Parcel delivery here is awesome, sadly not so the small parcels from the postman which we often have to collect from the post office because they have left a ‘you were out’ notice when we had been at home all day.
If you check out the ‘Visitor Posts’ on the Australia Post Facebook page, you will see lots of people complaining about cards being left when they were home. Australia Post often replies with the reasons this happens e.g. postie on bike doesn’t actually have parcel on board due to size, they’re also not allowed to leave their bikes.
Funny that. Too big to deliver on a bicycle so they find that an adequate excuse not to do their job. Brilliant.
This is a common experience for me. We were working from home for quite some time and would regularly find these cards on the door step! They drive me insane. I know sometimes it’s the condition placed by the seller (requires a signature) but I also feel that the forms are already filled in once they have come to the door.
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I live in Ballarat. Both the letter and parcel deliverymen are wonderful. If the letter is too large the postie will bring to the door and ring the bell and the parcel delivery people make an effort to deliver every parcel. The only complaint I have is with the organization itself. One parcel recently, was sent from Adelaide to Sunshine then to Clayton, back to Sunshine to finally arrive in Ballarat 3 days later.
I agree. I live in an acreage area, and many houses have long easements. AP postmen cannot drive onto private property. I have a wonderful postman, who beeps his horn many times if he suspects I am at home. He told me they have not had an increase in the amount they are paid for four years- nothing at all. He had to get a little van, to carry all the parcels he gets now, and believe me, when I looked into it, it was full of parcels. The job of the postie has changed dramatically in the last four or five years, and it seems to me that AP has not changed their business model quickly enough to cope with it. Don’t blame the messenger, all of these guys are running as fast as they can, to get things delivered, and hopefully, make a living. We want things instantly, and are very unforgiving. My AP parcel service is great, within the constraints described, but the management of AP need to take a good hard look at how they can do business better, QUICKLY. Personally I also suspect that the current mob are hoping this government agency will find itself unable to cope, which gives them the perfect excuse to “privatise”, or shift to the private sector, this business.
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I’ve been home when a parcel has been delivered. No knock at the door - I just found a card in the letterbox from the courier driver the next day. The last time I managed to bolt out the door when I saw the delivery van pull up. The driver didn’t even bother coming into the gate and was just about to pop the card into the letterbox when she saw me. She didn’t look happy and had to go back to the van to get the parcel. I asked her why she didn’t knock on my door and said that she saw on my gate that I had dogs and said she wasn’t going to enter the property. The sign isn’t for a dangerous dog so I think this is a poor excuse.
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I object to a parcel just being thrown on the door mat. Which leaves the parcel in full view of passersby,
There are several spots near the front door that are hidden from the street, but it seems to hard for the delivery person to walk 2 more steps. I also have had a 'parcel unable to deliver" notice when we have been home all day, when we are home to front door is open and we have a fully functioning doorbell. To lazy to walk up the drive I guess, just drop the notice in the letterbox and get the client to do the work.
A couple of years ago we completed a form to say whether we wanted parcels left at the door, or pick up undelivered items at the local PO. (This doesn’t include registered items which have to be signed for).
We have received great service from Aust Post deliveries, they are always left in one of several secluded spots by they front door, where we can see them when returning home, but remain unseen by by passing street traffic.
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Public servants for the most part, except for pollies themselves and their inner circles, have not had $0.01 increase in about 4 years, which is why Immigration/Border Protection, the BOM, and others are striking. Government treats its workers with the utmost disdain imaginable.
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One thing I like now with AP is you get the option to have them ‘safe drop’ it for you so even if its something that would have required a signature in the past you can opt to have it left outside in a few preset locations.
I used to cringe everytime something was delivered via Auspost vs another courier (as the couriers would normally leave small packages and not require a signature etc) as since I was always at work and never at home I’d have to figure out a way to get to the local post office which of course was the one which was only open during business hours :(.
It always grated that they had to send it to the closest one even though there are 2 close by that are open on a Saturday morning etc.
Oh I don’t get it sent to work because we work 2 minutes away from a major depot and they deliver to us first and get there so early most of us would still be eating breakfast so we get a card and then have to go to a depot (which has no office/desk/staff for pickups) and sorta look like a fish out of water until someone (warehouse staff/courier) notices and tries and finds the package.
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Hi Gordon, I know your pain. I also live out of town. I can site many instances of private delivery companies that refuse to deliver of contact me.Luckily I work in town and I get all me parcels sent to my work address. Aust Post is the only people who actually deliver to bush addresses but very few use them??
Oh, you’re not wrong and I love your description!!! The number of times I know someone has been at home, and then we get the “not at home” card and the parcel goes to our “in area” post office, but certainly not the most convenient to pick up from. I talked to a postie once and he asked my opinion on a few things, such as would I like to nominate where I’d pick up from, including from a business centre with long hours (i.e. without even trying to deliver at home, makes sense for them not to have a wasted trip either), I like those ideas, as long as it’s no extra cost to me. How many people can be waiting at home for a parcel!!?
In Perth it always happened- a card was left, no one knocked, even when I’d been sitting at the kitchen table at the time it was supposedly delivered. However, the package was then taken to the post office and I could pick it up which wasn’t so bad.
