Bloody Aus Post

[LewisM]

Seriously, what is up with this mob???!!! Have their budget cuts destroyed them entirely?

Had a package sent from the USA (non-astro) on 3 August. Arrived in Sydney on 9 August.

Still not here.

Aus Post tracking says it is still in Chicago, USA.

USPS tracking shows it cleared Sydney 9th, and is at a "sorting facility" as of the 19th... 10 days to get from Sydney, to I ASSUME the Underwood sorting facility in Brisbane...

And it is STILL not here, and Aus post tracking says it is still in Chicago.

Brilliant bunch.

Rant over.

Just can't believe USPS can tell me more info than the Aus Post site can - and Aus Post cannot tell me that it is not in their system as it undeniably IS.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

[rrussell1962]

Couldn't agree more! I had a parcel stuck in Sydney not too long ago. Lodged an query with Australia Post, they replied it could take 2 weeks to get to Brisbane. Customs clearance??

[codemonkey]

Nice. I hope that's not what's happening to my OAG... cleared customs at 3:38pm yesterday and no movement since.

[LewisM]

Yesterday... you have a long wait grasshopper. Patient you will be :) :P

Hmmm.... Brisbane to Kilcoy on the Big Red Truck - 21 days :P

[OzStarGazer]

Lodge a private complaint with them, or complain publicly on FB (probably quicker). They usually (but not always) wake up after a complaint...

[codemonkey]

lol. Yeah, I don't get anything freighted to my home address. For small things like this I have a parcel locker in the CBD ('cause I work in the CBD).

I'm used to things taking no more than a couple of days once they hit Sydney, but the fact that this one hasn't updated since it cleared customs has me wondering.

[Octane]

In other news, your plate turned up today.

It is, as I feared, the wrong size. And, the centre groove/holes aren't 1/4" UNC.

Nevermind, I'll find some use for it, or sell it if I can't. :)

Cheers, for the thought. :)

I managed to rig up a solution today -- I went to Specialty Fasteners yesterday and bought a bunch of 1/4" x 2" bolts and nuts and replaced the ones that were in the two clamshells. Works nicely.

H

[FlashDrive]

My Condolences to you Lewis. :D
I've been there to .... :sadeyes:

more like Aust' Pony Express

Flash....:D

[FlashDrive]

:lol::lol: ... sounds about right :rundog:

[Exfso]

Sounds about right, the head honcho is paid around $5million from memory, service is getting worse and they keep putting up freight costs while providing bugger-all..:mad2:

[LewisM]

Posted it on Aus Post Facebook. Got rather generic cut and paste reply. They claim it was only handed to THEM on the 19th... claim it was detained by Customs (I assume, since they don't say) for 10 days.

I couldn't help but make a remark to the effect that Mr. Fahour's mail wouldn't be delayed from America...

[xelasnave]

I probably should keep this to myself but I used to keep a list of all politicians state and federal and when I had something to complain about I would send a letter to each. After 14 days another letter to all demanding the curiously of a reply.
I would get letters saying the matter was refs to the appropriate minister.
I often got results because I think they realised I was a dangerous nut case

[LewisM]

Curiously of a reply... how curious :)

Courtesy on the other hand... an extinct trait amongst the human race.

[LewisM]

OK, small update.... had a mate of mine who is high up in Customs and Border Security (in the restricted/prohibited imports) look it up... nope, they never detained it, so this puts the onus squarely with either Aus Post or their contractor in Botany.

Whatever... I needed the part 14 days ago... seems I will wait another 5 days.

Best service I ever got from Aus Post was again ex-USA. Paid Express Post - something like $85 US in postage. Was GUARANTEED to be delivered in 4 days....

I got it 9 weeks later. It sat in Sydney for 8 weeks!

Yes, I got a full postage refund, but...

[xelasnave]

Yes like you said.
It would seem if aust post wants to survive they would be well advised to make their parcel delivery perfect because I predict that mailing letters will fall off.

[torana68]

I hate them with passion, we have to deal with "contractors" who are paid peanuts and couldn't care less, complain all you want but nothing will be done (but please do complain, as often as needed), here is one reason I hate them , if a parcel that is supposed to be signed for goes missing although its been "delivered" ask for a copy of your signature (yours supposedly!) they wont give it to you as its a breach of privacy! I could go on and on....and they whinge cause they are loosing money.

[GeoffW1]

Hi Alex,

The same thing happens here :rofl::rofl: (joke only)

Cheers

[athua]

I'm still waiting for my OAG so Aus Post has definitely been very slow these last few weeks..........,

[doppler]

Bought a synscan v3 hand piece from binoshop (Italy) sent 6/8/15 recieved it 12/8/15 thanks to FEDX. And I live in central QLD not a capital city. Aust post couldn't match that between towns in AU.
Rick

[GrahamL]

Waiting for a gold sluice from country victoria,, from somewhere I always seem to wait a while ,,hopefully soon ,,got an eyepiece from central usa once in 4 days ,,that had to have some auspost cogs turning in unison . :)

[Starless]

Youre not alone.
I have some car parts coming from the USA.

