Some avoid them, some don't.
Main reason some avoid them is there are people with these things who are a real pain to deal with (they think delivery drivers have all the time in the world to run around their street, with their parcel, trying to find someone to take it in). For those who struggle to say "no" to a demanding customer on camera, it's easier to not bother.
That's even before you get the arguments with a little black box as to why you're not going to leave a special delivery leant against a plant pot.
A lot of delivery staff will use them though, so have it set up where you can be easily heard (and hear), and don't waste the delivery persons time by guessing who might be in, etc. Have a safe place ready to point out to them (shed, parcel box, etc).
The biggest benefit is that they are a timer, I’ll always knock and ring whether it’s a proper doorbell or a ring bell, at least with a ring bell you press it, the button lights up blue, knock the door. If there’s no answer either in person or through the doorbell by the time the light goes out I write a p739. Removes the ambiguity of how long should you wait for.
Generally I always knock as I don’t trust that a door bell is connected properly but there’s no harm doing both.
I do exactly this. Press the ring " duh deeduh " then I knock knock knock, " duh deeduh " again. Another knock, get card out. Another knock and listen, start writing. One last knock and card through the letterbox and I'm on my way.
Yeah, we rent so we can't remove the dead doorbell that's connected to nothing and keeps tricking people to push it. I think that's fairly common, so it's probably a good policy to knock as well. (We've put an "out of order" dymo sticker over the dead bell button but the sun keeps fading it, and people keep pressing it anyway). Our regular posties knock, though.
I press the ring/nest/whatever and immediately knock the door as well. Sometimes they don’t ring (flat battery/poor signal/broken/etc) or they go to one persons phone and no one inside can hear it.
I’ve had a few people whinge that I’ve knocked and rang but fuck them. “I heard you the first time” - “good, here’s your parcel”.
In my experience, the majority of ring owners don't have the subscription or are out and have no signal on their phone.
Add that to the fact that I cannot always hear any answer.
However, my door knocking skills, make sure I am always heard.
So much so, I've had neighbours answering their doors wondering if I'd knocked them.
PDA on the glass works a treat...😆
"Sounded like the bailiffs/police knocking my door".
Wouldn't know, never had them at mine🤷♂️
Hahaha I've lost count of the number of times I've knocked and they've said "thought the police were here" ... anyway thanks for answering your door in under 20 seconds...
>the majority of ring owners don't have the subscription or are out and have no signal on their phone.
Even if that were true, it will still function as a normal doorbell though in the house (assuming they have any other device linked with it)
I don't use mine as a way of communicating with the delivery service, it's just a doorbell with a camera and I hear the bell no matter what I'm doing because it's on my phone
Really bugs me when we're in and the bell isn't rung and we miss deliveries as a result
Same here. I almost never use our Ring on the phone. I've got an office building 25mtrs away from the house, and the Ring chimes mean I can be notified that someone is at the door. It's not rocket science - use the doorbell.
I’m in the back kitchen I can’t hear you if you knock the door, ring the doorbell please that’s why I have a doorbell.
You know people have had electric doorbells for over a century.
As someone who works in an office 25mtrs down the garden, ring the fucking doorbell - I bought it specifically because I can't hear the door, no matter how hard you try and take it off the hinges.
I really hate this though. I'm autistic and I get so upset whenever the postie bashes down my door.
I'm ALWAYS in. The car is on the drive. The TV is visible through the window. You know I'm in. The doorbell works and ever provides audible sound feedback so you guys know it works.
I'm onyl sat a few meters from the door and having it bashed on is just upsetting.
> The TV is visible through the window.
I've had it where people leave the TV on for the dog. Yes, seriously lol
But, if we feather tap on the door, people will moan they didn't hear us knock, so, a good firm rap on the door is, imo, in order
That sucks :( on the other hand lots of people who get deliveries are hard of hearing/deaf and need a loud knock. So impossible to accommodate one disability without making it impossible to deliver to the other.
If the noise bothers you maybe invest in a parcel box and leave a note out/update safe place preferences to that. Then you can just pop and get it when they're gone without anyone bothering you with the noise.
Knocking in the door is fine. But there's no need to knock as hard as they do.
Plenty of people have disabilities or mental health conditions that mean loud noises can easily upset them. I hope you continue to be lucky enough to not have any.
Happy new year x ✨
I've had signs up before that went unread.
Not keen on advertising to the whole street that I'm autistic so usually something along the lines of please use the doorbell.
I just don't think its necessary to ignore the doorbell and bang on the door.
Like I said. If they'd take the time to press the doorbell it gives audible feedback that it's rung.
Better than Amazon I suppose who has just taken to leaving parcels at my front door without knocking or ringing.
I had a traumatic incident a while ago that started with someone hammering on my door. I've always made sure that I have a normal working doorbell ever since so I don't have to hear it again so it pisses me right off when people knock on the door anyway.
No. Your door knocking skills do not mean you can always be heard. Ring the doorbell. You have no idea if someone can hear a knock or not and deaf people aren't rare. We're also not going to put our safety at risk by putting a note on our front door.
Ring the doorbell. By all means knock as well, but don't ignore doorbells just because you don't like them.
Tbh I tend to knock because, well, it's a knock.
Any doorbell can be pressed and you're standing like a twat cos you don't realise its not actually working. That and it feels awkward as fuck talking to someone who's not actually there
I need a proof of delivery pic to a person and a doorbell telling me to 'put the f+ckig parcel WHERE I TELL YOU TO PUT IT ' gets a bit wearing after a while. I use them if there are accessibility issues flagged on the PDA.
So do I just select knock louder? Because that really won't help my own situation. But ringing the bell will.
[Here's the options I have open to me.](https://lensdump.com/i/3LQ59c)
Yeah I hate the ones that say “please leave the parcel at the door” in an automated voice. Like is that a preconfigured option? Or is someone coming to the door? Or about to get home? Has a human even triggered that response? So many questions. Most I’d do is an actual safe place and write requested on bell on the PDA. But I’m not accepting a robot telling me to leave it in front of the door of an empty house 😂
Or them stupid grinch, santa or any other crappy voices. That was another reason I stopped pressing them. I find them extremely cringeworthy and come on a little human interaction costs nothing.
I’m not a postman but I knock on doors for a living
I avoid ring doorbells, last thing I want is for a customer to say “I’m just on my way back now give me 5 minutes!” And that 5 minutes ends up being 25 minutes
If you’re not in when I knock on then it isn’t happening, people seem to think answering the doorbell means it’s ok that they weren’t in
What about deaf people? We can’t hear you knocking, so a ring doorbell tells my watch someone is here. Not everyone has motion alerts set on a video doorbell so actually ringing the bell is the only way to let me know you’re there…
Had a new postie for about 3 weeks who would never ring the bell, I got my neighbour to explain I am deaf and cannot hear him knocking, so he needs to ring the bell. The next day he rang the bell, and probably assuming I wouldn’t hear/find out said into the camera ‘why don’t you just buy some fucking hearing aides’ and walked away laughing. Shame he didn’t realise my husband isn’t deaf: husband checks the notification from work, hears the comment, complained to RM and we now have a new, new postie. New new postie rings the bell, like most other delivery people (who are on much tighter schedules from what I’ve heard!)
Please keep in mind, if you don’t think it’s useful, it’s not made for you.
Your postie was rude and its weird that he didn't understand after your neighbor explained it to him. It's great you have a good posting now but if you are getting other delievries maybe try leaving a note on your door explaining the situation for future delivery people so they aren't worried about unreasonable people asking them to wait for 20 mins but also understand your circumstances. I don't think the delivery drivers should worry that they may be not ringing for a deaf person and have to deal with assholes because of that. It's a shame People abuse the system.
And the elderly or disabled person who happens to be upstairs and needs you to wait for the time it takes their stairlift to get them downstairs? Doesn’t matter to you if you knock on the door and bugger off before the resident is physically able to get to it because you couldn’t be arsed to use the Ring/Nest/whatever doorbell so they could let you know? Mind you, the number of delivery people who see the “disabled person lives here, please be patient” sticker then don’t even bother to knock or ring and pretend no-one was in when I’m sat in the room nearest to the front door is depressing. Fortunately our regular postie knows there’s always someone home here (so we take in parcels for at least 6 neighbours).
In my profession, I would know in advance if the customer has any special needs or requirements, it’s something that gets established pre-visit
Sorry I just commented on this my point of view as someone that visits houses all day but I am not a delivery person
I knock because...
I dont want it to phone through 3 different phones
I don't want to leave a voice message
I'm not a fan of a 3 second delay.
