F#@%ing Porch Pirates

[Rusty Brass]

Well, I got hit. A Phantom and a stripped AR upper that I know of. I guess I've been on borrowed time considering how much stuff gets dropped off on my porch but it's still disappointing trending towards infuriating. Lot of broke people out there right now, desperation must have finally pushed them into my hood. I'm going to dip into the local pawn/paintball shop on my way home, maybe they'll have the Phantom on the wall...
I'm assuming that PayPal is no help when tracking follows stuff all the way to your door?

[cellophane]

Don't know about PayPal, but I had a Lego set taken a couple years ago. Between Lego and FedEx they got everything sorted out for me with very minimal effort on my part. It never hurts to give PayPal a call.

[MrKittyCatMeowFace]

Well, I got hit. A Phantom and a stripped AR upper that I know of. I guess I've been on borrowed time considering how much stuff gets dropped off on my porch but it's still disappointing trending towards infuriating. Lot of broke people out there right now, desperation must have finally pushed them into my hood. I'm going to dip into the local pawn/paintball shop on my way home, maybe they'll have the Phantom on the wall...
I'm assuming that PayPal is no help when tracking follows stuff all the way to your door?

Yeah they only cover if they seller either never ships the item or if the seller ignores a PayPal dispute or they send a rock in a box or something. If ups or fedex delivered it you may be able to get something calling them. Had a pump stolen too

[Rusty Brass]

Yeah they only cover if they seller either never ships the item or if the seller ignores a PayPal dispute or they send a rock in a box or something. If ups or fedex delivered it you may be able to get something calling them. Had a pump stolen too

Figured that was the case.
Looks like I'll be lagging a steel job box to the front porch and installing a video doorbell this weekend. Now that they've figured out $$$ gets dropped off at my place they'll be staking me out.

[CommonCold]

I've thought about doing something similar, as I've never had a problem yet. Neighborhood seems pretty quiet so far.

[Siress]

Home owners/renters insurance, maybe?

Cameras are cheap and easy to setup these days. I've used old android phones as excellent wifi cameras, backing up to my NAS and sending me live alerts for major motion detection.

[lew]

I installed a Blink camera system from Amazon. As far as I can tell, the data stays in my possession until I choose to release it, and there's no one within wi-fi range. The image is great, cost is palatable, and adding more cameras is painless. Even night time performance is usable without supplemental illumination.

[Siress]

The major issue I have with these backdoors is that they are inevitably exploited by bad actors. e.g. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/vide...ystem-67704081

[Rusty Brass]

Not worried about the inside of the house. There are, and will be, no cameras installed there. Something that'll catch a make and model, maybe even a license plate, from the front porch is the idea.

[shadow191]

Paypal won't be of any help as they don't provide insurance. So if you filed a claim with them, that's actually going against the seller.

Check with seller to see if they insured the package. Major shippers all have a minimum amount of insurance automatically ~$100 for UPS and ~$50 for USPS but it's not going to cover value of what was taken so hopefully seller purchased insurance.

[Rusty Brass]

I don't know that shipping insurance covers porch pirates though. I think it's just for loss or damage. Once the carrier sets it on your property I think they're clear.
Pretty sure I'm just hosed here.

[shadow191]

That's true, but it's not 100% that a porch pirate took it and that it was actually dropped off. Sometimes drivers just scan they delivered without actually delivering. If there was insurance, a claim would at least trigger an investigation on their end.

I've had a handful of issues over the years where item showed as delivered but it actually wasn't. No driver showed up for the day and magically an item showed as delivered. A couple were due to drivers scamming the system to meet their numbers and package actually arrived next day. But in one case insurance was paid out as I never signed for item with signature confirmation but they claimed it was delivered.

These days it's likely porch pirates. FWIW, cameras don't deter much and it's really hard to use them to catch anyone. My brother actually had his Ring stolen - video shows a guy just walking up and last thing you see is him using a piece of metal to smash the camera off the wall. He's considering getting a lockbox but lately he's been WFH every day so nothing has been more watchful.

I live in a condo so that's one advantage - deliveries are all dropped off at front desk.

[Seajay]

File a police report too if you have the product ID's on hand. That AR upper has a stamped serial ID that is easily tracked. Any pawn shops and arms dealers legally must report to the police to check for stolen items.

[Knuckle Dragger]

I have never seen a serialized upper from build kits. My buddies have ordered standard forged Palmetto and Aero uppers, only thing I saw was a forge stamp like a square or “O” designating the parts origin (like a mint stamp on a coin). Stripped lowers are serialized and can only be shipped to a FFL, “80%” lowers and stripped or assembled upper receivers are generally unregulated and not serialized. Nonetheless, I’d file a police report.

[Seajay]

Gotcha! That makes sense if just an upper doesn't have a serial, I thought all parts were stamped in some manner.

[lew]

Yep. As far as the ATF is concerned, the lower receiver/trigger housing is the firearm (FN FALs being a glaring exception) are the firearm. Uppers are not typically serialized (unless it's an original AR-10, but the ATF doesn't care about that).

[Knuckle Dragger]

I believe you can have the post office hold your packages for pick up. It sucks, but it might be the best option unless you pay for a PO Box. Download the USPS app and sign up for their features. The app is clunky, but it does the job. I use it to label and watch my in/outbound packages.

[Rusty Brass]

I can just have my stuff delivered to work too, that's allowed. The problem with my the post office is they're never open when I can get there. I work weekdays and they don't open on Saturday.

[punkncat]

The easy answer here is a camera on the front porch...however, be aware. Most of the cheapo doorbell camera and old Arlo and such record at a really low resolution and/or have lenses so poor that you will see that something happened but never be able to identify.

In a case where you have a lot of incoming parcels you might consider either getting a PO Box, or perhaps contacting your post about a secure drop off device at your location, such as you add a "locker" and get your mail carrier the key, leave instructions to call, etc. Maybe even something as simple as a keypad for garage access.

Hate to hear it happened. From my own dealing with PayPal in the past since it shows delivered any action they would take, or insurance is probably null.

[Rusty Brass]

I think a jobsite box redheaded to the front porch might do the trick. Could be unsightly though... I'll have to see if I can get my wife onboard.

[Curly2k3]

https://www.amazon.com/Security-Doorbell-Resolution-Real-Time-Response/dp/B07R3WY95C

pretty reasonable, no subscriptions, great quality. we've had ours at the front door for a year and it even dealt with the insane MN winters (can't say the Ring did before at the old house).

[maggot]

That brand's legit. We use their robovacs.

[bellicose]

I have a Ring that I got from Amazon. If it gets stolen, ring will replace it once.

[Tarsun2]

We use lorex. Customer service is a joke though.
the camera at the house helped police track down a stolen boat from the neighbor across the street.
that was a good 50yrd driveway, across the street, and he neighbors 25yrd driveway.

Stores about 5 days of video. thats key, you need storage.
we had ups say they delivered a $500 AC unit to the house. checked the time with the camera and saw the truck drive past twice before saying it was delivered. It turns out they dropped it off at a random house.

we also use little Wyze WIFI cameras as baby monitors. they are much cheaper and much much better quality/res than the baby monitors.

[Cdn_Cuda]

I just upgraded/added to my Lorex video system with Amazon Blink XT2 cameras. They’re wireless, which is awesome and makes it easier to mount. Good video quality and can be plugged into power if you want. They go on sale often so wait for that. I used mine to catch a guy going through my carport.

[homerj]

I paid for something once with a postal money order. The item was never shipped & i never heard back from the seller. I filed a claim at my local post office & with pretty much no questions asked they refunded me the full amount. It was shockingly easy.