[mmccauley]

Totally hear you on all accounts! This is a problem that needs a serious solution - I'm working on an idea right now to solve it, BufferBox (corporate.bufferbox.com). Essentially we allow shipping to self-serve kiosks and when a parcel arrives, an email is sent to the user with a PIN code so they can pick it up 24/7 on their schedule.

In the UK, there is a service that may be able to help you on the receiving end - myByBox (my.bybox.com). Hopefully it has help you out a bit!

We're working to bring a similar service to North America because we believe it's essential for eCommerce to grow to the next level. We've been running a pilot project to gather some data (bufferbox.com) and now we're working to expand.