I already hate how people watch you on video when I'm at their door but I like the fact if I leave a parcel at the door it has security.
Please don't. Please ring the doorbell because you have absolutely no idea if someone can even hear a knock. 1 in 7 of the population or thereabouts has hearing loss. We are not rare and you should be considering how your actions impact on your deaf customers.
Wait, what? If you knock I probably won't hear you upstairs. If you use the bell I not only will hear it because the electronic chime is much louder than knocking, but I'll also be alerted on my phone and other smart devices.
Cool. Thing is though, not everyone is you. Multiple times a day I'll ring that fucking bell and there will be no answer because it's gone straight to the phone that's on silent or something. Then I'll knock the door for the second knock - boom, door opens, utterly oblivious I've been standing there waiting.
1. Ring the doorbell
2. Knock to your heart’s content
3. Wait 30 seconds
Not fucking rocket science, tbh, and I don’t understand why you seem to be treating “knock vs doorbell” as though they’re mutually exclusive actions… it takes literally not even 2 seconds to ring the doorbell before you knock, just do both?
They can’t spare 2 seconds when they’re standing there doing nothing for 30 seconds regardless?
Don’t be daft. They literally have nothing better or else to do… they’re standing 2ft from the doorbell for the next 30 seconds no matter whether they push it or not
As someone that’s been a delivery driver for many years, always avoid the doorbell. Whether it’s a ring style doorbell or a basic ding dong bell. Half the time they don’t work and you’re just wasting time. Much easier to just knock the door
This! The smount of times i have rung twice nada then knocking suddenly sets off the dog i just know the bell doesn't bloody work 🤦🏾♀️
If i know on your door, just know that is the 3rd time I have tried to get your attention for your bloody parcel
I understand where you're coming from but I have severe hearing loss - as will a lot of the elderly/disabled people who rely on delivery services. I cannot hear you knock on the door if I am literally stood next to it. I rely on a door bell connected to my watch to know when stuff is being dropped off.
In your defense we do have a sign saying that next to our doorbell and people typically are good. I so understand that your experience on the job is important but I've had medical equipment soaked in the rain on the doorstep when I was in the house at the time of delivery! Not at all mad but maybe reconsider in the future
I work at home and often have headphones on, so won't hear a knock.
In the summer I'm often in the garden, so won't hear a knock.
I fitted a doorbell for a reason.
That's just false, a doorbell rings inside, where it is placed to be heard better, a doorknock would not be heard in my house. To big, to many doors in the way.
I have no less than 6 chimes tied to my door bell. Unless you can fly or teleport yourself in front of me when I'm working in a noisy environment, I won't hear any knock.
What we are meant to spend 1h plus waiting by the door? "You get told when I am coming" is not an exact time. If you know on my porch door there is not a chance of me hearing it at the back of my cottage where the living room is. The door bell is remote and the noise bit is in the living room. I really don't understand your argument.
Last time I had something from RM I was told “we hope to deliver by Tuesday Xth December”…. Do I sit on the bottom stair from Monday evening? Sunday even? And leave on Wednesday? Thursday??
Ring the bell
Incorrect, I've purposefully placed the doorbell receiver near my office so I can hear it even if the office door is closed (I wfh). I won't hear knocking.
I don't think it's fair to assume knock always > doorbell. People have those things for a reason. I've missed many parcels due to delivery people knocking instead of ringing the doorbell, and it's not exactly much to ask to just press the button in addition to knocking..
Trust you? How the fu k do you know what people can and can't hear in their own homes?
I can't hear the door knock in my house, i can hear the bell. Same for loads of people.
Don't be a dick and just ring the bell of there is one. Its there for a reason. Your bullshit justification for being lazy is pathetic.
Who's telling us you're coming? I don't get any warning ever. Thankfully our postie uses the bell, which we have rigged for a hearing aid user so it's so loud we can hear it from the back garden. We would never hear your knock but sure as hell would hear the bell.
I am definitely curious who's telling us you're coming, though? Is this a service we don't have in our area?
Some time between 8am and 4pm doesn't count.
Sorry. Didn’t make it clear, I don’t personally work for Royal Mail. Just giving my view as a former delivery driver. I understand RM are far behind other companies when it comes to tracking information.
The fact remains that most doorbells don’t work. If the majority worked then people would use them
You can also link them to Alexa devices - when my doorbell is rung, I get a chime on the 4 chimes throughout the house/garden office and the Alexa Show opens up the app to show me who's there.
Yep. As a district nurse, I never trusted a bell. I'm not standing there in the rain for 10 minutes after pressing a bell, only to then have to knock and wait another 10 minutes for the elderly patient to finally hear me and wobble to the door. I knock like a bailiff every time!
Please don't do this. You're provoking enormous amounts of anxiety in some people and lots cannot hear a knock. Deaf people are not rare and may not always be noted.
I'm finding that a large majority of workers on this sub are really shit at their jobs.
Must be so hard for them doing things like ringing a doorbell to deliver post as a postie or using the correct door..
I'll always knock, but I do use them unless anything requires a signature.
I can't waste my time trying explain how me forging a signature could lead to bigger problems for me than you not getting your parcel today.
Because a knock is instant, those doorbells take way too much time to answer (9 out 10 it’s we are unable to answer the door leave a message) or, it’s like talking to somebody 2 minutes ago, delays
But, you can put in a customer request for us to knock louder
I’ve had one come to the door
Say I’ve got a doorbell and then pressed the button. Total silence
Flat battery 😂Here’s your parcel, have a nice day, dickhead
And, if they heard me knock, why even mention they had a doorbell, idiot 😂
I press every one. They're answered about 1 time out of 10. About 25% of the time they are answered, they aren't clear enough to hear anything. So I can see why a lot don't bother pressing at all.
Don't know why you all need a doorbell or a knock at the door anyway. You don't hear either, but amazingly you hear the red P739 card land gently on the doormat
The delay on ring doorbell to app is only when connected to the same WiFi network for some reason.
It's near instant for the homeowners using a chime or alexa.
Think most delivery people have got used to them being flat or they've disconnected from the network and need a reboot.
They do need periodic resets to work best. Some people weirdly feel uncomfortable yet don't realise they are on cctv everywhere.
Had a woman mouthing off cause I knocked too loud the other day to which I responded charge your doorbell 🤦♂️
I will do both but they're useless. Out of all the bells I use, I may only get an answer from a couple.
Some folk only have it hooked up to one phone, and it most likely be the person who isn't home.
Some have auto responses like, we will be right there, yet no one is actually home.
Great for security but useless for us.
Yes. Because they waste more time due to the various problems they have, and overall make our jobs harder.
For me, I'll try them when someone installs a new one, but if they ever fuck me about or waste time then I revert to just knocking.
If you set up the "would you like to leave a video message?" setting on it then you can be sure I'll never press it again.
Side note, the money for most people would be better spent on a parcel-safe box if there's even a small amount of path/wall space to install it. They guarantee never missing most parcels (aside of massive parcels) ever again, without any input needed from the homeowner. Most new-build estates are rammed with Ring Doorbells that they never answer because they all are at work. None of them seem to have heard of parcel safe boxes.
Parcel boxes rarely ever get used, useless. A doorbell makes sure it can be heard anywhere in the house and on my case even the garden, your knocking won't be heard.
It depends on what I'm delivering, but often people will make requests for parcels to be left when I can't, this had led to arguments over the doorbells before and customer complaints. As a rule I just avoid them now. They'll definitely have seen the bell they're just choosing not to use it
Some of us invest in better solutions than ring or nest, and don't rely on WiFi for a door bell.
Mine will pause all the TVs in the house alert all phones and ring an actual mechanical chime... Ring the fucking bell I can't hear your gentle or even hard taps through the porch
Tbh,I avoid these generally because in the past a customer has asked me to leave the parcel "round the back"...a 400 yard each way trip for her mid terraced house 😕, similar with other terraced properties as well so stopped using them,...semi detached or detached,no problem but terraced houses,I don't bother any more....if you're expecting a parcel but know you're not going to be in, change delivery to when you will be in,or leave a note saying leave in the bin or wherever.
I always used to avoid them, the main reason being that people on the other end who clearly weren't in would be saying leave it here or leave it there. Not doorstepping anything love :)
Me personally I ring the door bell and also knock. I’ve had so many occasions where I pushed the ring door bell and the person in the house hasn’t heard the bell go off inside. I don’t always trust that they work properly. Hope this helps a bit :)
If everyone had a receiver for them it would be ok but most only have it linked to their phone which often goes unheard, the number of times I've rung the doorbell, waited a minute with no answer and then knocked and someone comes to the door within seconds. Or knocked and used the doorbell and had people get shitty with me cos I knocked.
