Sites like Amazon and eBay have been saving us all the effort of going out to the shops for over two decades now, and they’re only becoming more efficient as online demand increases. We all know what it’s like when a delivery doesn’t go the way we want it to, whether the circumstances surrounding it are extreme or not, but it reminds us always to be grateful when our packages show up in one piece. If only the people here had been so lucky. As delivery fails go, these are definitely some of the best that we’ve ever seen.
Spider-box, spider-box
Find us someone who would be happy to have a spider attached to their parcel as an unexpected extra. Bleurgh. It doesn’t look entirely alive under that packing tape, but that’s not the point.
How someone managed to tape it on there without knowing is beyond us. Maybe they did know and did it on purpose. Either way, we’re glad not to have been the recipient of this package. Here’s hoping that whatever was inside was worth it.
Surprise!
If you’ve ever ordered something online as a gift for someone, then it’s likely that you’ve gone through the various options to have it specially wrapped or asked for a special message to be attached to it.
Things like this are usually found inside the package, or if they’re instructions for the driver, then they come separately, but not in this situation. Maybe the driver was upset because no-one had ever thrown them a surprise party and they wanted to ruin it for someone else.
Handle with care
It’s amazing what you can order online these days. We don’t even know where you’d start looking to buy corrosive substances and the like, but apparently, the recipient of this package did.
Unfortunately, the person delivering their parcel didn’t believe the sticker that was stuck on the side, and it turned up in this less-than-perfect condition. Maybe it wasn’t like this when it was dropped off? Still, you’d hope that a package advertising the words FRAGILE and CORROSIVE would be handled with a little more care.
Please knock
Sometimes postal deliveries can be incredibly unspecific when it comes to what time they’re going to arrive. The timeframe for delivery can span a whole day, and the package might not even show up until the very end of that.
It can lead to you wasting a lot of time sitting around doing nothing in case you end up missing the delivery. This couple tried to combat that with a note on their front door, but the font wasn’t big enough to be understood.
Look up
You have to respect a delivery driver that gets creative. None of them want to return to deliver the package a second time, so whenever possible, they try and store it in a safe space.
The standard of what constitutes a safe space has gotten pretty vague these days, as evidenced by this driver’s inventive hiding place. The parcel is certainly away from prying eyes up there, but we have to wonder how many attempts it took for them to get it up on that beam.
Bear at door
People have the craziest animals as pets these days. Just look at this parcel that failed to get delivered because the recipient’s bear was in the way. Crazy, right?
You’d think that this person would have been kind enough to keep their bear away from the front door so that the poor driver could have made the delivery without fearing for their life. We can only assume that this wasn’t a typo or that the driver didn’t just get scared by a big, fluffy dog. It was definitely a bear…
Knock Knock
When companies say they deliver straight to your door, we didn’t realize they meant that quite so literally. It’s almost malicious the way the van is rammed into the front of the house while another sits there quietly on the side of the road watching everything unfold.
We hope that FedEx doesn’t make a habit of driving all their vans into the fronts of people’s houses. How do they manage to get everything delivered on time?
Under the doormat
The ridiculousness of this one had us laughing for a good few minutes, just as we imagine it did for the person making the delivery. Was there a misunderstanding when they made the order?
Were they expecting a package that was about one-thousandth of the actual size? Good on the driver for actually following the customer’s rather bizarre request, but then perhaps that was the point. Maybe the recipient of the package is the one having the last laugh.
Fragile
Ordering online is always a risk. It’s not just a simple process of an item going from A to B, and unfortunately, this means that every parcel has the potential to get damaged at some point in transit.
This is a big concern if you’re ordering something fragile, just like this poor customer discovered the hard way. We’re sure the contents of the package are… salvageable? One day the word fragile will mean something to the delivery companies around the world.
Special delivery
Any parcel that gets delivered when no-one is home can be an issue, but it’s even worse if you live in an apartment block. The options for storage are much more limited than with a house, and that results in disasters like this one.
Considering how much empty space there always seems to be in these boxes anyway, we’re sure that the contents are (probably) fine. It certainly puts you off ordering something when you’re not going to be at home though, doesn’t it?
Behind the plant pot
We understand if you struggle to notice what the issue is with this picture straight away, because that box is a master of disguise. If you look close enough, you can spot it peeking behind that inconspicuous vase on this person’s doorstep.
See it now? If the decision to store the parcel behind that vase was the delivery driver’s, then we have to wonder how he defines the word hidden. If it was the customer’s idea then, well, we have to ask the same thing, really.
Glass half empty
You would hope in a situation like this that at least one of the glasses made it to the customer without breaking. A small saving grace for what is surely a costly and unfortunate accident.
These glasses, however, decided all for one and one for all, and made sure they were all equally broken beyond repair. Looks like whoever was dealt this mishap will be drinking from the bottle until a replacement order arrives. We can think of worse things to have to do.