USPS tracking shows it leaving LA on July 26th.
As of Monday Aus Post reckons they have no
record of it arriving in Australia.

Aus Post are completely useless, its no wonder
they are losing to DHL, UPS and FedEx.

[The_bluester]

Yep, recently bought an item off an IIS member, he is Melbourne based, I live in Kilmore, could have picked it up in an afternoon. I think it was about two weeks circulating in the sunshine mail centre.

The first complaint netted me "oh, they usually don't go round in circles that long before someone spots them" and the second got me told that the sender had to make the complaint, he got told five days and it turned up the next day.


And yet I can buy car bits from Texas, watch the tracking skip from coast to coast in the states to the international hub, then go back over the top again, have a quick holiday in Hawaii, then on to Tullamarine in less time than Aus post then takes to finally deliver to me, 45 minutes away by road from Tulla.

[FlashDrive]

Man...never a ' truer ' word spoken .... spot on..!!

I have watched o/seas ' tracking ' myself for articles I have purchased.
At least you have an idea where it is and how soon you'll get it.

:mad2: An article from Sydney took 10 days to reach me via Aust' Post.( and that was for a part bought in AU )

:thumbsup: I have received articles from o/seas a lot sooner than the above...especially by FedEx.

Aust' Post are dragging their feet :mad2:

Flash....

[dreamstation]

I had a book earlier this year get propped up against my front door and being in QLD we get regular storms during the summer months. So anyway a storm goes across and completely soaks the book. I lodged a complaint through the Australia Post phone service (which took about 20 minutes to even speak to someone) who emailed my complaint to the manager of the local centre.

The manager emailed me about the issue and I had to supply pictures of the damaged goods so they could assess the damage and whether or not I qualified for compensation. At the same time I emailed book depository (where I order my books from) to let them know what happened and within 24 hours they had shipped out a replacement book free of charge (which I was not expecting nor did I ask for) all the while it took over a week to receive a response from Australia Post.

The absolutely ridiculous part is that the second book was also propped up against the front door but thankfully there was no storm that day. At this point I was furious so angrily I sent an email back saying that the service was pitiful. Ever since then all of our deliveries have been dropped on the table around the side under the patio or they leave a card. It boggles the mind how they can just leave stuff in clear view of the street propped up against the front door.

[LewisM]

My item that started this thread finally arrived. Sent USA on 3 August, arrived 24th - 21 days.... pretty sad considering it entered Australia on the 9th of August, and sat in Sydney until the 19th!

I also had an item ex-Greece (no Andrew, it is not for you!) sent on Wednesday last week. It arrived in Sydney yesterday (so, 4 days Greece to here). Can I expect Aus Post to take another 21 days to get it up to me from Sydney???? Elta (Greek Post) tracks it, but again, Aus Post says it is untrackable... such a reliable service we have now! Moronic really. I think their online tracking is deliberately vague or deceptive to cover their inept butts.

[RB]

Dang......
I was hoping it was the Flux Capacitor for the 1.21Gw laser you promised me.

:(

[Weird1]

I too have purchased car parts and astro gear from various parts of the US and have watched the tracking going through different postal centers on the way to Oz, only to disappear from the radar altogether in Oz. Parcels seem to arrive in Sydney, go in circles there for several days then are delivered followed by a email to say that the parcel will be delivered that day, (after it was delivered). From the time of purchase in the US usually takes 4 days to arrive in Oz, then ?. Have had parts delivered 5 days after being posted from 15km away. Also had Express Paid business letters from Brisbane ( supposed to be overnight) take 3 weeks to deliver.
Know wonder that Auspost s going broke.

Cheers Keith :screwy:

[LewisM]

Aus Post USED to be fantastic. I often got items ex-UK 2 days AFTER they were sent. Then, around january this year when His Royal Moroness started implementing higher rates and cutting jobs, and contracting out the wazoo, the service has gone to pot.

I USED to be able to reliably track items on the Aus Post site. NOT NOW! NADA! I seriously believe they are trying to cover their ineptitude.

I also often wonder if there is some degree of employee subterfuge to try to protest these budgetary actions by deliberately hindering the system.

Just checked my ex-Greece package again. Elta says it is in Australia, USPS even lists it and tells me it is in Australia. Aus Post says it is untrackable. WTH?

[LewisM]

This clip says a THOUSAND words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TnkJ8_BmSI

yep, the Greek shipment arrived just now... maybe Aus Post reads this forum :P :) :LOL:

[Regulus]

USPS have a brilliant tracking system. My LXD75 was marked every time it made a road or air trip and it was interesting to watch. Once it left San Fransisco and got to Oz it was lost to view. The US travels were fast and it landed in Oz within a week. It took 2 more to get from Sydney to Tasmania.