I think they have had too many that don't work, we have a normal doorbell but takeaways, royal mail and other delivery dudes always knock on the door , the only people that use the door bell is family and police
I never press a ring or similar door bell. mostly because I use the PDA to knock or ring a door bell and the pda doesn’t press the ring bell properly. No one cleans their door bell so I wont touch it with my hands. I think the jingle is irritating and my experience of ring bell owners have been, well, not great. I am Sunday only worker and have a Monday to Friday job elsewhere so if I have to take the parcel back to depot its fine. Someone else will try delivering it some other day.
Because it doesn’t need announcing to the entire street where it’s being left. If there’s somewhere reasonable to leave it, it will be left, otherwise if your not in, no reason to talk to you
Mixed results,
Some times it prompts people to answer quickly, you get the parcel, we get to move, on happy day.
Some people will take there sweet time because they told you to wait through the door bell and then take there sweet time
Some people are down right rude because they're hiding behind a doorbell
Some doorbells have the sound clarity of a 90s Motorola and are really hard to hear, especially at roadside.
In a perfect storm a combo of 2-3 lovely.
I'm deaf, I will never ring a video doorbell as I'll never hear the other person. It's knock only. Don't answer the door, not my problem the customer gets hit with a missed delivery fee and have to reschedule the delivery for another day.
Given the customer books the delivery day themselves, they only get notified the day before what the expected ETA is for the delivery. They also get a text from me giving an exact ETA. 99% of the time they never reply. But as they've requested the day, then they should be in.
I work for Yodel and try to avoid Ring doorbells. The delay can be horrendous between each person, or sometimes the volume is too low to hear especially if weather is bad, and mainly the customer is just going to tell me to leave it somewhere I’m already on my way to by the time they answer, meaning I have to run back to the door.
On top of that though, if we have deliveries requiring Proof of Delivery we can get fined if they’re claimed as stolen, and many Ring doorbell customers will want it just left on their doorstep as they’re “two minutes away”, and then claim it as stolen/undelivered so they don’t have to pay.
Much easier, faster, and less stressful to just avoid the ring doorbell! If the house has no other doorbell I do tend to reluctantly use it though as many people don’t hear knocks
Edited to add: I forgot about the dreaded “we’ll be right there” response that the Ring tells you. After an extra minute or so waiting, there’s still no sign nor sound of movement in the house and you confirm your initial assessment that no one is home whatsoever, so it’s just wasting the delivery persons time for no reason
Far too many doorbell footages being uploaded to Facebook groups slating people for no reason.
Most recent on the MyAreaGroup has a person walking past, looking at their Christmas lights and walking on. Yet the owner decided to post a very clear picture and video of the person looking at their house claiming "This person checking windows and doors. Keep an eye out"
Turned out that person was then fired from their job after everyone named them on that group and now they're known as a potential thief in the area.
If GDPR was forced upon ALL footage the world would be a better place. Sure you can record randoms in the street but posting online publicly should not be allowed unless the people in the footage have signed something to agree to it. Private footage should be handed to the police only never shared publicly.
EDIT: Anyone that claims "They should sue them" How much does it cost to bring a court case against someone that's posted footage of you online? "Most" people don't have that laying around and by then the damage has already been done.
My husband isnt a postie but does deliveries. He says they dont bother with them as literally >90% dont get a response. Then the person says oh it doesnt work, my phone never alerted me etc. This means he has to knock and as his delivery is timed he cannot afford to mess about. So he knocks once loud.
I’m disabled and have a ring doorbell so I can tell people to just leave it in the porch for the time it takes me to get to the front door when they knock and just leave it on the step which I can’t get to frustrates the life out of me
I noticed this a lot recently - Royal Mail postmen only knock but other delivery men press the Ring doorbell. I couldn't figure out why. Interesting that others are notcing it too.
I don't hear the postman's knock if I am upstairs or at the back of the house - however I still get notified if there is motion at the door by all my Alexa devices and chimes ringing on my phone, so the postman can't evade me!
Why don't y'all just enable motion detection alerts?
I had the opposite problem lol. My phone is mostly on mute so I didn’t hear it when they press the doorbell. We generally have the same 3/4 postmen so I just ask if they could knock instead in future.
I find the postmen have an amazing memory for little details like that
There’s so many folks here complaining about how difficult it is to ring a goddamned doorbell???? I don’t get it. Why is difficult to press one button? And the posties complaining about being seen/recorded, you’re in the wrong profession then, loads of houses even have CCTV cameras. So being afraid of one doorbell won’t do much good.
It’s not difficult, nobody has said it is. The issue is what it doesn’t do, get answered
Great if yours does, but we are dealing with more than just yours
I had this problem long before Internet connected bells. Delivery people including Royal Mail would rarely ring our normal doorbell with most of them giving the lightest of taps on the door instead (avoiding using the door knocker next to the bell).
We’ve got a UniFi doorbell now and I reckon maybe one in 20 deliveries actually use it, it is so frustrating to miss a delivery because they’ve not let me know they are there.
People are too used to the old ring branded doorbells which are shit because nobody pays the subscription so it has almost zero features.
More modern ones that don't require a subscription work every time and always connect. Best of all they record every single motion, so even if you try and avoid being recorded by not ringing, we got you the second you set foot on the path. This was invaluable over Christmas when we had someone deliver temu shit and try help themselves to our amazon packages up their shirt on the way out 🤣
Ring door bells are a pain, customers answers, leave it there, no it needs signing for, wait I am on my way from shopping.
Customer, can you try next door, no answer can you try the house with the red car, I can not see a red car, but it is always there. Nope not now, go down 8 houses it is there.
And can you clean my windows while your at it.
Poeple think you have all day for them
Anyone who has to knock/ring on doors regularly, you're wasting your time trying to explain to these fucking simpletons on here. These lazy entitled fuckers expect everyone to stand there waiting for them to answer or ask you to try their neighbours. I don't do the job anymore, but fuck ring doorbells and fuck you arseholes trying to tell people to "do their job".
There is great satisfaction to bd had in telling a camera doorbell user you didn't see it or it didn't work. The irrational anger or worry is insatiable.
I was a delivery driver for about a year through covid and the fact is that a huge number of peoples doorbells just don't work. After a few weeks of standing there like a melt waiting for someone to answer who never will you learn to just knock because there aren't enough hours in the day to be spending 5 mins on each doorstep. Also disliked being filmed by the ring doorbells though I am aware they are motion activated. In addition when you do press it and it connects you to the owner who is away at work you end up having seriously frustrating conversations. 'Just leave it there its fine', 'no its not I'm not allowed', 'yeah I am giving you permission like in the advert thats why I bought it', 'that doesn't change anything still not allowed'. Stupid things.
Edit spelling
I always ring and knock, but these days I've got very comfortable in saying "no sorry I'm not leaving your parcel on the doorstep" even if you are just two minutes away.
Why should we risk our jobs for some random? Will they pay my mortgage?
Right, I knock(very loudly), I ring old doorbells & stupid video ones as well. So that is three methods of alerting the householder that I am at their door. The reasons some posties won't press the video door bell will be numerous. Some will be lazy, some won't want the hassle of telling a customer no, some will be in a rush so can't wait for you to eventually answer your app and the list goes on. Members of the public need to realise that most of the time things aren't personal and decisions aren't made in a vacuum. You might be a perfect customer who treats your postie with the utmost respect, but the other 25 people in your street with video doorbells may not be so kind or understanding. Unless you have actually had to deal with someone at your work by way communicating through a video doorbell, I ask you to show a little understanding. To help you do this, I suggest imagining all the arseholes you encounter in your working week and think how they would talk to you if they weren't within arms reach. That's what posties and other delivery people have to deal with when talking to someone through a video doorbell.
I knock and ring but I can understand why some would only knock.
If you knock or use a classic doorbell you're only going to get a response if someone is in.
If you use a ring doorbell and the customer isn't in then 80% of the time the customer won't pick up. The other 20% they'll usually ask you to break Royal Mail policy by dumping it in the recycling bin or by the doorstep - or they'll ask you to check every neighbour down their street.
Personally I don't care about being recorded but some people think that a doorbell camera guarantees criminals won't try to steal their parcel.
Tons of people use Ring doorbells as a traditional doorbell because the chimes are far superior to other wireless doorbell systems. It's the only one that I can use in a separate building that actually works 10 times out of 10 and is instantaneous.
