Review : Brizebox, the Secure Parcel Delivery Box

I can’t believe we are already midway through November. Christmas will be here before we know it. I’m normally really starting to stress out by this point having not even started the Christmas shopping and having no clue what I’m even going to buy. But I’ve been more organised this year. I’ve already ordered all the kids’ presents online and have them safely stored away in our bedroom. So that’s a good start. Now it’s just the rest of the family and some friends that I need to buy for. I don’t have much time to go shopping on my own so I’ll probably be getting everything online because it’s so much easier and I can get it all delivered to my home. The only problem with that is the fact that my husband is at work all day and I’m out and about with the girls in the mornings and at work in the afternoons. So there is a very high chance that I won’t be home to accept all the deliveries. Some delivery drivers will leave parcels in our porch but not all are prepared to do that as it’s not secure. My heart sinks every time I come home and find one of those “Sorry we missed you” cards on the doormat and I realise that I have to then go and collect the parcel from the post office sorting office, or worse, some main depot in Exeter, which is an hour away. Luckily though I have found a brilliant solution. Let’s take a look at the Brizebox.

Brizebox is a secure parcel delivery box that can give you the peace of mind of knowing that your parcels will be delivered and kept somewhere safe when you are not home to accept them. It looks like a really elegant, American-style mailbox, only it is big enough to accept a number of parcels as well as your regular post.

It was designed by Brian Willcox, a former mechanical engineer, who had also had enough of the delivery issues associated with online shopping. Brian says: “Like most people, I first started internet shopping on a regular basis back in the early 2000s. I enjoyed the process of ordering online. Finding useful things on the internet that I could never find on the high street. Searching for items that were cheaper or just more convenient to buy online, and going ahead and ordering them. The process fascinated me. Lo and behold the parcel would arrive… but that was the problem! Where the parcel ended up was just too unpredictable.”

After searching online for a secure parcel delivery box and not finding anything suitable, Brian decided to tackle the problem himself. After many iterations he settled on the final design of the Brizebox. The function of the box is surprisingly simple. There is a large drawer which has a false bottom made from flaps, similar to bomb bay doors on a plane. When the handle is turned the flaps are drawn up enabling the drawer to open. The parcel is placed inside the drawer and when it is closed the flaps automatically release, allowing the parcel to drop through into the locked waterproof compartment and providing secure package delivery. It’s really quite brilliant.

The design is so simple yet so effective. It’s also really easy to use, both for couriers and for homeowners. And the quality of the product is really impressive. The box is made of zinc-coated sheet metal which is then powder-coated using architectural grade exterior paint. The lever mechanism operated by the handle, the locks and the hinges are all made from stainless steel, for strength and durability. Rubber seals are used on the drawer and door to prevent water ingress. Every Brizebox even comes with shock absorbing foam in the base to help provide a soft landing for more delicate parcels. Brian really did think of everything.

The Brizebox comes in three sizes: compact, standard and large. I have the compact one and I have found it to be more than adequate for our needs. We don’t have parcels arriving every day (despite my husband’s apparent eBay addiction) let alone multiple deliveries per day, so this size suits our family perfectly. The large model has the added benefit of an innovative ‘Soft-Drop’ floating base which will take care of very fragile items, such as a case of wine for example.

All models come in three colours: Anthracite Grey, Jasmine White, Cottage Green. They also come with fixtures that allow you to mount the Brizebox on the wall, which is what we did with ours. We’ve mounted it on the wall inside our porch and installation was super easy (not that I did this myself you understand, that was a job for my husband). But if you don’t fancy that option you can also buy a special post that allows you to stand the box in the ground.

The boxes are also ideal for use in flats and apartments as they can be screwed together for use in communal areas. They can even be built into the walls of new build properties making them a very flexible bit of kit.

We made a real short video to show you how the Brizebox works. Now this is the first time I’ve ventured into video so you’ll have to promise not to judge, things can only get better right? We had approximately 30 minutes to film and edit this while my mum looked after the girls. I was planning to demonstrate how you put a parcel in the drawer and remove it from the box, but in the rushing I forgot to put it in the drawer, which explains the surprised look on my face as I find it in the box…idiot! I managed to do it in just two takes though (inside and outside) and my husband edited it on a new programme that neither of us have ever used before. I apologise for the poor sound quality, it’s pretty quiet if you’re listening on a phone or tablet, but we couldn’t work out how to get it any louder. We clearly need more practice!

We installed the box shortly after making this video and we’ve been using it for about a month now. I couldn’t wait for our first delivery, but we did have to wait before we were able to use it the first time. The first delivery that came was too big for the box, it was a hoover. The next delivery was small enough to fit through the letter box and the third delivery was accepted by my toddler who has learnt to open the front door and now has a nice chat with the postman most days.

I heard her talking while I was in the kitchen washing the dishes and when I went to see what was going on she was stood in the corridor with three large parcels (all too big for the box) and informed me that Postman Pat gave them to her, but he’s gone now. Needless to say, I’ve started locking the front door now. Today, I learnt that she knows how to unlock it so I have to remove the keys from the lock tomorrow.

But after these episodes, we finally got to use the box. My husband came home from work to find a delivery card on the doormat saying that a parcel had been left in the porch box…hurrah!! The courier was very impressed with our secure parcel delivery box and even left us a little note to say s/he thought it was “Excellent”. So there you have it, we love our new Brizebox and so does the courrier, everyone’s a winner! Bring on all the Christmas deliveries, we are ready for you!

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Disclosure: This is a collaborative post. Brizebox kindly supplied the product for the purpose of this review on the understanding that if we did not like it we would return it and wouldn’t feature it on the blog. All the opinions in this review are our own and we stress that we only collaborate with brands and companies that we genuinely like and believe that our readers will like too.