Home left exposed for days following Amazon in-garage delivery

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    ATLANTA (WGCL) — Amazon is expanding its in-garage grocery delivery service across Georgia this week, but before you sign up, one man is issuing a warning following his experience with the service.

Key by Amazon gives the delivery driver access to your garage using a key code. The intent is to keep your deliveries safe from porch pirates. Matthew Richburg, having been a victim of many of those thefts that have plagued residents across metro Atlanta, decided to sign up.

“I started to realize this is an issue. People are taking stuff,” he said.

But then, Richburg and his family were left horrified and feeling vulnerable after Amazon opened their garage to deliver a package and never closed it.

“To think that’s going on. And the neighbors were kind enough to be watching after three days and text to say ‘Hey, I think your garage door has been open for three days.'”

The confusing case happened not once, but twice. App alerts on Richburg’s phone show the most recent time was last month.

To make matters worse, he says the delivery wasn’t even supposed to be for his metro Atlanta home, but instead his condo nearly 600 miles away in Florida. But, it’s not just about his home being left exposed, Richburg says it’s about personal safety, too.

“I have teenage children, you know if one of them had been in the home sleeping– there’s that kind of risk,” he said.

The dad primarily used the in-garage option for products or gifts. With the company now expanding the service to grocery options across 5,000 U.S. cities, Richburg believes the potential cost of safety is a payment he will no longer make.

“The short term solve is I’m not willing to use the service anymore,” he said.

After Richburg’s three email exchanges with customer support and eventually getting no clear answers, CBS46 took the concerns to Amazon.

The company declined to interview but offered this statement:

“Drivers undergo comprehensive background checks and instruction. Drivers will not move onto their next delivery until the door has been closed. And if a delivery is damaged, they’ll work with the customer.”

However, Amazon did not provide a specific answer when asked about its technical and security glitches or other factors which could cause a property to remain exposed.

Richburg believes a technical glitch might have been the case since his delivery was not even headed his home in Atlanta but rather the condo in Florida.

“Clearly it’s not thought through enough to ensure that. So, think carefully and you know consider the risks because clearly there’s more risk than would be apparent,” he said.

So, for the Richburgs it’s back to chartering the seas of front porch delivery. This time, they hope they will deal with fewer pirates.

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