Ugh, I'm so angry right now. For the second time in a short time I've had a package stolen of my front porch.

Two months ago or so my wife ordered a couple of hundred dollars worth of nice quality cook ware that USPS so graciously dropped off at our front porch at 9am, and it got stolen. We're both out all day for work, so packages will sit for hours in plain sight.
Nobody will reimburse anything since USPS dropped the package off, and that's where they stop caring.

I've asked them to NOT drop stuff off at our front porch (I'd rather pick it up), because my front porch faces the road and during the day it has all kinds of seedy folks walking up and down that road, and they can all see the packages sitting out there in plain sight.

But, USPS dropped my Pelican Parts order off at the front porch, again. I tracked the package and was getting excited for the parts that came in. I wanted to run home during lunch break to take it inside, but didn't get a chance too.

I just got home from work, and of course: no package. Someone swiped it. Again.

Aarrrrgghhh!!!

It isn't even that much money, about a hundred bucks of small little items that I needed to get Betsie going. Valve cover gasket for the valve adjustment, oil, air and fuel filters, little o-rings and other small items.

But I'm so angry right now. Seething. I could have literally wiped my ass with a 100 dollar bill, and it would have been a better use of that money.

What the hell is the guy/girl that stole this going to do with all of these very car-specific parts? It's totally f'in useless to anyone else.

Nnggghhh!

Hate this. Now I have to re-order it, spend more money, pray to God that it doesn't get stolen a second time, and...I still don't get to drive Betsie this week.

Man, this sucks.


Sorry, I'm just venting, I'm not expecting to get any advise. Just needed to write it down, before I kick a hole through a kitchen cabinet door.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Get a recording camera setup. I have a 4 camera setup that records 24/7, and the cameras even work at night. I even helped the cops when the neighbor was robbed, you could see the perps get away on my cams.

Sorry to hear about your package. I understand how frustrating it can be. Maybe ask a neighbor to grab them if you know when they come?

I was thinking about a security camera. Problem is: I live in a rental, so I can't drill holes through the wall for power.

I could maybe use the porch light socket and leech power off that if I sacrifice the porch light by screwing in one of those light socket adapters.

Another option would be a battery operated camera, but I don't know if those actually exist.

Do you use a special DVR or do you have a PC running to record? I have a file server running 24/7 that I could use to record the video to.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

If there's no window with a good view of your front-door area where you can place a conventional security camera inside, Maybe a Tasco, 4AA battery-operated, motion detecting, LED night-vision, trail-camera. It records on an SD card & is currently about $50 in the WalMart sporting-goods dept. Just be sure to mount it where the thief won't see/steal it!

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

I found my package!! I also called the cops about it.

I was standing outside my front door to figure out how to get power to a security camera, and when I turned around and looked at the other side of the road (not 30 feet from my front door) I noticed a path going up the little embankment that I've never noticed before.



Sorry for the watermark; the file upload feature on this forum is currently not working for me, so I put them on another website which watermarks them at the bottom.

Anyway, I climb up the little embankment and walk into the woods, and I came across this:



Not really a camp I suppose, but someone's been there before. Bunch of clothes, some boots and a few empty propane bottles. There was a bunch more stuff to the left out of frame, but I was getting angry again at this point and didn't take a picture of that. This is not 60 feet from my front door.

I walked a little further, and whaddaya know?



Yep, my package. Only item missing was the fuel filter O-ring, everything else was there although the big spin-on fuel filter was dropped in the dirt, and I don't know if I should re-use it.
The package for the valve cover gasket was ripped open, but the gasket seems OK.

Since this was my first order to this new address I moved to, Pelican Parts included the jelly-bean welcome package: That was gone.

Anyway, I got my parts back and called the cops because it appears someone might have set up shop very close to my front door.


I really need to move.

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I am not saying people should steal in broad daylight but when opportunities present to them then people would do things you least expect. You shouldn't move but request signature for any delivery of value. What good does it make to put a camera there? The package is gone and the police may or may not catch the bad guys. You shouldn't provide the opportunities in the first place. A lesson learnt.

