Postal Services during the Pandemic

[condor22]

I recently purchased a modest sized Oztrail item from an online camping shop located in Brisbane. It was half the price charged by Oztrail's own online shop and postage free. Here are the relevant dates;

31 Aug - Ebay purchase in the evening
1 Sep - Order confirmation, Invoice received and sender confirmed "on it's way"
2 Sep - Postal tracking number in my email from Aust Post with an expected delivery of 8-10 Sep.
3 Sep - Further update - Item shows at Redbank Postal QLD
12 Sep - Advised my parcel has been Delayed, still at Redbank

At this point I checked the tracking number and the page showed still at Redbank, with a now expected delivery of 15-17 Sep. If it doen't arrive by 17 Sep, check again or phone them. Before any phone call I checked the tracking site. Guess what?

Delivery now expected 23-25 Sep, but and a big but, it has now moved from Redbank to Broome W.A.

BTW I'm in Adelaide. Go figure..... I guess from there it might go to Perth or maybe Darwin, it's getting a better tour of the country than any of us, lol.

 

[condor22]

Forgot to mention, this morning, I got an email from the Ebay seller to rate the product and service.

 

[fwdoz]

I had a small parcel that took almost 3 weeks from Queensland. It showed as still being in Queensland after 18 days. It then mysteriously turned up in Vic on day 19 at my door.

I still have 6 other items I am waiting on. Might be out of lockdown before they arrive.

~pigs flying across the sky~

 

[Moneybox]

Condor, I reckon the government should step in and sort Australia Post out. They've had plenty of time to adjust to the extra workload but they seem to be going further behind. Post is an essential service and Australia Post have failed in their obligation to deliver in a reasonable time. Express Post can take 10 days or more depending on if it's lost or still on the way. Regular post can take three weeks or more and that's just not good enough at any time but much more important when we are restricted on travel and personal contact.

Where are our government representatives who are meant to be keeping this country running?

 

[PabloP]

I believe that in Victoria there have been restrictions put in place on some post services, but as has already been said, it shouldn't be the case for an essential service.

Australia Post has a CovID Worksafe plan for Australia, but Victoria has its own version, and in one extra statement it reads in step 7 -
"Workforce Reduction -
Each relevant Australia Post facility will conduct the required workforce reductions and maintain records of this process and implementation on site. They will be available on request"

The all Oz plan does not have this step 7.

Rob P.

 

[RM Outback]

Got a postal bag from Cairns to regional Victoria in about 3 days hard to believe after hearing so many horror stories of lost/wayward parcels.

 

[shakergt]

Yep I hear you on this one. Purchased a drawer for my 4x4 on Sunday 13/9/20. It left bibra lake (perth) at 3:10 pm on the 14/9/20. Close of business today 17/9 and its still not here. Funny thing is Esperance is only 7 hours from perth so I would have thought it would be here by now.

 

[condor22]

I can well understand issues in Melbourne due to the lockdown, but most of the rest of Oz is relatively open. Having said that there are far fewer passenger aircraft flying and they use space for mail. But from about as far east as you can go on this continent to about as far NW when I'm southern central don't make sense.

I'm told that Aust Post wants to reduce mail deliveries from 3 days a week to 2 days a week and it got passed in the Senate for that to occur.

Given the time line for my delivery, 2 weeks quarantine in QLD to go get it and another 2 on return to S.A. might have been quicker.

 

[Goldtarget]

Its been garbage. Had one parcel from North Vic go redirect to Adelaide then back. Should have done the 2 hour drive, and 2 back instead of 13 days postage.

Hopefully with Regional Vic opening up things will calm down but Ive just stopped sending until things are more normal. I reckon during horse and cart days things didnt take this long.

Postage costs arent high but I refuse to give a company any further service until this resolves itself with shorter times, after all the bottom line is what pays those outrageously high bonuses and salaries to those at the top.

All Covid did was expose the systematic changes they put in place closing the regional hubs that started 8 years ago and jerking their transport contracts to maximise profits.

 

[Eldorado]

My Xterra 705 was sent from Goulburn on 8th September to go to Bendigo Miners Den.It was processed in Sydney on the 9th and hasnt moved since.

 

[Jaros]

I have dropped Foxtel and they said I would be getting a message re the IQ3 Box and power pack. This was dated 31/8.A week ago I received the"FINAL NOTICE EQUIP RETURN " to have it at the P.O. or risk a $300 fee.
Texted them yesterday that I would be dropping the box off at local P.O.--No response.
Funny isn't it, 7 days for me to get the notice due to Aus Post inefficiency.

