Imagine you are delivering a package to someone’s house and you want to leave it in a place where it won’t get stolen or damaged. We don’t know what ideas you might be coming up with, but we’re hoping this isn’t one of them.

Consumerist reader Toby went online the other morning to track the delivery of his Amazon package. To his surprise, it was listed as “delivered” and signed for by that ubiquitous neighbor “Front Door,” even though Toby had been home all day.

So Toby went out to figure out exactly where the delivery guy had stashed the package — only to step right onto it.

The package had been hidden under his outside doormat, which had also been moved several feet from its usual spot.

Let’s consider this from two perspectives.

To the person walking out the door, the package is virtually unnoticeable, especially if you’re not expecting a doormat underfoot. This could, and did, lead to the package being stepped on.

Luckily, Toby’s purchase was a couple of new camcorder batteries which survived being trampled.

But to the person walking toward the house, it’s more obvious that something is hidden underneath the mat. It’s not hard to imagine someone taking a peek and, upon seeing an Amazon box, deciding to steal it.

At least when FedEx hides your package in a really stupid place, it has the courtesy to leave you a note.

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