Extra charge from Aust Post

[jvdv]

For most of the items I sell on eBay I use those Aust Post 500gm and 3kg satchels and if I am unsure about the weight of the item I will weigh it.

So I posted an item 2 weeks back which weighed in at just under 500gms but now I receive an account from Aust Post telling me that there was "insufficient postage" and are billing me an extra $8.35.

They have delivered the item but has anyone else had this experience?

They say the item has been delivered.

[enigmabear]

Yes, well, it was a few years back but, like you I weighed the item (on two different sets of scales) once it was packed and ready to go, it was a tad over 400gr. Nothing else was added before I sent it (pre paid satchel too)

Then I get a bill from AP claiming it was over 500gr and to pay up the extra charges , they were not interested in anything I had to say

[dazzledayz]

I haven't had one of these for a long time (maybe a year or more).

At one point it was happening fairly regularly (and incorrectly).

I think it may be due to automated equipment being out of whack and the parcel is automatically tagged as overweight.

There has been a lot of automated sorting gear installed by AP recently.

It used to be safe to ignore the demand letters but who knows what it's like now.

If you get counter lodgement of your parcels that should be good enough for AP.

You could argue that the PO accepted the weight as correct and whoever isuued the overweight opinion needs to check their systems.

Also, my postmaster tells me AP are supposed to allow a 10% margin for error.

[black*poppy]

That's spot on about lodging at the PO.  If it is scanned at the PO and accepted, the weight issue becomes their responsibilty, which is why they sometimes weigh everything, just in case (I think their system can show the individual who scanned it in). So if you have a scan showing accepted at the post office, you could argue that with them.  

Dropping into a street box is another matter.

[digital*ghost]

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@jvdv wrote:

For most of the items I sell on eBay I use those Aust Post 500gm and 3kg satchels and if I am unsure about the weight of the item I will weigh it.

So I posted an item 2 weeks back which weighed in at just under 500gms but now I receive an account from Aust Post telling me that there was "insufficient postage" and are billing me an extra $8.35.

They have delivered the item but has anyone else had this experience?

They say the item has been delivered.

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Just out of curiosity, did they identify that specific package, with either the article ID or name / address of recipient?

I've had a couple of letters re: underpaid mail and they've always pretty much just come across as, "we've decided determined you should pay us some money, so.... yeah. Go do that". They never identify the package in any way or provide any proof (they don't even say anything like "you package was xxx grams overweight", which means basically you're left to just trust whatever they say and pay the fine etc. Not good enough, IMO, if they want to demand money from me, they need to give me some evidence that I actually owe it.

If the above applies to your letter, try ringing them and asking for more information (it's not like a business seller shouldn't be able to get info like that so they can determine if / how their own systems failed etc, as well as for the sake of accurate record-keeping). 

[van_werkhoven]

These 'not enough postage' letters are total BS.

They don't identify the package for you to double check. They don't give weights or dimensions for you to confirm. It's just 'you didnt pay enough postage on a recent parcel, so pay more now'. 

After selling on ebay for almost a year I got my first one. I paid it in good faith. I suddenly then recieved half a dozen a month, every month. Seriously.

Maybe I would have been inclined to believe Auspost that my letter guage or scales were wrong. But then I got a notice for an item I supposedly sent with only 70c postage attached. I never send anything with only 70c, all my letters are large, two, three or five stamps, and with the envelopes I use, a stamp falling off is unlikely. So I realized either that was an outright lie, or they make mistakes too but with no evidence of anything I'm just expected to pay whatever amount they invoice me. Uh, no. 

I called australia post trying to sort out my sudden influx of incorrect 'not enough postage' letters, because I am generally a nice person and I recognize that maybe a few were borderline, nowhere near as many as they were claiming, but if a few got through my old, worn out guage that shouldn't have I would have been willing to pay. They have NO department or person in charge to talk to about these incorrect postage letters, you cannot actually speak to anyone about them. CS will remove a bill from your record if you argue with them (since they cannot prove them)  but to actually discuss the pattern of them, there's no one. We left our name and number and were told a manager would call us about it, and never heard back.

I stopped paying them, there's no concequences, because they cannot legally follow it through, they have no evidence, they can't even identify which package it was, so there is absolutely no legal recourse. If your invoice is for a single oversized/weight package it'll often include the address it was sent to, but if you have 3 items on one invoice they only include one address, so the other two are completely, totally unidentified and may not even exist.

You'll get a big scary 'final notice' and then you'll never hear anything further. And, you know how paying one triggered half a dozen supposedly incorrect items every month? Well I haven't paid a single invoice in 6 months, and they have finally stopped showing up, completely, haven't gotten one since october. My packaging methods have not changed, my guage and scales are the same, and yet apparently I am now 100% compliant. 

[dazzledayz]

A couple of tactics I use may prove useful to you.

All my listings contain the item weight before packaging so I can always refer back if in doubt.

With letters, if an item is close to the thickness limit I measure it packed but not in the envelope and note the thickness in the custom label column.

(an envelope measures under .5 mm).

I think what happens with large letters is that some sorting staff interpret the thickness rather than measure it.

I've had this happen in the PO with inexperienced counter staff claiming an envelope needs to clear the sides of the letter gauge.

This is actually untrue.

The letter needs to be 20 mm thick or less.

Sometimes AP staff seem to make it up as they go along but if you wish you can always contact CS and quote your original weights and measurements as it usually satisfies them and will see the bill dropped.

[stickerswa]

Dont forget the 500g does not include the weight of the label or satchel (around 14g). If your item comes in at say 495g, then with the satchel and label - your going over 500g and could get pinged for it.

If they send a letter asking for more money then ring or email them (I did via sookbook) and mention the PIO (Postal industry ombudsman) ... they went very quiet after I mentioned that ...never had a ransom note since. 

[black*poppy]

I've only ever had one and I think on the blue slip they threaten to suspend delivery of my mail (to my house) if the fine is not paid.  Well I went through their terms and conditions and what I could make out in the legislation and I don't think that's legal.  What I understand is that basically they have a mandate to deliver the letter mailed to you, paid for by the sender, and the 'contract' (not great legalese but you get the drift) is with the sender to deliver it.  Anyway it's not legal for them to suspend your mail arbitrarily.  In the T&C's suspension of mail delivery for unpaid underpaid postage fines is certainly not mentioned.  What surprised me is that a public government company like that could try such shonky scare tactics. Incredible.