[PCH]

I just ordered some gas struts for my car bonnet from a place Sydney.

Though I paid for the express post option costing $16 to Perth, I was pretty pleasantly surprised to find them waiting at my door within 48 hours. So some of the stuff they do seems to work :)

[Mckechg]

Guys - Firslty I dont work for Aus Post, but I do wonder if you understand how the costing of delivery works.

When you send a parcel from the US to AUs for example you pay the US cartage carrier to deliver it. Aus post delivers it at their cost in Aus. this has worked well for years, until the recent internet shopping boom where the opportunity for AUs post to make the same money sending things, has vaporized. As the ratio of send to recieve is very skewed to recieve.

Yes they do suck in so many ways, but this is the reason they are making cuts. Just saying.

[The_bluester]

That may be so, but if they want any chance of getting in on the party they have to change.

To take the car parts example, many thousands of kilometers of transit from Texas to an international hub, back over the top of Texas again and then to Tullamarine via Hawaii takes a couple about 36 hours with tracking updates every couple of hours as a parcel goes in and out of the many stops involved crossing the US, then it takes five days or more AFTER the customs clearance is noted in the tracking (Typically the LAST tracking entry) before the package manages the 45KM from Tullamarine to my place.

Queensland to Melbourne is even worse, two weeks to get a box smaller than a box of tissues from Queensland to me. And the tracking was "Picked up-In transit-Delivered" With that last one being about three days before it actually was delivered, they consider sitting at the local LPO to be "Delivered".

If international parcels by other agencies cost them money, they need to make themselves an attractive option to use from end to end. Glacial delivery, atrocious tracking and uncompetitive cost care not likely to make me tick a box for "Use Aus Post" for any international items I might buy, even if the option was available. I tried the Aus post US service once, it took three weeks to get a small item from the US, the postage cost a bucket for something small and light and the last useful tracking was in the US when the US service delivered it to Aus Post!

Painting the trucks blue is not going to fix the service and that is what they need to do to get a part of the pie.

Edited to add, it is also not as though they are prioritising revenue generating in country post and parcels given that the average delivery times for those are not consistently better than international mail handed off to them for final delivery.

[rrussell1962]

Odd. I just bought an item on here. Arrived next day by normal post. Ok, it was Brisbane to Brisbane, but I have had stuff take a week to do that before. WTF is going on??

[The_bluester]

Interestingly enough, I have two items coming from the states right now, neither of which I could find locally.

One is in the care of USPS and I have had five tracking updates since Saturday morning (Might be more by now, the last one was checking it out of a facility and was before I left work)

The other was handed over to Aus Post in the US on Tuesday last week, tracking updates consist of "dispatched" and I have no clue where it is.

[LewisM]

When the wife and kid #1 were going to Russia earlier this year we sent away to the Rus Consulate in Sydney for the visa for our daughter ( her Rus passport is still not back from processing. Takes 6 months).

Anyway sent it Express post. It took 4 days!!! Got refund. Rus Consulate sent it back in the express post envelope I provided...surprise surprise 3 days from time of sending. Another refund.

Totally incompetent mob!!!! If only everyone would claim the next day guarantee or refund option they might pick up their game.

[The_bluester]

I would do but I am pretty sure we fall outside the areas where the guarantee applies, just, all of 60km or so as the crow flies from the GPO.

[PCH]

I watched part of the "Mega Factories" program on Channel 73 yesterday (Sunday). It was about the USPS. I didn't catch where the factory was, but it was just ONE of their sorting depots anyway - they'd all be the same probably.

The level of automation was incredible to watch, and the speed with which parcels were processed was staggering. I'm not surprised it out-performs our operation.

[FlashDrive]

A member here bought a Radian Eyepiece from me and I duly posted it to him the day after the funds showed in my Account.

The eyepiece was posted on the 31st August on a Monday ( to a Victorian Address PC3199 )....Article No was given to the purchaser ( courtesy on my account ) just to inform him it was on its way .

As of today's date.....11th Sept' ... ( 10 working days later ) ... he has not received his item.

I rang the 131318 Aust' Post ' Enquiry Line ' and they ( she ) told me delivery for the Article would be Monday / Tuesday or Wednesday next week.

Assuming it arrives by Wednesday next week....that's 13 working days to get an item from just north of Brisbane to Victoria.....:shrug:

There are 10 working days in 2 weeks .... it's been nearly 3 working weeks and he still doesn't have it ...That's PATHETIC

I've had items from OPT and Agena Astro in the US arrive on my doorstep in less than 7days.:thumbsup:

Incidentally ...Aust 'Post has recently requested for a 30% price increase to post a ' standard ' letter from .70 cents to $1.00.... to shore up their ' loss of profits ' in the letter delivery service.

No wonder people are now turning to Couriers like ' Pack and Send ' and others alike. I've sent a few items to Perth by P & S and to lower Eastern States and they have been delivered on time and faster than Auzzie Post could ever achieve.

