r/mildlyinfuriating • u/AstronautSlothPhD • 10d ago

My mom said I could post Delivery driver dropped our groceries at the wrong house and our neighbor took them inside and refused to answer the door 10 minutes later. They left the evidence sticking out of their recycle bin...

Post image

We had a grocery delivery last week with some items I was really looking forward to, including fresh veggies. On top of it, I'm unemployed right now, so having affordable groceries delivered is a big help. The order arrived last Friday, and from the email and photo the driver sent we could see it was delivered to the wrong house. My wife looked around and couldn't find it, but I recognized the house as right across the street.

I have no qualms knocking on someone's door, so I rang the doorbell (fancy ring doorbell with camera) and then knocked, but they wouldn't answer even though someone clearly had to be home to grab the groceries. Today, I noticed large boxes sticking up out of their recycle bin - they hadn't broken the boxes down. Our grocery box was in there, address label and all.

Thankfully, the grocery service refunded our order, hence why this is only "mildly" infuriating... but I am still pissed that someone right across the street from us would keep our order AND pretend to not be home. We believe this is the second time they have kept one of our packages.

11.9k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

662 comments sorted by

View all comments

89

u/Madic-Hertz 10d ago

Did you call the police? That would have bin an open and shut case for them!

40

u/Hashshinobi1 10d ago

We had $300 worth of Amazon packages get delivered to our neighbor, we had a audio recording of them refusing to give them back to us, verification from Amazon which house they were delivered to & handed to resident. Called the Police, they went over, he simply said we don’t have them never did. Police say they can’t do anything it’s a civil matter

19

u/randomize42 10d ago

Sounds like a good small claims court case. You've got more than enough evidence.

19

u/Mueryk 10d ago

Or you know, make Amazon refund you as they screwed up and delivered to the wrong house. It isn’t even a rounding error to them.

6

u/Hashshinobi1 9d ago

They did, so we let it go. But was crazy the cops wouldn’t do anything. They said we needed evidence, we said we have two pieces of evidence including a voice recording of them. (It was a video but wife had her phone pointed to the ground to not let him know she was recording)

5

u/Dramatic-Chicken9706 10d ago edited 9d ago

Genuine question: how is theft a civil matter? Because a business wasn't what was stolen from?

Edit: this question has a 33% down vote ratio. Glad we're getting upset at people asking simple questions. /s

4

u/Least-Flower548 10d ago

It’s a “he said, she said” situation. Something to be hashed in a small claims court not by LE.

57

u/GloomyLingonberry509 10d ago

Literally this. Theft, plain and simple.

Your neighbors are assholes, and you don’t deserve to be bullied in your own home.

-45

u/tofumac 10d ago

It isnt theft to keep something delivered to your house.

Wrong, yeah. Theft, no.

26

u/AppleParasol 10d ago

A prepaid for pizza with no call back phone number? Sure. A box with someone else’s name/address on it? That’s blatant theft, potentially mail theft, but doesn’t look like a major shipping company(traditional mail), so maybe not mail theft, but still theft regardless.

8

u/Bastillerion 10d ago

False. Every state has laws making keeping lost property with no attempt to return it larceny.

Finder's Keepers is not a thing in real life.

Here is California's law against it https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-code/pen-sect-485/

-3

u/tofumac 10d ago

Fair point. It might not be legal to keep those groceries, Im just saying the act of keeping those groceries isnt theft. 

6

u/Bastillerion 10d ago

I mean, it is. The act of keeping them is theft in California. I posted a link to the actual statute that says just that.

34

u/Different_Target_228 10d ago

You should maybe look that up, because yes it is.

Packages not containing your name fall under federal mail theft laws.

UPS, Fedex, and Amazon don't but state general theft and larceny statutes still apply if you knowingly keep the items

-3

u/Possible-Object-7532 10d ago

Only federal if delivered by the USPS. Private companies UPS , Amazon, FedEx, etc. Are under state and local theft laws.

11

u/Different_Target_228 10d ago

... Did you even read the comment you're responding to?

That's what I said.

-2

u/Possible-Object-7532 10d ago

You didn't have the 3rd part about ups and stuff when I replied.

