Delivery by Toll

[countessalmirena]

I have had a food/meat slicer delivered today.

It wasn't through eBay, as the particular model that I wanted wasn't listed there. (Ausonia, red, gorgeous red, steel base and lacquered cast aluminum, tempered steel blade. Did I mention that it is red?)

I was going to purchase this from in-store last Friday; with the store being in West Melbourne, it wouldn't take me more than 40 minutes to drive there. However, events intervened (including an unexpected hospital conference) and I decided instead to buy it over the phone and have it delivered.

In light of AP's slowness over the last month, I opted to have it delivered by the courier used by the shop from which I purchased, rather than by AP. (Purchases sent through AP have taken much longer lately. Every "express post" item has taken about 2 weeks. I'm certainly not putting the blame on sellers; this is an Australia Post problem.)

I'm so glad that I accepted the courier option! The courier was Toll.

I note that a lot of online websites for Australian businesses are displaying a banner about delivery delays. Buyers should be cognisant of these delays and factor that into their purchasing, adjusting their expectations with regard to those unavoidable isssues. It seems ironic, though, that buyer behaviour driven by concern over venturing forth to shop in a time of social distancing is clearly glutting the domestic postage system. It seems somewhat shortsighted of AP not to have anticipated the volumes of parcels in these circumstances.

For sellers on eBay, perhaps it's worth having a similar prominent piece of text advising buyers of delivery delays.

It may also be worth the while of sellers normally sending by Australia Post to add a courier option.

[porcelain_dolls_by_me]

"somewhat shortsighted of AP not to have anticipated the volumes of parcels in these circumstances"

Typical of the slow decision making process of a large company.  Throw into the equation it is a government entity and then what can one expect.

[kopenhagen5 · Accepted solution]

Good suggestion Countess.

I have a hand one I use, vintage.

Teak and stainless from Denmark.

[padi*0409]

Kopes, so that's where my Norton chaincase cover dissappeared to............."from Denmark" indeed..............

                                                          

[kopenhagen5]

Hook up a Norton motor to a slicer............................now there's an idea.

Certainly do a boatload of slices in a hurry. 

[digital*ghost]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

It seems somewhat shortsighted of AP not to have anticipated the volumes of parcels in these circumstances.

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I don't think it's shortsightedness as much as it is shorthandedness. 

I mean it's a factor, but I doubt couriers have increased their workload any where near as much as Toll et al, and their infrastructure would be considerably different.

Couriers are only as good as where they'll deliver (which is not Aus-wide), and unfortunately on eBay it is not possible to offer Aus Post services to everywhere but courier services to select areas, so you would have to provide that manually. Typically the costs for the odd package from non-commercial customers are quite high as well. 

[countessalmirena]

Ai ai ai... I don't anticipate slicing anything that would need a chainsaw! (Trees? Body parts? None of that.)

[countessalmirena]

AP are indeed shorthanded; this seems to be an issue every Christmas and it seems that extra staff are taken on to get on top of the anticipated demand.

I don't have inside information about the workings of AP, so this is all just my view as things stand... In my opinion it would have been prudent to have sought additional staff about a month ago. The problem with social distancing requirements in the sorting centres poses other challenges, of course... but from what I understand, it's primarily machine-sorting.

You're right, of course, about different infrastructures, and that must play into how quickly deliveries can be made. Equally there are issues in terms of where deliveries are made. Perhaps the current conditions make this a good time to be considering Australia-wide delivery options, perhaps to partner with AP in a temporary way to relieve some delivery congestion issues... These are not normal times, and thinking outside the (postal) box might be a good way forward.

I ake your point about eBay constraints when it comes to postage options. That's a pain in itself.

[digital*ghost]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

In my opinion it would have been prudent to have sought additional staff about a month ago.

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A month ago no one had any idea what would / could remain open, we had no idea how far our lockdown measures would have to go in order to flatten the curve - it was when everyone started losing their jobs, panicking about not having money  to eat in the potential weeks / months to come.

In that kind of atmosphere, AP was probably thinking online shopping would curb, not rise, and talking about how to survive if they need to shut down post offices nationally. 

Edited to add, my previous post was meant to read "I doubt couriers have increased their workload any where near as much as Australia Post". 

[11dustyattic]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

I have had a food/meat slicer delivered today.

It wasn't through eBay, as the particular model that I wanted wasn't listed there. (Ausonia, red, gorgeous red, steel base and lacquered cast aluminum, tempered steel blade. Did I mention that it is red?)

I was going to purchase this from in-store last Friday; with the store being in West Melbourne, it wouldn't take me more than 40 minutes to drive there. However, events intervened (including an unexpected hospital conference) and I decided instead to buy it over the phone and have it delivered.

In light of AP's slowness over the last month, I opted to have it delivered by the courier used by the shop from which I purchased, rather than by AP. (Purchases sent through AP have taken much longer lately. Every "express post" item has taken about 2 weeks. I'm certainly not putting the blame on sellers; this is an Australia Post problem.)

I'm so glad that I accepted the courier option! The courier was Toll.

I note that a lot of online websites for Australian businesses are displaying a banner about delivery delays. Buyers should be cognisant of these delays and factor that into their purchasing, adjusting their expectations with regard to those unavoidable isssues. It seems ironic, though, that buyer behaviour driven by concern over venturing forth to shop in a time of social distancing is clearly glutting the domestic postage system. It seems somewhat shortsighted of AP not to have anticipated the volumes of parcels in these circumstances.

For sellers on eBay, perhaps it's worth having a similar prominent piece of text advising buyers of delivery delays.

It may also be worth the while of sellers normally sending by Australia Post to add a courier option.

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Couriers? Not on your sweet life