AUSTRALIA POST: No more signatures required for overseas registered items.

[sydney-diecast-kingdom]

So for those of you who don't already know I work for Aussie Post.

Today one of the delivery managers addressed over 400 of us at a regular meeting and informed us that as of today:

"Posties and parcel contractors will no longer be required to get a signature from a customer when delivering an overseas registered item".

After the cheers had died down there was a lot of head scratching as to why this was the case. Funnily enough nobody bothered to ask why. 

Items will still be scanned on delivery but just no signature required. I wonder if people sending signature items from overseas are aware of this? I also wondered if this will be eventually reciprocated in other countries.  

Just letting my fellow eBay nutters in on what's going down.

[lyndal1838]

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@sydney-diecast-kingdom wrote:

Red. Full time for the last 21 years.

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Blue Post here.....first with AaE for 15+ years and now my OH is with StarTrack.

[247newdeals]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

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@247newdeals wrote:

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@sydney-diecast-kingdom wrote:

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The majority of the time is the scanning of each parcel, which you will still have to do, the signature part takes a few seconds.

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Not so.

SIGNATURE ITEM:

* You have to ring the doorbell, buzzer, intercom etc.

* On many occassions you have to do this at least twice

* You have to explain who you are and what you have

* Sometimes people say "I'll be out in a minute" and take forever

* Sometimes people aren't home and you have to enter those details in the scanner and physically write out a card which can have up to 20 or more digits on it

* If the person is home you have to physically enter their name into the scanner with a pointer one letter at a time (try typing a Thai name)

* If someone is elderly, non-English speaking, or lives on the top floor you can add more time to this process

NON-SIGNATURE:

* Scan and pop in letterbox 

Spoiler

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You cant fit a parcel in a letter box. You will still have to go to the door for parcels so all the things you listed will still cost you time I am not sure how you are saying it will save you time unless what you are saying is Auspost will stop delivering parcels and just leave cards in the mail box. If so get ready to lose your job because the normal postie can take them about

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Posties are only supposed to deliver parcels that can fit in the letterbox....anything larger goes with BluePost contractors.  That used to include StarTrack but now the powers that be have decided that StarTrack will no longer take overseas registered.

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A lot of parcels go through the postie I pick up 5+ most weeks, from the PO, I have 2 to collect tomorrow most are just a little to big the larger items, that go through AusPost are delievered StarTrack or rather was maybe the one I got today will be the last 

[lyndal1838]

My post particularly referred to overseas registered and signature required which is what this thread was all about initially.  StarTrack still delivers other parcels as do the normal AP parcel contractors.

My postman rarely has to leave anything at the PO as my box is quite big.   If it is too big for the postbox the contractor brings it and leaves in a safe drop area that I have used for years.

[digital*ghost]

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@sydney-diecast-kingdom wrote:

"Posties and parcel contractors will no longer be required to get a signature from a customer when delivering an overseas registered item".

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Was just thinking a bit more about this, as I know a few OS sellers but didn't want to cause panic and outrage by letting them know about it, just in case I've misunderstood something along the way...

Obviously to us here in Oz, a registered article has always meant an article ID number (usually tracked) and SOD - is this consistent to OS packages? That is, is the SOD collected something that is part of the purchased service in the originating country, or something that AP did by default on any package that was labeled as 'registered'? (Sometimes the staff where I have my PO box scan packages and then look at the screen before they know the package doesn't require a signature, but I'm not sure whether the sig prompt can sometimes be part of AP's system, or the sender's postage service). 

Just to clarify why I'm asking, a registered article sent internationally from Oz has the article ID and requires SOD. The article ID has never been tracked via the AP website, but USPS used to return tracking information once they had the number, so you could track a package on its US leg of the journey. but some months back USPS decided to stop doing that, and since registered isn't advertised as a trackable service by AP, there's not really much to protest there... So, basically I'm just wondering if this definitely applies to any and all overseas sig-required packages, no matter what. 

[lyndal1838]

Digi, I am not sure if this is very helpful but with mail from the UK the Small Packet with SOD is only trackable within the UK and does not qualify for paypal protection anyway.