Inside bush
Never discount a bush as an ideal hiding place. They provide more cover than a lot of the other options available to drivers (remember that vase?), but this one is probably not the best example to follow.
Hiding places are generally considered good if they provide a suitable cover that doesn’t give away what they’re concealing. We feel that this bush – as great of a bush as it is – just misses the mark on that one.
Messy business
Where do we even start? It’s not every day that you get informed that your package has arrived in a somewhat damaged condition because it crossed paths with cow feces during transit.
How that’s even possible, we do not know. Was someone sending cow feces in the mail? Can you do that? At least the delivery company informed that unfortunate soul that their post was going to arrive with a bit of a smell.
In dirt hole
No-one can criticise this driver for not doing their job. They made an effort to leave the parcel somewhere that wasn’t on the front porch – albeit not in the best location – and clearly stated where it could be found.
Sure, it might look obvious, but they were being diligent. It’s possible that the customer could have missed the massive box sitting in their large dirt hole and required the direction of their delivery notice to find it. Better to be safe than sorry.
Gnome of your business
We’re awaiting confirmation that the deliverer of this package is actually an undercover agent working to take out all the lawn gnomes in the country. It must be a pretty taxing job – there are a lot of gnomes out there – but this person doesn’t mind.
Maybe the breakage was an accident, or the driver couldn’t be bothered to get out of the van and threw the parcel on the doorstep. Then again, look at how neatly it’s placed. There’s definitely a hidden agenda here.
Torn to pieces
If you’ve ever considered a job with the postal service, you might want to think again about your future career. The processing part of the job is so dangerous that you’re lucky to get out alive. The same cannot be said for the mail.
At least, that’s what this picture seems to suggest. What on earth happened during processing for this unlucky person’s mail to end up brutally ripped apart? At least they slapped on a sticker to acknowledge that it was damaged (because it isn’t obvious).
Blocking the hallway
Whoever ordered so many deliveries on the same day might want to rethink their strategy in the future. It looks like there’s no way in or out without a lot of maneuvering around boxes – and they don’t look very light either.
This was probably the delivery driver’s idea of revenge for making them bring in so many boxes. Let’s just hope the customer wasn’t inside all along – that is one major fire hazard.
Different sizes
If it’s able to go in one way, it should be able to come out the other way, right? Like when you stick your head through the banister… oh, wait. Well, that is what the delivery driver must have thought when they packed this parcel into the customer’s mailbox.
While the package may be a perfect fit for this mailbox, the process of removing it looks fiddly. We’re not even sure if it’s possible to get it out. Not in one piece anyway.
Putting a foot wrong
Parcels – even the ones treated with the utmost care – can show up on your doorstep a little battered and bruised. It’s the downside of having it go through several stages of transit to get to you.
You can’t always blame other people when this happens, apart from when they leave damning evidence right on the side of the box. No-one wants to see that their post is being kicked around, especially when what’s inside cost a fair bit of money. FedEx got some explaining to do.
Under the bucket
Under a bucket isn’t the worst place to hide a parcel. In fact, if the package is small enough, then it’s perfect. However, the driver for this delivery didn’t get the memo about it needing to be the right size.
It wouldn’t be too bad if the bucket weren’t sat in the middle of the driveway demanding that everyone look at it. According to the delivery slip, the company has a safe space policy for leaving parcels… we’d love to know what that says.
Oh, the irony
If there were ever a delivery that you’d expect to go off without a hitch, it would be one to the company’s own store. Unfortunately, the driver making this delivery takes no prisoners and is willing to shame the store for not being there to collect their parcel.
Anyone that clocked the delivery notice on the door probably had a good laugh to themselves over the irony of the situation. This is one store that won’t ever fail to pick up their delivery again.
Hidden away
Being around to wait for a parcel isn’t always an option. If you work during delivery times, then you’re in a pickle. You either hope that a neighbor is around to take it off the driver’s hands, or that they find somewhere safe to stash it until you get home.
The latter isn’t always an option, but when the postal worker is feeling creative, then anything is possible. Like here. How many people would have thought to balance the package precariously on the front porch like this? Genius.
Open up
The recipients of this package must have done something terrible to the postal service in a past life to deserve such a cruel punishment. Maybe the UPS driver assumed no-one was in and propped the parcel up in a way they thought would stop it from falling, but then wouldn’t they have heard if people were inside?
Oh well, it’s not every day that a box turns up shaped so perfectly that it jams a door handle, although we’re not sure if that’s something to be celebrating.
Happy birthday
Those relatives that always send you money in a birthday card are the best, aren’t they? Everyone loves a bit of extra dough to celebrate with unless of course the money shows up torn in half and completely useless.
We don’t know how this person’s mail ended up sliced into three oddly-neat strips, or why the sender decided that $46 was the right amount to send to someone for their birthday. We do know, though, that we’d be absolutely devastated if this ever happened to us.
