In our modern day society, it is very common for people to order items online and have them shipped to their front door. However, not everybody can sit at home and wait for a package to arrive and many times the package needs to be signed for and cannot be left sitting on your front step.

For those of you who might be looking for an alternative to waiting for the delivery person, it usually works to contact the shipping company after the package has been shipped and you have a tracking number and ask them to hold the package for you to pick-up. Then, you simply have to find the location and the hours of the location (usually available on the company’s website) and stop by to claim your package.

Unfortunately, there is one drawback to this method. It seems that for some reason, these companies like to waste the time of their delivery personnel and make the recipient wait an extra day to get their package. I have found that the companies generally require you to wait until they have made a delivery attempt before being willing to hold the package at the location for you.

I don’t understand the theory behind this. A customer is calling in and providing you with the information you need to hold their package, when they go to pick it up you will check their ID and make sure they are the intended recipient and they will have to sign for the package. Why would you want to waste the time of your employees by making them stop by a residence at which you were already told that no one would be home and make them see if anyone is around to sign for the package? Also, the person receiving the package will then have to call in later to have the package held so that they can pick it up the next day. This results in them having to add an extra day to the expected receipt of their package.

Even though there is what I consider to be a major flaw in the way this system is set up, it is at least a way for people who cannot wait at home for their package to show up to still be able to receive items that need a signature.

Of course, with as much business as is done online, most everyone probably already knew that there are ways to avoid having to be home when the delivery person shows up in order to get your package. The intent of this post is two-fold. First, I really wanted to point out that irritating waste of everyone’s time that this method usually entails. Secondly, I’m wondering, what are some of the things you do to get the things that you have shipped to you?