Anyhow...I've had my say on this matter :mad2:

Col....

[OzStarGazer]

Me too, and also from the UK. Not to mention that postage from the UK is cheaper than within Australia.
I got a medium parcel from the UK for $7 the other day. It arrived in 1 week, although the eBay estimate was 1 week later.
The Book Depository has free delivery altogether.

I have to contact Aussie eBay sellers all the time because items are always late when sent from within Australia (later than the estimated delivery).

Funny though that I once told someone who lives in the UK how much better Royal Mail is than our Australia Post, and he didn't agree at all. Well, he didn't know AusPost, but he thought "domestic" Royal Mail is terrible.

[LewisM]

I sent an OAG to a guy in NSW well over a month ago. No show still!!!! and now I cannot find my receipt because I had ASSUMED it had been delivered and threw it away!

I have contacted his nearest PO in the hopes they have an errant parcel with his name on it.

[Tandum]

I ordered an ignition switch from Poland this week. Posted from Bialystok in Poland, Tuesday Arvo, arrived at my door Friday morning. AU$10.50 DHL Express Int'l Postage. Unbelievable.

[DJT]

and the race is on...
Item inbound from OPT using USPS ordered on 9th September. Just left Kingsford airport so presumably in the hands of auspost. Only needs to get to a parcel locker 20 k away.

Item inbound from Germany via DHL. Again ordered on 9th September, same time in fact and last seen stuck in the export department at the airport in Germany. Tracking system currently down.

Where should the wise money go? Auspost or DHL even with possible custom clearance duty charges..?

[LewisM]

2 items - separate sellers - sent USPS Express Mail International - small ransom in fees. Same day. Very similar size and weight. One track says delivery Wednesday, the other delivery Sunday next week.

Be interesting how long it takes Aus Post.

[DJT]

[QUOTE=DJT;1202316]and the race is on...
Item inbound from OPT using USPS ordered on 9th September. Just left Kingsford airport so presumably in the hands of auspost. Only needs to get to a parcel locker 20 k away.

Item inbound from Germany via DHL. Again ordered on 9th September, same time in fact and last seen stuck in the export department at the airport in Germany. Tracking system currently down.

QUOTE]
Update:
USPS have tracked their item to Aus at which point Auspost have the item as being untrackable.

Alarmingly the DHL item is still in Germany with the latest update being that the parcel will be handed over to Auspost at the destination country..sob:sadeyes:

[xelasnave]

It is if someone was running Aust Post down such that selling it would seem like a good option. But when sold could it ever pick up?
It's near the time someone will suggest selling it.
What will the future hold.
And all will understand selling is a great idea even if the price is way low.

[FlashDrive]

As of today's date 15th Sept' ..... buyer has not received his Radian.
Aust' Post Tracking says ' still in transit ' ....:screwy:

:shrug:..... Col.

[Tandum]

I have $4.5K worth of server parts on a star track courier truck.
They've been in Brisbane, on that truck for 3 days.
Austpost recently bought star track. :(

[MattT]

Can't say I have had problems with Aus Post. Maybe I don't buy and sell enough :lol:

When I do sell I use Express Post...a bit more expensive, not by much....

:rolleyes:

[FlashDrive]

:( .... that's not good news at all.....:( .... can only get worse now. :(

Col....

[LewisM]

My US EMS update - BOTH packages sent same day in US, same EMS service, BOTH arrived in Australia on Monday (same flight no doubt).

To date, Australia Post has NOT delivered my EXPRESS MAIL SERVICE packages, though one is due for delivery today - 3 days late already - and the other package still shows as in SYDNEY.

Inept. The Yanks lived up to their EMS guarantee, and now Aus Post drops the ball - I hope when my Yank friend lodges for refund that USPS charges Aus Post for it, seeing USPS delivered, but Aus Post could NOT.

[PCH]

An item that I sold to a chap on here went missing just recently for a few days, and whether it was coincidence or not I'll never know, but within an hour of my call their 131318#1#1 number, I received an email saying the item was on the truck for delivery today, followed by a 'delivered' email ten minutes later. Finally I received confirmation from the purchaser.

So all's well that ends well, I'm grateful for that. But exactly where it had been hiding for a week, that they managed to find it in about ten minutes is a bit baffling!

Then today, I got the automated follow-up survey call...

"Based on your recent call to (switch to a different voice - 'ALEX') from our (switch to a different voice - 'QUEENSLAND') branch, how likely are you to recommend Australia Post to a family member or friend? Where 0 is not at all and 10 is extremely likely.

I mean, what am I gonna say? No I'm gonna recommend all my friends take their letters to the freakin' butchers to post!?! W-nkers! :screwy:

Just for the sake of playing along, I waited til the end when the voice goes quiet, and said '7'.

The voice waits a few moments before repeating the entire message as above.

