What to do if you have stolen a parcel with gifts
'19.12.2018'
Source: Consumer Reports
On the eve of Christmas and New Year, the streets are flooded with delivery services, leaving boxes, boxes and bags at the entrance doors. Thieves eagerly take advantage of this: in 2017, holiday packages were stolen from every 12 American. Here is a detailed instruction on how to act in such a situation.
Search for videos by keywords porch pirates and find a lot of fresh examples: here are people stealing parcels in colorado springsin this clip woman runs away with the packageleft in someone else's house in Jacksonville, and here the thief is even joyfully dancing stealing a box from under the door in Washington DC writes Consumer Reports.
To catch these thieves and reduce the number of thefts, police in Jersey City, New Jersey, teamed up with Amazon and Ring, which makes door calls and cameras connected to the Internet. They installed special tracking devices in homes and laid out empty "holiday packages" under the doors with built-in GPS systems. According to Ashley Manz, a spokeswoman for the City Hall in Jersey City, some thieves had just enough 3 minutes to catch the bait.
It is not necessary to live in Jersey City to prevent theft.
Here's how to protect holiday packages.
Let Amazon Courier Leave Parcels right in your house or car. If you make purchases on Amazon.com and are a Prime customer in some regions, you can register with the service Amazon Keywhere you authorize the Amazon delivery system to access your home. You will need to purchase a $ 250 kit consisting of a smart lock and an internal security camera - you can monitor your home and record any activity.
You can also allow certain items to be delivered directly to the trunk of your car if you are a Prime member and your car is in system support area. The service is free and works with 2015 cars of the year of manufacture and later. The system can be used for Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC cars equipped with OnStar and Volvo cars equipped with Volvo On Call, with an active maintenance plan for connected cars. No additional devices or equipment required. The car, of course, must be in an area easily accessible to the driver.
Use internet security cameras. You can install them inside and outside your home, watch your property from anywhere in the world and record any actions. If cameras are visible from the side, they can prevent thieves from stealing exactly your packages. Such services are offered by a number of companies, including ADT, Xfinity Home, Ring Doorbell and Nest.
Deliver packages to safe box or Amazon Locker. You can choose to deliver the parcel to the safe in your property. For example, Landport Creates safes that can be opened using the access code that you provide to the supplier (see special instructions below). The box is locked automatically after something is placed inside. You can change the code after delivery. The cost of safes from Landport ranges from 500 to 800 dollars, depending on the size.
Alternative: purchases made on Amazon.com can be delivered to Amazon Locker - there are more than 2800 such parcel terminals in about 70 cities and towns, including some Whole Foods markets. When you sign up with Amazon.com, you simply add the locker location as your shipping address. As soon as your package arrives, you will receive an e-mail with a six-digit code to the parcel locker and you will have three days to pick it up. The service is free of charge.
Instruct the parcel delivery service. Some services allow you to specify where to leave your package or box if you are not at home. Using the UPS tool My choice or Delivery Manager from FedEx, you can instruct drivers to leave the parcel at the back door, at the homeowner, in the code box with locks, or at the neighbors.
you also can redirect delivery to another address - maybe a neighbor - or suspend delivery if you're on vacation. UPS provides a list of local channel partners, such as UPS stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores, who agree to accept packages on behalf of their customers.
Another option is sending goods to the walk-in storethat can help you save on shipping costs.
Many, but not all of these services are free. For example, UPS charges 5 dollars if you send an online request to forward the package to another location.
Sign up for alerts. Some carriers offer text or emails about when the delivery will be made so that you can change your schedule accordingly.
For example, the US Postal Service recently began offering a service. "Informed Delivery". Once you have entered your address and other information, you can digitally view the images of your mail and its location without entering tracking numbers. So you can be sure that you will be at home if something important arrives.
You can also subscribe to receive text and email notifications through services such as FedEx and UPS, schedule delivery notifications and request re-delivery.
There is another way to make sure your parcels are safe: ask retailers require a signature for deliveryso that parcels are not delivered outside your home.
If your package was stolen
FedEx, UPS and the United States Postal Service report that they do not cover the theft of the delivered parcels.
“If UPS has completed a delivery that includes driver transportation to your home, UPS is not automatically responsible for refunding shipping costs,” said Matthew O'Connor, a company spokesman.
If your package is missing, you need to take some steps.
Make sure the parcel was delivered. Call the shipping company and find out if the item was left in your house or apartment, or if it was taken by someone - for example, a friendly neighbor or house manager. If the package or its contents were stolen or otherwise lost while in the possession of the shipping company, you may be entitled to compensation. For example, most packages sent by UPS are automatically covered by insurance for up to $ 100 in the event of loss or damage.
Contact the seller. Retailers adhere to different policies regarding the theft of packages. For example, in terms of delivery Target there are paragraphs in small print, which say that the risk of loss passes to the buyer after the goods are delivered to the shipping company. However, Target spokesman Eddie Bab encourages customers to call if a package is lost or stolen. “We deal with these situations individually and try to find a solution for each guest,” he says.
Contact your transport company. Shippers often require the sender, not the recipient, to initiate a claim. If the seller is not eager to cooperate, contact the shipper as soon as possible. You have a limited number of days to apply.
Check your credit card terms. Many credit cards offer shopping protection that covers lost or stolen items. If your purchase was made with a credit card, file an application with the issuer, advises Daniel Blinn, managing lawyer for the Consumer Protection Group in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. If this does not work, Blinn advises you to request a refund from your credit card company.
Check insurance. In a pinch, you can get insurance from your homeowners or tenants. But these policies usually have a deductible from 500 to 1000 dollars and more, so depending on the cost of the contents in the lost package, your insurance may not help you.
Call the police. It's a good idea to do it quickly. You will probably need a police report if you are filing a claim with a seller, shipper, credit card company, or insurance company.
