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Comment by moneil971 | Hacker News Reader

Amazon and others now send you a picture of the package on your doorstep, so I guess they'd let you know?

I often wondered what's the point of that. I received the delivery email, I am still not at home, what would a picture do that the email doesn't?

Never had that experience, but I presume to prove it was delivered?

Photos also prevent customers taking advantage of companies who are ready to refund or replace “stolen” packages.

How so? Presumably packages are generally stolen after they've been delivered? So their photo proves it was on my porch, but it doesn't disprove that someone came along and stole it shortly after it was delivered... (my camera provides that video, however).

I once got a delivery notification, and when I got home he package wasn’t there. I thought someone stole, but then I read on the delivery notes that the package was put inside the mailbox.

It was 24 cans of soda and several other items. No way it was actually delivered that way.

So either it wasn’t and the delivery person lied, maybe to still get the delivery as completed (and therefore paid or count against a quota), or it was delivered and then stolen. I had no idea what it was, but called Amazon saying that I never received the package, and mentioned its delivery notes said the very large package was put inside the mailbox, clearly impossible. They re-sent my order promptly.

My point is that it’s super easy to say “hey Amazon you never delivered, send it again”. The picture is for the consumer as much as it is for Amazon, now they have irrefutable evidence that the package was in the right place for a while.

Ah, that makes more sense. Yes, since delivery drivers can have impossible quotas / inefficient-but-mandatory routes etc. they have been known to throw things over fences etc., requiring a photo 'on the porch' does counter that (if not the rest of the catch-22).

Sometimes they hide the package for you, and they send you a picture so you can find it.

One nice thing about the photos is that when they deliver to the neighbor's house by mistake, you can see from the photo that that's where it is and that it hasn't been stolen.

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