Australia Post 'book a pickup service'

[oddsandendsoz]

Hi all,

Hope you are all well and sales are going ok for you. I just wondered if anyone uses the Australia Post Book a pick up service and if so, is this picked up by an actual AP employee, a contractor or both? I am having major issues with lost parcels and am trying to mitigate this and have taken ridiculous steps to stop this happening. 

I spoke with the Postal Ombudsman on Wednesday and they indicated that they are hearing a lot of lost parcels and that a lot of people are suspecting contractors. I am thinking that if the AP book a pick up service is done by an AP staff member I may give that a go. Does anyone know? 

[gutterpunkz05]

If you are sending your items with tracking, within your handling time, and the item records just 1 valid tracking event (lodgement) , then you have fulfilled your obligations to ebay, and any refund to the buyer is payable by ebay.

There has been the occasional  rouge contractor/employee but I doubt it is wide spread.  I for  one have not had increased lost articles, but have had some significant delays due to major weather events and flooding, impacting  Australias  logistical/transport operations, resulting in huge mail backlogs that in some cases have taken over a month to clear.

[oddsandendsoz]

Thank so much for your input. I actually did not know that about the one tracking event.  Fortunately I insure all of my items because of the value. On the increased lost articles I would have agreed with you, up until recently. In 8 years of selling I had up until the last 6 or 7 months 2 or 3 lost items. Since October I am at 8 with other very strange things happening. 

On the booking pick up, the reason I ask this is that on the phone to the AP rep a few weeks ago they suggested this as they thought it might be 'an interesting experiment' as to if the loss rate decreases. But I only want to do this if it is going to be an AP employee as I share others concerns that this is likely 'rogue' contractors. 

[expanded_perceptions]

I called AP just now and they advised that the pick up would be by either an AP employee or a contractor. So I am not sure how to proceed now. Due to all the issues I have had since October I have now taken to going to my 4th different Post Office to see if that would help my lost parcel rate (as my items seem to go missing from lodgement at PO to never getting to the sorting centre. I now take photos of all my parcels at the PO and on the scales showing the label, and actual weight. 

I send with SOD and insurance and am still having major issues. Now I suspect that one of my parcels was 'tampered' with, essentially opened and swapped, with another parcel going missing on the same day and time of lodging. Is anyone else experiencing a sharp rise in lost parcels? I am at my wits end with this now. I have tried to mitigate in so many ways. Any ideas on what I can do? I spoke to the ombudsman but they have advised best I can do is report each item to them so they can create a pattern. AP staff no help although I did just get them to schedule a call from a Supervisor in their team for next week. Any inout most gratefully received. 

[eol-products]

What kind of items are going missing and what size are the parcels. They keep lost parcels for 3 months and if it is unique they may be able to look for it. 

[expanded_perceptions]

I mostly sell alcohol and spirits, but I also have another eBay account that I sell a few books and household items but very infrequent sales. All my items are usually in boxes around 40cm x 19cm x15cm, sometimes a little smaller and some bigger if buyer has bought more than one bottle. 

The weird thing is ALL my lost parcels are alcohol, and a month ago I lodged 4 parcels, 2 alcohol and 2 were sales of my small account a book and a clock. All 4 parcels lodged together, and the 2 alcohol items went missing and the other 2 arrived. All 4 were placed in the same red AP tub at the PO after lodging as I watched the lady place them in. 

[davewil1964]

If you lodge over the counter and get a lodgement receipt, you are covered. If you choose a pickup and there is a scan at pickup (which I believe there should be), you are covered.

It shouldn't matter whether it is an AP employee or a contractor. AP has fairly strict standards, and shonky employees or contractors would be dealt with harshly.

[oddsandendsoz]

Thanks Dave! It is just really stressful even if I am covered or AP pay out the compensation. I am just trying to find a way to limit my stress and also the hassles for my customers. 

So far AP don't seem to be taking it overly seriously. To me though, this level of lost parcels is not normal and must be way above AP's normal loss rate. The thing is the parcels never go further than being lodged at the PO which is odd in itself, and given the issues I have now moved to my 4th PO to try to avoid this. Hopefully when I speak to the supervisor next week they will start to investigate this. 

[oddsandendsoz]

Update - Spoke with a supervisor today who was helpful and they have agreed that they need to launch an investigation. That is the good news, the bad news is 3 more parcels are missing from my lodging last week. All 3 lodged together and all 3 no movement at all. 

The AP Supervisor did say that I won't get to hear of any disciplinary action on their findings due to privacy which is fair enough. But I am really over this now. This is starting to feel very 'targeted' now. Hopefully AP can identify the culprit/s. 

[justkidzbiz]

I thought that tracking had to show the parcel as delivered in order for a seller to be covered. I know before Managed Payments came around if a buyer opened a dispute via PayPal, the tracking only had to show as being lodged with the buyers correct PayPal address but it’s all changed now.

I had a sale on Sat 26 March, lodged parcel at the PO on Tues 29 March. I check tracking just to make sure parcels are delivered.  19 April, I lodged a query with AP as the tracking showed delayed. Buyer received the notification update from AP (I selected send tracking updates to receiver) and opened a INR dispute.

I messaged the buyer through the dispute, checked and confirmed address was correct.  Contacted eBay and asked not to close the dispute as the parcel was under investigation with AP and provided evidence of this via tracking and copied emails from AP into the dispute. EBay agreed to put the dispute on hold for 10 days.  

Day 10 came and went, and the next day without any notification whatsoever from eBay to follow up, they simply closed the dispute and refunded the buyer in full. Appealed the decision as the item was still under investigation and they said the item hasn’t been delivered so I have to refund the buyer. So I  end up with no item and -$115.00.

checked the MGB requirements for sellers and it states item must show as delivered. (See below)

was disappointed with the whole thing, but on 3 June, I get a notification from AP that the item is “out for delivery”. WTH!! Sure enough later that day,  “item delivered” .  Now this was going from Melbourne Metro to Adelaide Metro and it’s taken 9 1/2 weeks! No explanation from AP.  Funnily enough, I saw an ad on TV about how AP is delivering more and giving better service! All I could do was laugh!

i emailed the buyer and she confirmed it did indeed arrive that day, but by coincidence she had bought another jacket that day. So I’ve asked if she could send it back “Return to Sender” and she said she will so fingers crossed! I wonder how many weeks it will take to get back to me!

Deciding the outcome when the buyer doesn't receive an item

When a buyer reports that they didn't receive an item and the transaction meets our eligibility requirements, we will look for:

• Evidence of successful delivery to the address provided by the buyer at checkout, or
• Proof that the buyer collected the item.

If we determine that the item was not successfully delivered or collected:

• The buyer will receive a refund for the full cost of the item and original postage, and
• The seller may be required to reimburse eBay for the amount of the refund.

Evidence of successful delivery
We require all of the following to prove a successful on-time delivery:

• Tracking number from an integrated carrier which was uploaded to eBay and shows a carrier scan before the latest estimated delivery date;
• A delivery status of "delivered" or "attempted delivery" (or equivalent in the country to which the item was delivered);
• The date of delivery or attempted delivery;
• The recipient's address, showing at least the city/suburb or postcode (or international equivalent) that matches the one found on the Order details page; and
• Signature confirmation, on orders with a total cost of $750 or more. Learn more about our signature confirmation requirements.