DS had a package delivered today.  He's been waiting all month for it (Nerd Block, if you're wondering).  The Canada post's confirmation had an estimated delivery of January 4.

We weren't expecting it to be delivered today.  At 6:00 pm, DH went outside and saw the package rubberbanded to our mailbox.  They had opened the mailbox, put the package on the door, the secured a rubber and to the flag and the door.

It would have been faster for them to just walk the six feet to the porch.  The walkway was shoveled, so I can't imagine why they didn't.

yes, they can "do that"  the mail box is the spot you have designated to put your mail, so that is where they put your mail. This time of year, the carriers are usually working lots of overtime and just want to get home to their families, so anything that can shave off a little bit of time within reason, they are going to take. 

My carriers average about 30 packages per day, but around Christmas that jumped to over 100 packages some days. If they took an extra 30 seconds on each and every one of those "extra" packages, that would have added an extra 35 minutes to their route...and I doubt it would have been faster to walk it to the door than sticking it in your box, even putting a rubber band around it.

another thought, people complain all the time about carriers not ringing the doorbell and giving the person time to get to the door, so maybe someone on your route complained about that and the carrier was instructed to knock and wait for all packages taken to the door...now that adds at least a minute per package.....

I'm wondering how long it took to wrap the rubberband around the box.  Certainly it would be faster just to drop it on the porch.

wrap a rubberband around a box....a few seconds

walk (you say 6 feet) to the door, knock, wait for someone to come, place package on ground, walk (you say 6 feet) back.....min 30 seconds, up to a minute or more depending on how long they wait. 

multiply that by many packages.....

so this has been bugging me, and maybe it's just the fact that I'm tired, sick and stressed out, but things like this just irk me. You are basically complaining about your carrier doing his JOB... and taking an extra second or two to make sure your mail was secure...He delivered the package, and delivered it to the receptacle YOU supplied .but you feel it necessary to complain? 

Carriers get complaints every single day, and frankly, 99% of them are just ridiculous, just like this one. If he had delivered it to the porch, someone could have complained about that, because it was small enough to fit in/on the box, and they didn't check the porch, so it sat out for a week and got ruined. If he had not left it and instead left a notice, someone could have complained about that....seriously,bitch bitch bitch...that seems to be all some customers seem to be able to do. Carriers can't win

Agree 100% Motleigh.  I always said there were people who, if they could, would have the carrier take a key to their  house and leave all their mail and packages on the kitchen table.  Just no idea.

How would your carrier usually handle packages Johnny, is this different than usual?  Over time and a variety of different carriers, I've found they often handle these things differently depending on carrier and branch protocol in addition to other variables such as local dogs, substitute drivers, work load, etc.

I've had drivers that wouldn't come near my house because of the dog (cookie monster) but our current carrier delivers right to my door (anything that doesn't fit in my box)  Once in awhile she even delivers to me personally if she catches me out running (rather than have to drive up the driveway and get out of her truck).  Before Christmas I checked tracking on an incoming package and saw that it was noted "delivery attempted" but I had no pick-up slip.  I called my PO b/c no sane person would just go down to the PO at this time of year and stand in line without a pick-up slip and make staff search through enormous numbers of packages for one that 'might' be there.  It was determined that my package was indeed in the 'pick-up' room and a sub had worked our route that day...probably a short timer because the staffer confessed my pick-up slip is possibly taped to a sparrow currently flying over Jamaica *eyeroll*.

Bottom line, if you have any questions or concerns about your postal delivery (especially changes) don't hesitate to ask your carrier or postmaster.  I have found them to be very polite, informational, and accomodating.
 

Wow, Brandy.  That's a bit of an over-reaction.

I'll blame it on you being tired and/or sick.

Normally, the USPS carrier just puts the package on the porch.  It's covered.

I didn't see them, obviously. I can imagine him balancing the box on the door with one hand then wrapping the rubberband around the door and the flag with the other.  I just seems faster to walk it to the porch.  (You will notice I mentioned nothing about knocking on the door / ringing bells / answering doors / unlocking doors / fixing dinner / doing the laundry.  If you're going to exaggerate, you might as well go all out.)

I was under the impression the mail had to fit inside the mailbox.  If it couldn't fit in the box, then it had to be left at the door.

Now that I know giving the postal carrier a key to my house is an option, I will ask him to let out the dog while he's here.

I was under the impression the mail had to fit inside the mailbox.  If it couldn't fit in the box, then it had to be left at the door.

If this is a motor route, then mail carrier does not have to leave their vehicle.  If package does not fit in mailbox, then the carrier could have just left a package notice for you to pick up at the post office.

If this is a motor route, then mail carrier does not have to leave their vehicle.  

Really?  That seems a little far fetched.  If I schedule a pick-up using their website, you're telling me the postal carrier does not have to leave their vehicle to pick up the outgoing mail?

If package does not fit in mailbox, then the carrier could have just left a package notice for you to pick up at the post office.

