A fuming woman said she was stuck in her own home after a delivery driver jammed a parcel under her front door handle.
Rhiannon Smith ordered a £89.99 heated clothes dryer from Amazon.
But she said when it was dropped off by the DPD courier she couldn’t get out.
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But by the time she came downstairs, the driver had already scarpered – leaving the massive box blocking her only way out.
With no back door, the 31-year-old was forced to clamber through a window to escape.
“I heard the doorbell go from upstairs and I was down in seconds,” Rhiannon, from Haywards Heath, West Sussex, told What’s the Jam.
“I could see the box under the handle through the window and I thought ‘oh no, I’m not going to get out here’.
“I tried unlocking it and moving the handle but it was fully stuck.
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“I phoned my dad and he said I’d have to climb out of the window.
“The window was deceivingly high and I’m only five foot.
“There were lots of spiders as well.
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“I was stuck for about 20 minutes then I climbed out and moved the box myself.”
Rhiannon reported it to Amazon last Friday (26 Sept). saying it could have been far more serious for someone vulnerable.
She added: “I’m healthy and have friends and family around so I knew I’d be fine but if that was someone elderly, it could have been really bad.
“Amazon said they’d escalate it and contact the driver to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
“They will have lent it against the door and not realised.
“Then they rushed off because they’ve got loads of deliveries to do.”
Rhiannon filmed herself while trapped inside, posting the clip on social media where it’s racked up more than 340,000 views.
In the viral video she fumed: “What’s the dumbest thing your delivery driver has done?
“Because I think I can top it.
“I’ve ordered myself a heated clothes airer.
“He’s left it under my door handle so I can’t open my front door now.
“I’m literally quite stuck in my house.
“I don’t have a back door, this is my only exit.
“Who does this? Now what? I live alone. I’m baffled.
“That was just stupid.”
Viewers piled in with suggestions – from “order a pizza and get the delivery man to move it” to “push the box with a stick through the letter box”.
Others shared their own horror stories.
One said: “Delivery driver did that with my daughter but it was a large TV.
“Could have been very expensive if she’d managed to get the door open.”
Another added: “Oh my God, this happened to me when I was living alone during Covid.
“Dad turns up with ladders in case I need to escape over the balcony – nope, just stuck under the freaking door handle.”
And Annetta warned: “What if you were a weak person or in a wheelchair?
“It could be heavy or you might be alone for hours – but what if a fire started?
“It’s dangerous to leave it like that.”
Amazon and DPD have been approached for comment.
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