When you call out to the delivery guy to “leave the items at the door!”, you probably don’t mean it literally, especially if said items include multiple boxes of 1.5 litres bottles.

Unfortunately for one HDB resident, that’s exactly what happened as her delivered goods were delivered right to her doorstep—literally. 

In fact, they were so conveniently placed right in front of her door, she couldn’t even exit her house!

Redmart Delivered Goods Left in Front of Gate Blocked Entrance and Exit

On Monday (14 June), Facebook user Sheha Sidek took to Facebook to complain about her delivery items being left right in front of her door, preventing her from opening the gate.

The post was shared in the Complaint Singapore Facebook group with just a few words about the incident, due to the very self-explanatory photos that accompanied the post.

Turns out, the delivery personnel had left her ordered goods right outside her HDB unit, blocking the door. The woman had ordered goods from online grocery store Redmart, consisting of four cartons of bottled Evian water and several other bags of items.

Leaving delivered products at the door wouldn’t usually be a problem if your delivery was just a few bags of goods.

However, considering the bulky items that were delivered, retrieving or even moving them indeed presented a challenge.

According to Mothership, each carton contained 12 Evian bottles of water that were 1.5 litres each. The total weight of each carton is an estimated 19.5kg, assuming the items inside the cartons were indeed bottled water as stated on the packaging.

With at least four cartons as seen in the photos, that makes 48 1.5 litre bottles each—the total weight is approximately 80kg.

In another photo shared, it seems like the resident eventually managed to at least open her gate slightly. In the photo, the gate can be seen slightly ajar, presumably pushed open by the resident. The cartons had shifted from their original positions along with the gate.

Situation Not Uncommon

According to the comments under the original post, it seems like this sort of situation is actually not uncommon.

According to Mothership, one reason for this might be because the delivery personnel us taken with taking photos of the recipient’s door and unit number, together with the goods, as proof of delivery.

Another reason could be that the delivery personnel might have intentionally placed it in front of the gate, which might be monitored by the household’s CCTV camera if they had one. This way, they would have proof of delivery in the event of a dispute or theft.

Some delivery personnel also choose not to place the delivered items at the side of the door instead, as there was the possibility that the goods would be mistakenly taken by neighbours thinking it was their’s.

However, at the same time, bulky weighted items placed in front of the door—such as in this case—could be a fire hazard. This was because the entrance and exit were blocked, depriving residents of that unit of an unblocked escape route.

Additionally, it would also be a major inconvenience for ambulance recipients if the goods blocked the corridor or their unit’s entrance.

Featured Image: Facebook (Sheha Sidek)