topic Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post in Selling

Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

digital*ghost — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 08:15:25 GMT

I just wanted to share this info here in case some weren't aware and found it helpful.

If you regularly send international letters using a green CN22 customs forms (like I do) and your PO has the self service terminals, you can get proof of lodgment via the terminal.

I was hoping I could do everything that takes the most time at the counter (processing a dozen international letters takes a while), but as it turns out the most you can do is buy stamps at the terminal, get a receipt, then go up to the counter to collect them, but if you have the stamps on the letters, you can scan the barcode at the terminal and enter the destination country. You'll then get a printed lodgement receipt showing each UC number, which could come in very handy in some cases (not as handy as proof of delivery, of course, but it's better than nothing ) I already photograph packages with their customs forms filled out in full, so for situations where proof of shipping is needed, this could well satisfy the requirements.

Same applies to registered domestic letters - the counter terminals can lodge them, and the staff can stamp the little paper slip, but you never got a printed receipt with the number, while you can now via a self-service terminal.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

jfmgray — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 10:32:33 GMT

Thasnks Digi - helpful to know.

With international letters using the green CN22, my posy office will supply me (as needed) with a printout from their computer system which I have used to prove the lodgement date with eBay if I ever have a late delivery defect. eBay has always accepted this printout as proof of lodgement and removed the defects. I am also finding increased situations where international carriers are scanning the UC number as tracking. About 80% on my large letters to the USA are showing with tracking of the UC number. I recenly won an item not received case from a buyer in France as the UC was tracked as delivered!!

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

transport-posters — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 22:19:02 GMT

How did you look that up for France? Eg. their national carrier's website?

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

curraone — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:16:35 GMT

I went to the PO with a letter and a green CN22 form and they said I couldn't use the forms any more

Instead they gave me this huge form in triplicate

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

jfmgray — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:19:27 GMT

Yes the UC number was tracked by Le Poste

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

jfmgray — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 23:21:39 GMT

Strange - our post office continues to supply me with green slips for letters. The international parcel form in triplicate is way too big to use for letters.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

porcelain_dolls_by_me — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:53:34 GMT

CN22 forms can only be used for certain countries, others require the larger CN23 form to which you refer.

Personally, I always use the CN23 form. Once I have lodged the item at the AusPost and the clerk has placed all of the stickers on the label then I take a photo of the package. Havne't needed to yet but I would use this as proof of posting if need be.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

digital*ghost — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 03:16:55 GMT

@jfmgray wrote:
Strange - our post office continues to supply me with green slips for letters. The international parcel form in triplicate is way too big to use for letters.

Ditto - I only have to use the other ones if I want to add insurance, which I do very rarely. I heard a couple of months ago that the CN22 forms are being phased out, so I started stocking up on them, but when I asked the staff at my PO if they were, they said nope and all my letters still use the green form.

The triplicate form is huge and heavy, making it almost impossible to send a letter under 50g, which many of mine are, so I hope I don't have to start using them on everything.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

dylan11235813 — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 15:24:24 GMT

How can this be better for domestic registered post?

I got forced to these machines by the staff which is quite amusing. Good to know AusPost has some new toys. Thanks, great job.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

tazzieterror — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 23:05:09 GMT

My local PO has a couple of these as well, and the staff have been trying to "encourage" people to use them. I lodged a couple of eBay satchels through one of these terminals once, at a staff member's insistence and with them actually doing the lodging to "train" me.

Discovered the next day that they hadn't been lodged properly and tracking showed they were yet to be received by AP, so now I flat out refuse to use these terminals if they try to direct me there.

Re: Self Service Terminals at Aus Post

digital*ghost — Sat, 17 Jun 2017 03:17:39 GMT

@dylan11235813 wrote:
How can this be better for domestic registered post?

Not better, just different - the little form requires the name and address to be filled out and needs a staff member to stamp it, but I have always thought it would be incredibly easy to manipulate one (not going into more detail than that), while a printed Australia Post receipt is a little less easy to manipulate, particularly the physical version.

My PO staff aren't particlarly gung-ho about them, they mostly like to get anyone paying bills to use them (I expect that's a directive from higher up), and they've already said that some things will be easier just to do at the counter, as they know I've always preferred the printed postage labels on international letters rather than stamps, so I'm kinda tossing up whether I prefer the label, or a lodgement receipt. I'm leaning more towards lodgement receipt - I guess I could ask them for both, though I was hoping these things would reduce the amount of time I spend at the counter(s) rather than increase them. Lodging international articles, especially when I had a few unpaid parcels as well as several letters, would sometimes make the line behind me bank up. The staff never said anything about it, mind you, and if I said anything they would always tell me not to be silly etc. and they were there to do things the way I like them (this is after I mentioned I preferred each one lodged with the printed postage label, as some would just whack the stamps on there) but ultimately I felt like the more I could do to make both our jobs easier / faster, the better.

The tracking on my lodged articles starts from the lodgement, so all good there (for me, so far), but the time to lodge varies depending on whether there is a staff member already in attendance at the terminals to provide assistance, because the scanning bit takes a few seconds on each one, but the other day I was waiting for a staff member to approve the lodgements (and get my receipt) for several minutes. Everyone was busy so in the end I had to go line up in the queue to call someone over to the machine, so that day it would have been much faster to take them to the counter instead.