Who is Stealing America’s Online Packages?
Because of frequent complaints of missing packages, management is installing a security camera in the lobby. Please be aware.
#60 Real Estate Man
There is a crime tsunami inundating the small apartment buildings throughout Philadelphia. Not a big enough wave ,it appears, for police to have an overabundance of interest. Its possible solution is left up to the individuals affected. Of course, usually the first thing an aggrieved party does is to complain to Real Estate Man.
The source of the pain is: missing packages.
The process usually goes as follows: item seen, item ordered, item paid for, item sent, customer notified date of probable delivery, customer not in apartment when delivery arrives, delivery service leaves ordered item in the building’s common space or in the front of the building. In between the delivery and the customer pickup, the item disappears. Lost, stolen, gone!
This undesirable phenomenon was occurring in Real Estate Man’s 16th St. apartment building. Many people are driven to near insanity by missing packages even though most Internet companies are wonderful about replacing lost, stolen, gone items free of charge. Real Estate Man is sure there’s a bit of rascality going on and he’s still trying to figure out how money is being made when so many purchases seem to need to be replaced. A colossal Amazon Ponzi scheme?
The problem of lost packages had reached the pandemic stage on 16th Street. This is the judgement according to the gospel of the woman in 2nd floor rear of Real Estate Man’s building there. Real Estate Man has an agreement with the hardware store next door to accept packages during the day. The woman refuses to participate.
Because this property, like many others, is small there is no income margin for a mail room as found in most of the larger buildings. Ideally, only the tenants should have the key to the front door. Another front door key is left in a key locker for the regular mail person. A key to the key locker is issued to the mail person by the Postal Service. That key also fits the bank of boxes where the tenants get their daily delivery. Convoluted maybe, but the rules have been in place since Philadelphia’s own Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general in 1775, Real Estate Man will bet.
Notwithstanding his agreement with the hardware store, private delivery services simply leave the packages. The delivery person randomly rings doorbells to get buzzed into the property. Another method used is to catch a tenant coming or going and piggyback through the front door with them. Failing that, private delivery services often leave packages on the front steps. None of these practices are particularly secure.
Oh, those packages are tempting for some.
U S mail is much better. Every once in a great while there’s a tenant complaint about a misdirected letter. There’s usually an explanation for it. The piece almost always eventually gets to it’s intended destination or is returned to the sender.
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Real Estate Man’s story:
After a number of missing packages both the woman on the 2nd floor and I were getting frustrated. It wasn’t a large enough headache for her to break her lease and move. However, the issue was large enough for her to want me to solve the problem for her. My hardware store solution was not going to be the answer for her. This went on for over a month.
Turning the tables, I asked her what she felt I should do? She seemed to think a while, then suggested a security camera. Although I’ve always been a believer in personal privacy and have an approach avoidance conflict about surveillance monitoring for almost any purpose other than for a newborn’s bedroom, I started to do some research.
The whole process was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.
I purchased an Easy to Install Wyze Cam Pan 1080p.
I slipped the following note under the door of every apartment.
Because of frequent complaints of missing packages, management is installing a security camera in the lobby. Please be aware!
Sometime the only the information is sufficient.
Every time the motion sensitive camera was activated, I dutifully checked my iPhone. In the process of serving my mission I observed: the tenant in 1 rear throwing a gushy ice cream sandwich wrapper on the lobby floor, the dog owned by the renter in the 3rd front being allowed his to lift his leg on the lobby rug, the guy in 3rd rear picking his nose on a couple of occasions and, I thought I saw the boyfriend of the woman who made the original stolen package complaint give a passionate kiss and buttocks caress to the woman living in the 1st floor front…
Although scrutinizing my iPhone for almost a month I did NOT see anyone taking packages and no one lodged any further complaints.
I soon lost interest in his Easy to Install Wyze Cam Pan1080p. Some things are better left unseen, I figure.