__________________
Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

@Ah-Kay
What good a camera does? It will show you what the face you need to punch looks like.

Also, the cops just came and I showed them the make-shift camp...And somebody was there this time, kinda hiding in the back. I didn't see him, but the one police officer did. They asked me to retreat while they would "make contact".

So yeah, currently waiting on that... Fun times!

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

I would not expect forum members here would take matter in their OWN hands. May be they are not gentlemen after all.

__________________
Not MBZ nor A/C trained professional but a die-hard DIY and green engineer. Use the info at your own peril. Picked up 2 Infractions because of disagreements. NOW reversed.

W124 Keyless remote, PM for details. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-used-parts-sale-wanted/334620-fs-w124-chasis-keyless-remote-%2450-shipped.html

1 X 2006 CDI
1 x 87 300SDL
1 x 87 300D
1 x 87 300TDT wagon
1 x 83 300D
1 x 84 190D ( 5 sp ) - All R134 converted + keyless entry.

Any way to get packages delivered to where you work? I am now in a house on a busy road in Atlanta and have all of my packages delivered to my parent's house or their business.

__________________
Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

@Ah-Kay
I never said I was a gentleman. Rednecks drive Mercedes too, you know. It's not about "taking matters into your own hands", it's more the rage I feel towards somebody touching my stuff.

I think a camera would be a great deterrent in the first place, and at least you have some kind of proof if they still steal your stuff.

Regardless, I got my package back. The police officers were not able to do much; I guess they did not "make contact" after all with whoever or whatever was hiding back there. They said they could write up a police report, but also told me that would most likely not lead to anything anyway.

They were going to call some folks to clean up that camp-thingy and the ton of garbage that's right behind it, so at least something good came of it.

@w123fanman
Yeah, from now on I will either request a signature, and if that's not possible I'll have it sent to my office. Thanks for the tip!

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Wish I'd had a camera set up last year when some angry dirtbag, looking for a previous tenant, used his pickup-truck to DELIBERATELY ram & demolish the brick front steps, landing & wooden deck to a rental property I own, causing over $7000 in damages. The current tenant heard the crash, but wasn't able to get outside in time to get the guy's tag number. Meanwhile I had to pay for repairs out of my own pocket until my insurance decided what to do.
Eventually, insurance did cover it, but only because I took time off before Christmas to do some of the work myself, and didn't replace the ruined deck. And never enjoyed the satisfaction of seeing that creep locked up! Thinking now about maybe setting up some of these trail-cams to monitor the front entry to all my rentals.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

Maybe you should to start leaving prank packages full of nasty surprises.

__________________
RenaissanceMan Labs: where the future is being made today.

Garage:

2017 Chevy Colorado Diesel (nanny state emissions)
2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD, 77k
1987 Mercedes-Benz 300D turbodiesel, 4 sp auto, 156k - 28.7 mpg
1996 Tracker 4x4, 2 door, 16v, 3 sp auto. 113k - 28.6 mpg

WARNING: this post may contain dangerous free thinking.

Believe it or not, but that was exactly what one of the two police officers said before they left: leave a package packed with menure. I thought it was funny the cop said that.

I'll empty my cat's litter box in a cardboard box and will leave that at the front porch this week. See what happens...

__________________
"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

Heck yeah.

On a related note, I had UPS leave a $3000 3D printer on my porch from 10am until I got home at 4pm...A huge box marked "Makerbot 3D Printer" in huge letters. It had signature on delivery on it too...

__________________
RenaissanceMan Labs: where the future is being made today.

Garage:

2017 Chevy Colorado Diesel (nanny state emissions)
2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD, 77k
1987 Mercedes-Benz 300D turbodiesel, 4 sp auto, 156k - 28.7 mpg
1996 Tracker 4x4, 2 door, 16v, 3 sp auto. 113k - 28.6 mpg

WARNING: this post may contain dangerous free thinking.

It could be amusing, unless your dirtbag decides to retaliate.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW