Package Room Confusion -- What's Next??

Over the month, the UT Yahoo Group exchanged an especially lengthy series of messages about packages being received, and residents not being informed adequately.

In particular, problems arise when more than one package arrives before the resident is able to pick them up. With the current "key" system, there is no way to inform the resident that there is more than one package.

As a brief refresher for new residents: we didn't always have a package room. This is a fairly new development that was implemented about two or three years ago. In earlier years, packages were often left at residents' doorsteps -- which resulted in occasional thefts and other inconveniences.

So the package room was a very welcome improvement. But it is not without flaws.

When it was first created, residents were notified of packages with a sticky label slapped on their mailbox. Now, this worked well because there was a spot on the label where the guard could indicate how many packages were waiting.

But unfortunately it also created a lot of glue and shredded label messes on our nice then-new mailboxes. And it probably got unnecessarily expensive, as new labels always had to be ordered.

So then they posted a sheet next to the mailboxes (which now holds various notice signs), that looked a little like a week-calendar grid. If a package came for you, the guard would write your apartment under the day that the package came.

Now, this was didn't leave behind messy glue, but it created a huge mess in the package room as we often forgot to check the sign, or didn't look carefully at every apartment written on it... or if the guard forgot to write in your apartment... or if the sheet were removed at the end of the week, before you were able to check.

In both of these systems, however, every package was written into the logbook, and upon pickup the resident had to sign the entry indicating his/her package(s).

So now we have keys: if you get a package, security logs it and puts a dummy key in your mailbox. You give him/her the key, sign the logbook and get your package.

Now I find this is a huge improvement in many ways, but it also has its share of problems.

First, keys go missing. Many of us absent-mindedly take the keys and forget to bring them back (pleading guilty, here... :-< ).

Then the guard has to scan the logbook for the entry, which isn't always easy. But the biggest problem of all occurs when you have more than one package -- but you only have one key.

One member of the Yahoo Group reported having received a package, but there was no entry in the logbook. Another found no key in her mailbox although she knew a package had arrived that day; turned out the package was there, but the keys were all gone! Others reported having picked up a package only to learn that a second had been sitting in the room for weeks.

So, how do we fix this?

One very good suggestion was to color-code the keys: Say, a red key could indicate you have one package, and a white one would indicate more than one, so at least the guard would know to look for more.

Another member suggested better organization for the package room, with perhaps cubbies or dividers for apartment ranges on the top shelf (larger packages could still go on the floor).

Another suggested using carbon-copy slips, similar to those used for receipts or phone messages -- this would create a slip for the resident and a permanent record, precluding the need for the logbook.

I believe this would be the ideal solution -- if security were able to access our mailboxes, which they aren't, and which is probably why this has become such a problem.

The color-coded keys is also a good solution -- although residents would have to remember not to remove the keys until they are ready to pick up the package.

One other resident on the Group mentioned an important side-issue: Whatever solution we come up with should not overtax the security guards as they are not doormen, and have a lesser payscale and benefits than doormen.

That being said, all creative thoughts are welcome!!