With the holidays knocking on the door, a lot of people are running to the shops to get their last-minute gifts. Others have been eagerly waiting by the door for the packages this season. Unfortunately for them, “porch pirates” are waiting not far behind.
“I have never had a ramp up in the amount of porch piracy,” explained 17-year Rochester city resident Matt Drouin. “I see it all the time.”
According to U.S. Packaging and Wrapping L.L.C., New York was ranked sixth across the nation for the most stolen packages in 2022. Year after year, Drouin has fallen victim to porch pirates, but this year felt different.
“I got my kids’ Christmas gifts stolen off my front porch and I just had enough of it,” he said. “Every single time we get a package delivered, it’s usually disappearing within 30 minutes after delivery.”
As a longtime resident, and a housing provider to areas of the city, he’s always felt comfortable in the area, but there’s something about knowing someone targeted the home he raises his children in.
“You feel violated because somebody’s trespassing on your property and then also stole something of yours,” he said.
Like Mr. Grinch himself, Drouin says porch pirates are an annoyance to recover from.
“It’s hundreds of dollars a season. So, which, you know, is not devastating to us, but like I said, it’s annoying. And there’s other families out there that are less fortunate that can’t deal with those types of losses, especially when they’re depending on having Christmas presents for their kids,” said Drouin.
Many New Yorkers watch their properties from a Ring camera, but that doesn’t always deter thieves from helping themselves to their packages.
After they’ve been stolen, it takes time and money to recover, which are things neither many have to spare around this time of the year, especially while running a small business.
David and Taylor Fox created Shoppe Shelby just a few years ago in memory of their dog.
“With a small business … it takes a lot more for us to invest in what we have, even just her, and have everything readily available and made where other companies professions can charge and understand what that labor and time fee is going to look like,” David Fox said.
The owners say they have unfortunately become fairly accustomed to the cost of replacement items after a handful of their customers fell victim to porch pirates. They say it’s most important to maintain a good relationship with their customers and take care of the Christmas presents they’ve already perfectly picked out for their loved ones.
“It’s important to like keep that customer satisfaction and relationship good, so it’s kind of worth the loss, I guess,” said Taylor Fox.
These common losses are nothing anyone wishes to deal with around the holidays. That’s why Drouin has taken a different approach to recovering from his porch pirates this year. Rather than waiting weeks for replacements, or risking post-Christmas delivery dates, he says he returned to in-person shopping at the mall for his children’s new gifts this year.
The Foxs agree; in-person shopping has seen a bit of an increase to their business as well, due to increasing numbers of porch pirates across our communities.
However, Drouin says online shopping can’t be replaced for long, so he’s prepared to adjust his approach for next time.
“I’m a guy so I just like to get the shopping experience over as quickly as possible,” he said. “So I haven’t purchased insurance in the past, but going forward, it’s something that I’ll definitely more heavily consider.”
Drouin has also become more comfortable with arranging for deliveries to be dropped off at different locations where he knows he, or another trusted adult, will be able to accept the package in-person.
“We’ve been getting our packages delivered, let’s say, to our place of business, for instance, at our office where there’s going to be somebody that’s going to be there to deal or receive it,” he explained.
If a package does get stolen, it’s recommended to share a confirmation, or a tracking, number with the seller. Whether it’s a larger company, like Amazon, or a smaller business, reporting the missing item to your local law enforcement can help them collect information about the area to see if there are trends of porch pirates, and should be more closely monitored in the future.
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