A resident of an inner-city Melbourne apartment has slammed Australia Post after countless failed deliveries left them frustrated by the realisation: “I don’t have a reliable mail service.”
It’s a reality experienced by many others, who also shared their struggles with the nation’s government-owned postal service in a forum discussion on Tuesday.
The anonymous university student, who cannot drive for medical reasons, said they work two jobs from home and someone was almost always at the apartment during the Australia Post delivery windows.
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“They don’t even bother attempting to call us downstairs for packages,” the person wrote on Reddit.
“We just get the emails saying they have been taken to a post office that is not easily reached by public transport, and it ends up taking at least an hour by the time I get there, line up with all the other disgruntled people, and get back home.
“And, of course, it is only open during business hours.”
They claim their building — described as a “bougie” complex with cameras and a concierge who “the postie refuses to leave (parcels) with” — has been labelled “unsafe”, but described having no issues with other delivery services, including DHL, in the three years they have been living there.
“Living in the city shouldn’t mean I don’t get to have mail delivered to me,” they said.
Australia Post told 7NEWS.com.au: “Australia Post delivers nine million parcels each week around Australia, with the vast majority reaching their destination safely and on time.
“We are sorry to hear this customer has not had a good experience and we are looking into it.”
Variations of the netizen’s experience were shared by many others in the nearly 250 comments posted to the forum thread.
“My concierge has watched the drivers stand in front of the intercom without touching it, press some buttons on their scanners, and keep moving on multiple occasions,” one person wrote.
“I watched one today, on my security camera, ride past the parcel letterbox we got specifically for parcels, stop at the door, knock, ring the doorbell, and ride off. Total time on my driveway was 30 seconds,” another wrote.
“By the time my housemate came out to answer the door, the postie was gone completely. They are really efficient at not delivering parcels.”
The Melbourne resident who posted the online rant said they had also previously tried using a parcel locker, at Australia Post’s recommendation, but ran into a host of issues.
They claimed larger packages weren’t delivered to the locker, that they commonly received text alerts regarding packages that weren’t theirs, and added many online sellers would not accept a parcel locker address for deliveries.
Australia Post advised 7NEWS.com.au improvements had recently been made to the parcel lockers service.
“We encourage customers to download the AusPost app, where they can choose to redirect parcels to the Post Office of their choice, a PO Box or a 24/7 parcel locker,” it said.
“This provides a secure and convenient option and can be done even when the parcel is already on its way.”
Contractor pressures and excuses
Australia Post did not comment on its individual contractors or delivery policies, and is unable to address individual instances of deliveries-gone-wrong without the recipients’ personal details.
But some netizens on the Reddit thread shared excuses given to them by delivery drivers trying to justify their actions in so-called “ding-dong-dash” delivery attempts.
“Mine used to turn up in a van and leave a card, even when I was home and caught them at the door running away,” one person said.
“When I asked why, I was told because packages over a certain weight or size are never loaded into the van in the first place. It’s too much for one person to carry.
“So they leave them at the post office and card people to say they can pick it up from there. Unfortunately, all the cards say ‘we tried to deliver but you weren’t home’.”
Other netizens suggested the delivery system has adapted to theft, dishonesty, and time pressures.
“As a contractor, you can’t win. You deliver, with authority, only to have the recipient claim they didn’t get the parcel. You card when you get no response at the door, they complain,” they wrote.
“If they had to wait two minutes for each person to come down, that adds up to hours extra a day over 200 parcels,” another wrote.
Australia Post advises any customers who have experienced issues with their deliveries to get in touch.
“For any delivery service concerns, we ask customers to call Australia Post on 13POST (13 7678),” the service said.