Bloody Aus Post

[Starless (Brian)]

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 (Paul)]

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 (Poppy)]

Originally Posted by The_bluester

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.

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.

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

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

Aust' Post are dragging their feet

Flash....

[dreamstation (James)]

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 (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

I also had an item ex-Greece (no Andrew, it is not for you!) sent on Wednesday last week.

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

[Weird1 (Keith)]

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

[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 :LOL:

[Regulus (Trevor)]

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 (Paul)]

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 (Grant)]

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 (Paul)]

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 (Paul)]

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 (Paul)]

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 (Paul)]

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

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.....

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.

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

Col....

[OzStarGazer]

Originally Posted by FlashDrive

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

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.