This time, still hanging in there for some reason, I say '6'. Same delay. I say '5', - nothing. '4' - we don't seem to have detected an answer yet. ANOTHER REPEAT of entire message.

Slam the phone down.

I mean wtf !!! Are these guys serious?

The girl from optus called me yesterday to tell me I might be eligible for a promotion. Ooooo :) CEO here I come ;)

I say to her, sorry to disappoint but I'm driving and I don't wanna cop a fine. Bye. Slam!

And then today, I get the sms from bl**dy optus asking me how, based on my conversation with whatever-her-name-was yesterday, how would I rate...?

These guys REALLY p**s me off with their stoopid surveys.

Anyway, have a nice days chaps, that's all I wanted to say :)

[FlashDrive]

I whole heartily agree Paul ....their idiots to the core...

Just delivery my Parcel as I've paid you to...forget your stupid surveys, not interested..:mad2:

Col...

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Bang on. , this is exactly what they did to NZ post years ago another asset going.

Brian.

[Geoff45]

So I sent a lodestar to England for repair and I paid the extra money so I could track it. Three weeks later it was still listed as "In transit to destination" (ie to England)so I filed a "Where is my parcel?" query. Later that day there was a knock on the door. My lodestar had been duly delivered, repaired and sent back. Next day I got an email from AP saying they would do their best to locate my parcel by making enquiries of the Royal Mail. Several days later I got a follow up email asking if I was satisfied with their previous response. What a bunch of clowns!
Geoff

[Tandum]

I got my stuff on Friday arvo. They hadn't lost a box they'd lost a pallet.

Not sure how you lose a pallet for 3 days, but the wholesalers got the pallet and I got my box of bits and I got my hand out to the end user for cash.

I sent my wheel off to England for repair. Took 7 months to get it back so I sold the farm after that. PITA.

[xelasnave]

Aust Post needs help.
There is no profit in letters anymore because of the net which is a good reason to sell.
However the net drives the business of parcel delivery making parcel delivery a prime target for capital.
And yet our Aussie Post has problems..problems that can only be solved by selling it to the owners of capital.
Why would they want such a dud asset.
To hear complaints and lose money.
No to fix it and make a bundle.
After the next election it will be sold and the public will endorse the move.
After all we here have suffered their incompetence for a long time and happily support the sale... Pity it can't be fixed so we own a profitable asset.

[LewisM]

To be perfectly fair and honest with Aus Post, I have only had issues with them for the past 2 years. Prior to that, I found them to be very capable and good service. Now... utterly useless. Contractors are most of the problem I feel.

Yes, I too believe Aus Post will be the next asset to be raped and pilaged on the stock market.

[rrussell1962]

I think the issues with Australia Post stem from a few things. Firstly, over the past 20 years or so, their customer base for letter delivery has been eaten away by use of email. As an example, many years ago we thought about moving, looked at a few properties and were subsequently targeted by letters from real estate agents, now we get email updates. Secondly, their customer base for parcel delivery has been reduced because of online purchasing and consequent use of couriers such as Startrack, TNT etc. Thirdly, and this is a guess on my part, they have a charter that compels them to offer a minimum service level. Economies of scale come into play. It takes the same basic local infrastructure to deliver 1000 deliveries a week as it does to deliver 5000 deliveries a week. You still need a depot, you still need a postie. As a result Australia Post has cut costs at the support level such as the major sorting depots and tracking. Plus they have, I suspect, been starved of funds to automate more processes so are possibly more labour intensive than their competitors. I admit that the last few sentences are conjecture on my part, but plausible I think.

My local Australia Post contractor is great! They know I do shift work. If I am expecting a parcel that needs a signature I leave a post-it note on the door asking them to leave the parcel somewhere safe, power box, lean over the fence and leave it on the pool box etc.

Just my thoughts....

Just a bit of comment on service. A few years ago I shipped over a few things from the UK from a deceased estate, nothing valuable, just sentimental stuff. Came via DHL. I stuffed up paperwork at UK end. Phone call from DHL in Brisbane asking me to come to the old international terminal at Brisbane airport with the following documents......park in loading zone, security know I will be there. DHL had redone my paperwork with the correct customs codes and forms, copied and witnessed my documents while I was there, cleared customs that afternoon. No extra charges. Australia Post doing that? I suspect not!

[LewisM]

Used to be like that for me too Richard, BUT now Aus Post has a policy of needing the package marked "Permission to Leave", otherwise they WILL card it - up here at least anyway. I had a similar deal with my local contractor (who is a great bloke and has an 8" Dob :) ), but he now cannot do it.

All the courier companies DO know to leave my stuff in a certain secure location though - Pack n Send guy will take it to his home for me to collect after hours, or will even drop it off on his way home if I will be home.

[rrussell1962]

Well Lewis, I will admit that I do write "Permission to leave" on the post-it note. Perhaps I am just lucky with our local contractor. Doubtless the service level will plummet when he calls it a day!

