Australia Post is about to discontinue its No Safe Drop stickers

[tetrahedron800]

On Tuesday July 1st, Australia Post will be discontinuing its No Safe Drop stickers. This has been a rushed decision, and my local Australia Post only heard about it 2 days ago. Most people at the customer callcentre at 13 13 18 haven't heard about it. I managed to see an internal memo that was circulated to outlets.

This means that from July 1st, items with a No Safe Drop sticker or No Safe Drop written on them will be left outside the front door or in the mailbox. There are 3 ways to avoid this:

- Spend a extra $2.95 per item on a signed-for service (which in addition to being uneconomic will probably make life difficult for customers who are unable to wait at home.)

- Use the Parcel Collect system. (This requires every recipient to sign up to the Parcel Collect system by filling in a form. Australia Post are also unable to provide an overview of which parts of the country have this service and which do not, unless you run through every postcode one-by-one over the phone. So this option is out.)

- A parcel locker. (This is only available to PO box customers in major cities, so is also out in nearly every case.)

In essence, this move is a cash grab to get people sending more valuable items to shell out the $2.95. Please complain about this, and keep putting the stickers on.

Remember that you can complain about Australia Post to the Postal Industry Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or online at https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/ombudsman/postal-industry-ombudsman-complaint-form-. They require you to have already put in a formal complaint to Australia Post on 13 76 78. If like me, Australia Post refuses to pursue your complaint while providing no justification, you can go straight to the Ombudsman.

[tetrahedron800]

On Tuesday July 1st, Australia Post will be discontinuing its No Safe Drop stickers. This has been a rushed decision, and my local Australia Post only heard about it 2 days ago. Most people at the customer callcentre at 13 13 18 haven't heard about it. I managed to see an internal memo that was circulated to outlets.

This means that from July 1st, items with a No Safe Drop sticker or No Safe Drop written on them will be left outside the front door or in the mailbox. There are 3 ways to avoid this:

- Spend a extra $2.95 per item on a signed-for service (which in addition to being uneconomic will probably make life difficult for customers who are unable to wait at home.)

- Use the Parcel Collect system. (This requires every recipient to sign up to the Parcel Collect system by filling in a form. Australia Post are also unable to provide an overview of which parts of the country have this service and which do not, unless you run through every postcode one-by-one over the phone. So this option is out.)

- A parcel locker. (This is only available to PO box customers in major cities, so is also out in nearly every case.)

In essence, this move is a cash grab to get people sending more valuable items to shell out the $2.95. Please complain about this, and keep putting the stickers on.

Remember that you can complain about Australia Post to the Postal Industry Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or online at https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/ombudsman/postal-industry-ombudsman-complaint-form-. They require you to have already put in a formal complaint to Australia Post on 13 76 78. If like me, Australia Post refuses to pursue your complaint while providing no justification, you can go straight to the Ombudsman.

[tetrahedron800]

Hi,
Are you sure they are going to ignore the instructions? I see nothing on the website about this or from the flyer / notice given to the post offices. All it says is that they are no longer manufacturing the stickers and for all post offices to dispose of them and to promote the other alternatives.

I think they will still honour the DNSD stickers, however you will need to print your own.

Will find out in the next month or so I guess.. if I see a rise in disputes from customers. (basically none now)..

...................

I've been getting conflicting advice from Australia Post about this, but the majority verbal opinion has been that No Safe Drop stickers, personal stickers, and handwritten messages will all be ignored from July 1st.

Despite this, I will still be attaching the stickers as a protest. I was given a full roll of them a week or two ago.

[2106greencat]

Didn't an Aus Post rep used to come to these boards quite regularly? - I remember someone called Alice?

I guess there are so many questions and complaints lately about AP, that they think it is better to ignore all the questions here rather than have to actually tell the staff how it all works....

or perhaps they are not too sure themselves and simply don't care whether it works or not so long as they are getting the revenue they lost due to the number of electronic letter mailing systems available now.

[zanadoo_56]

I've had parcels safe dropped despite the stickers long before I discovered there was such a thing as Authority to Leave.  I guess the AP contractor who delivers my parcels is used to leaving mid-size ones in the letterbox and larger items 'in the usual place' without bothering to read any extra labels. *shrugs*

I just wish there was some way to override signed for parcels and have them safe dropped as well.  Sigh.  I've got another one from overseas, no warning from the seller it would require signature, and the item is of low value.

Hmmm.  Maybe that's the key.  The customs form will list the value.  If it falls below a certain amount maybe AP customers can have another Authroty to Leave option  - Authority to Override Signed For if Value is less than $XX.

I'd sign up for that.

As it is, I've had to fill out a parcel transfer request (a service that has been increasingly slow the last few times I've needed it) so I can collect it from a more convenient location than my local post office.

[babylonfuture]

"delivers my parcels is used to leaving mid-size ones in the letterbox "
Your letterbox is considered 'SECURE' by AP.
as for the large items in the usual place.... if you have given permission in the pass then this will generally override the do not safe drop sticker instructions..

[tetrahedron800]

Hi,
Are you sure they are going to ignore the instructions? I see nothing on the website about this or from the flyer / notice given to the post offices. All it says is that they are no longer manufacturing the stickers and for all post offices to dispose of them and to promote the other alternatives.

I think they will still honour the DNSD stickers, however you will need to print your own.

Will find out in the next month or so I guess.. if I see a rise in disputes from customers. (basically none now)..

............

I checked out the notice again, and you're right. Thanks for the feedback. I should have been more sceptical when I received the original (probably incorrect) verbal advice.

[zanadoo_56]

I didn't give permission to safe drop in the past - I didn't know I could.  This was a good while ago but the contractor was kept busy delivering a lot of packages (I was completing a collection) and he found a suitable spot and just started leaving stuff there.  At one stage if I had three or more items to be delivered in one day but one parcel was supposed to be signed for he used to just slip it in between the ones that didn't require it.  Happy days...and very convenient for me. 🙂

As for whether a letterbox is considered secure....I have a good sized letterbox but sometimes parcels are big enough to fit in it but not necessarily the right size to close the lid, so it's obvious there's a parcel inside.  I wonder how secure AP think that is?

[mic-s-korea]

This plays into sub $20 items and the FREE POST drive by ebay.

In the past FREE POST with a safe drop sticker was an ok-ish option, but FREE POST and an additional $2.95 (+ 29 cents in additional fees) to make sure it gets there is not so good.

Ebay and Australia Post have made good and bad moves, and they justify each to themselves and us. But the one thing they are both vulnerable to is the numbers. At some point or another - sellers 'do the numbers' and if those numbers don't add up to continuing to sell there's a very good chance they will walk away or cut right back.

This discontinuation of No Safe Drop stickers might translate into people discontinuing using Ebay/Aust Post as much over time. Quite a lot of things of late have come about lately that make it less worthwhile selling online IMO.

[tetrahedron800]

Over the past week, I've been in touch with a senior complaint resolution staff member at Australia Post to ask whether the DNSD instruction will still be followed if a sticker is attached. The answer that came back is effectively 'NO.'

[haolove13]

Well the statistic of how many sellers leave Ebay would be interesting to see.

Can not see how this will improve the experience for anybody which is what Ebay is all about is it not.

I also hand write  DO NOT FOLD when appropriate so if Aus Post ignore their own printed stickers I wonder how it would hold up in court.

Thanks to Aus Post for another service improvement while costs keep rising .

LOL

[annies_fancy_dress]

I think it's all about the money. Trying to reduce costs by reducing the work load in post offices.

That way they can cut staff.