A bigger mailbox
We’re starting to wonder if maybe all these drivers race each other to see who can make their deliveries the quickest. Suppose you’ve got to find some way to make the work days fly by, especially if you spend all day driving from house to house.
There’s no way that whoever dropped off this parcel thought to themselves that they’d done a great job of storing it in the mailbox. It looks on the verge of falling to the floor. Hope there’s nothing breakable inside.
Bending the rules
Somewhere out there is a delivery driver who loves making children cry. They probably have a very tragic backstory – one that revolves around them always being excluded from tea parties – and so they take out their pain on the unsuspecting kids of the world.
There are many copies of this book in the same condition, all delivered by that one driver. No-one knows who they are or what they look like, but they all live in fear of them. We think of them as the tea party bandit.
Put it in the trash
The first place we’d think to put a brand-new parcel is not in the trash. We, however, are not delivery drivers looking to find somewhere to safely store packages for people who weren’t around to take them.
In a time of need, we might well go with less conventional ideas like sticking things in the trash, but we doubt it. At least it wasn’t collection day when this parcel got delivered. Otherwise, that company would have had one unhappy customer on their hands.
Happy holidays!
The holidays are always a time for peace and joy, but not without a good dose of anxiety and stress to keep us on our toes. Whatever can go wrong usually does, and for the owner of this now-mangled light display, that was definitely the case.
We’re sure the driver never intended to brutally destroy their customer’s hard work. Mostly sure, anyway. The holidays do bring out a bad mood in some people, after all.
Welcome home
It happened again! Do people know something about doormats that we don’t? Are they actually masters of camouflage and we just don’t possess the trained eye to notice? Nah, our eyesight’s perfect.
Maybe in the future, this customer should invest in some new furniture for their porch like a statue or a big plant. If that doesn’t work, just buy something ugly to stick out the front to distract everyone. That or be at home when your parcel’s getting delivered, whichever is best.
Pure laziness
This person sure has a long driveway. It’s so long that the driver just didn’t fancy trekking all the way up it just to leave the parcel by the front door. They found the most convenient place to drop it off and went on their way, satisfied that they’d done such a great job of hiding it from prying eyes.
You know, it’s moments like these that make us question why we bother ordering things online. It’d be a lot less hassle just going to the mall.
Coming up roses
We’ve all seen that moment on TV when a kid or a dog (or even a mailman) steps on someone’s flowers and the person goes crazy about it. Some of us have even seen that happen in real life.
You’d think that by planting your flowers in a pot on your front porch, you’d avoid such a catastrophe. You’d be wrong. Whoever delivered this parcel obviously hates flowers. Maybe this was their way of telling them they were ugly and should plant some different ones.
Credit where credit is due
Can we get a hallelujah? There have been some seriously bad hiding spots that we’ve come across (again with that vase), so we’re happy to say this one’s not half bad.
They could have put the parcel inside the box, or even turned the box upside down, but at least it’s in a more discrete location this time. This is one package that won’t be getting stolen (unless the robber has an affinity for looking through bins, it’s always possible).
Trick or treat
Yearly events like Halloween always give us an excuse to decorate our houses, both inside and out, and it turns out this can be handy if you’re not around to accept a delivery.
A quick glance at this ghoulish figure (uncle Fester?) and you wouldn’t even notice that he’s carrying a parcel – what a hiding spot. Buying life-sized figures like this may take up space on your porch and perhaps be a little costly, but when they’re this useful, they practically pay for themselves.
Camouflage
Sofas are no longer just a great place to sit for watching TV or reading a book. Thanks to this delivery driver, they now also act as an ingenious spot for disguising parcels.
It might not be foolproof – it all depends on what the package looks like – but in situations like this a sofa is the perfect cover. That parcel looks just like a throw pillow. If you buy some pillows in a similar color to the packaging, you can even prepare for your delivery in advance.
Send an SOS
Apparently, the carrier of this delivery had a lot of time on their hands. So much so that they were able to craft a very effective rope to gently pass the package over the customer’s locked door.
It’s like something pulled straight out of a kid’s TV show, only this time the rope’s being used for good. We aren’t too sure what they used to get the parcel over, but we applaud their dedication to the job. A+ for effort.
A horror movie
Some delivery drivers will go to great lengths to get your parcel to you safe and on time. They take a lot of pride in their jobs, so much so that some are even willing to sacrifice their lives to ensure that your package doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.
One brave postal worker fought tooth and nail to get this parcel to the customer, but whether he survived until the end of his shift we don’t know…
We care
We know that the front cover is one of the best parts of a magazine, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t interested in the rest of the publication. No-one wants to be enticed by the “seriously funny, totally brilliant” Kristen Wiig and then not get to read why she is all those things – that’s just teasing.
What happened to the other pages? Were they all horrifically destroyed during handling and only the cover survived? The US postal service should elaborate on these things in their “we care” letters.
