Intercoms are very very expensive, I doubt they are going to put them in, even though it must be so annoying having to go downstairs to open to any visitors.
The delivery person could phone when standing at the security door, but they might object about the loss of time.
Try leaving a key under the mat during the day when you are expecting deliveries, let them know with the delivery instructions? Might work 
Subject to the BC, and depending on where your flat is located from the entry door an inexpensive wireless doorbell clearly marked with your flat number and name might work to solve the stalemate although the driver might not be happy to wait for you to get to the door, so an alternative might be a personal video doorbell, the subject of another topic that includes links to Choice reviews.
Whether either would work in any case depends on the distance and building structure between the door and your flat.
Another option if the BC would allow it is to install a suitably large and secured parcel locker outside the entry door.
There’s a ‘Wall mount key safe’ which would be useful in case of a lost key or for letting emergency services in, and also for deliveries to be left inside.
The O.C. could organise at very little cost to be installed inconspicuously near the security door.
Unfortunately there is neither control nor responsibilty with a communal key safe. A person given the code who is not a resident who needs to abide by ‘the rules’ could pass it on to others, and it could lead to liability re what could then happen.
I understand, you are right @PhilT
Where I live, even though intercoms are installed, the people who come for safety checks found it difficult to get access, and we were paying the call out fee but no service had been done.
Also, the gas and power meters are in a locked room and we were getting estimates every time.
And the cleaners would buzz any apartment in the hope of being let in.
Now we have keys in a little safe out of the way of passers by and things are easier to manage.
Maybe M-R could have one of her own installed and change the PIN number after the deliveries. Just thinking aloud of possible ways to overcome the lack of internal communication 
Security doors prevent any access,
.
Yes, but that was a very long time ago back in the 1960’s.
I also have a vague recollection that we got a Saturday delivery as well??
I can post a single letter from Sydney to Perth and it only costs me $1.10 and I think that’s a pretty good deal.
However for companies which may be posting out thousands of letters each week, that can be a big budget.
BB
Out postie had a Honda but those closer to the suburban post office had to make do with a bicycle with a fixed sprocket and no gears. There may well have been two daily deliveries. And the mail was collected from the corner pill boxes twice a day. There was one every few blocks so not too far to walk.
Anything urgent arrived as a telegram, weekends being the exception. Nothing ever happened on a weekend. It’s an interesting comparison with today when there are far fewer employed, suburban post offices have been closed and mail boxes for posting are no longer on most street corners. We seem to be paying more for less service.
Our good luck with parcel delivery through AP seems to be holding though. Delivery times for our recent on line orders have all been bettered.
I concur with your experience.
I also have responded to their “options” stating what I would like done with the parcel if I am not at home, but it makes no difference. In one ear and out the other.
I’ve had parcels left on my doorstep or in the letterbox, sometimes very expensive parcels, and I was not home to sign for it (although item says signature required), and it is marked off as “delivered”. The postie signs for it.
What happens if it is stolen before I get home?
It’s signed off as delivered and I have no recourse.
Australia Post international postage problems.
Australia post misleading information on there site about delivery times overseas.
On their site it says 9-12 business days to USA, then you have to add another 7 business days due to covid.
Then you have to add another 10 business days for them to investigate and then you have to add another 20 days for them to complete the investigation. So that is 49 business days before you get any help from them.
Why do Australia Post treat their customers this way? They have had 2 years to fix the problem with international mail. I sent a parcel to USA on 17th of November from Adelaide. On the 17th December it at last got loaded onto a flight. 4 weeks and the parcel have moved from my business south in Adelaide to Adelaide Airport around 6km, I could have walked there in 2hr. Why are Australia Post doing nothing to fix the problem? If this is the way they treat the business customer I DO NOT RECOMMEND BUSINESS USE AUSTRALIA POST FOR INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY. They will completely ruin your business as customers requesting their money back.
Welcome @danadelaide
I have moved your post into this already existing topic about Australians deserving a decent postal service. There are a number of topics that revolve around the apparent lack of service from Auspost. I don’t think your experience is an outlier in regards to a very poor experience.
