Missing item story

[reserves!]

I have two accounts and have been using eBay for over 5 years. Over 400 items had reached me (alot from the UK) safely, but that run came to an end in September. In mid-September our normal postman was replace for a week by another one, and then in the following week by another one, and by the start of November by another. I spoke to the third one and that one believed they were to become the regular one from then on. However four items had gone missing, one from South Australia and 3 from the UK. They were all due to arrive around a particular Friday to Tuesday zone. (The sellers all ended up refunding by the end of October.)

I phoned Australia Post and described how another address in our street can cause confusion (it's on a nearby corner and has the same number but is really in another street) and how there is another house with the same street address in another suburb of our city. All these things I reminded them of 5 yrs ago when I first started getting regular deliveries. During the call I was focussed on giving all the details I could, and they said the matter would be investigated. As a consequence I expected that the depot would at least get a reminder to be careful about the similiar addresses and the delivery riders might get a reminder too. On top of this I phoned what could be called a Returned Items Centre and an officer did a search by my name, address, and item types.

So things returned to normal under the new regular Postman, that is until they had a fall and were replaced for a matter of days by one of the temporary guys from September. Two items due during that interval have gone missing. I phoned Australia Post again and guess what? My previous conversation with them has gone missing too. They have no record of it and as I wasn't given a Reference No. it can't be found. Also there is no record of my contact with the Returned Items Centre. This time I have a Reference No. and assurance they will investigate. Meanwhile, items I bought with refunded money will have to refunded again. Where the actual fault is can not be said with any great certainty but  circumstances tend to triangulate this city (Bendigo, Victoria). I told Australia Post I'd be giving regular postal deliveries a wide berth for a few months, maybe the service will become reliable again in the future.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@reserves! wrote:

I have two accounts and have been using eBay for over 5 years. Over 400 items had reached me (alot from the UK) safely, but that run came to an end in September. In mid-September our normal postman . . . . . . . . .  gone missing, one from South Australia and 3 from the UK. They were all due to arrive around a particular Friday to Tuesday zone. (The sellers all ended up refunding by the end of October.)

I phoned Australia Post and described how another address in our street can cause confusion (it's on a nearby corner and has the same number but is really in another street) and how there is another house with the same street address in another suburb of our city.

I told Australia Post I'd be giving regular postal deliveries a wide berth for a few months, maybe the service will become reliable again in the future.

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"maybe the service will become reliable again in the future"  I don't think the problem lies entirely with the service, it is mainly caused by address confusion.

okay . . . . . . simple solution . . . . . . . seeing as you acknowledge that your address can cause some delivery confusion . . . . . . .  get a Post Office Box.  They really aren't that expensive.  I know that you should not have to resort to this measure, but you have had a run of problems that would not happen if you had a PO Box.  They also provide the best security for deliveries as there will not be any 'safe drops'.

If you buy a lot from the UK then your giving regular postal deliveries a rest for a while will actually help them as they are required to deliver your UK parcels as part of an international postal agreement.  In the main, Aust Post loses out on this agreement.

[reserves!]

I'll add an update: One of the two UK seller has refunded (GBP 13.79) straight away, even though it's only 18 days since despatch. He says he has two other customers with missing items that he despatched at about the same time (05/11/13) and believes the problem is at the UK end.The other UK seller of a currently missing order asks that I wait a couple more weeks just in case. I've just messaged him as to what the first seller thinks. That prompt refund took me by surprise.

Of the missing items in September, one UK seller let me view an exchange messages with a UK customer who neg'd him over a missing item (paint & brushes) and was refunded. It turns out the item was sent to Australia by accident then back to the the proper UK destination. The customer very sorry about the hasty neg' and said they would follow through with the original transaction.