[raymo]

Alexander, the trouble is that post offices around the world make money
from parcels being sent from their respective countries, and cannot charge for handling of parcels coming into their countries. This worked well for Australia when the ratios were fairly even, but the flood of parcels coming in from China with the advent of ebay has b------d up the
system.
raymo

[rrussell1962]

Raymo, good point and well made! Wish I had thought of it!

[FlashDrive]

Aust Post still haven't found my Parcel I posted on the 31st August to a member here.
Still showing ' in transit ' on their Website .....been 15 working days ... or ... 3 working weeks since I posted it.

Bitterly disappointed in this lot.
I hope they will ask me to do a survey ...I'd like to tell them what for...!! :mad2:

If it disappears and they can't find it...I have promised the buyer I will give them a ' full refund ' ( that's the RIGHT thing to do )

BTW ...nothing just ' disappears ' ..... someone has the parcel ( usually by theft or other ill gain )

If they DO find it...it will also be interesting to hear what their excuse is....they will definitely try and ' smooth ' things over with me, I'm sure.

Apparently there is a Website called ' not good enough .com ' where anyone can speak their mind about any matter concerning ' bad service ' about ' ANY Company :evil: ...but they will delete ' your post ' if you use ' profanity '. You can speak your mind .. just be careful how you do it.

Edit .. I found it ... makes for interesting reading.... http://www.notgoodenough.com.au/

Col....:shrug::mad2:

[Kunama]

It has taken 4 days and 20 hours so far for a parcel to go from Craigieburn to Sunshine on its way to Canberra. In that time a friend has flown from Canberra to Sydney then on to Los Angeles and then driven halfway across USA and had time at the eyepiece in Flagstaff, Arizona..... Go Figure!

[FlashDrive]

Speaks Volumes Matt .... BTW Aust' Post haven't found mine yet.....:shrug:

[FlashDrive]

It's still missing ..... 1 ( working ) month after it was Posted...:mad2:

It's even got my return address on it ....:shrug:

I'll issue a refund to the buyer next Wednesday... ( he has been told )

Flash

[LewisM]

I am in the same boat Col. Weird thing is, during my trace, my local Aus Post outlet said the parcel was held at the recipients post office, and yet when he went in AGAIN to see if they found it, they did not know what he was talking about.

Useless.

Time to issue a refund from me too.

[speach]

Sydney to Woodleigh (just south of Melbourne) 5 up to now still not arrived. I could have driven there and back 2 1/2 times in that period. Then they wonder why Aust Post is going broke, Really can't see the reason.

[LewisM]

My latest debacle with Aus Post is about to be solved... I will need to refund the purchaser :mad2:

2.5 months, and simply vanished. I had discarded the receipt, which of course made things worse (I did not hear from the buyer for over a month, so ASSUMED he had received it!). Now one Aus Post tells me it is at the recipients post office awaiting collection, and the other post office has apparently seen neither hide nor hair of it.

And to top off all that, the EMS package I paid a BOMB for ex-Canada has been sitting in Granville NSW for 7 days... must be waiting for the last mail pony to return.

[brian nordstrom]

I am with you on this one Matt , touch wood but in the. 100,s of transactions I have done over the years every one has been delivered and received , my only gripe really is the slow but steady price rises that happen every time I go in there.:thumbsup:

Brian.

[gavcol]

G'day Everyone

Seems to be a common theme or more like problem with Auspost, no matter what state you live in.

They always leave stuff at the door in direct and clear view of the front road and the public walking or driving by. They make no attempt what so ever to hide it or look for a 'safe place' to drop the item and then leave a card in the mail stating where it is (that is what they are meant to do!)

Out of the many deliveries that I have had recently (a couple still missing!), there has never been any attempt to leave a card in the mail box stating that something has been (so called) 'safe dropped'. I don't think any of these contractors know what the 'safe drop' policy is!

Now that they have this rubber stamped 'safe drop' policy they never take it back to the post office and leave a card for it to be picked up. Why would they, they now have a solid alibi where they can swear ('Scout's Honour') that they followed the approved Auspost 'safe drop' policy. Too bad someone must have found the alleged hiding spot! This is there common way out of these matters.

I also agree with Brian that it is a joke that they have the nerve to up the prices, but offer even less of a service! They are happy to take your money and do all they can to give you a quote. But, as soon as something goes missing they don't want to know you!

Now when I send items to people via Auspost (if not going by courier) after selling online, I make it clear to the purchaser that it will be sent with tracking (which is pretty much standard nowadays). But, I also make sure the buyer understands that I will be not held responsible for missing mail and that I encourage them to pay the extra for both signed delivery and insurance. If you fail to advise purchasers of this or offer to provide this as a part of postage, I guess you do end up wearing some blame or liability. At a minimum make sure that you keep the postal receipt!

