Should I Choose A Signature Required Shipping Or A No-Sign Parcel?
Signature Required Parcels – Our Recommendation
Signature required parcels require the receiver to sign for the parcel before the courier service will leave the parcel at your delivery address. All parcels that Horoeka House ship out are tracked, which means that the delivery progress of the parcel can be followed using the courier companies GPS scans of the parcel and the parcels tracking number. The tracking number of your parcel is sent out to you via email after your parcel has been processed through dispatch. The advantage of signature required parcels is that they are insured until the receiver signs for the parcel. Therefore, if the parcel goes missing you will not be out of pocket. The disadvantage of signature parcels is that someone will need to be at the delivery location to sign for the parcel when the courier driver arrives to deliver the parcel. You can learn more about what happens if you are not at home when the courier company delivers your parcel by reading our shipping information page. It should be noted that if you or someone else at your delivery location has signed an ‘Authority To Leave’ form with the Courier company then the courier driver is authorized to sign for the parcel on your behalf, and will leave the parcel somewhere on your property. Once the parcel has been signed by the courier driver you are then responsible for the security of the parcel and if it goes missing or is stolen before you are able to retrieve it, there is no insurance or comeback on either the courier company or Horoeka House for your loss.
No-Sign Parcels
No-Sign parcels allow the courier driver to simply leave the parcel at your delivery location without gaining your signature or alerting you to the delivery of your parcel. You are still able to track the delivery progress of your parcel and the parcel will be scanned at your address when it is delivered, which means that the courier company can check the GPS scans and verify that the parcel was in fact delivered to your delivery address. The disadvantage of no-sign parcels is that the parcel is only insured up to the point where the driver leaves the parcel at your delivery address. Once the parcel has been delivered to your delivery address you are then responsible for the security of the parcel and if it goes missing or is stolen before you are able to retrieve it, there is no insurance or comeback on either the courier company or Horoeka House for your loss. The advantage of the no-sign shipping option is the convenience of not having to be at the delivery location when the courier driver delivers the parcel. Although it is rare, parcels do go missing and get stolen from properties especially around holiday times. There are alternative and more secure options than no-sign parcel deliveries such as having your parcel delivered to a NZ Post parcel pod or local collection point. You can learn more about these options from the NZ Post website.
What About Rural Delivery Parcels?
Rural delivery parcels do not have a signature required shipping option because by default it is impractical in most rural locations to gain a signature from the receiver of the parcel. As part of your contract with the rural delivery service, you agree for the rural delivery driver to sign for the parcel on your behalf. As with the other shipping options, once the driver has left the parcel at the delivery location you are then responsible for the security of the parcel and, if it goes missing or is stolen before you able to retrieve it, there is no insurance or comeback on either the courier company or Horoeka House for your loss. It is less common for rural delivery parcels to go missing or get stolen although there are some rural areas that do have consistent problems with theft, in which case it may be prudent to have your parcels delivered to the care of a local store or petrol station.