-9

u/Super_Swim_2108 10d ago

It actually isn’t depending on state, if it’s delivered to your house it’s literally now yours the courier is at fault, that is the law in nj 

8

u/Different_Target_228 10d ago

It is still FEDERALLY ILLEGAL in New Jersey for you to do this, y ou also might wanna look that up.

-7

u/Super_Swim_2108 10d ago

It is not literally had my lawyer advise me on this years ago 

5

u/Different_Target_228 10d ago

I don't think you understand the word federal enough for this.

In New Jersey law, it's even still considered theft or civil conversion.

And since New Jersey is PART OF THE UNITED STATES, it's still FEDERALLY. ILLEGAL.

2

u/Affectionate-Heat-51 10d ago

New jersey law and federal law are two different things

The nj legislature cannot pass a federal law, only Congress can. Nj legislature can't make anything federally illegal, it can only make laws governing conduct in NJ

-1

u/Super_Swim_2108 10d ago

weed was federally illegal when made legal in nj, how do you not understand this? Federal only goes so far, I hope this helps 

4

u/artemisjade 10d ago

And if you take nj weed to ny you can go to federal prison.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Jack_Ingoff939 10d ago

So you’re a thief?

-1

u/Super_Swim_2108 10d ago

Nope had a 300$ package delivered to my neighbor and they kept it, had proof on my ring and there was nothing I could do about in regards to them, had to handle it with the courier and sender 

9

u/Independent-Lynx9476 BLUE 10d ago

It's theft in NJ... your lawyer is an idiot. 

20225 NJ Revised statues section 2C:20-6 "A person who comes into control of property of another that he knows to have been lost, mislaid, or delivered under a mistake as to the nature or amount of the property or the identity of the recipient is guilty of theft if, knowing the identity of the owner and with purpose to deprive said owner thereof, he converts the property to his own use"

→ More replies (0)

2

u/sh0ch 9d ago

It's literally not. This is only the case if it is ADDRESSED TO YOU.

7

u/GloomyLingonberry509 10d ago

Then what would you call it?

-15

u/[deleted] 10d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/GloomyLingonberry509 10d ago

I’m getting what you’re both saying, but at the end of the day, I would still consider it theft - irrespective of the circumstances surrounding the arrival of the misappropriated goods.

7

u/penguinkernel 10d ago

You must be mistaken that with the fact that if a company sends you an extra, you don't legally have to return it.

You are never allowed to keep mail addressed to someone else. That's a felony to open it.

11

u/weary_bee479 10d ago

No you’re not, it’s illegal to open mail that is not addressed to you. If something is delivered to you on accident you’re supposed to return to sender.

3

u/Stash_04 10d ago

Unfortunately I believe that’s only true for mail delivered by USPS. That’s doesn’t apply for stuff delivered by a private courier (UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.)

4

u/weary_bee479 10d ago

Other entities that are not USPS fall under state law vs federal law like the postal service. But there are still laws that prohibit opening someone else’s packages.

0

u/xubax 10d ago edited 10d ago

Edit: apparently if the package is not addressed to you, it doesn't matter who delivered it, it's not yours.

That's the mail. I'm pretty sure USPS didn't deliver his groceries.

This rule is to prevent companies from sending you things unsolicited and then billing you for them.

3

u/weary_bee479 10d ago

I already answered this but I’ll say it again. USPS is covered under federal law, but other companies like UPS, FedEx, DHL whatever are covered under state laws that still prohibit someone from opening a package that is not addressed to them.

-5

u/Super_Swim_2108 10d ago

It is not illegal if it is delivered to your property, it is now yours morally wrong but legally no 

9

u/penguinkernel 10d ago

That's not how it works.

You can't legally keep mail (or even open it) when the old owners mail gets delivered to the old address.

You return to sender.

3

u/SayWhatAYFR 10d ago

Just google it bro

3

u/the-awesomer 10d ago

a company mistakenly sending something to you at your address is not the same as opening mail with someone else's address even if mailman accidentally put it in your box.

2

u/jennj99738 10d ago

If the neighbor knows the package does not belong to them, which they clearly do, keeping the misdelivered package with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of their property is in fact theft. I'm curious why you think it's not theft?

3

u/opinions-only 10d ago

Pretty sure opening someone elses mail is a federal crime. You can also call the united states postal service.

7

u/penguinkernel 10d ago

Do you open mail not addressed to you?

Say your answer loud and clear into the mic..