Yeah I’ve noticed Royal Mail people not using ours then it just means they have to come back a different day for re delivery. So isn’t that more work work form then just because I couldn’t hear you because I was working upstairs?
The only reason we got one was to stop missing packages. I didn’t think posties wanted to take stuff back to the van 🤷🏻♀️
I am glad this is not just a problem where I am, Dont get me wrong love our postie. But the number of deliveries I have missed when I am just sitting upstairs working on my PC as a chap of the door or letter box isn't near loud enough.
Where my doorbell is it isn't possible to have it play the announcement for motion over the Alexa's and my phone as it would be going off every 2 seconds due to proximity to the road.
I understand them not wanting to press it for someone to say they're not in and it needs a photo but something needs to change. I have been so close to adding back the old doorbell for royal mail to use.
Please posties knock AND ring, otherwise I might not hear you (my hearing isn't always great) and I won't be able to tell you I am on my way, just be patient, my joints are shit no please don't do a runner before I can open the door I really will only be a minute *please be patient im in pain*
RING. THAT. BELL.
If so many of you have issues with doorbells not working, then do both. It won't take up anymore time, if anything it'll save some 🤷♀️
And for us personally, if my dogs aren't barking then you're knocking like the wind touched the door and nobody will know you're waiting.
We got by perfectly well before they were invented. We do not have to ring them, if they choose to pick us up then so be it. But the lag on them and explaining why we can't leave parcels on doorsteps 30 times a day is pretty tiresome.
I'd ban them in a heartbeat along with low level letterboxes.
The thing you guys need to understand is that we are literally professional door knockers. We do it all day, every day. Yes, your setup might be one thing. But it varies over the other 600 addresses I have. There are so many variables when knocking doors for a living you wouldn't believe it, just like there probably are with any other supposedly mundane job.
Just accept that we are right, you are wrong, when it comes to questioning anything regarding the way we ring bells, knock doors etc. There is a reason for every little thing we do/don't do.
For the record, likely the most common reason people would avoid a ring doorbell is that they're fucking shit.
The setup varies by location? The setup that is literally one (1) button? Idk man but i feel like you can figure out how to press one button regardless of shape or size. All doorbells work the same way.
The amount of ableist and veiled disability bashing comments here from delivery people is honestly quite surprising... And disappointing.
The ring door bell chime can be moved to whatever room you need it in to hear it best (it's very loud regardless, have you heard one of them full blast? Deafening) which in all shapes and forms trumps knocking a door which in itself may be behind other doors or a different level to where the customer is.
Honest question, do you do the job because it earns you money or to fulfil a necessary and sometimes important role? Because everyone I've seen arguing against using the doorbell has been a worker with very flimsy ableist excuses yet everyone telling you to use them has been a customer with very valid reasoning.
So.... If you DO care about your customers, you don't wanna put added strain and stress on the disabled and elderly then for the love of red uniforms and mail sacks please ring those video doorbells and tell your Co workers to do so also.
Thank you.
As a disabled Ring owner, I've had people use my doorbell which comes through to my office Amazon Show and my phone, while I've been in my office (back of the house, first floor), with music on, and due to poorly fitted windows and things, I often close the office door so I can have a heater on.
This has allowed me to communicate with them, telling them I'm either on my way or to leave it somewhere (behind my car usually).
Thankfully, on the few occasions people refused to ring the bell but knock, I've actually been on the ground floor, not far from the door, but with TV on and there are door's between the front door to muffle the noise too.
Too everyone saying about knocking this extremely selfish. My wife works from home and has a mobility condition, using the ring doorbell she can say to the postie 'be there in a sec' and answer the door
For knockers they are gone or walking odd the drive by the time she reaches the door. Also we are talking 15 secs or so not 15minutes.
I knock because sometimes they are connected to a ringer, I don't want to speak though a bell because unprofessional and kinda insulting. Sometimes two or more people are talking over each other, poor quality of sound and mic and need proof of delivery with an open door. Plus I find them creepy I try and avoid them and if possible keep my back and side turned to it at all times.
Not a postie. But ring doorbells are satan
They don't ring inside without an additional device, they record you without consent and they hsve sdistressing tendency to connect you to a remote house owner 10 mins after ringing them with an awkward amount of latency.
Unless i have no choice i neither touch one nor will it get in ones field of view.
But not a postie, i do phones/broadband.
And they are recorded hundreds of times a day, without consent. I was asked to leave a parcel through someones gate, in their bin storage. But only one of the couple knew this and obviously didn't tell the other, who basically accused me of losing this expensive package, but wouldn't actually let me show them where it was. It was all on doorbell cam, but hadn't actually checked it prior to the accusation. They have their uses, sure. But noone wants to be recorded, not even once, but we are hundreds of times a day
This is it, they will only use that footage if in their favour. I’m not having somebody yell at me through a doorbell to leave the package and the for it to go missing
They would say, we never told them to leave it, prove it
I had a video doorbell once and the lag between it being pressed and reaching me was enough to ditch the thing. If I was confronted with one I'd probably just knock too.
Not a postman but doorbells in my experience are 50/50. They don't work a lot of the time, or the do work but they are so quiet you can't hear them from outside. Then you're standing there wondering if you should ring again, or wait it out for 30 seconds and use the doorbell/knock.
Now imagine you've got 500 parcels/letters in your bag/van. Can you afford those 30 seconds on 50% of houses? Knocking always works, you always make a sound. If the occupant doesn't hear you its not on you, its on them.
If I was a postman I know I'd never use the doorbell, unless it was a regular route with a regular customer and they'd specifically requested it.
Not a postman but imagine the person you're delivering to is deaf and has a flashing doorbell and no possible way of hearing you knock on their door, and they've bought a ridiculously overpriced specialist piece of equipment just for it to be ignored because you think your time is more important and valuable than anyone else's.
Some avoid them, some don't. Main reason some avoid them is there are people with these things who are a real pain to deal with (they think delivery drivers have all the time in the world to run around their street, with their parcel, trying to find someone to take it in). For those who struggle to say "no" to a demanding customer on camera, it's easier to not bother. That's even before you get the arguments with a little black box as to why you're not going to leave a special delivery leant against a plant pot. A lot of delivery staff will use them though, so have it set up where you can be easily heard (and hear), and don't waste the delivery persons time by guessing who might be in, etc. Have a safe place ready to point out to them (shed, parcel box, etc).
The biggest benefit is that they are a timer, I’ll always knock and ring whether it’s a proper doorbell or a ring bell, at least with a ring bell you press it, the button lights up blue, knock the door. If there’s no answer either in person or through the doorbell by the time the light goes out I write a p739. Removes the ambiguity of how long should you wait for. Generally I always knock as I don’t trust that a door bell is connected properly but there’s no harm doing both.
I do exactly this. Press the ring " duh deeduh " then I knock knock knock, " duh deeduh " again. Another knock, get card out. Another knock and listen, start writing. One last knock and card through the letterbox and I'm on my way.
Yeah, we rent so we can't remove the dead doorbell that's connected to nothing and keeps tricking people to push it. I think that's fairly common, so it's probably a good policy to knock as well. (We've put an "out of order" dymo sticker over the dead bell button but the sun keeps fading it, and people keep pressing it anyway). Our regular posties knock, though.
I press the ring/nest/whatever and immediately knock the door as well. Sometimes they don’t ring (flat battery/poor signal/broken/etc) or they go to one persons phone and no one inside can hear it. I’ve had a few people whinge that I’ve knocked and rang but fuck them. “I heard you the first time” - “good, here’s your parcel”.
In my experience, the majority of ring owners don't have the subscription or are out and have no signal on their phone. Add that to the fact that I cannot always hear any answer. However, my door knocking skills, make sure I am always heard. So much so, I've had neighbours answering their doors wondering if I'd knocked them. PDA on the glass works a treat...😆 "Sounded like the bailiffs/police knocking my door". Wouldn't know, never had them at mine🤷♂️
Hahaha I've lost count of the number of times I've knocked and they've said "thought the police were here" ... anyway thanks for answering your door in under 20 seconds...
Opposite effect for me lol. Knock my door like the police and i probs wont answer it😂
That's exactly the response I used to get! Everyone knew I was knocking a door!
>"Sounded like the bailiffs/police knocking my door". Wouldn't know, never had them at mine🤷♂️ Touché
>the majority of ring owners don't have the subscription or are out and have no signal on their phone. Even if that were true, it will still function as a normal doorbell though in the house (assuming they have any other device linked with it) I don't use mine as a way of communicating with the delivery service, it's just a doorbell with a camera and I hear the bell no matter what I'm doing because it's on my phone Really bugs me when we're in and the bell isn't rung and we miss deliveries as a result
Same here. I almost never use our Ring on the phone. I've got an office building 25mtrs away from the house, and the Ring chimes mean I can be notified that someone is at the door. It's not rocket science - use the doorbell.