I'd like to see the written regulation on this.  Because the priority mail packaging does not fit in the standard mailbox.  If what you're saying is true, that is a poor business model.

I'm a little perplexed.  What I ordered was obviously expensive.  It also had a customs slip on it.  He just left it out in the open for everyone driving by to see its contents.  Had it been raining (as it had the day before), the contents would have been ruined.

Wow, I think Brandy needs a shot of brandy :)

I for one think the world (or at least, your mail experience) will be a much better place if everyone just once in a while hang out while the carrier is making his/her round and say hi to him/her. Talk to them a bit if they're relaxed and not in a rush. That way you'll come to know them more as a person instead of just a nameless "carrier" who never seems to do anything right. And then you won't feel the need to come here and vent that often. (Venting animosity against a nameless person on the Internet is always so much easier than against someone you do know and see and say hello to).

If I read the original post right, though, I thought there should be reasons to commend the carrier instead of venting. First of all they deliver faster than estimate (isn't that a cause for joy?) Secondly they took the time to attach the rubber band (instead of leaving it precariously on the box). My carrier has never shown me that level of care ever, I can tell you that :) You wish that he had put it in your front porch, but how could he know that's your preference? If he had put it there instead of leaving it near the mailbox, someone could have come here and vented "my carrier throws my expensive package on the porch instead of securing it to the mailbox where I could see". You'd think "no, not me, I wouldn't have complained", but people do complain and for even much more mundane reasons than that.

If you have a lot of packages and this is important to you, you can just put a note next to the mail box "if the package is can't fit inside the box, please put it in my front porch. Thank you". I'm sure most carriers wouldn't mind doing that for you. After all, that way they don't have to waste a rubber band :)

Our mandatory mailboxes in our HOA controlled development can't hold a standard flat document size envelope so our carriers all roll the item (like a poster) to force it to fit  into the mailbox rather than leave the mail on the porch or leave me a slip to pick up at the PO (which I am happy to do)-- we have had very important items ruined repeatedly because they do this--- like award certificates and diplomas......it is really irritating. 
During the holidays, they have even forced square boxes into the tunnel shaped mailbox to avoid the walk to our porch damaging the corners of the boxes........Now I do have to admit that our porches aren't just 6 feet from the sidewalk where the mailboxes are so it wouldn't be  just a few seconds additional time to do this. 

Where I live, most mailboxes are not near the house. The rural mail carriers put most packages in a clear plastic garbage bag and hang it from the mailbox or place it on top. We live on a small island, mail theft is rarely a problem. 

Ha Becca count your self blessed then.  We have a mailbox attached to our house, we live in a really tiny town, and have a little overhang that doesn't fully cover the front steps area or the mail box.  We do have the spot on our mailbox for the newspaper you know the standard house mailbox with the lift flap.  Never have I had a package been put in a bag and I end up getting wet soggy packages this time of year as they just leave them on the front steps.  Mail theft is totally a problem here and I can see why the concern however I'd be happy that they at least tried to secure the package.  Our new delivery person just plops packages in the snow without care for them doesn't even ring the door bell, refuses to take any outgoing mail no matter how small, and leaves my magazines on the ground claims they don't fit in the box.  We got the last one fired because he was mis -delivering mail all the time turned out he was drinking on shift.  I think we have lived her over 4 years and have had 5 po workers, they must have high turnover for the workers that have to walk the route, hell I bet they have high turnover anyway.  We recently had a temp come down from jeff city area 45 miles and she was awesome supper sweet, she kept all my larger packages and left a slip so that I could pick them up myself.  My mail was in the box, magazines too, and she took outgoing mail from the box, I was so sad to hear she was a temp and the douche was coming back : (  a whole month of her sweetness and I've been ruined oh an my copy of Elle was on the ground this week even though I could fit it in the box!  *Sigh*  Overall I love everyone at my po  but the delivery people we have gotten have sucked, one even refused to deliver because my dog lunged at the window and barked ( he's an 85 lb teddy bear).  I mean seriously its a double pained window he's not getting out of it and he just wanted to bark, dude had a huge dog phobia and had to be moved as we have large dogs around here, but mine was never outside where he could get anywhere near him.

You also must remember that every time a carrier goes to deliver a package at a porch from their vehicle, they have to shut it off, undo their seatbelt, lock the vehicle, and go thru all the procedures of parking the vehicle safely, and then restarting it, checking mirrors etc or risk an accident or being written up by a supervisor in the area. This adds a few minutes to every stop with a larger parcel. Carriers parcel delivery is NOT considered in their route time.

They do NOT have to come to your door to deliver anything. An alternative is to put a package slip in your mailbox and make you come to the post office to pick it up. I would much prefer that they leave it rubber banded to my box so that I can get it that day. I see above someone else prefers to get a slip in the box to go get it herself. The thing is, they could never please everyone, but it is not their job to drive the package to your door and deliver it to you that way.