And Parcelforce is trackable but does not have SOD so also does not qualify for paypal protection.

Whatever AP does in the way of tracking or SOD makes very little difference to those services.

And it will have little effect on GSP services as they are courier based, at least until they arrive in Australia and are sometimes handed to AP for delivery.   Once in the hands of AP from within Australia they should be trackable and signed for if that is the service used.

I have never had to sign for anything from China or any other Asian country....nor have I ever tracked anything from there either.

As for the USA....the majority of the larger sellers are using the GSP and the others who will use USPS seem to know about e-Delcon which does not require a signature as far as I know....I have never signed for items using it.

The OP did say that it only applied to overseas registered items.  Unfortunately StarTrack is no longer handling overseas registered mail so I have no way of finding out what will happen with other overseas mail requiring a signature.

[digital*ghost]

Thanks lyndal 🙂  SOD on untracked services would have been what qualified them for seller protection I would have thought - if they're not trackable (like our international registered), then the signature would be the only thing that could prove delivery (PayPal will accept a variety of evidence with or without tracking, at any rate, not 100% sure about eBay). But services with tracking and no SOD would still be ok for anything under the threshold where SOD is a requirement for seller protection (usually $750, so probably worth OS sellers sticking to the GSP or couriers on those). 

Most of the sellers I know are either in the US or Canada, but aren't using eBay so don't have access to the GSP, and I can just imagine the unrest if none of their available services would mean a guaranteed SOD (I'm think-hoping that's less likely, but will have to wait and see).  

[padi*0409]

digi and lyndal Im watching this thread with a touch of consternation, obviously AP have made a blanket decision on SOD international, but as you've pointed out SOD is not "registered mail", so therein lies the problem, especially when tracking for eBay or Paypal's policies can mean "delivered within a few postcodes of the recipient"

Does an OS seller with SOD have no idea ( or his buyer ) where their parcel is, I know fully well that some OS tracking is not supported by AP or even the usual tracking sites like 7 track once they reach Australia, unless you go to your local AP outlet.

Digi, I fear that AP is doing yet another cost-cutting exersize................I do hope I'm proved wrong.

Spoiler

My postie is going to be so peed off when he gets a push-bike instead of his motorbike and has to deliver all the mail so that AP can save money on fuel...maybe I'll lend him a ride-on mower for the local stuff.      LOL

Digi, just read your last post, the pertainant thing is the eBay/Paypal support for buyers and sellers on this one.

[lyndal1838]

Digi, I know from experience that paypal has refused to accept UK mail that does not have tracking and SOD.

A few years ago I had a small packet with SOD go missing....supposedly signed for by me but it was not my signature when we finally managed to get a copy from AP.

I had opened a dispute through paypal as both the seller and I believed we were covered by paypal.  I got my refund at the seller's expense and when she appealed she was told quite bluntly that she had to have tracking and SOD to be covered.  This is when she and a lot of other UK sellers found out that really there was no Royal Mail service that would give them paypal protection....they needed to use a courier at great expense or take the risk that they would not have a claim made against them.

I would really like to know more about what the OP was told.   I am not suggesting that he is wrong but believe me it would not be the first time that AP has only told their employees and contractors half the story.  Unfortunately StarTrack is not involved in delivering overseas registered mail now so I might have to get my OH to ask at one of the POs in the city.

[*tippy*toes*]

I just signed for an OS parcel a few mins ago, so it mustn't be implemented yet. It had 4 stickers on it saying signature required. Big bright yellow and black stickers. It was sent through the postage system, but was delivered by one of the local couriers (it wasn't a big parcel, but larger than what would be classed as a small parcel). I wonder in that situation where it's handed to the local courier whether they will still get the SOD when it's stipulated?

[lyndal1838]

Tippy, if it came through the mail system then it would have had to be delivered by an AP contractor or StarTrack....or if there is no StarTrack depot in your area it would have been off loaded to a local carrier.  I think you will find that all couriers have to get a signature unless they have an authority to leave.

My confusion comes from the OP....he says that they do not have to get signatures for registered parcels....not that they don't have to get signatures for any SOD parcels.