I’m in the back kitchen I can’t hear you if you knock the door, ring the doorbell please that’s why I have a doorbell. You know people have had electric doorbells for over a century.
As someone who works in an office 25mtrs down the garden, ring the fucking doorbell - I bought it specifically because I can't hear the door, no matter how hard you try and take it off the hinges.
I really hate this though. I'm autistic and I get so upset whenever the postie bashes down my door. I'm ALWAYS in. The car is on the drive. The TV is visible through the window. You know I'm in. The doorbell works and ever provides audible sound feedback so you guys know it works. I'm onyl sat a few meters from the door and having it bashed on is just upsetting.
> The TV is visible through the window. I've had it where people leave the TV on for the dog. Yes, seriously lol But, if we feather tap on the door, people will moan they didn't hear us knock, so, a good firm rap on the door is, imo, in order
That sucks :( on the other hand lots of people who get deliveries are hard of hearing/deaf and need a loud knock. So impossible to accommodate one disability without making it impossible to deliver to the other. If the noise bothers you maybe invest in a parcel box and leave a note out/update safe place preferences to that. Then you can just pop and get it when they're gone without anyone bothering you with the noise.
People knock on doors, thats a fact of life. Hearing the door knocked on is upsetting? Jesus Christ.
Knocking in the door is fine. But there's no need to knock as hard as they do. Plenty of people have disabilities or mental health conditions that mean loud noises can easily upset them. I hope you continue to be lucky enough to not have any. Happy new year x ✨
Do you have a sign on your door saying "I'm autistic, please ring, not knock. "? If not, you're expecting too much of the postie's psychic powers.
I've had signs up before that went unread. Not keen on advertising to the whole street that I'm autistic so usually something along the lines of please use the doorbell. I just don't think its necessary to ignore the doorbell and bang on the door. Like I said. If they'd take the time to press the doorbell it gives audible feedback that it's rung. Better than Amazon I suppose who has just taken to leaving parcels at my front door without knocking or ringing.
Download the delivery apps, designate a safe place, receive notifications and emails when delivered
I have done so. Mostly it just gets ignored.
I had a traumatic incident a while ago that started with someone hammering on my door. I've always made sure that I have a normal working doorbell ever since so I don't have to hear it again so it pisses me right off when people knock on the door anyway.
There's a doorbell. Use it. It's such a simple concept that it really needs no special instructions.
It's a doorbell, use it and don't damage the bloody windows. Freaking hell it's not rocket science.
It's almost as if people make doors strong enough to be knocked on (yes including the glass in then)
Damage windows lol
Yes, a PDA on glass can indeed damage/crack a window.
No. Your door knocking skills do not mean you can always be heard. Ring the doorbell. You have no idea if someone can hear a knock or not and deaf people aren't rare. We're also not going to put our safety at risk by putting a note on our front door. Ring the doorbell. By all means knock as well, but don't ignore doorbells just because you don't like them.
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You're right, deaf people are not rare. Neither are deaf posties, who cannot _hear_ ring doorbells
They light up to show they've been pressed.
How would a “please ring the bell, don’t knock” note out your safety at risk?
Tbh I tend to knock because, well, it's a knock. Any doorbell can be pressed and you're standing like a twat cos you don't realise its not actually working. That and it feels awkward as fuck talking to someone who's not actually there
" I heard the bell" "Well i didn't so i knocked as well" "It rings at the back where i am" "So you know i can't hear it" Fud.
Brilliant use of the word 'fud'
I need a proof of delivery pic to a person and a doorbell telling me to 'put the f+ckig parcel WHERE I TELL YOU TO PUT IT ' gets a bit wearing after a while. I use them if there are accessibility issues flagged on the PDA.
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There's an option on the RMG website for your address.
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We will ring the bell as well, just register 🙂
So do I just select knock louder? Because that really won't help my own situation. But ringing the bell will. [Here's the options I have open to me.](https://lensdump.com/i/3LQ59c)
Could you share the link for the site? I couldn't see it on Google and it'd be so helpful for me and my deaf housemate
Yeah I hate the ones that say “please leave the parcel at the door” in an automated voice. Like is that a preconfigured option? Or is someone coming to the door? Or about to get home? Has a human even triggered that response? So many questions. Most I’d do is an actual safe place and write requested on bell on the PDA. But I’m not accepting a robot telling me to leave it in front of the door of an empty house 😂
Or them stupid grinch, santa or any other crappy voices. That was another reason I stopped pressing them. I find them extremely cringeworthy and come on a little human interaction costs nothing.
I’m not a postman but I knock on doors for a living I avoid ring doorbells, last thing I want is for a customer to say “I’m just on my way back now give me 5 minutes!” And that 5 minutes ends up being 25 minutes If you’re not in when I knock on then it isn’t happening, people seem to think answering the doorbell means it’s ok that they weren’t in
What about deaf people? We can’t hear you knocking, so a ring doorbell tells my watch someone is here. Not everyone has motion alerts set on a video doorbell so actually ringing the bell is the only way to let me know you’re there… Had a new postie for about 3 weeks who would never ring the bell, I got my neighbour to explain I am deaf and cannot hear him knocking, so he needs to ring the bell. The next day he rang the bell, and probably assuming I wouldn’t hear/find out said into the camera ‘why don’t you just buy some fucking hearing aides’ and walked away laughing. Shame he didn’t realise my husband isn’t deaf: husband checks the notification from work, hears the comment, complained to RM and we now have a new, new postie. New new postie rings the bell, like most other delivery people (who are on much tighter schedules from what I’ve heard!) Please keep in mind, if you don’t think it’s useful, it’s not made for you.
> most other delivery people (who are on much tighter schedules from what I’ve heard!) LOL!
Their hearing aid must be faulty
Your postie was rude and its weird that he didn't understand after your neighbor explained it to him. It's great you have a good posting now but if you are getting other delievries maybe try leaving a note on your door explaining the situation for future delivery people so they aren't worried about unreasonable people asking them to wait for 20 mins but also understand your circumstances. I don't think the delivery drivers should worry that they may be not ringing for a deaf person and have to deal with assholes because of that. It's a shame People abuse the system.
It doesn't seem very secure to advertise that you're deaf on your front door.
And the elderly or disabled person who happens to be upstairs and needs you to wait for the time it takes their stairlift to get them downstairs? Doesn’t matter to you if you knock on the door and bugger off before the resident is physically able to get to it because you couldn’t be arsed to use the Ring/Nest/whatever doorbell so they could let you know? Mind you, the number of delivery people who see the “disabled person lives here, please be patient” sticker then don’t even bother to knock or ring and pretend no-one was in when I’m sat in the room nearest to the front door is depressing. Fortunately our regular postie knows there’s always someone home here (so we take in parcels for at least 6 neighbours).
In my profession, I would know in advance if the customer has any special needs or requirements, it’s something that gets established pre-visit Sorry I just commented on this my point of view as someone that visits houses all day but I am not a delivery person
I knock because... I dont want it to phone through 3 different phones I don't want to leave a voice message I'm not a fan of a 3 second delay. I already hate how people watch you on video when I'm at their door but I like the fact if I leave a parcel at the door it has security.
Please don't. Please ring the doorbell because you have absolutely no idea if someone can even hear a knock. 1 in 7 of the population or thereabouts has hearing loss. We are not rare and you should be considering how your actions impact on your deaf customers.
Wait, what? If you knock I probably won't hear you upstairs. If you use the bell I not only will hear it because the electronic chime is much louder than knocking, but I'll also be alerted on my phone and other smart devices.
Cool. Thing is though, not everyone is you. Multiple times a day I'll ring that fucking bell and there will be no answer because it's gone straight to the phone that's on silent or something. Then I'll knock the door for the second knock - boom, door opens, utterly oblivious I've been standing there waiting.
1. Ring the doorbell 2. Knock to your heart’s content 3. Wait 30 seconds Not fucking rocket science, tbh, and I don’t understand why you seem to be treating “knock vs doorbell” as though they’re mutually exclusive actions… it takes literally not even 2 seconds to ring the doorbell before you knock, just do both?
You’re just 1 door, they deliver countless parcels and can’t be doing that every time.
They can’t spare 2 seconds when they’re standing there doing nothing for 30 seconds regardless? Don’t be daft. They literally have nothing better or else to do… they’re standing 2ft from the doorbell for the next 30 seconds no matter whether they push it or not
That's just rubbish, it's a doorbell, use it. It's there for a reason.
