You may have seen doorbell camera videos of sloppy deliveries, deliverymen opening up packages, and those holiday season porch thieves stealing holiday deliveries.
But this one really sets new ground.
Christa Thomas never thought she'd be one of those unlucky homeowners, with a bad delivery experience, until now.
Driver tossed package like newspaper
Her security camera shows her husband almost running over a delivery, that was laying in the driveway.
"He said he found a package in the middle of the driveway. He found it strange," she said.
The Amazon package -- luckily containing just children's DVD's, and not a new iPhone -- was laying right in the "tire lane" of her driveway.
When the Thomas' checked their second security camera, they saw precisely how it happened. A delivery pulled up and tossed the package out his SUV's window like a newspaper.
"It shows the driver on our driveway, throwing the package from the window onto the middle of the driveway," Thomas said, "and then immediately leaving."
More and more contract drivers coming to your home
A decade ago when you ordered from Amazon you could be assured that someone from FedEx, UPS, or the US Postal Service would bring that package to you.
But now with tens of millions of packages delivered during the holiday season, anyone could be bringing that package to your door.
These Amazon Flex drivers, as they are known, work for third-party companies, not Amazon. Then they contract with Amazon for the final leg of delivery.
But Amazon told one of our sister stations earlier this year "we have high standards for delivery, and expect every package to be handled with care."
An Amazon spokesman told us they will investigate this case.
Christa Thomas says they need to take a look. "It's highly concerning, had it been fragile and someone just throws it out the window like its trash, that's concerning."
Thomas says if a gift is made of glass, or is fragile electronics, she'll probably buy it at the store in the future.
One more tip. To ensure successful delivery:
- Try to be home when the box arrives, or....
- Send the package to your work address, or...
- Arrange for a neighbor to take a delivery during the holiday season.
That way you reduce your chance of a damaged package or missing gift, and you don't waste your money.
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