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. 🙂

[the3coopers]

I see copy and paste expert Alice isn't even responding!

I have sent a message to Alice and she has replied to me. I have provided the investigation number etc... Let's see what they come up with before we draw and quarter them, Alice is just helping - she's a member of the Click&Send ./ eServices team and has nothing to do with international post.

[debra9275]

just having a look in to see how you're going with this Coops. What a mess? Can AP track the driver who made the delivery?

[beach_and_home]

well, at my house we have the same delivery driver for parcels every day. I'm pretty sure that the parcel delivery people are contractors who have a contract for a specific territory. So there is only one for your street. But confronting that person will probably not do anything, they will just deny it.

[australiapoststore]

Hi Kazumi,

As I explained in my original post, Australia Post is not able to provide the addressee of any item with the delivery signature as the sender is the only party eligible for this service. This is because it is the sender who is considered to be the Customer of Australia Post as they are the party who conducted the postage transaction with Australia Post.

As a parcel is considered the property of the sender until such time as it is delivered, it is the sender who will be compensated in the event of loss.

All this information can be found in our general Terms and Conditions here: http://auspo.st/ac9rcdhttp://auspost.ebay.com.au/

Kind regards,

Alice F.

eBay Store Manager

Australia Post

ebaystore@auspost.com.au

[australiapoststore]

Hi tall_bearded

I'm sorry to hear about your delivery issues. I'm glad some of these were reported, however it is important to report every instance to allow us to have a complete view of delivery issues which allows us to escalate the matter and deal with it effectively; particularly in the case of ongoing issues.

Kind regards,

Alice F.

eBay Store Manager

Australia Post

ebaystore@auspost.com.au

http://auspost.ebay.com.au/

[australiapoststore]

Hi again tall_bearded

I'm sorry if it sounded like I was saying there is legislation which precludes recipients from filing negligence claims against Australia Post. That is not the case, and was not my intention.

My intention was to clarify which party is eligible for compensation in the event of a missing item. All this information can be found in our general Terms and Conditions which can be found here http://auspo.st/ac9rcd

Kind regards,

Alice F.

eBay Store Manager

Australia Post

ebaystore@auspost.com.au

http://auspost.ebay.com.au/ 

[australiapoststore]

Hi sonyex1lover

I am sorry if my lack of response yesterday afternoon upset you.

If you have any concerns about Postal issues, you are more than welcome to contact me and though I do not spend all day monitoring these forums, I will respond as soon as possible.

For future reference, please refrain from posting private contact details of third party individuals

Kind regards,

Alice F.

eBay Store Manager

Australia Post

ebaystore@auspost.com.au

http://auspost.ebay.com.au/ 

[the3coopers]

Thanks for replying Alice F. - it is great that a rep posts on these boards, and we all wish that Ebay would also do so 🙂

[best.buys]

Alice, it seems fairly easy to me - you know the delivery date, is it that hard to look and see who was delivering parcels that day?

never understood why large companies don't want to get rid off bad workers. although to often the unions like bad workers as well for some reason.

however it looks bad for aussie post, it does seem a very poor investigation.

[*kazumi*]

never understood why large companies don't want to get rid off bad workers. although to often the unions like bad workers as well for some reason.

Parcel delivery drivers are NOT employees they are contractors.

But I would imagine that when something like this happens, AP would want to investigate speedily.

Alice, I do understand that it is the sender who has to claim, but what on the earth is the point of expecting the sender to verify the recipient's signature?  The sender  in this case is a seller in the US ; he is unable to verify the signature.  The signature has to be verified here, by the somebody who can check original ID like driver's license of the person who supposedly signed for the parcel.