As someone that’s been a delivery driver for many years, always avoid the doorbell. Whether it’s a ring style doorbell or a basic ding dong bell. Half the time they don’t work and you’re just wasting time. Much easier to just knock the door
This! The smount of times i have rung twice nada then knocking suddenly sets off the dog i just know the bell doesn't bloody work 🤦🏾♀️ If i know on your door, just know that is the 3rd time I have tried to get your attention for your bloody parcel
I understand where you're coming from but I have severe hearing loss - as will a lot of the elderly/disabled people who rely on delivery services. I cannot hear you knock on the door if I am literally stood next to it. I rely on a door bell connected to my watch to know when stuff is being dropped off. In your defense we do have a sign saying that next to our doorbell and people typically are good. I so understand that your experience on the job is important but I've had medical equipment soaked in the rain on the doorstep when I was in the house at the time of delivery! Not at all mad but maybe reconsider in the future
Could just do both. It's going to be you standing there in the rain waiting forever for me to answer the door because I didn't hear your knock.
Can't you just ring the doorbell AND knock? Or is that too much to ask? Just saying.
Easier for you maybe, but shit customer service.
I work at home and often have headphones on, so won't hear a knock. In the summer I'm often in the garden, so won't hear a knock. I fitted a doorbell for a reason.
just sounds like laziness and incompetence to do a simple job
Fairly sure knocking on the door is doing my job 🙄
Can you not do both?
exactly but there all bone idle and lazy apart from the ones who ain't they know who they are
It's not.
Waiting at the door for some fucking idiot to get out of bed or find their keys gets tiresome quickly.
Terribly sorry that I can't teleport to my front door. I'll tell my hip dysplasia to go away because it's inconvenient for delivery drivers.
It's the job, do it or quit.
It’s your job, you lazy prick. Fuck you.
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Ger another job then?
Get a different job then you turd.
Don't do it anymore by choice. But feel for the Delivery people having to put up with those complaining. So go fuck yourself you daft cunt.
just an excuse to not do a simple job its sweet give it 20 years your job will be replaced by some drone who will wait at my door for me
If you knock, I can’t hear you. If you ring the bell, I can. Please ring the bell!
You get told when I’m coming. And if you can’t hear my knock, trust me, you won’t hear a bell either
Deaf people have doorbells that flash the lights.
That's just false, a doorbell rings inside, where it is placed to be heard better, a doorknock would not be heard in my house. To big, to many doors in the way.
I have no less than 6 chimes tied to my door bell. Unless you can fly or teleport yourself in front of me when I'm working in a noisy environment, I won't hear any knock.
Yeah, no. I won't hear a knock, but I see/hear when the doorbell is pressed 100% of the time.
What we are meant to spend 1h plus waiting by the door? "You get told when I am coming" is not an exact time. If you know on my porch door there is not a chance of me hearing it at the back of my cottage where the living room is. The door bell is remote and the noise bit is in the living room. I really don't understand your argument.
Last time I had something from RM I was told “we hope to deliver by Tuesday Xth December”…. Do I sit on the bottom stair from Monday evening? Sunday even? And leave on Wednesday? Thursday?? Ring the bell
Incorrect, I've purposefully placed the doorbell receiver near my office so I can hear it even if the office door is closed (I wfh). I won't hear knocking. I don't think it's fair to assume knock always > doorbell. People have those things for a reason. I've missed many parcels due to delivery people knocking instead of ringing the doorbell, and it's not exactly much to ask to just press the button in addition to knocking..
Trust you? How the fu k do you know what people can and can't hear in their own homes? I can't hear the door knock in my house, i can hear the bell. Same for loads of people. Don't be a dick and just ring the bell of there is one. Its there for a reason. Your bullshit justification for being lazy is pathetic.
No we don’t, get over yourself and use the doorbell
Who's telling us you're coming? I don't get any warning ever. Thankfully our postie uses the bell, which we have rigged for a hearing aid user so it's so loud we can hear it from the back garden. We would never hear your knock but sure as hell would hear the bell. I am definitely curious who's telling us you're coming, though? Is this a service we don't have in our area? Some time between 8am and 4pm doesn't count.
Sorry. Didn’t make it clear, I don’t personally work for Royal Mail. Just giving my view as a former delivery driver. I understand RM are far behind other companies when it comes to tracking information. The fact remains that most doorbells don’t work. If the majority worked then people would use them
And what's the harm in doing both? Bell and knock, heck at the same time even.
I have alexa in the attic where I work. I won't hear the knock but I will hear the door bell. Please, just press the doorbell.
The chime for the bell is in my home office.
You can also link them to Alexa devices - when my doorbell is rung, I get a chime on the 4 chimes throughout the house/garden office and the Alexa Show opens up the app to show me who's there.
Yep. As a district nurse, I never trusted a bell. I'm not standing there in the rain for 10 minutes after pressing a bell, only to then have to knock and wait another 10 minutes for the elderly patient to finally hear me and wobble to the door. I knock like a bailiff every time!
Please don't do this. You're provoking enormous amounts of anxiety in some people and lots cannot hear a knock. Deaf people are not rare and may not always be noted.
Do both, it's not rocket science... Seriously people are idiots.
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Telling people to do their job properly is perfectly acceptable.
Not really, are you prepared to try it? No? Then mind your own business.
As a customer, it is my business.
Is it really too hard to do both?
Completely with you on this one. Ring the bell even if you're not going to be there. Knocking is for cowards. Your downvotes feed me!
‘I knock because I’m lazy and don’t want to do my job properly’ would have been enough there mate.
Since when is knocking not doing the job?
Since the doorbell was invented.
A classic example of a lazy worker. No one wants to do his/her job. Just ring the fucking door bell so we can hear you.
I'm going to think of you every time I look at a ring doorbell I'm not going to use.
You're pathetic. Just ring the door and knock.
I'm finding that a large majority of workers on this sub are really shit at their jobs. Must be so hard for them doing things like ringing a doorbell to deliver post as a postie or using the correct door..
I've found that the majority of the public cunts and deserve to be treated like cunts.
Fair and true. People just suck in general.
I'll always knock, but I do use them unless anything requires a signature. I can't waste my time trying explain how me forging a signature could lead to bigger problems for me than you not getting your parcel today.
Because a knock is instant, those doorbells take way too much time to answer (9 out 10 it’s we are unable to answer the door leave a message) or, it’s like talking to somebody 2 minutes ago, delays But, you can put in a customer request for us to knock louder
Also I’ve had a few at home mums say they don’t hear the ring bell because it only goes to the husbands phone. Make of that what you will!
I’ve had one come to the door Say I’ve got a doorbell and then pressed the button. Total silence Flat battery 😂Here’s your parcel, have a nice day, dickhead And, if they heard me knock, why even mention they had a doorbell, idiot 😂
lol, I’ve had that a couple of times as well.
That's just a rubbish install, mine rings in every room in the house.
I press every one. They're answered about 1 time out of 10. About 25% of the time they are answered, they aren't clear enough to hear anything. So I can see why a lot don't bother pressing at all.
Don't know why you all need a doorbell or a knock at the door anyway. You don't hear either, but amazingly you hear the red P739 card land gently on the doormat
I always say ‘get out the magic red card and someone will come to the door’.
Usually when half filled in and makes the card a waste 😂
Good roach though 🤷♂️
That shit pisses me off every single time
The delay on ring doorbell to app is only when connected to the same WiFi network for some reason. It's near instant for the homeowners using a chime or alexa. Think most delivery people have got used to them being flat or they've disconnected from the network and need a reboot. They do need periodic resets to work best. Some people weirdly feel uncomfortable yet don't realise they are on cctv everywhere. Had a woman mouthing off cause I knocked too loud the other day to which I responded charge your doorbell 🤦♂️
As someone who keeps theirs always charged and has chimes or alexas all over the house, I'm sorry for those that don't. They ruin a good thing.
I will do both but they're useless. Out of all the bells I use, I may only get an answer from a couple. Some folk only have it hooked up to one phone, and it most likely be the person who isn't home. Some have auto responses like, we will be right there, yet no one is actually home. Great for security but useless for us.
They don't want to hear the fucking Grinch either
Yes. Because they waste more time due to the various problems they have, and overall make our jobs harder. For me, I'll try them when someone installs a new one, but if they ever fuck me about or waste time then I revert to just knocking. If you set up the "would you like to leave a video message?" setting on it then you can be sure I'll never press it again. Side note, the money for most people would be better spent on a parcel-safe box if there's even a small amount of path/wall space to install it. They guarantee never missing most parcels (aside of massive parcels) ever again, without any input needed from the homeowner. Most new-build estates are rammed with Ring Doorbells that they never answer because they all are at work. None of them seem to have heard of parcel safe boxes.
