Australia Post is about to discontinue its No Safe Drop stickers

[tetrahedron800]

On Tuesday July 1st, Australia Post will be discontinuing its No Safe Drop stickers. This has been a rushed decision, and my local Australia Post only heard about it 2 days ago. Most people at the customer callcentre at 13 13 18 haven't heard about it. I managed to see an internal memo that was circulated to outlets.

This means that from July 1st, items with a No Safe Drop sticker or No Safe Drop written on them will be left outside the front door or in the mailbox. There are 3 ways to avoid this:

- Spend a extra $2.95 per item on a signed-for service (which in addition to being uneconomic will probably make life difficult for customers who are unable to wait at home.)

- Use the Parcel Collect system. (This requires every recipient to sign up to the Parcel Collect system by filling in a form. Australia Post are also unable to provide an overview of which parts of the country have this service and which do not, unless you run through every postcode one-by-one over the phone. So this option is out.)

- A parcel locker. (This is only available to PO box customers in major cities, so is also out in nearly every case.)

In essence, this move is a cash grab to get people sending more valuable items to shell out the $2.95. Please complain about this, and keep putting the stickers on.

Remember that you can complain about Australia Post to the Postal Industry Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or online at https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/ombudsman/postal-industry-ombudsman-complaint-form-. They require you to have already put in a formal complaint to Australia Post on 13 76 78. If like me, Australia Post refuses to pursue your complaint while providing no justification, you can go straight to the Ombudsman.

[tetrahedron800]

On Tuesday July 1st, Australia Post will be discontinuing its No Safe Drop stickers. This has been a rushed decision, and my local Australia Post only heard about it 2 days ago. Most people at the customer callcentre at 13 13 18 haven't heard about it. I managed to see an internal memo that was circulated to outlets.

This means that from July 1st, items with a No Safe Drop sticker or No Safe Drop written on them will be left outside the front door or in the mailbox. There are 3 ways to avoid this:

- Spend a extra $2.95 per item on a signed-for service (which in addition to being uneconomic will probably make life difficult for customers who are unable to wait at home.)

- Use the Parcel Collect system. (This requires every recipient to sign up to the Parcel Collect system by filling in a form. Australia Post are also unable to provide an overview of which parts of the country have this service and which do not, unless you run through every postcode one-by-one over the phone. So this option is out.)

- A parcel locker. (This is only available to PO box customers in major cities, so is also out in nearly every case.)

In essence, this move is a cash grab to get people sending more valuable items to shell out the $2.95. Please complain about this, and keep putting the stickers on.

Remember that you can complain about Australia Post to the Postal Industry Ombudsman on 1300 362 072 or online at https://forms.business.gov.au/aba/ombudsman/postal-industry-ombudsman-complaint-form-. They require you to have already put in a formal complaint to Australia Post on 13 76 78. If like me, Australia Post refuses to pursue your complaint while providing no justification, you can go straight to the Ombudsman.

[cq_tech]

How typical of Australia Post. As prices keep rising their service levels keep falling. 😞

[tetrahedron800]

If items are going missing because of the discontinuation of No Safe Drop, one option would be insure everything and to ask customers to pay the extra $1.50 (assuming that it's below $100 value.)

One the plus side, you avoid paying $2.95 per item and fussing around with signatures, but on the downside every additional cost to the customer makes it harder to compete.

[lyndal1838]

The Do Not Safe Drop stickers are useless if the customer has an Authority to Leave agreement on file with AP....it over-rides all other stickers.

[tetrahedron800]

Thanks for pointing this out. I wasn't aware of it.

However, I would expect that as filling out an Authority to Leave is an opt-in activity, the majority of recipients won't have gone to the trouble. Plus I would guess that anyone who does fill one out would be more likely to live somewhere that it less vulnerable to theft. So the loss of the stickers is still an issue.

[babylonfuture]

Hi,
Are you sure they are going to ignore the instructions? I see nothing on the website about this or from the flyer / notice given to the post offices. All it says is that they are no longer manufacturing the stickers and for all post offices to dispose of them and to promote the other alternatives.

I think they will still honour the DNSD stickers, however you will need to print your own.

Will find out in the next month or so I guess.. if I see a rise in disputes from customers. (basically none now)..

[harley_babes_hoard]

Parcels go missing regardless whether it has a sticker or not. Even with a sticker posties were just leaving then in full view not dropped safely at all. Really not much purpose to it at all.

[davewil1964]

But, harley, they were following the instructions not to safe drop. They were unsafely dropping.

[babylonfuture]

My experience since using these on parcels I have had 0 lost parcels. For over 12+ months.
Have had some letters go missing, but less than 5...
Perhaps I am just lucky then?
Also the Postie can leave it in a mail box, as that is considered a SECURED location (padlock or no padlock).

[harley_babes_hoard]

just chucking it on top of a mailbox in full view of anyone walking past the buyers house is hardly safe dropped with or without a sticker. That's exactly right dave it was unsafely dropped so having a do not safe drop sticker on it meant nothing. Perhaps that's what the postie thought it meant LOL