Money Moral Dilemma: Should our neighbour pay us for taking in his parcels when he's out?

ripongrammargirl

We take in occasional parcels for our neighbour as they are in and out all day, but it’s about once every other month. They have done the same for us although I am always in and sometimes can’t get to the door. I would be wondering what these parcels contain for this person. It could be something dodgy/illegal which would make the poster an accessory for this!!! 

Stop taking in parcels, especially large ones, as you are not a drop off zone especially when he can’t be bothered to collect which is just downright rude. Taking the mick in every respect. Tell him you can no longer do this as it’s too much and you need the space. If he is running a business at home why is he out all the time (me thinks something weird here-delivering his product to buyers at home???)
You are not responsible for his business (does he have correct permissions for home run business?) and are not on his payroll! He is taking you for granted on every level. If you order something which involves regular deliveries, have the decency to get a box for couriers to leave them in and this is not your house!! Who would be to blame if parcel was damaged or contents gone- would neighbour blame you for taking them? So many things wrong here. Just simply state your case. As always, communication is everything and if people just talked it would solve so many “dilemmas”. 

bikaga

Do the un-British thing and talk to him. He's probably relying on you feeling uncomfortable about a confrontation with himself or the delivery drivers. At the very least he should be picking his stuff up, it's his business after all and he's getting much more stuff sent than you. And not letting it clog up your hallway all weekend without a note.

If you want to be a bit more passive aggressive you could always send him a text whenever a new parcel has been dropped off as you'll obviously have to assume he doesn't get notifications from the carriers if he never collects, right? Bit childish but seeing as the whole thing between you two seems to rely on not talking openly, it might be more suited

DMFOS69

Just stop taking them in, especially if you do not know what is in them, he could be dealing in illegal item, why involve yourself 

Shell1989

So many options…

1. If the main problem is the cheek of not collecting the parcels: Take the parcels for your neighbour, but don’t take them round to him.

2. If the main problem is the hassle of taking them in and having them occupy space in your home: Stop taking them (refuse them to the delivery man, your neighbour will never know).

3. Tell your neighbour you’re not doing it anymore, but risk him returning the same stance to you.

4. Don’t ask for money for taking parcels in, that really isn’t an option.

IvonH

ffsno said:

Just re-sell his parcels and see if he buys them. Failing that tell him to eff.......

That's illegal and in no way an appropriate response. 

gerrag

Your neighbour is taking the feckin urine!!

Once in a while is fine; as is any reciprocal agreement/understanding.

This sounds like he's getting the much better end of the bargain, and he's using you as a convenient non-paid recipient for his purchases/deliveries.

Get real.....he's using you!!

Suggest to him that he needs to use a "local drop-off facility" where he can walk in and collect his deliveries.

Tamarisk2000

When the parcel arrives just refuse to take it in....No good deed remains unpunished!

eastridingretiree

I think that asking for money would seem odd and may result in a fee per parcel discussion; you’d need a double entry bookkeeping system as he’d presumably charge for your parcels. I’d carry on taking smaller items but decline to accept large boxes on the basis that you’ve nowhere to store them. Use a charity collecting bag to store his parcels and put them in a cupboard out of your sight. Wait for him to come knocking. If in the meantime he takes something for you, toddle over with the bag and smile sweetly to collect yours and deliver his. 

13zero8

It's crazy... your neighbour is living his days, loving that the collection wing of his business is running so smoothly, and is completely unaware that you are trying to mobilise half the internet against him.  But anyway.... 

Shut down the collection facility he has outsourced to you, immediately. Do not amend it as suggested in this thread i.e. take in deliveries but ask him to start coming to collect them, etc. He's clearly an opportunist and will eventually stop collecting from you or will take longer to collect than you like, and then you'll be back at square one, asking the internet to help you resolve a problem that really shouldn't exist or need help resolving.

Just stop accepting his parcels. Do not offer him any reasons for doing so because it'll just sound like you're trying to justify it, which will probably have him thinking you're being out of order because you're waffling about why you can't take in his deliveries anymore. You'll probably apologise loads during your speech too, which will make him think even more that you're the one being unreasonable in all of this.

In a nutshell, accept no more deliveries, say nothing, get on with your life. Otherwise, it'll only be a matter of time before there's a knock at your door and you open it to find a courier who is there to collect an uncollected parcel that needs to go back to where it came from, and then you'll be on here asking if you should charge your neighbour for arranging pick ups from your house too. 

ginger_chocolate

Just don't take them. Ignore the door bell. I get a fair few deliveries when I am out and my neighbour always takes them in. I have told him several times that he doesn't have to and I have given the delivery companies a safe place to deliver to instead, but he continues, so I can only assume he's fine with it. Your neighbour probably thinks the same about you.