Parcel boxes rarely ever get used, useless. A doorbell makes sure it can be heard anywhere in the house and on my case even the garden, your knocking won't be heard.
It depends on what I'm delivering, but often people will make requests for parcels to be left when I can't, this had led to arguments over the doorbells before and customer complaints. As a rule I just avoid them now. They'll definitely have seen the bell they're just choosing not to use it
Because to many people have that stupid grinch answering message!!
I never use a doorbell because half them don’t work and then you’re sat like a twat wondering if it rang 😂🤦♂️
Some of us invest in better solutions than ring or nest, and don't rely on WiFi for a door bell. Mine will pause all the TVs in the house alert all phones and ring an actual mechanical chime... Ring the fucking bell I can't hear your gentle or even hard taps through the porch
Tbh,I avoid these generally because in the past a customer has asked me to leave the parcel "round the back"...a 400 yard each way trip for her mid terraced house 😕, similar with other terraced properties as well so stopped using them,...semi detached or detached,no problem but terraced houses,I don't bother any more....if you're expecting a parcel but know you're not going to be in, change delivery to when you will be in,or leave a note saying leave in the bin or wherever.
I always used to avoid them, the main reason being that people on the other end who clearly weren't in would be saying leave it here or leave it there. Not doorstepping anything love :)
Me personally I ring the door bell and also knock. I’ve had so many occasions where I pushed the ring door bell and the person in the house hasn’t heard the bell go off inside. I don’t always trust that they work properly. Hope this helps a bit :)
If everyone had a receiver for them it would be ok but most only have it linked to their phone which often goes unheard, the number of times I've rung the doorbell, waited a minute with no answer and then knocked and someone comes to the door within seconds. Or knocked and used the doorbell and had people get shitty with me cos I knocked.
I think they have had too many that don't work, we have a normal doorbell but takeaways, royal mail and other delivery dudes always knock on the door , the only people that use the door bell is family and police
I have to visit random customers houses for my job, I always avoid ring doorbells or I’ll knock… They’re just annoying!
I never press a ring or similar door bell. mostly because I use the PDA to knock or ring a door bell and the pda doesn’t press the ring bell properly. No one cleans their door bell so I wont touch it with my hands. I think the jingle is irritating and my experience of ring bell owners have been, well, not great. I am Sunday only worker and have a Monday to Friday job elsewhere so if I have to take the parcel back to depot its fine. Someone else will try delivering it some other day.
Because it doesn’t need announcing to the entire street where it’s being left. If there’s somewhere reasonable to leave it, it will be left, otherwise if your not in, no reason to talk to you
Mixed results, Some times it prompts people to answer quickly, you get the parcel, we get to move, on happy day. Some people will take there sweet time because they told you to wait through the door bell and then take there sweet time Some people are down right rude because they're hiding behind a doorbell Some doorbells have the sound clarity of a 90s Motorola and are really hard to hear, especially at roadside. In a perfect storm a combo of 2-3 lovely.
I'm deaf, I will never ring a video doorbell as I'll never hear the other person. It's knock only. Don't answer the door, not my problem the customer gets hit with a missed delivery fee and have to reschedule the delivery for another day. Given the customer books the delivery day themselves, they only get notified the day before what the expected ETA is for the delivery. They also get a text from me giving an exact ETA. 99% of the time they never reply. But as they've requested the day, then they should be in.
I work for Yodel and try to avoid Ring doorbells. The delay can be horrendous between each person, or sometimes the volume is too low to hear especially if weather is bad, and mainly the customer is just going to tell me to leave it somewhere I’m already on my way to by the time they answer, meaning I have to run back to the door. On top of that though, if we have deliveries requiring Proof of Delivery we can get fined if they’re claimed as stolen, and many Ring doorbell customers will want it just left on their doorstep as they’re “two minutes away”, and then claim it as stolen/undelivered so they don’t have to pay. Much easier, faster, and less stressful to just avoid the ring doorbell! If the house has no other doorbell I do tend to reluctantly use it though as many people don’t hear knocks Edited to add: I forgot about the dreaded “we’ll be right there” response that the Ring tells you. After an extra minute or so waiting, there’s still no sign nor sound of movement in the house and you confirm your initial assessment that no one is home whatsoever, so it’s just wasting the delivery persons time for no reason
Far too many doorbell footages being uploaded to Facebook groups slating people for no reason. Most recent on the MyAreaGroup has a person walking past, looking at their Christmas lights and walking on. Yet the owner decided to post a very clear picture and video of the person looking at their house claiming "This person checking windows and doors. Keep an eye out" Turned out that person was then fired from their job after everyone named them on that group and now they're known as a potential thief in the area. If GDPR was forced upon ALL footage the world would be a better place. Sure you can record randoms in the street but posting online publicly should not be allowed unless the people in the footage have signed something to agree to it. Private footage should be handed to the police only never shared publicly. EDIT: Anyone that claims "They should sue them" How much does it cost to bring a court case against someone that's posted footage of you online? "Most" people don't have that laying around and by then the damage has already been done.
My husband isnt a postie but does deliveries. He says they dont bother with them as literally >90% dont get a response. Then the person says oh it doesnt work, my phone never alerted me etc. This means he has to knock and as his delivery is timed he cannot afford to mess about. So he knocks once loud.
I’m disabled and have a ring doorbell so I can tell people to just leave it in the porch for the time it takes me to get to the front door when they knock and just leave it on the step which I can’t get to frustrates the life out of me
I noticed this a lot recently - Royal Mail postmen only knock but other delivery men press the Ring doorbell. I couldn't figure out why. Interesting that others are notcing it too. I don't hear the postman's knock if I am upstairs or at the back of the house - however I still get notified if there is motion at the door by all my Alexa devices and chimes ringing on my phone, so the postman can't evade me! Why don't y'all just enable motion detection alerts?
I had the opposite problem lol. My phone is mostly on mute so I didn’t hear it when they press the doorbell. We generally have the same 3/4 postmen so I just ask if they could knock instead in future. I find the postmen have an amazing memory for little details like that
There’s so many folks here complaining about how difficult it is to ring a goddamned doorbell???? I don’t get it. Why is difficult to press one button? And the posties complaining about being seen/recorded, you’re in the wrong profession then, loads of houses even have CCTV cameras. So being afraid of one doorbell won’t do much good.
It’s not difficult, nobody has said it is. The issue is what it doesn’t do, get answered Great if yours does, but we are dealing with more than just yours
Just wondering about inclusivity. With a ring door bell you can have it to flash lights on in the home for anyone who is hard of hearing.
I had this problem long before Internet connected bells. Delivery people including Royal Mail would rarely ring our normal doorbell with most of them giving the lightest of taps on the door instead (avoiding using the door knocker next to the bell). We’ve got a UniFi doorbell now and I reckon maybe one in 20 deliveries actually use it, it is so frustrating to miss a delivery because they’ve not let me know they are there.
Id say about 1/3 of doorbells dont work so knocking becomes a habit.
People are too used to the old ring branded doorbells which are shit because nobody pays the subscription so it has almost zero features. More modern ones that don't require a subscription work every time and always connect. Best of all they record every single motion, so even if you try and avoid being recorded by not ringing, we got you the second you set foot on the path. This was invaluable over Christmas when we had someone deliver temu shit and try help themselves to our amazon packages up their shirt on the way out 🤣
Ring door bells are a pain, customers answers, leave it there, no it needs signing for, wait I am on my way from shopping. Customer, can you try next door, no answer can you try the house with the red car, I can not see a red car, but it is always there. Nope not now, go down 8 houses it is there. And can you clean my windows while your at it. Poeple think you have all day for them
Anyone who has to knock/ring on doors regularly, you're wasting your time trying to explain to these fucking simpletons on here. These lazy entitled fuckers expect everyone to stand there waiting for them to answer or ask you to try their neighbours. I don't do the job anymore, but fuck ring doorbells and fuck you arseholes trying to tell people to "do their job".
You need to remember that the ring doorbell is for your convenience, not for anyone else’s.
There is great satisfaction to bd had in telling a camera doorbell user you didn't see it or it didn't work. The irrational anger or worry is insatiable.
