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Your own personal Chattel?

Just saw two suspected package thieves on Jersey between 4th and 5th, they were walking towards Hamilton Park, ripped open an Amazon box and suspiciously put the content under a coat.
I could see it was a dark blue box with a white band.
I did not have my phone, ran home and informed the cops. they were both white (that's right Monroe) and one had lank greasy hair, hand tattoos and a blue and red 70s style ski jacket.
I had a good look around but could not see them.

Can't address UPS, but if you live on Cole Street and have what I think is a Chinese name your package from Walmart is sitting in the vestibule of my house waiting to be picked up and redelivered by USPS.

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UPS My Choice has been around for a while and I highly recommend it! It is free of charge and super easy and convenient. In addition to being able to manage your package delivery preferences, it will also match your name and address and automatically alert you about upcoming shipments, which is very helpful when a person or company ships you something and you are not aware of this. The My Choice service is FREE.

Seems like you can customize your experience with UPS now. Here's the information:

http://www.ups.com/mychoice/welcome.html

With many of us buying christmas gifts online, its christmas shopping time for the local thieves !

I'd get any online stuff delivered to my place of work this time of the year, unless you have a secure place the delivery guys can deliver too or a neighbor that's home and can sign for it on your behalf !

I have noticed that more and more boxes are left on the stoop by shippers now than before (in the last 6 months or so). Therefore,
I have a note out on the door of our brownstone building for weeks now, and I still get packages left on the stoop several times a week.

One time, Fedex left my bike (in it's shipping box) on the stoop. It was HUGE - and took up half the stoop. I couldn't believe he just left it there (and was too lazy to haul it back to the truck when no one answered the door).

I see packages left in plain sight all the time. Many of them are from Amazon or are USPS boxes. It just takes that little bit of bait to motivate some scumbag into stealing it. I have seen guys who were obviously out to steal stuff (Went to Jail) and others who just couldn't resist (Went to jail).

I just had a chat with Amazon customer service online - this is a transcript of the chat (verbatim):

I've already check some information, and We actually don't require signature, unless it's a certain amount. There's no way for us to restrict an order manually. It either happens automatically or it's up to the driver. :(.

A signature is typically required for packages where the total value is more than $1,300. We can't instruct shipping companies how or when to leave packages at a shipping address.

Amazon will always cover our customers back, if a package is stolen we can issue a FULL Refund or a Free Replacement with One-Day Shipping for free.

We also recommend to put a Note at the door if you are not home so the carrier can read it.

Or also is you are at home and you want to know when will you package arrive, to leave a note at the front door specifying the carrier to knock the door. Or ring the bell

Are simple solutions that can save a lot of money

A shipper may also require a signature if the package is delivered to an apartment, condominium, or business complex, or if the driver feels there isn't a safe place to leave the package at the delivery address.

If you won't be home when you expect the delivery, you might want to leave a note asking the driver to leave the package with a neighbor or building manager. Otherwise, it may be easier to have the package delivered to your business address instead.

Some carriers, such as UPS, allow customers to set their delivery preferences on their website.

I received a package from Amazon yesterday. I live in a doorman building.

I noticed on the label it says:

UPS - Ground
Ship to: USPS 69 Montgomery St
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USPS Deliver to: Carrier - Leave If No Response

Does that mean that Amazon is telling the mailman to leave the package at the door if no one answers? That's no good if you don't live in a doorman building. Better speak to Amazon.

My business is partly home-based and I get a lot of UPS and FedEx packages. My regular UPS driver told me yesterday that UPS is noting a DRAMATIC increase in package thefts in this area over the past couple of weeks. I presume that meant packages with no signature required and left where they're visible from the street.

If you see a package on your neighbor's stoop you'd be doing them a favor by taking it home and leaving them a note-