Tips for Receiving Your Holiday Deliveries

In one week we will be celebrating Christmas, but along with the holidays, there are a lot of Grinches out there.

A common problem with this time of year is people who the theft of packages that are dropped off and left on our porches.  Unfortunately, when the theft takes place, we aren't home and if we don't have a security camera installed, there is is no way of tracking down who stole it.  Below are some tips you can use to prevent your deliveries from being stolen or what to do when they go missing.

From the U.S. Postal Service:

• Promptly remove mail from your mailbox after delivery.
• If you won’t be home when items are expected, ask a trusted friend or neighbor to pick up your mail.
• If you are not home during the day, try to have your packages delivered to your work or to a relative or neighbor who is at home.
• Have your Post Office hold your mail while you’re on vacation or absent from your home for a long period of time.
• Never send cash or coins in the mail. Use checks or money orders.
• If you see a mail theft in progress, call police immediately, then call the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455 (press 2).
• If you believe your mail was stolen, report it immediately to your local postmaster or nearest Postal Inspector. Consumers can reach the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455.

From FedEx:

• Customize your deliveries. Use FedEx Delivery Manager® to customize your residential deliveries. You can change the time and location of delivery, request a signature upon delivery and even ask FedEx to hold your package if you know you’ll be out of the house when we try to deliver.
•  Consider an alternate destination. When you order something online, consider sending the package to your workplace or to a family member, friend or neighbor who is home during the day to accept delivery.
•  Send it to your nearest FedEx Office location. You can have your deliveries sent to the nearest FedEx Office location and we’ll hold it for you for up to five business days. FedEx provides this service at no added cost. If it’s a FedEx Express® package, you can also have your package sent to one of our FedEx Express stations.
•  Request a signature. Many packages today are sent without requiring a signature for delivery. If you’re shipping something of high value — or you just want to be sure items aren’t left unattended — you can require a signature for packages to be released. Either the shipper or the recipient can make this request.
• Request a vacation hold. Taking a holiday trip to visit family or friends? You can request a vacation hold on all shipments for up to 14 days.
• Redirect your packages even when they’re already on the way. With FedEx Delivery Manager, you’ll be alerted to every FedEx® package headed to your home, even if you don’t have the tracking number. If you know you won’t be home and want to send the delivery somewhere else, just redirect it to where you’ll be, or another secure location.
• Ask for a ring. Use FedEx Delivery Manager to let your driver know you want a ring—or a knock. You can leave instructions for drivers to always ring your doorbell or knock on your door when a package is being left. Do you like your packages left behind the big planter, or tucked behind the grill beside the back door? Use FedEx Delivery Manager to leave one-time-only or standing instructions for where you want FedEx to leave your deliveries. You can also let your driver know your instructions by calling 1.800.GoFedEx (1.800.463.3339).

From UPS:

• • Customers can have the shipment sent to where they are – not where they aren’t. In other words, if they are at work during the day they can have packages delivered to where they work. They can also choose to have things sent to a relative or neighbor who is home during the day.
• Customers can tell our driver where they would like packages left, for example, in the shed in the back yard, or behind the garage, etc. Our drivers can enter that information into their handheld computers for future deliveries.
• Customers can sign up for a free service called UPS MyChoice, which sends a proactive email alert to the customer letting them know when their package is going to be delivered.