I don’t think it’s overly rude of them.

The parcel company is at fault, not your neighbour. Your neighbour would have assumed the parcel company had told you where the parcel was. I don't see how you can't understand this? It's not your neighbours job to deliver it. It would have been nice if they did, but they're possibly busy people with enough going on. Blame the parcel company.

There clearly was a need to give proofi of delivery by taking a photo, as the postie did that and that pic enabled you to locate your parcel.

If I was your neighbour and I was snapped taking in a piece of post for my neighbour, I’d assume they’d been given a card to come and collect it.
i wouldn’t just pop it through their letterbox. As clearly the postie didn’t do just that. Perhaps for a reason.

Royal Mail offer so many subtly different services; tracked, photo proof of delivery, signed for. I wouldn’t know exactly what service was used and why. I would expect my neighbour to have been left a card and to come and get the piece of post from me at their convenience.

What a strange system! No delivery business here would deliver something to a random neighbour if the recipient wasn't at home. And you are then supposed to just wander around trying to find who has it?

I think if someone doesn’t collect their wrongly delivered post they don’t necessarily know where exactly it’s been delivered. It was not a place that OP had had stuff delivered to before, hence she didn’t know where it was.

I just think as neighbours it’s basic decency to do these small things for one another. As OP said, they didn’t even apologise. Yes, it was only just over a day - but I’m surprised how many on here don’t think there’s a moral obligation to make an effort and pass it on.

I regularly have to do this. Couriers and Royal Mail make a lot if mistakes. People don't always get round to redelivering.

What a bastard, taking in your parcel and thinking they're doing you some sort of favour.

Next time message Royal Mail and tell them it's not been delivered, and make it their problem...

But the neighbours didn’t know she didn’t know where it was and it wasn’t that long, maybe they’ve been busy/not been home

Where are you?