Holding Amazon packages

A client from Colombia wants to order stuff ahead of her stay for a friend from Amazon and have us hold it. I am going to say no. But do you allow them to use your address for receiving goods during a person’s stay?

Oh yes, I do. I had a family from HI for a five night stay, as their DD was doing a destination wedding here in town. She shipped all sorts of stuff to me from the Islands and from online ordering. It was no problem. I took a pic of each package as it arrived and texted it to her. They left me some gifts and a very nice bottle of wine when they were done with their stay.

ah ok thank you very much!

Yes, I permit guests to send packages here with one caveat. I tell them via the Airbnb email system that delivery services leave packages on our front porch because of our dogs. I tell the guests that I will not be responsible for their packages if they get lost, stolen or damaged although all packages delivered here to date have arrived unharmed.

That isn’t necessarily a bad idea. But I recommend first

a) communicating with the friend as well

b) finding out what stuff he/she is going to order

How long is the stay for?

It is a six day stay. I am concerned about being responsible for someone else’s purchases, and if they get left on the stoop if I’m not home. Just trying to predict possible problems. Glad to hear from other’s experiences - it helps a lot.

Hi @Mountainclimber17,

Just to be clear, it would be completely reasonable to Just Say No, of course. I’m just saying it’s not automatically a bad idea, imo. But if you were to agree, the two items are mentioned would be reasonable things to cover first.

I don’t allow it, you don’t know what is actually in the parcel. Can it be delivered to a post office or parcel pick up location, in Ireland we have parcel motels.

A friend of mine had a guest stay with her for 2 or 3 weeks and she was very nice. Until a few months later the bailiffs knocked on her door looking for an outstanding loan. Apparently the guest used the hosts address and got a loan for over a grand. Also know of a few guests using guests home as their fixed abode to stay in the country and can claim social welfare, even though they were guests on holiday for a week.

I think you mean “host’s home”. And yes, there are obviously risks associated with hosting. But any guest could use any host’s address for anything without them knowing, so I don’t see an obvious risk mitigation strategy. And I already suggested asking what will be in the deliveries. And deliveries from Amazon would usually have a description/receipt on the front. And Amazon wouldn’t deliver anything illegal, anyway. At least, afaik.

Ah this is what i was thinking!

I’ve just researched Amazon lockers. I think this is a reasonable solution, she would just have to time it well. There are many locations available near here.

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Never, never,never under any circumstances do I accept packages. They might be telling you it will be from Amazon and then when it shows up it could be a brown box containing anything???

I know people want to bend over backwards for guests, but this Is something I never ever allow. Too much risk. And do you really want to be responsible for someone else’s stuff? Six days is a short booking, and there’s just no reason for this.

By the way, I’m not really just a hardass, as I am often accused of. I have lived and learned the hard way about things like this and the trouble they bring on you when you are only trying to be a nice guy. There are other options. Such as the local UPS store. Guests can arrange to pick up their own boxes at any airport’s cargo counter.

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On packages I agree with the tough cookie above.

Maybe she is sending drugs to your address with your name on it. I would say no, and see if you can direct her to other options.

There is one of these less than a mile from our rental. I recommend it to guests who need Amazon packages to be delivered.

No.

Twenty five characters.

Thank you for all the responses. i will not be allowing her to ship packages. She can use Amazon locker.

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I am in my Amazon account and can’t figure out where the nearest locker is?

Any idea if there is a list of locations on a website?

This might help.

That was exactly what I meant, the phone is crap when replying to messages, thanks x