However, now that I live in Sydney, my monthly skin care order gets delivered by ‘couriers please’ who, if you don’t immediately answer the door (they knock, wait three seconds and then leave), leave a card for you to book re delivery in 3 business days. But they give NO time frames- so you are expected to wait around all day long to get the parcel. They won’t take it to a post office and you can’t pick it up from them. When I complain to the company I order products from, their only solution is to pay double the cost of postage to get it delivered to a parcel locker. That’s $168 in postage yearly!
I have not had a problem with parcel delivery. I recently received a parcel whilst I was at home. There was a knock on the door, and the delivery person waited for me to answer it. No problems. The other couple of times I have received a slip were when I was out. Annoying to have to drive to the PO etc, but better than having the parcel stolen at the front door.
Why are you looking at just the negative side? Try to give a balanced view rather than just propagating a popular story line. Of course there will be negative stories, but there are probably more positive ones that don’t get a reaction
I haven’t had much to do with Couriers Please Emma but some of the other carriers ,Toll being one will let you sign a declaration that the parcel can be left without a signature at the place of your choosing , behind gate , security door etc .Try bringing this up with Couriers please . I work from home and have parcels arriving all the time from different companies . A parcel must be signed for if it’s registered , usually Auspost . Apart from that the others will leave the parcel as long as you give them written permission in advance without a signature . Explain your situation to Couriers Please and if no luck there ask the sender if they would use Toll Ipec as they leave without signature . I use them alot . I reiterate you must advise them to leave the parcel by a declaration . With Toll you can download the form sign it and scan it to your computer and email it back . Also Toll Ipec and TNT will drop "no homes " at local newsagencies . Wish you luck with Couriers Please
A security camera is trained on the front entry-way, so I know whether a courier or postie has allowed enough time for the door to be answered. Australia Post parcel delivery service is excellent and consignments are delivered by a friendly professional or are available for collection at my local post office. This is very convenient indeed, and I prefer to deal with companies that use Australia Post for delivery. For other couriers, it’s usually possible to arrange an authority-to-leave, which is a good option for low-value items. I have had no problems with the vast majority of deliveries, including a wall oven, iron, vacuum cleaner, fragile items and other purchases. The only issue was one occasion on which the courier dropped a parcel containing a new DVD player as he was trying to ring the doorbell. He did not mention it but it was known at the time by virtue of the security cam (though not raised with the courier). The player has been operating fine so I did not initiate a complaint. The last time there was a serious problem with a courier was in 2012 and the courier was Couriers Please, so I have always since avoided dealing with any company using that carrier.
I live in Canberra and receive on average one parcel per week. In the past six months I have had repeated problems with parcel delivery, with non-delivery cards being left when I have been home. I have also paid for parcels to be delivered on specific days and had them delivered on a different day. If it was delivered after the agreed time it would potentially be understandable, but it has always been delivered the previous day. Luckily I have been home on some of these days.
My main difficulty, other than the frustration, is that I have a disability. I use a wheelchair, can’t drive and live on my own. I buy online to avoid having to carry large parcels myself. Having to collect them from the PO when there is very little capacity to carry medium or large parcels is very difficult. When I have paid, effectively twice, for delivery to happpen when I am home only for it to be ignored seems a breach of service standards.
My local PO has seemed frustrated when I’ve mentioned the problems, but I know there is nothing they can do about it. They don’t know what they are going to be able to do when a parcel that is simply impossible for me to collect is either “not deliverable” when I am home or delivered on a different day to that arranged (paid) for and I am not home.
Hopefully things will improve - or at least I will continue to be lucky that so far the very large parcels have been succesfully delivered even if not when I expected/paid for them to be delivered.
I live in an outer suburban metro area with a “safe front door” for leaving parcels so have it easy. When ordering I always include a note to seller “OK to leave by front door if house unattended”. I have only found one who would not do that with their “reasoning” that “the delivery drivers don’t read labels anyway.” They were correct - the label showed signature required but it was left at my door anyway. I have not had anything go missing in 14 years at the address.
Sometimes I forget. With the tracking number in hand, for some courier companies it only takes a phone call (and some time on hold!), some have a download authorisation form to leave for the driver, Auspost has facilities on their “my” website that is curiously inconsistent when it will or will not work, and a few will take a letter pinned to your door if it is big enough and obvious enough and has all the necessary information, with the caveat some drivers are not the most conscientious workers and are oblivious to anything on your door for them.
I had two parcels delivered from Texas worth over $US 1000 sit about over at the Australian Mail Service (AMS) I was not informed neither was the sender. Eventually when I inquired about the nondelivery we discovered the nutters had destroyed the parcels, irreplaceable 100+ year old recordings. When contacted these highly paid people have offered no rational explanation and over half a year later I still await an official explanation and restitution. This useless outfit AMS a private agency should be closed down at once and to date have not learnt by their crass mistakes, even ringing them is a futile exercise as the supervisor will not take calls. FEDEX seems the only viable option as somehow the AMS intercepts our mailed items before Auspost does. I can have no confidence in obtaining my mailed items with AMS in the equation ever and even the sender who has dispatched items to me for three decades is astounded at the temerity of the AMS ill advised actions. And still I wait at least the other complainants have received their items even if a little late, no governmental agency seems able to bring the AMS to heel and this is the most aggravating aspect, hence the FEDEX option preference. Thank you for airing this vexing topic this is long overdue.