This topic just makes me angry!!!!!! :mad2:

Regards

Gav

[Kunama]

You can always do what I did yesterday ....... take a leisurely drive of 850klms and pick stuff up, you'll meet very nice people, see interesting places and get to play with your stuff even on the way home :D

My 'new to me' Zambuto' mirror is now safely at home resting alongside my 'new to me' Takahashi CN-212 Kit. :D

Total cost 82 litres of diesel fuel........

[gavcol]

Good job Matt. :thumbsup:

I definitely would not have trusted Auspost with that!

Regards

Gavin

[FlashDrive]

Aust' Post admitted to me today via phone call that they have ' lost ' my Parcel.... they have no idea what has happened to it...it's just GONE.

Whether a ' compensation claim ' can be awarded is up to Aust' Post....I'll have no say in the matter :mad2:.... the Parcel was not insured.

Value of item sold ... $150.00

Col....:(

[PCH]

Hi Col,

if it's worth anything to you, I can relate what I was told in exactly this same situation a fortnight ago. My parcel turned up as it happens, as outlined earlier in this thread, so I didn't need to pursue compensation.

However, the chat I had with the Aus Post was very revealing. He did say that whether to pay or not to pay compensation was entirely up to Aus Post, as you've pointed out.

But he stressed that when people come on the phone all argumentative and stroppy, they get short shrift and no compo. But when peeps come on nice as pie like what I was obviously, he said they usually get paid the value of their contents up to a max of $100 plus the postage reimbursed.

Obviously I have no idea whether you went for the jugular when you called them or whether you were nice and polite. If you were a bit sharp with them, it might be worth putting your polite cap on and having another go.

Whaddya think?

[FlashDrive]

:rofl:...no I wasn't unduly rude or otherwise .... he was very sympathetic and said this should not have happened....Apologies were forthcoming from Aust' Post......and

I just got a return phone call from them.....they are posting me a Cheque for $50.00 + cost of Postage ...' AS A GOOD WILL ' gesture towards me.

At least some part of the ' loss ' is redeemed by way of their compensation.

Col......:D

[Bassnut]

Tedious. Ive sent 2-5 express post bags a day for 15yrs ALL over the country. Lets say 3 a day average=720 a year=10,800 total. Not a SINGLE one was lost, some 5 were late, around 2 weeks, mostly due to reciever problems (all homes). I send to companys, and I think thats the difference, regular known addresses open during the day arnt a problem. I would imagine home deliveries can be a nightmare for many reasons not the fault of Aust Post. I deal with many couriers. Aust Post is by FAR the most reliable hassle free service.

[MattT]

Well said Fred.

To my mind the key here is EXPRESS POST

As I said earlier that is how I send anything now, no matter how small, and it always gets there…the next day for major cities and 2 days max for country addresses….never had anything go missing. For small items Express Post is the same cost as regular Parcel post bag…go figure…excellent service :thumbsup:

:D

Matt

[FlashDrive]

Not from my experience( most reliable ).....:screwy: ... why .... because it has happened to me on several occasions over many years.

When you have the article CLEARLY AND CORRECTLY ADDRESSED and also CLEARLY MARKED with a RETURN ADDRESS .....how can it just ' DISAPPEAR ' ....it doesn't just ' VAPOURISE '

My conversation with Aust' Post today emphatically suggest ' lost ' articles are happening everyday....and that's coming from their employee.

You've just been real lucky ..... wait till your turn comes.

Col....

[Bassnut]

OK, did any of your bad experiences over the years involve not having a tracking number to sort problems quickly and efficiently?. If you send stuff by standard post without tracking, any problem becomes a loss, its an obvious risk you knowingly take doing that, loss can be for trivial reasons not available without tracking. Lately, even standard post is tracked I think, anyway youd be negligent not sending without tracking. The reasons for loss can be eyepoppingly stupid and utterly invisible without tracking.

[FlashDrive]

No... not at all ... infact stuff I sent by ' ordinary ' post have all been successfully delivered.....

History of my lost items by Aust' Post...

One was an ' Express Satchel ' containing documents ... another was a parcel sent to Tasmania about 8 years ago containing ' radio parts ' , was registered Post ..... and of course we have my recent debacle even with ' tracking ' .

Why wouldn't I be peeved off.... they have a ' history ' of loosing stuff I have sent..... AS YOU HAVEN'T.

To me....they ARE NOT the most reliable ..... all articles were ' traceable '
They just ' LOST ' them.... I don't find that reliable at all.

Ever asked yourself why they offer ' Insurance / Tracking / Registered Post .... because they CANNOT guarantee 100% delivery... they are covering their ' backsides '

We also have some very dubious Aust' Post Contractors.... some being caught with peoples articles at their home address not delivered to the rightful owners... ( stealing )

I could tell you of a first hand account of a Postal worker who went to Court / lost his job '/ shamed his wife / incident made the TV news ....and it was me who caught him out....I was working in conjunction with the Police at the time.

