Nothing posted in AusPost red box has arrived yet

[justajunk]

I sell second-hand DVDs on eBay, which I post as letters for either $1.40 or $2.10 depending on weight.

Last Saturday, I sold 32 DVDs, 28 of which paid by Sunday afternoon. Hoping that the DVDs would get into mail sorting early, I posted all 28 on Sunday afternoon in my local AusPost red box.

I have used the local red box for almost 4 years now, and have never had an issue. Stuff that I post there on Sunday afternoons tends to arrive at interstate metro locations by the following Tuesday, and interstate non-metro locations by the following Wednesday. A fairly good turnover, given that I am posting the DVDs from Perth.

What concerns me is that NONE of the 28 DVDs that I posted on Sunday have appeared to have reached their destination yet, and it is now Friday morning. While I haven't actually contacted any of my buyers to check whether or not their DVDs have arrived, I usually receive feedback for at least 20% of my sales by the following Wednesday, and as mentioned, it is now Friday. I have also had one buyer just contact me to let me know that it hasn't arrived.

I'm not quite sure what the logical next step is from here. From my own experience as a buyer, I hate being harrassed for feedback, however, I am thinking about carefully selecting a few buyers and contacting them either tonight or tomorrow morning to ask whether they have received their DVDs yet (would that be too soon?). If all reports are negative, my plan is to then contact the rest of the buyers and explain the situation and that I will be speaking to Australia Post on Monday.

Of course, I don't expect Australia Post to be particularly helpful since none of the letters were sent registered, but maybe they could tell me if there was some incident with the mail on Sunday.

The weird thing is, I know that it is not a problem with the red box itself. I posted a DVD there on Monday afternoon, and it arrived at the interstate buyer's location by Wednesday evening.

All signs would seem to indicate that Sunday's mail was lost, or misplaced, or stolen, or I-don't-know-what.

To cut to the chase, what I am wondering if whether anybody else has experienced a similar issue to this. Have you ever had an entire lot of mail posted in a red box simply vanish in the mailing system? Has such mail ever shown up later?

Either way, it looks like I might fall victim to the defect system sooner than I expected. If I get defect for refunding ever single one of those 28 transaction, I will be well over my 5% defect rate, on the path to never being allowed to sell again on this ID that I have carefully built up 1000s of feedback on over almost 10 years.

Advice? Thoughts? Comments? My apologies in advance for the extreme length of this message. It's good to vent.

[horizon1907]

justa I can't help with your question, but I certainly hope that the last  paragraph of your story doesn't happen. Sending you good vibes.

[crazyplacecostumes]

The only thing similar I have had happen was that someone actually poured cooking oil into the box and all of the goodies and letters in there were trashed. This was around 13 years ago from memory. Aussie Post contacted us to let us know (we posted a lot in boxes then) - due to the return address they knew us. 

I would contact Aussie Post just to check something weird didn't happen! 

[justajunk]

Hi crazyplace.

Thanks for that. The more I think about it, the more I might just go into Australia Post this afternoon to ask about it. Given that one buyer is already claiming 'not received', it would seem to indicate something awry, and there are a few easily bored teenagers who tend to hang out around my neighbour, so pouring something into mailing box is actually not all that unlikely.

[daniellebradydesigns]

I'd be contacting Australia Post ASAP.

Also, do you have tracking for the items? Is that why you know they haven't arrived yet? Or are you basing it on the lack of feedback received?

[saarzi]

I wouldnt be contacting the buyers just yet for a few reasons ...

If any have gone missing or was stolen, they arent registered, theres no proof you posted them. You are liable to refund everyone who doesnt receive their item. Knowing this -

if you contact them, asking if their stuff has turned up, they might wonder what the heck is going on and why you cant get your mail dealt with. It can look bad for YOU, even if you dont mean it to, and even is its AP fault. You might get people demanding refunds before their item arrives - it could just be delayed. It could mean multiple emails back and forth to 20 people - has it turned up yet" "no" "i want a refund" "where is it" i think its there / its coming" "its here" its not here" etc etc on and on.  Poor communication and a waste of time.

If anyone is dodgy, it could prompt them to say.. well actually, it HASNT turned up (even when it has), and you need to refund me - its clear you were aware there was a problem.

Its a minefield. You really need to find out as much as you can *before* contacting the buyer. You, as the seller, need to have as much control over the situation as possible.

Id contact the post office first, and tell them you posted, they havent arrived yet and just ask if theres been any issues with the box, delays, or anything else. theyre going to say , "yes, delays", "nothing came in from that post box" or some other issue. 

It will give you a clearer idea on how to proceed.

[justajunk]

Hi, bowlerhat.

I don't have any tracking numbers -- the items are worth so little that it really isn't worth it.

I'm assuming that none of them have arrived yet on the basis of:

(a) no feedback received yet... from 28 transactions

(b) one Item Not Received complaint already from one of those buyers

Yes, I think I'll head down to Australia Post today. Might also take with me a list of the addresses that I posted to.

They may know nothing. Then again, they may know that the mailbox was pranked, as suggested above.

[justajunk]

Thanks gtx.

Yes, that makes sense if there was a delay (and not a trashing of the mailbox). It would be awful to refund 28 items only to have one honest buyer turn around 2 days later and announce that it has finally arrived. Contacting AusPost does seem to be logical first port of call.

I'm still tossing up contacting a small selection of buyers (those who are sellers themselves i.e. greater chance of sympathy) just to gage how many items have or have not arrived.... assuming that Australia Post knows nothing (maybe they do.

Thanks again.

[mbselections00]

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@justajunk wrote:

Hi crazyplace.

Thanks for that. The more I think about it, the more I might just go into Australia Post this afternoon to ask about it. Given that one buyer is already claiming 'not received', it would seem to indicate something awry, and there are a few easily bored teenagers who tend to hang out around my neighbour, so pouring something into mailing box is actually not all that unlikely.

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Sorry to hear of your dilemma.

Maybe not be much help or very encouraging, but going back many years when I lived in Sydney, the bored teenagers used to set the red boxes on fire, so unfortunately in that instance AP would not even be able to let you know.  I had several bad experiences with our local red box, (same situation, large letters not received) and although they never came right out and admitted it, AP indicated to me, it was possibly within their ranks !!  The thing was, I do send quite a few Registered so then I have to drive half an hour further to the PO, nothing lodged over the counter went missing, just the articles posted in the red box 5 minutes up the road

Always worth reporting, not just to your local PO, but to Australia Post themselves as well, even though they may not do anything to help, they do keep records of the complaints and if they see a pattern, then they can act - so if no-one reports, they unaware of any problems.

If it were me, I would also ring eBay and ask if these items have in fact all gone missing, what is the best way to handle it to avoid defects etc. and point out, it is through your diligence - not complaints at this stage that you are concerned. I know we bag CS all the time, but if you get the right person you may be able to avoid your good rep being tarnished.  And I agree, we work so hard to achieve those ratings, and cannot afford to have them blemished so easily and quickly by circumstances beyond our control.

Good luck & keep us posted

[justajunk · Accepted solution]

Interesting response from my Item Not Received buyer:

"Hi Michael
good news. it has just arrived. Today's post delivery was a bit unusually late.
thanks for your kind reply-much appreciated.
kind regards"

So..... it would seem that there was some delay...... 5 business days capital city to capital city (rather 2) is longer than unusual...... but no oil on the mail.

Yipee!

Thanks all for your advice. It was good that I waited before contacting all those other buyers... thanks again gtx.

Looks like I'll be able to sleep again tonight (before listing 150 things tomorrow).