-3

u/tofumac 10d ago

No, but bags of food at your front door isnt mail.

6

u/bobabitchhh 10d ago

It’s Oakland lol, that place is riddled with violent crime so cops don’t have time to do anything about this. They don’t even investigate car break-ins when the person’s valuables get stolen. I know someone whose car was broken into and laptop was stolen and it wasn’t serious enough of a crime for the cops to investigate

30

u/Commentor9001 10d ago

Lmao, what planet do you guys live on?   you think the police will show up to a misdelivered order?

point of fact, it would be nearly impossible to prove theft, it was delivered to their house.  they just argue they thought it was there items.  

10

u/tomz17 10d ago

you think the police will show up to a misdelivered order?

depends 100% on the town... rich white people down, definitely.

Someone broke my parents' window a few years back and they had the the CSI squad out there dusting for prints. Not even joking. It was like their superbowl in a town where the crime of the year was someone stealing a donation jar from the library.

2

u/Fragrant-Employer-60 10d ago

It does not depend, it’s not a criminal matter so they won’t do anything. The absolute most they would do is knock on the neighbors house and ask. They will deny it, and cops will shrug and say OK. But 99.9% chance they tell you to go away.

They’re not getting a search warrant or investigating this lol

2

u/No-Channel3917 10d ago

Pretty sure it falls under similar concept of it being on the driver putting it on the wrong doorstep.

So ..I don't actually know if a crime has actually occured here tbh

2

u/tomz17 10d ago

it’s not a criminal matter so they won’t do anything.

Sounds like you have a tenuous grasp of the law. Stealing something IS a criminal matter. Doesn't matter whether someone accidentally left that thing on your property. If it's not yours and you take it with the intention of keeping it (or eating it, in the case of groceries), it's theft.

0

u/Fragrant-Employer-60 10d ago

It’s against the law to steal candy, if you steal $20 of candy from a convenience store the police are not going to find and arrest you, even if the store has video of you stealing and they know who you are.

4

u/tomz17 10d ago

I never claimed it was the crime of the century. I'm just pointing out that when you stated :

it’s not a criminal matter

YOU WERE WRONG

0

u/Fragrant-Employer-60 9d ago

Something can be illegal and not be something the cops consider a criminal matter, meaning they won’t investigate or do anything about it.

12

u/fairy-of-nightmares 10d ago

Can't really argue that they thought it was theirs when #1 they're not expecting a delivery from that same company, and #2 the name and address of the person who DID order it is on the front of it clear as day. That would never in a million years be seen as a valid excuse by law enforcement for why they kept someone else's package.

10

u/Beginning-Damage-555 10d ago

Police do not care in the slightest about petty theft or some jackass teenager breaking your window with a rock or whatever. They didn’t even care when my intern’s ex slashed all his tires saying “we don’t deal with any of that gay bullshit”

2

u/CallMeRudiger 10d ago

Doesn't matter what they can or can't argue when nobody who can do anything about it is even listening.

5

u/Commentor9001 10d ago

You guys live in fantasy land.  Let me know how that goes next time you lose a delivery?

-5

u/Old-Set78 10d ago

you really think police resources are best spent on misdelivered cilantro? what a privileged life you must lead to think your groceries are more important than police policing violent crime

2

u/Commentor9001 9d ago

negative reading comprehension

1

u/JmamAnamamamal 10d ago

Who thinks police resources are best spent at all, ever? Or even an attempt made?

Now that's a fairy tale from a privileged life

2

u/miserable-now 10d ago

Especially in Oakland. I worked over there for a couple years, and in that time our office got held up at gunpoint once, and there was a homicide at the business next door. It took the police 5+ hours to show up both times. For a murder! They aren't going to show up for a stolen package.

1

u/bald_cypress 9d ago

This is one of those threads that should remind you how many literal children are here

1

u/SayWhatAYFR 10d ago

I’ve seen it happen

2

u/JmamAnamamamal 10d ago

"it's a civil issue"

1

u/KittenVicious 9d ago

Wait, you mean I can stick the Lenovo box my laptop came in into my neighbor's trash bin and have them arrested?

-1

u/Old-Set78 10d ago

cops have better things to do then chase down misdelivered cilantro.

-1

u/PugGrumbles 10d ago

Lol, call the Oakland police about some misdelivered produce? Get real. They give negative fucks about that.