I asked google re a tel no. for Foxtel
It was a 1300 number and was answerred quickly but couldn't make out the accent. It took me 5 mins to get the return code for the post office.
JESUS.....

 

[user 5263]

We only get mail Mon, Wed, Fri, one week and Tues, Thurs the following week.

 

[condor22]

Before the Pandemic started, I got an Electricity Bill in the mail 2 days after the due date. Like most, there is a significant discount if paid on time.

I paid the full amount, then rang my provider to complain, explaining that it is difficult to pay on time if I don't get the bill in time. As I have always paid on time and received the discount, they have a record of my previous prompt payments.

That record, plus that I had already paid the bill, they stated that my next bill would be credited with the missed discount. This next bill also happened to coincide with my receiving my pensioner concessions and ended up with my next payment being less than $10.

During my conversation I also found out that when we pay bills with B Pay, it can take 2-3 days for that payment to be made by our financial institutions to the vendor. If you wait until the day before a bill is due, it can still show up as being overdue by the time your provider receives payment. This can apply to any B Pay payment.

2 Morals to this story;

1. As most bills are issued 2 weeks before the due date then lost time for Aust post to get it to you, plus the lag in B Pay, bills should be paid ASAP.
2. If by no fault of yours, you lose a pay on time discount or get charged a late fee, getting in touch with creditors, will likely see these fees waived or discounts applied.

 

[Jaros]

The P.O. only do letters Mon, Wed, Fri. Parcels on the days in between.
I'm afraid BPay is so much better.

 

[Solid Luck]

In their defence. Online shopping has gone up by 80% during the lockdown.

No one could have foreseen that.

As for bills. Get them emailed to you.

 

[user 5263]

Also Australia Post thankfully is Gov't owned and it is one of the better postal services in the world, they may have difficulties at times but overall they do okay.

 

[Goldtarget]

In their defence. Online shopping has gone up by 80% during the lockdown.

No one could have foreseen that.

As for bills. Get them emailed to you.

Fair point mate.
Lets see what happens going ahead. The system was already kinda of broken before the increase though.

What annoyed me more than the delays of shutting down the regions was all the regional jobs that went with it.

As long as they are beholden to a profit the situation wont improve much. Its 2020, we shouldnt be going backwards.

 

[condor22]

It's called "Supply and Demand" When demand exceeds supply, we always pay more. Look at the cost of Gas and Electricity.

I saw on the news a couple of days ago, that for 2 reasons, the cost of second hand cars has gone up around 20% - 1. because of people not wanting to use public transport, and, 2. Fewer new car sales as money is short.

Ergo, more people wanting good 2nd hand drives = price increase.

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With postal services, people are buying more online, services are severely limited due to less air traffic. Demand is far outstripping supply. However in this instance, the price has not increased, the service has decreased........... My parcel is still in Broome, lol.

 

[Solid Luck]

It's called "Supply and Demand" When demand exceeds supply, we always pay more. Look at the cost of Gas and Electricity.

I saw on the news a couple of days ago, that for 2 reasons, the cost of second hand cars has gone up around 20% - 1. because of people not wanting to use public transport, and, 2. Fewer new car sales as money is short.

Ergo, more people wanting good 2nd hand drives = price increase.

-------------------------------------------

With postal services, people are buying more online, services are severely limited due to less air traffic. Demand is far outstripping supply. However in this instance, the price has not increased, the service has decreased........... My parcel is still in Broome, lol.

Well as far as Auspost go they are delivering parcels 7 days a week at times. It is pretty hard to cope with an 80% increase in volume.

With 3 teenage daughters we are getting a delivery nearly every day. If i had any hair I'd pull it out with the stuff they are buying. But hey, it's their dosh.

Surprisingly, couriers seem to be a lot faster now. I ordered a parcel on Fri 11 Sep and it arrived on Wed 16. Go figure.

Ordered an item on ebay 10 days ago and it is still in transit.

 

[xcvator]

It may be my imagination but all he stuff my wife and daughter order comes a lot quicker than mine 8.( but there does seem to be a trend , all their parcels are relatively big, mostly shoebox size or bigger, mine are nearly all large envelope size . So is Auspost delivering all the big stuff and allowing the smaller stuff to just stack up untill it becomes a nuisance.

Or am I just a suspicious old prick that doesn't believe very much of anything "official" anymore