Amazon features to combat porch pirates

A woman’s Amazon package was snatched at her door in Lee County recently, but Amazon’s protecting their customers and packages.

Rebecca Deroche had read about it, heard about it, but never thought it would happen to her.

Deroche got a notification her package was delivered. And before she could get to the door, a man rides up on his bicycle, grabs the package, puts it on his bike, and rides away.

“You hear about it happening all the time you know people getting their stuff stolen but this is such a busy area I was like, oh well I’m not overly worried about it,” Deroche said. “We just have stuff delivered here every day, all day.”

Amazon will do whatever it takes to make its customers whole. They’ll replace your items but they also have several features to help its customers avoid porch pirates.

A spokesperson told WINK News they give you a two to four hour window for delivery. Another tool to use is the Amazon map tracking feature. This will give you a real-time view of where your package is. And, you can request a delivery inside your garage. Just set up a code and the drivers drop it off and close the door behind them.

All this gives Deroche some comfort that this won’t happen to her or her neighbors again. But, what was inside the package? Was it a new phone, picture frame, or a rare collectible? “Yeah $15 like this little clear plastic thing to put my twining tea in,” Deroche said. Instead of a home for her tea tranquility, she caught the porch pirate on camera.

But now Deroche is changing her strategy. She’s going to request the driver ring the doorbell when they drop off deliveries.

Other options are using Amazon pick-up locations. Especially with those Prime Day deliveries hitting the street. So you could have it dropped in an Amazon locker, counter, and locker plus.

As for Deroche, she said she just took advantage of those Prime Day deals again Thursday and went ahead and just ordered a new tea organizer.