Australians deserve a decent postal service

At least you get a ‘toot’!

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Oh well I will be a lone voice in the wilderness and say I am very happy with Aust Post. I have sold a lot of my stuff on EBay downsizing lately and only 1 in about 1000 parcels was undelivered and I was compensated for that very quickly. Considering Covid and lockdowns and massive increase in packages, they and their delivery company Star Track and their text message and apps are excellent .

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As a small electronics repair business in Wagga I depend on couriers to supply goods on time.
My ratings for companies would be Toll , Star Track for next day delivery, Australia Post if I don,t need it for a week and if I want to lose it Couriers Please.
I am glad to see that when Australia Post bought Star Track that they didn’t mess with their way of organisation. It just a pity that they didn’t learn from how they work.
To continue to use the excuse of Covid for delivery problems is getting a bit tiresome.
I thought managers were supposed to manage but not in the case of Australia Post it seems.

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I’m an age pensioner without a vehicle, so I do a whole lot of online shopping.
I would infinitely prefer all suppliers to post their goods rather than send them by courier: there isn’t one courier company that can be called ‘reliable’.
Sure, AusPost makes idiotic errors and their routing is sometimes unbelievable; but in the end I do receive my goods. Same can’t be said of couriers. End of.

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Yes, and unfortunately the media (social and mainstream) only tend to report when there is a problem with their services…not positive stories. If one looks at the total number of reported problems, these are likely to be a very small percentage of the total number of post/parcels delivered. When people are involved, no service is 100% fault/problem free. Consumer expectations have also possible changed due to instantaneous nature of everything today…and instantaneous nature of post/parcel services isn’t possible without a very large cost (to the consumer).

We, possibly like many others in Australia, enjoy a good, reliable Australia Post service. We have found that on many occasion, local deliver (within same region of the state) is similar to low cost couriers…and interstate freight is similar as well. The only challenge has been with Covid-19, parcels being diverted through Sydney when Melbourne despatch facilities were closed/in lockdown.

It is widely publicised that the post/parcel system for all service providers has been challenging when state’s have introduced varying control measures due to Covid-19 outbreaks. These varying controls and their impacts can’t be blamed on the service providers, as they are trying to work in the difficult situation they currently face.

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I do like it when moderators agree with me ! [grin]

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Just don’t get used to it @M-R :laughing:

Moderators can be just as disagreeing as anyone else :laughing: :rofl:

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True, alas, Gaby ! Why, the AusTech forum moderators hardly ever agree with me … but that can be explained by my almost total lack of tech savvy. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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I must qualify by saying that when they disagree with me they are, alas, in the right ! :laughing::laughing:

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There are two sides to the pesky media,both MSM and social (whining? whinging?).

Going back a few years expectations were more modest. What transpired between the sender and receiver was opaque. If the receiver was not happy they could write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper or complain at the post office. Who knew? The complainer, those who might have read a letter to the editor, and who else?

Today tracking is an expectation, as well as competent capable routing, sorting, and delivery. Everyone with a device has a mouthpiece to vent their anger or adulation when they think it has gone wrong, whether rightly or not.

Has anything changed excepting the publics window into Auspost is sharper, and everyone has a voice? Who knows.

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Agree - and they’re just confusing. Get message “parcel arriving between Wed and Fri - if you’re not home register” - and the registration process was beyond me. So cancelled.

2 days later, message 6:50am “coming today, if you’re home - you’ll need to sign”.

2 hrs later, go outside front door - parcel is there. Never signed, they didn’t ring doorbell - so quiet the dog didn’t hear.

I didn’t mind - but why all the nonsense?

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I unfortunately have to add, that I still have no luck with my parcel. It was stuck in Derrimut, Vic. and the supplier resent it on 1/11. Guess where it is stuck in transit??? It is Derrimut again.

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Have tried using AusPost Parcel Lockers with some success until recently a shipper transposed my phone number and I didn’t receive a text with the code to unlock the locker containing my parcel. I knew it had been delivered as it was showing as “waiting for collection” in the AusPost app.

With all things AusPost there in no plan “B”. Spent hours on the phone and at the post office trying to get a resolution and there is none. If you don’t get an SMS with the access code then YIU are screwed until the parcel has sat in the locker long enough to be considered @unclaimed” at which time it is forwarded to the nearest oust office and you are supposedly notified using the incorrect phone number that caused the issue in the first place! Got to love Australia Post.

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Welcome back @gminervini

I have moved your post into an existing topic on Australians having a decent postal service.

Lockers are great if the system works but as like in your case when something goes pear shaped the ‘fun’ (sarcasm used here when using the word fun) starts and is often painfully hard to resolve.

Hopefully all things are resolved in getting your parcel now.

Thank you for your post on this issue.

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Yes, and don’t forget parcels sitting somewhere for months in a AP facility.

I too rely on home deliveries, but have found other couriers to be more expeditious than AP and its couriers.

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Then you are luckier than I !
I am currrently not expecting a couple if items through “Aramex” and “CouriersPlease”. Were I to start on the tales of what they’ve already done to me this year you would be sceptical. :unamused:

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STOP PRESS !! I have a new and utterly INFURIATING wrinkle to add to this thread.
(Forgive if anything has been read before: not all has, I promise.)
End of September moved in to an East St Kilda flat that took a few weeks to present me with its worst aspect: the 3-storey building has two doorways to access all 12 (?) flats and they have been turned into security doors but the body corporate has so far refused to spend money on providing intercoms to the flats.
Couriers phone me to say they’re out there - all but StarTrack, who leave everything sent to me at the PO in the shopping centre over the road.
The other day they advised me of the delay on a large package (garbage bin that squashes its contents), and I emailed back asking for a simple remedy to how they have been handling all my deliveries here, pointing out my age and the condition of my lower back and adding that it not possible for me to get this one home from the PO.
I just received an email reply. I quote it verbatim, but the emboldening is mine …

"Hi,

Thank you for your patience while we look into the delivery of article RLXxxxxxxx

Firstly I would like to apologise for the delay in getting back to you. We have had a large number of enquires and we are working hard to get to them all. My name is Karen and I can help you out with some more information.

Due to Occupational Health and Safety, our driver are not permitted to use their phone, to call a customer prior to delivery.

We recommend that you make contact with your Building Manager, to see what options are.


Regards,

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Hi @M-R
You might want to edit out your tracking number? :slightly_smiling_face:

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They ring me when they can’t find the address, it is a new estate and the GPS Map apps are not all updated with it yet. So we get frequent calls from StarTrack, Couriers Please, and so on. Once a driver has been here once or twice they don’t need to call, but sometimes as a courtesy they let us know they have dropped off a parcel. I don’t know why the company states it is an OH&S issue unless they are concerned they aren’t hands free in use.

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A new and unknown address is a bit different from ringing to announce a delivery even if it seems it shouldn’t be. They are more explicit on their web page (hot linked):

No, the driver can’t call you prior to delivery. This is primarily due to road safety reasons. Please contact us on 13 23 45 for alternative arrangements, if required.

I can imagine the policy is there to keep drivers from potentially being fined for using their mobiles, and if drivers stopped to make calls their delivery schedule would be longer than otherwise need be.

Since StarTrack is owned by Auspost it might have to follow rigid Auspost OHS standards unlike the competitors.

I always want to avoid a certain courier company that has dodgy service in my area, so I always ask the business how they ship and specify services I do not want used. Unfortunately they use their cheapest and often ask for additional $shipping to use a customer preferred service. In one case it was ‘that courier’ or nothing so it is what it is, business dependent.

The sad truth is the problem IS with your building not the delivery service.

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