As the number of days to the holidays gets shorter, the piles of packages left on porches get taller.
Whether you’re expecting a surprise from Santa or just waiting for your next monthly subscription box, finding your package has been stolen will make any Buddy the Elf turn into an Ebenezer Scrooge.
For students, faculty and staff who live off campus, UAPD offers these tips to help ensure a grinch doesn’t steal your Christmas.
- Sign up for tracking alerts that can be sent to your phone or email.
- Use the delivery company’s website or app to provide instructions about where to leave your packages.
- Require a signature from the delivery service.
- Have your packages sent to another location. FedEx will deliver packages for free to a local Walgreens, while deliveries from Amazon can be shipped to an Amazon Hub Locker near you. Items purchased from many retailers can be sent to a local store instead of your home. Faculty and staff should not have personal packages delivered to their office.
- Ask a trusted neighbor to watch for deliveries you are expecting while you’re away from home.
- If you’re traveling for the holidays, ask the USPS to hold your mail until you return.
- Install a doorbell security camera if you can afford it.
All student packages received at the Campus Mail Services Center, located in the Student Center, that are not collected by Dec. 14 will be returned to the sender on Dec. 20, unless the student provides forwarding information for their packages by 5 p.m. on Dec. 19.
Student packages received from Dec. 14 through Jan. 4, 2023, will not be returned to the sender unless they are not picked up by Jan. 20. Correspondence about student mail and packages during the winter break will be sent to students’ crimson.ua.edu email addresses. For more information about campus mail during Winter Break, visit the Campus Mail Service website.
No UA Alert System Test
Due to final exams, the University will not test UA Alerts on Wednesday, Dec. 7.