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Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by tw04 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @08:44AM (#22169251)
So do you just always have someone at home? Or do your packages always go to the secure local depot?

Neither is really a great option in the US because:

most families have both adults working.

Other than a handful of cities, people are so spread out that having enough secure depot's in the right locations would be astronomically expensive.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by viceroyalbean on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @12:50PM (#22171913)
In Sweden most packages are delivered to third party businesses that sign agreements with the delivery companies. Places like gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores.

Nowadays there are companies that offer evening time home delivery so that you can always be there.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by Noos on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:29PM (#22172481)
we have this here in the USA too. UPS has what's called "access points" where things can be delivered, or are dropped off if they can't get you. Some packages are signature required, so if no signing, it gets sent there. Convenience stores, etc.

It's just mostly people aren't used to doing that and are hard to change. People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead. With access points, they can and will return a package to sender beyond a certain time.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by JohnFen on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:50PM (#22172725)
> People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead.

I'd say that about half of the packages that get delivered where I work are for individuals getting their personal stuff.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by umvi on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:25PM (#22172439)
So basically like Amazon locker
Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by aembleton on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @08:57AM (#22169359)
The options then are

-send it to your workplace if it is allowed

-send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home.

If you have it sent to your house and you're not in, a lot of the time it gets dropped off at a neighbours house. I've taken in a few parcels when I've been working from home.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by kingosticks on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @09:39AM (#22169735)
All of that. Additionally, Royal Mail stuff goes to the local sorting office which for most people is pretty close by. Services like "Click and Collect" let you deliver your parcels to local shops. Amazon don't want to support that because it's a cost they cannot control.

It is true that the local depot for other parcel service (DPD etc) can be quite far away, but those services usually offer a a number of repeat delivery attempts or an option to leave with a neighbour.

The number of working adults in a household is irrelevant to delivering parcels securely.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by JohnFen on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:51PM (#22172743)
> send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home.

That's not always a realistic option. I'd have to go pretty far out of my way to get to the nearest Amazon locker. And it only works if your packages are coming from Amazon.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by atomi on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @08:53AM (#22169330)
> enough secure depot's

...like a Post Office?

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by tw04 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @09:14AM (#22169517)
You solved it! Except the post office won't accept Fedex or UPS packages, and if you try to have a package delivered to one, UPS and Fedex will refuse the shipment.

https://www.quora.com/Will-FedEx-deliver-my-package-to-my-lo...

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by js2 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:31PM (#22172515)
You can redirect FedEx packages to any local Walgreens up to midnight before the delivery day. UPS has something similar with CVS. For me this is even more convenient than USPS due to more locations and longer hours. It works even for signature-required packages.

https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/fedex.jsp

https://www.cvs.com/content/ups?linkId=77387667

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by tw04 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @03:09PM (#22173555)
That's cool and something I didn't know about, but I'd still argue it does nothing to solve porch pirates in 90% of the country. CVS and Walgreens are non-existent in rural America outside of large towns/cities.
Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by greglindahl on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @03:47PM (#22173870)
Most people in the US live near a large town or city. The coverage metric that's interesting is people, not area.

When I last lived in a rural area, the UPS guy would leave packages inside my unlocked car.

Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by close04 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @09:36AM (#22169703)
If only post offices were used they'd become a huge bottleneck in many cities due to queuing and also packages get delivered by many other private companies. So lockers (Amazon locker, DHL locker) or designated drop off locations that can be a regular store or kiosk also pick up the slack.
Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by HenryBemis on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @01:38PM (#22172598)
In the UK most building have a "porter" so most deliveries go straight to him/her, he/she signs and then drops off the packages INTO the flats (yes some keep keys of all flats). In the USA you have something similar, building manager(?).
Re:Ring Doorbell App Packed with Third-Party Trackers by dylan604 on Tuesday January 28, 2020 @03:31PM (#22173732)
That only works in metropolitan areas. In the suburbs, it's single family houses.