Where are the promised new Australia Post services?

[spicy-pickles]

On 2/4 I received an email titled Important changes to Click and Send from 8 April, which promoted the following:

Click and Send will be modified to reflect the launch of our new range of parcels products, offering you greater flexibility and control when sending parcels in Australia.

You will be able to choose from three core speed-based products, all with tracking, and then select add-on features to create a personalised parcel solution.

Choose your speed - Courier Post, Express Post, Parcel Post

All our products now give you the options to add 'Extra Cover' or 'Signature on Delivery'.

We have introduced Courier Post, a new product for when you require urgent same day delivery, for select metropolitan areas within the same state.

However...

- There is NO option for Express Post for flat-rate satchels/boxes.

- There is NO option for Courier Post for either an own packaged or flat-rate satchel/box .

- There is NO option to add Extra Cover for flat-rate satchels/boxes.

So what's the story? Some of these sounded like a great way to counter the price rises, but so far all I see are features removed, not added.

I was really looking forward to Express Post and/or Extra Cover on flat-rate items being added this update 😞

[davewil1964]

Extra cover is available. As long as you pay for SOD. For under $100, you get to pay $4.45 on top of standard postage instead of $1.

Great improvement.

[spicy-pickles]

Extra cover has only ever been available on own packaged items. It's never been an option for flat-rate, although $100 was previously included with SOD but no longer.

C&S support confirmed that cover over $100 was not available, and if you were getting around the restriction by asking for it at the post office then you were wasting your money as it wouldn't be honoured.

Since extra cover has now been removed from SOD and there is no option to add extra cover in the C&S system, then it would mean that there is no more coverage available at all for flat-rate (apart from the $50 general AP compensation).

So instead of..

All our products now give you the options to add 'Extra Cover' or 'Signature on Delivery'.

... it's actually the opposite. They haven't added that extra cover to ALL products and in fact have totally removed the option of $100 cover (with SOD) from flat-rate C&S items.

[davewil1964]

Like I said

[thecatspjs]

Extra cover was always, and continues to be available through Click and Send,

It is just not available for click and send ebay flat rate products.

To access regular rate C&S options such as SOD with extra cover you just process item as your own regular parcel.  

You can not process regular C&S parcels and ebay flat rate parcels in a single log in session.  You need to log out and back in, for each different batch,

Whilst you can process labels etc on-line and fill in required extra cover paperwork on-line, you cannot pay for transaction on line, but need to lodge over counter taking relevant paperwork with you.

[spicy-pickles]

It is just not available for click and send ebay flat rate products.

Yes that's a real shame and something I've been hoping for a long time that would be allowed. So am very disappointed after receiving the email stating that all Click & Send products would allow it from 8/4 when then is not the case.

The wording is pretty crappy too for other products, 'add Extra Cover or Signature on Delivery'. Since you can't get extra cover without signature on delivery and must take both.

So that aside, does anyone know what's happening with Courier Post, I don't get it as a service option at all. Express Post I was excited about having for flat-rate too, after being told a couple of months back it was coming to C&S but have just been let down.

Price rises are inevitable but to promote new services that don't exist while taking away other options makes them pretty hard to swallow.

[thecatspjs]

Not sure whats going on with the addition of courier post.

There are lots of glitches in click and send at the moment - for example, when I process parcel as express post going from CBD to Melbourne CBD it tells me it is outside of express network -:O

They clearly have far more important web priorities like ensuring the car graphics for the promo of new parcel process are hunky dory, and deleting facebook posts, before they refine other parts of the system.

[phorum_junkie*]

Extra cover has only ever been available on own packaged items. It's never been an option for flat-rate,

That is just not so, I don't know how or if it works now but until the changes you could always purchase extra cover using ebay satchels, you just had to pay the extra over the counter after filling out the red form that you used for reg post which had a box to tick specifically for click & send.

[yodablu]

I cant get my head around it, it is all very confusing to say the least.

[spicy-pickles]

That is just not so, I don't know how or if it works now but until the changes you could always purchase extra cover using ebay satchels, you just had to pay the extra over the counter after filling out the red form that you used for reg post which had a box to tick specifically for click & send.

Yes you could purchase, whether you were throwing your money away is another question. I contacted C&S multiple times to clarify this as my local PO told me it was possible. But the official line from C&S support was that was that purchasing at the PO counter was not valid and would not actually increase the cover. So I'd love to hear whether anyone actually had a claim honoured in that situation.