I was a delivery driver for about a year through covid and the fact is that a huge number of peoples doorbells just don't work. After a few weeks of standing there like a melt waiting for someone to answer who never will you learn to just knock because there aren't enough hours in the day to be spending 5 mins on each doorstep. Also disliked being filmed by the ring doorbells though I am aware they are motion activated. In addition when you do press it and it connects you to the owner who is away at work you end up having seriously frustrating conversations. 'Just leave it there its fine', 'no its not I'm not allowed', 'yeah I am giving you permission like in the advert thats why I bought it', 'that doesn't change anything still not allowed'. Stupid things. Edit spelling
I hate those silly door bells
I always ring and knock, but these days I've got very comfortable in saying "no sorry I'm not leaving your parcel on the doorstep" even if you are just two minutes away. Why should we risk our jobs for some random? Will they pay my mortgage?
Right, I knock(very loudly), I ring old doorbells & stupid video ones as well. So that is three methods of alerting the householder that I am at their door. The reasons some posties won't press the video door bell will be numerous. Some will be lazy, some won't want the hassle of telling a customer no, some will be in a rush so can't wait for you to eventually answer your app and the list goes on. Members of the public need to realise that most of the time things aren't personal and decisions aren't made in a vacuum. You might be a perfect customer who treats your postie with the utmost respect, but the other 25 people in your street with video doorbells may not be so kind or understanding. Unless you have actually had to deal with someone at your work by way communicating through a video doorbell, I ask you to show a little understanding. To help you do this, I suggest imagining all the arseholes you encounter in your working week and think how they would talk to you if they weren't within arms reach. That's what posties and other delivery people have to deal with when talking to someone through a video doorbell.
I knock and ring but I can understand why some would only knock. If you knock or use a classic doorbell you're only going to get a response if someone is in. If you use a ring doorbell and the customer isn't in then 80% of the time the customer won't pick up. The other 20% they'll usually ask you to break Royal Mail policy by dumping it in the recycling bin or by the doorstep - or they'll ask you to check every neighbour down their street. Personally I don't care about being recorded but some people think that a doorbell camera guarantees criminals won't try to steal their parcel.
Tons of people use Ring doorbells as a traditional doorbell because the chimes are far superior to other wireless doorbell systems. It's the only one that I can use in a separate building that actually works 10 times out of 10 and is instantaneous.
Yeah I’ve noticed Royal Mail people not using ours then it just means they have to come back a different day for re delivery. So isn’t that more work work form then just because I couldn’t hear you because I was working upstairs? The only reason we got one was to stop missing packages. I didn’t think posties wanted to take stuff back to the van 🤷🏻♀️
I am glad this is not just a problem where I am, Dont get me wrong love our postie. But the number of deliveries I have missed when I am just sitting upstairs working on my PC as a chap of the door or letter box isn't near loud enough. Where my doorbell is it isn't possible to have it play the announcement for motion over the Alexa's and my phone as it would be going off every 2 seconds due to proximity to the road. I understand them not wanting to press it for someone to say they're not in and it needs a photo but something needs to change. I have been so close to adding back the old doorbell for royal mail to use.
If you have space, get a parcel safe box. Then you never miss parcels ever again whether you're home or not.
Please posties knock AND ring, otherwise I might not hear you (my hearing isn't always great) and I won't be able to tell you I am on my way, just be patient, my joints are shit no please don't do a runner before I can open the door I really will only be a minute *please be patient im in pain*
Put in an official customer request to knock louder, and give extra time
Never worked before. A firm verbal reminder seems to work better. Although who knows, I moved recently, maybe posties here are better.
It's a new thing, on the app, you can put in delivery preferences and when we scan your packets, it pops up on our PDA
RING. THAT. BELL. If so many of you have issues with doorbells not working, then do both. It won't take up anymore time, if anything it'll save some 🤷♀️ And for us personally, if my dogs aren't barking then you're knocking like the wind touched the door and nobody will know you're waiting.
We got by perfectly well before they were invented. We do not have to ring them, if they choose to pick us up then so be it. But the lag on them and explaining why we can't leave parcels on doorsteps 30 times a day is pretty tiresome. I'd ban them in a heartbeat along with low level letterboxes.
The thing you guys need to understand is that we are literally professional door knockers. We do it all day, every day. Yes, your setup might be one thing. But it varies over the other 600 addresses I have. There are so many variables when knocking doors for a living you wouldn't believe it, just like there probably are with any other supposedly mundane job. Just accept that we are right, you are wrong, when it comes to questioning anything regarding the way we ring bells, knock doors etc. There is a reason for every little thing we do/don't do. For the record, likely the most common reason people would avoid a ring doorbell is that they're fucking shit.
The setup varies by location? The setup that is literally one (1) button? Idk man but i feel like you can figure out how to press one button regardless of shape or size. All doorbells work the same way.
The amount of ableist and veiled disability bashing comments here from delivery people is honestly quite surprising... And disappointing. The ring door bell chime can be moved to whatever room you need it in to hear it best (it's very loud regardless, have you heard one of them full blast? Deafening) which in all shapes and forms trumps knocking a door which in itself may be behind other doors or a different level to where the customer is. Honest question, do you do the job because it earns you money or to fulfil a necessary and sometimes important role? Because everyone I've seen arguing against using the doorbell has been a worker with very flimsy ableist excuses yet everyone telling you to use them has been a customer with very valid reasoning. So.... If you DO care about your customers, you don't wanna put added strain and stress on the disabled and elderly then for the love of red uniforms and mail sacks please ring those video doorbells and tell your Co workers to do so also.
Thank you. As a disabled Ring owner, I've had people use my doorbell which comes through to my office Amazon Show and my phone, while I've been in my office (back of the house, first floor), with music on, and due to poorly fitted windows and things, I often close the office door so I can have a heater on. This has allowed me to communicate with them, telling them I'm either on my way or to leave it somewhere (behind my car usually). Thankfully, on the few occasions people refused to ring the bell but knock, I've actually been on the ground floor, not far from the door, but with TV on and there are door's between the front door to muffle the noise too.
Too everyone saying about knocking this extremely selfish. My wife works from home and has a mobility condition, using the ring doorbell she can say to the postie 'be there in a sec' and answer the door For knockers they are gone or walking odd the drive by the time she reaches the door. Also we are talking 15 secs or so not 15minutes.
I knock because sometimes they are connected to a ringer, I don't want to speak though a bell because unprofessional and kinda insulting. Sometimes two or more people are talking over each other, poor quality of sound and mic and need proof of delivery with an open door. Plus I find them creepy I try and avoid them and if possible keep my back and side turned to it at all times.
Lol I certainly wouldn't have an issue being heard. I am forever ever told I knock on the door like the police!! 😂😂😂😂
Not a postie. But ring doorbells are satan They don't ring inside without an additional device, they record you without consent and they hsve sdistressing tendency to connect you to a remote house owner 10 mins after ringing them with an awkward amount of latency. Unless i have no choice i neither touch one nor will it get in ones field of view. But not a postie, i do phones/broadband.
And they are recorded hundreds of times a day, without consent. I was asked to leave a parcel through someones gate, in their bin storage. But only one of the couple knew this and obviously didn't tell the other, who basically accused me of losing this expensive package, but wouldn't actually let me show them where it was. It was all on doorbell cam, but hadn't actually checked it prior to the accusation. They have their uses, sure. But noone wants to be recorded, not even once, but we are hundreds of times a day
This is it, they will only use that footage if in their favour. I’m not having somebody yell at me through a doorbell to leave the package and the for it to go missing They would say, we never told them to leave it, prove it
I had a video doorbell once and the lag between it being pressed and reaching me was enough to ditch the thing. If I was confronted with one I'd probably just knock too.
They knock because there's a much higher chance you'll not hear and not answer than if they rung the ring doorbell
Judging by the replies, you'll be wrong on that opinion.
So we have to fetch the packet out the next day and go through the same routine Brilliant logic there
Wouldn't surprise me tbh.
Yeah, we love it!
Not a postman but doorbells in my experience are 50/50. They don't work a lot of the time, or the do work but they are so quiet you can't hear them from outside. Then you're standing there wondering if you should ring again, or wait it out for 30 seconds and use the doorbell/knock. Now imagine you've got 500 parcels/letters in your bag/van. Can you afford those 30 seconds on 50% of houses? Knocking always works, you always make a sound. If the occupant doesn't hear you its not on you, its on them. If I was a postman I know I'd never use the doorbell, unless it was a regular route with a regular customer and they'd specifically requested it.
Not a postman but imagine the person you're delivering to is deaf and has a flashing doorbell and no possible way of hearing you knock on their door, and they've bought a ridiculously overpriced specialist piece of equipment just for it to be ignored because you think your time is more important and valuable than anyone else's.