well this one could hit us pretty hard!!

[h0ughy (David)]

for all those astro investors out there - your investment could be a little dearer

http://www.news.com.au/finance/busin...8c3d918cd7f255

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

i'm ok with that

as long as they crack down on the delivery man in the first place

geoff

[Atmos (Colin)]

It is really not going to effect too many people and I don't really see any issue with it myself. I would guess that those 1500 customers surveyed are those that haven't been able to make it down within a week.

"Would you rather pay a small fee for us to hold onto it for you or get the package resent from its original location?"
I know what my answer would be.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I'd say, " I would rather you make the effort to deliver the package as you are supposed to."
It is after all what the person paid for.

[rally]

I agree JenChris,

They are carefully, by selective questioning, fabricating a supposed customer survey position that doesnt exist to any great extent in the real world in order to justify charging for a service that will by creep and stealth, end up affecting everyone and add significnt revenue to their bottom line.
Try and get it removed in 10 years time and see how well you go.

. . . or am I being too sceptical to think that the possibility exists that in 3 years time they'll need to justify some new position - eg we no longer deliver to homes and we need to charge for every parcel we hold at the post office due to increased costs.

I remember when the banks stated they would never ever charge for using an ATM, and that they would always have customer service - now with the closure of so many branches you end up needing to go to a third party bank to get your money out and you get charged.
And every time you go to the bank to do a face to face transaction they have their highly trained consultants who are busy trying to sell the use of an ATM transaction that doesnt or cant actually perform the actual service that you need.
. . . but thats another rant - when there 15 people in the queue all of whom have to wait 15 minutes each and they have one or two customer service personel flitting about out front mimicking as service when there is but one teller behind the counter trying to do all the work and you have to grit your teeth and watch the ineffective waste and worry if you have enough time to do this !
After all - they are collectively wasting 4 hours of customers time every 15 minutes.

But I digress . . .

So when the Postie doesnt bother to deliver a parcel through sheer laziness or maybe he was just under too much pressure, or maybe they decide that they are only doing mail deliveries once every 2/3 days and parcel deliveries every 3-5 days ! and it gets left back at the post office and they send out a letter advising to say its being held - 3-4 days have already passed and you now pay $3 or $6 per parcel due to the time (remember its per parcel not per delivery)
So we end up paying extra to reward them for an inept delivery service.
Let me see now - typically more than 3 parcels per week for me that now cost $6 each costs me at least $18 extra per week - they just made $1000 extra pa for not doing the job they are supposed to do !

I regularly get parcels from overseas and I'm constantly amazed (and demoralised) that they are inevitably sent from OS and arrive in Australia in about 3-4 days and yet it then takes another 5-12 days to find its way to me.
During which time I can track the article all the time that its sent while its overseas but the moment it arrives in Oz the only tracking I can find is the delivery notification that only appears a day after delivery !

Sorry - but I see it very clearly as the thin end of the wedge - and they have a mighty big hammer !

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

Typical Australian Post .....give it a few years and ( I hope ) this Company will go to the wall, because of their complete incompetence .

I see other business's like Office Works now offering Parcel Delivery...although I can't comment about how good they are.

If someone with enough financial backing and provide good service, they could make Australia Post a thing of the past.

There would be a lot of unemployed people who could join the new company, those with experience ( former Aussie Post workers ) and those who are enthusiastic about gaining employment.

The CEO and alike can go join the queue at Center Link ( probably won't happen because of the outlandish salaries paid )

Flash....

[sheeny (Al)]

Don't be complacent about this. It's price gouging.

Even if you think the rates are OK now, they won't be later - and there'll be no turning back.

Under normal circumstances, I'm at the post office every day to collect my mail, but what concerns me is when I'm away for work or on holidays. $9 per parcel if I'm away for 3 weeks? Makes a $2.50 minor item off eBay look pretty nasty!

Think about it...

Al.

[gary]

Originally Posted by news.com.au

Undelivered parcels are currently held at post offices for 10 days at no cost before being returned to sender.

...

From August 1, if a package isn’t collected within five days, its recipient would have to hand over $3 to pick it up.

And 1500 surveyed people are happy with that?

Adds statistical weight to the old saying, "A fool and his money are soon parted".

