Opened parcels

Not usually a problem with stuff sent through Amazon and Temu/Evri but this week had a parcel delivered by Royal Mail, which had been ripped open and resealed by them in an external transparent bag. This had two items missing from it, one of the items being an electrical device, so I'm afraid I'm somewhat suspicious about that. Fortunately the seller reimbursed me for the missing items.

I used to live opposite a family who nicked anything that wasn't nailed down. There seemed to be someone in all day and as nobody in the street had a porch, so often things were delivered to them never to be seen again. If a courier left a note through the door and you went to collect a parcel from them they always got aggressive and denied having taken any parcels in.

Sometime after they had moved one of the men in the family appeared on Crimewatch as being wanted for questioning.

Needless to say things stopped going missing after they moved.

I put it out on a neighbourhood forum that our mail regularly goes missing, others said likewise and have complained, I have too, yesterday my daughter asked me if we received something her husbands brother and his wife sent to us after his latest spell in hospital, it was sent Royal Mail, so no, of course we didn’t get it. I really don’t now how many other letters etc., we didn’t get, is quite worrying.

Hmmm....this is looking a bit difficult to unwind.

Do you keep a record of all of this, ie what parcels are expected, when, who from, what deliverer, what state they turn up in, value of goods?

Perhaps another tack to try is to put up a note on your Facebook account (I'm assuming you do have a Facebook account??) and state about this and ask if anyone else in the same area is having similar problems.

Maybe you could have a talk with one of those community police people too and ask if others are experiencing the same issue.

That should narrow down as to whether it's just your house it's happening to or whether there's a noticeable amount of this going on around you.

It does rather sound as if you need your parcels delivered elsewhere (eg a cornershop that provides that service) and could be worth an experiment to see how that goes. It would be a nuisance to have to fetch them - but it might stop this happening.

I'm not sure whether they are prank videos or no - but I've noticed quite a few little shortie videos going up on YouTube recently of pranks being played on porch pirates (ie those who steal delivered goods) and the thief goes to pick up a dummy package that they think is a real one and the package explodes at them and they get covered with a cloud of coloured dust. Could be an idea worth bearing in mind maybe?

No I have never experienced this. Possibly there is a thief in your neighbourhood. I hope he/she gets caught.

I am always in when they are delivered. They are not left anywhere. Last week I had a parcel delivered by RM in a plastic bag because the packaging had been ripped open. The label said the damage occurred before arrival from abroad but I know it came from Cambridge. The postmark even said so! Local Evri courier is good but the parcels are being tampered with before she gets them. I don’t know what is going on.

I get loads of parcels and have never had anything that looked as if it had been interfered with, though one or two have broken open at the seams because of poor packing.
However, I am not surprised people are reporting problems with Royal Mail. The parcel service is ok but getting your mail seems to be a matter of luck.

The other point being you mention "in the last 6 months". What changed 6 months ago? Don't know if the accommodation around you is rented, owned or a mixture? I'd be having a check on Rightmove - on the "sold" section of houses to see whether any nearby houses had now got a new owner. You won't be able to tell if it's a rented house - but you should be able to for an owner-occupier house. Maybe a thief has moved to near your house recently - that "6 months back" is a huge clue that 7 months ago you didn't have a nearby thief and now you do.

Depending on what part of the country you are in as to whether all houses are sold in the normal way (ie through an estate agent) or a noticeable proportion are sold "unofficially - to someone the last owner knew"). I'm now in a part of the country where I've discovered quite a high proportion of houses don't show up as being for sale - as they've been sold "unofficially" to a known person - but even those "under the counter sale" houses show up in Rightmove's "sold houses" section as far as I can see. So you should be able to see every "sold" house during that time period - though the rented accommodation will be more of a problem to find out about.

Sounds like it's probably a neighbour or two - rather than the delivery companies.

In the time since I moved to Wales (12 years) I did have initial problems (ie I had to complain and complain at the sorting office - as I was personally getting inexplicable mail problems for a while after I first moved here). Once they'd "got my measure" that stopped and my mail delivery became normal. But that's all.

I have to have LOADS of parcels since moving to a remote area like where I am now - but not had that type of problems (once I'd sorted out the local Post Office delivery office thing).
For a variety of reasons - I added a porch to my house and put up security cameras (and I can see that everyone is VERY aware of my cameras) - so I wonder whether it's possible for you to add a porch and/or security cameras to your house?

Failing that - could you arrange to have your parcels left at wherever it is locally that your parcels could be delivered to? I think it's the same idea wherever in the country one is - ie in my case I believe that would be the local "corner shops" (Premier) if I hadn't got suitable facilities of myself.

Gotta to be your neighbours for sure...

No -all my parcels are delivered to my neighbour ,
because she has a porch and I don't!
Whete are your parcels being left ?
On your doorstep or in your porch ?
I'm wondering if someone isn't opening them to see if anything is worth taking .
Is it worth installing a security cameras ?
Ask your neighbours if they are experiencing the same thing and mention reporting the matter to the Police .
It might stop .
You never really know people and their criteria.
Remember the old story of a village in which women were receiving obscene mail and it turned out to be a trusted and well liked man who had sympathised with them !

I’ve only ever had one parcel that had been opened, delivered by Royal Mail. It had been re-sealed and had details on it as to how to complain if anything was missing. It wasn’t.

Never have I had an opened parcel in all my years

No, no evidence of tampering.

We do however know some post and the occasional parcel doesn’t reach us. Retailers have always refunded missing items from parcels. Usually the only way we know about post is when a reminder turns up or we get a call asking why we’ve not responded.

I have had 2 recent incidences where parcels haven’t arrived. Someone else sent me a letter which also never arrived.

I don’t get opened parcels but I am missing items of mail. In the past few months two lots of legal documents that were sent regarding the sale of our house never arrived and two hospital appointments that were very important and my DH would have missed if he wasn’t sent a reminder to his phone.

Report it to the police. There may be a thief in your area targeting a lot of people.

Are your parcels handed to you or are they left somewhere such as a porch or garage?

This has happened to me once, a couple of years ago but nothing recently.

Nor me ,,

I’ve had quite a lot of deliveries recently - different retailers and different carriers, but nothing opened or interfered with.

No! The only time I can remember a parcel being opened was when I sent some used baby clothes to my sister in Australia. I think at least one thing was taken. I have received many parcels over the years and they’ve always been in one piece.