Literally 100's of people lost Christmas Presents / Cards and who knows what else.

Incidentally ...I have sent many items by road couriers Ipec / Comet / Pack and Send / Star Track ... and not lost a single item in over 35 years.... now that speaks for itself.

Col...

[Ausrock]

It is unlikely that there is ANY "profession" that doesn't unknowingly employ people of dubious ethics, people who for whatever reason, don't give a s*#t, unfortunately, Aust., Post is one of few "services" that touches almost everyone in the country more than most, so the odds are that on the occasions that things go wrong, there's a greater chance of it becoming more public, providing something else for the serial detractors in our community to jump up and down about.

PLEASE don't get me wrong, I can only imagine the frustration and annoyance of being in a situation like those mentioned in this thread and hope that I'm never in the same situation but the facts are that......:

1) No "system" is perfect.

2) AP processes a seriously ridiculous number of items each day, consequently........

3) There are always going to be instances of "things" falling through the cracks.

4) If there is no obvious common cause for items disappearing, it is probably difficult to find a "blanket" solution.

The postal system could do with a major revue and rethink but while ever it's focus is on dealing with and accommodating the decrease in general mail (letters) and the increase in parcel style items I don't hold much hope of there being a change.

[FlashDrive]

I quite agree with you Chris......in an ideal world, it would be good if they compensated for the entire ' value ' of the item.

but ...back to reality ....they don't.

Col....

[LewisM]

I cannot believe it...

I sent an item yesterday by Express Post (fully tracked naturally) to Kunama, and from a different PO to usual.

As of 4pm today it still says "No tracking events found".

I have lodged a complaint.

Kunama's "Good postal luck" seems to be tarnished by me :P

[Ausrock]

Lewis,

Out of curiosity, approx., what time did you lodge it........I mean the item not the complaint?:D

[LewisM]

0905 yesterday morning

[Kunama]

Still nothing on the tracking Lewis ....
It should at least show it was lodged???
If it is actually in transit it should turn up tomorrow, I will send you an SMS if it does

[Kunama]

Maybe your postie has taken up astronomy as a hobby?

[LewisM]

My parcel guy does have a Dob that I collimated... we discuss it a lot, especially if I get BIG parcels :)

[dreamstation]

I had a parcel almost get returned to sender yesterday because our mail redirection failed. Sat on the phone for 35 minutes before I got to talk to someone. Managed to get the parcel directed to our local PO for pick up. Got them to check our redirection information as well before lodging a complaint. Useless.

I do suppose it was Bintel who failed first though. I updated my billing and postal addresses before ordering and they sent it to my old address. It even had my new address in the order details/history so not sure what went wrong there.

[Kunama]

Some info on the tracking now Lewis,
the parcel is shown as having been 'accepted by facility'
but my "My Post" account actually shows it having been 'processed through Aust Post facility, Fyshwick ACT', so it should be delivered today......... crossing my fingers at the moment!

[LewisM]

Got a LONG and apologetic email from Aus Post, and they IMPLORED me to begin the refund process. Seems their customer service guys have had enough too.

Good news at least

[LewisM]

Tree shaking even shows up in the tracking pages now :) See screenshot

With most of the issues seeming to come from QLD lately, I wonder if there is an issue at the Underwood sorting facility? It is very odd that an Express Post item was not even scanned until a) I shook the tree and b) it reached the destination sorting office.

One can only wonder how much merchandise simply is STOLEN, as it was never scanned into the system!!!

[FlashDrive]

That's what I reckon has happened to my Parcel that went missing.
Mine was actually scanned in at the Post Office when I gave it to them....then it never made it to the Underwood Mail sorting Warehouse.

It just simply ' vanished ' .....never to be seen again.

Of course there are ' thieves ' working in or for Aust' Post.... you'd be naive not to accept that....most of them are private contractors.

Imagine what Christmas time will be like....

Col.....

[RB]

Lewis get them to look in the little red van, it's obviously still in there by the looks of the screenshot.

:P

[LewisM]

There's a thought. Not beyond Aus Post possibilities...

How Soula puts up with you :) :P

[Kunama]

Tak/Vixen Adapter arrived after all !!!

[Shano592]

We are senders of large-ish amounts of stock with our business. At the moment we use AusPost.

Since February, when they brought in this laser scanning tech that they ripped from their acquisition of Startrack Express, the amount of delayed and missing parcels has rocketed.

We have had parcels going from Tuggerah (2259) to Manly (2095) taking over a week, when they should (and were) overnight. It is a blight on their history, when a parcel can be delivered in Perth quicker.

To add insult to this, our contract parcel (per kilo) rates went up by an average of 30% for this year, across the board.

Our new contract is due any time, and you can bet that they will be getting a fight this time around.

My understanding is that Customs won't hold an item for more than 5 days without advising you. Usually it is because they need to classify something that is not self-explanatory by the declaration. Even sea containers that are held for xray must be released after the 5th day.