Thank you for taking the time to post about your issues with them.
The only way they could fix the problem is to buy their own cargo planes and start direct flights between Australia and every other country where freight is sent.
Australia Post, not in the past being in the business of running its own international cargo planes, is at the mercy of international flights (generally cargo in passenger planes) run by others. As international flights have been heavily disrupted during Covid, with flights to and from various countries ceasing, trying to send parcels has been challenging.
The only possible solution is to see what courier companies have their own fleet of air cargo planes…and see if they run routes between Australia and the sending destination. These services can be significantly more expensive than what Australia post offers, but may prove to be more reliable if cargo routes have been maintained during the challenging Covid times which currently exist.
If you are sending parcels to maintain customer reputations, I would be looking at the above options rather than relying on Australia Post which piggybacks other international freight carriers. They are at the mercy of the flights of others.
You would hope they have very complete contracts with those providers regarding levels of service and accountability. Those contracts should ensure that service is at a very high quality point, if not then it is Auspost who have failed to ensure quality of service regardless of whether they own their own planes or not.
If we go back in Auspost history they have always used other carriers to ensure international delivery eg QANTAS. What seems to have changed is the aspiration to a high quality level of customer service, even though prices are often at a premium which should reflect that high level of service but seems not to. Does the USA Postal Service fly it’s own planes here for their mail service? I am not aware that they do, I think like Auspost they have contracts with other transport providers to ensure deliveries to international destinations (not USA territories).
In October this year the United States Postal Service suspended parcel deliveries to a few International destinations including Australia due to carrier issues related to COVID. They did however continued during that suspension period to deliver other International mail/letters via the carriers they have contracts with.
Yes they would, but, the number of international flights between Australia and international destinations…and international destinations and Australia have been scant in the past 21 months. So much so that the Australia Government has had to commission special repatriation flights to get Australians home.
Any contract they they could have, force majeure provisions possibly would have come into effect.
We always go directly to Qantas Airfreight at Tullamarine or Avalon in Melbourne . Cuts out AusPost .
A positive story, we sent a birthday present last Monday from Tasmania, destination Brisbane. The local Post Office indicated using standard parcel delivery, couldn’t guarantee when the parcel could be delivered. They suggested that if one wanted the parcel delivered by Christmas, express parcel post should be used.
As it was a birthday present (for an 80 year old), while it would have been great to be delivered on or before the birthday, being late wasn’t a real issue - so standard parcel post was used. This is the record of the parcel history:
Surprisingly to the recipient (and me), it arrived today (yes, delivered by Australia post on a Sunday), the day of the birthday. Perfect timing and service from a sometimes heavily criticised organisation.
The catch for Australia Post or any other carrier is customers are far more likely to take to voice when things go wrong. The real test is how a business responds when things go wrong.
Our luck is holding out wth all providers of such services. One delivery per day on average. Wine from The Hunter collected by AP on a Friday arrived the following Wednesday (Sunshine Coast regional). Parcel posted Townsville with AP Monday was in our PO Box Thursday.
The not AP carriers have also been doing well from Interstate bettering a week with some parcels up to 10kg. A couple of larger and heavier flat packs from Temple and Webster (Toll?) one has arrived within the week, while the second is still come.
Come on fellas, there’s only one issue here either at Australia Post, or so many other services that we pay for, and need to help us as a society. It’s the dollar, and the way the whole thing is skewed to making a profit regardless of people. How many businesses now ask you to “jump on line, it’s easy” and you do all the work they once did. Get used to it, we’re just accepting it, and they all know it.
Its just like saying if you have a line of people handling items and if one person is removed the cycle stops. On regard to the cost it seems cheaper is better for the service rather than quality or paying front line workers better. I thought one ceo resigned. I have seen other types of postie on amd electric riden machine unlike the traditional motor bike. Maybe management does have good ideas. Push bikes kes, are commonly used also. Maybe in certain areas people get less, service of not pn a maon road.