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Here is an interesting thing. I have just ordered some stuff from the US. Finalised the order on Thursday night our time. It had left Sacramento by 2am Friday our time, travelled to Cincinnatti, then to Melbourne was ready to have customs paid on it by about midday yesterday, I paid the duty this morning at 11am today and it should be delivered tomorrow (unless the freight company decide to send it via Aust Post which i am told they sometimes do!!)
Yet it can take a minimum of 4 days to get a letter from here in Colac to Geelong!!

Huh?

Malcolm

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Parcels addressed to me always arrive while I am away at work. I have them redirected to the Auspost northside parcel center rather than my local retail post office. The parcel center is open about from about 730am to 700pm, don't quote me but it's a pretty generous range of operating hours. At 4:51, the time when all the public servants knock off work at the same time, it's pretty busy. Go there at 630pm and you can park outside the front door, walk straight in and only have a queue of 1-2 people. I have no complaints.

Occasionally, I am off overseas or interstate and can't collect in 9 days. I usually try to time any purchases to avoid this but if I do, even for a cheap item, I wouldn't mind paying them a few dollars for them to hold it rather than have it sent beack. Let's face it, those $2.50 purchases on ebay are probably going to cost a lot more than the holding charge.

For example, I used to pay $50 for bare stepper motor driver printed circuit boards from a retail electronics supplier. Those boardsthen had to be populated with components and IC's.

Last time I ordered stepper controllers, I paid $12.50 for five of them. The new boards come pre-assembled a more capable, more functional controller. Paying another $3 for them to hold for a few days is nothing.

I realize some of you are probably not so well served by AP. Take a look at what services they offer in your area. It might not be so bad.

Joe

[gary]

John Birmingham in the Sydney Morning Herald offers a colourful opinion piece on this topic -
http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/joh...02-gokhgy.html

[The_bluester (Paul)]

I would say I am quite poorly serviced by AP. The only upside for us is that it is an LPO and they are open on a Saturday morning, so if I am awaiting something and get the card on my way in the gate after closing time on a Friday I can at least pick up on a Saturday.

And pick up I usually must. Anything bigger than a magazine is a card in the mailbox and sometimes even magazines get carded! Even getting the card is hit and miss, more than a few times we have got the "Reminder" card which would now likely result in having to pay to pick up without getting the initial card.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

So my delivery from US arrived today. 2am Friday morning to midday Tuesday from Sacramento via Cincinnatti with DHL. Interesting thing was that it arrived via the Australia Post contractor!!

Malcolm

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

Nine boxes taken to Wamberal Post Office around 4:30pm Thursday 28th April

Delivery details below



Delivered 12:37pm Fri 29 Apr MOORE PARK, NSW
Delivered 9:18am Mon 2 May GREENSBOROUGH, VIC
Delivered 9:22am Mon 2 May BEROWRA, NSW
Delivered 9:22am Mon 2 May BEROWRA, NSW
Delivered 10:36am Mon 2 May HAMILTON SOUTH, NSW
Delivered 11:00am Mon 2 May CAVES BEACH, NSW
Delivered 11:01am Mon 2 May CRAIGIEBURN, VIC
Delivered 12:10pmb Tue 3 May KINGSTON, TAS
Delivered 3:22pm Tue 3 May BURNSIDE, QLD

Can't complain about that!

geoff

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

Nine boxes taken to Wamberal Post Office around 4:30pm Thursday 28th April

Delivery details below



Delivered 12:37pm Fri 29 Apr MOORE PARK, NSW
Delivered 9:18am Mon 2 May GREENSBOROUGH, VIC
Delivered 9:22am Mon 2 May BEROWRA, NSW
Delivered 9:22am Mon 2 May BEROWRA, NSW
Delivered 10:36am Mon 2 May HAMILTON SOUTH, NSW
Delivered 11:00am Mon 2 May CAVES BEACH, NSW
Delivered 11:01am Mon 2 May CRAIGIEBURN, VIC
Delivered 12:10pmb Tue 3 May KINGSTON, TAS
Delivered 3:22pm Tue 3 May BURNSIDE, QLD

Can't complain about that!

geoff

Did each go to the right place Geoff?

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

sure did RB

made sure all the right addresses were on the right boxes

(i didn't put any addresses on the left boxes )

geoff