Help/advice pls - Aust Post contractor signed for my item & it's missing

[the3coopers]

We've lost a very expensive item that was delivered from the USA via USPS Express last week. Yet the AP tracking shows that it's been signed for!

Last Sunday we arrived back from an Easter Holiday, and it seems that the AP Contractor had come Tuesday 10th at about 7:38am -  there is a hangup on our home Answering Machine (my home phone number is on the vendor's invoice) at that time. The delivery status says delivered at 7:42am.

I phoned AP customer service and they say there's a scrawled signature with my first name on it. I am unable to get a copy, but I've asked the vendor to request it via USPS. I never sign my name that way, and anyway I can easily verify that I wasn't here on that day. The item should have been carded, not dropped.

Item was paid by Paypal, funded by a ANZ Visa Debit card. Theoretically I cannot claim INR since the item was delivered - and it'd be really unfair to chargeback on the vendor since they certainly did deliver something to us.

AP seemed to be saying "too bad", claim back via the vendor. Yet the only reason it's missing is because the AP employee seems to have either delivered to the wrong address or signed for it themselves and left it sitting on our front porch for nearly a week!

So, how on earth should I handle this? The item cost me almost $1000, so it's not a loss that I can "absorb". I'm wondering if anybody has had similar experiences, especially with making a claim against Australia Post for such a loss.

Thanks heaps for any advice you can give me. 🙂

[nouveau_retro]

May seem like an obvious thing to do- take screenshots of the AP website tracking if any.

[the3coopers]

Okay Coops.  In response I would send something like...

Thanks, excellent! And yes that is certainly the kind of approach that I will take IF the seller's claim on USPS fails.

As of today, 11 days after delivery, USPS is still unable to obtain a POD Signature from AP, so AP is actually accountable (at the moment) to USPS who they were acting as agent for. As far as USPS is concerned, the item is NOT delivered, since there is no POD (that has been requested).

That is the crux of the problem for me right now. Australia Post's "customer" is the USPS, and technically the only one who can claim for loss is them. So I need to wait until my claim on the supplier gets processed, and the supplier's claim on USPS gets processed. Right now, we are at "please supply proof of delivery" stage.

However, if AP supplies false and/or fraudulantly obtained proof of delivery to USPS, and that nullifies my Vendor's ability (acting on my behalf) to claim for the loss... then I'll certainly be in a position to take it to the ombudsman.

I have a suspicion that AP will simply forgo supplying the POD, and then cop the non-delivery claim from USPS. If so, then at least I'm financially covered, via the shipping insurance that I paid for. And that also "hides the error" for AP, so it's a convenient solution for them.

[the3coopers]

May seem like an obvious thing to do- take screenshots of the AP website tracking if any.

Yep, I did that last week. And I check it daily to see if it suddenly changes from "delivered" to something else. 🙂

[marian_100]

Nouveau is correct and in particular his/her point in regard to stating the facts.

Personally I suspect your package has been stolen.

YOU however cannot raise that as it is conjecture at this stage.

I must say though AP are vigilant in this regard ... If your local outlet is still being ambiguous in and unwilling to investigate then it is time to pick up the pace. Go to the AP website and file a complaint. Go to the Police and report a possible crime. Fill out the Affadavit and when you do so make sure you keep things factual and in a chronological format. Dot Points will assist you keep to the facts.

Good Luck

[aussie.imports]

Have you considered ACA or TT? I know they sensationalise their stories, but at least it's out there for all to see and they may have a solution so that others don't end up in your situation. They also have a legal team that can look into areas you can't, and they do it for free 🙂

[t0psales]

Hey Coops, Just a quick Questions, I know you are realy angry about this and I would be too, you keep accusing the courier of signing and dropping? what proof do you have here, The courier guy could be real honest and not done that, isn't that opening you up to a legal process by the courier for libel?

Did you read the paper the other day where some guys were burglarising a house and some guy came to drop of a parcel, one of the burglars signed for it and left it in the house.

Can't you go back to the courier and ask them where they left it and why?

[the3coopers]

Can't you go back to the courier and ask them where they left it and why?

The courier is Australia Post. I have contacted them by phone and in writing and they are unable to tell me ANYTHING except that they reckon it was delivered.

The problem here is not that I have proof of my accusations, but that Australia Post is unable to provide me or the Vendor or USPS with any proof whatsoever that they HAVE delivered it, let alone where they delivered it to.

Both the Vendor and myself have requested a Proof Of Delivery signature and we have both separately been informed in writing that this cannot be supplied. The delivery required a signature, so that's a bit strange, eh? So, the item is missing and AP states it's been delivered, but they cannot prove it.

I was told on the phone by a Customer Service person that they did have a signature, and it looked like a scrawled version of my first name. I never sign for things that way, plus I have a very distinctive signature. Now I NEED a copy of that signature, because that provides me with what I need to prove (in court if necessary) that I didn't sign for it.

But Australia Post aren't letting anybody see that signature... even though it is part of the service that was paid for... now, why would that be? If it was a robber or even another householder elsewhere that signed for it, then AP would have willingly given that signature to shut us all up, don't you reckon?

Furthermore, the mailing label had my phone number on it. I have an incoming phone call to my home answering machine that was logged at a few minutes prior to the time of the signature.  So I know that the delivery person attempted to call me - and they wouldn't have called me if there was somebody there to sign for it, would they?

So, whilst I have no proof of my accusation, all the evidence points to a delivery contractor falsifying my signature and "safe dropping" the parcel. Probably trying to be helpful, I guess.

[leader-of-the-band]

just a thought Coops . . . . if the package was small enough to fit in your electricity meter box . . . . well . . . . take a look.  Can't hurt!

[the3coopers]

just a thought Coops . . . . if the package was small enough to fit in your electricity meter box . . . . well . . . . take a look.  Can't hurt!

LOL, I checked everywhere else (but nope not there).

The carton would have been about 600 x 400 x 100, like the size of the outer carton that a laptop comes in. It would have been a very tempting thing to see sitting on our doorstep for almost a week while we were away

[aussie.imports]

I live in an area that's pretty safe to drop a parcel at my door, and fairly regularly i get parcels left at the door(Unregistered). I have spoken to my delivery driver and asked her if she can leave registered parcels at the door for me, and she said she can't do it or she'll lose her job.

I hope all works out for you though.