Package has been delivered to wrong suburb

[kimbooley89]

So whenever I post anything, I tend to check the tracking of those packages daily to see how they're doing. Today I checked on one particular package that I had posted on Friday and saw that it had been marked as 'delivered'. I checked on it anyway and noticed that the suburb didn't match the one that I had posted to. Thinking that maybe it had been sent to a neighbouring suburb, I Googled both suburbs and noticed that they are 4 and a half hours apart.

The package was originally supposed to go to Umina Beach, NSW but it only made it as far as Lisarow, NSW before being marked as 'delivered'.

Should I open up a missing item case with Australia Post right away, or is there a chance that the package could still be delievered to its rightful place?

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

If an email address or phone number was on the package, the buyer is generally able to redirect parcels to a completely different address, so they may have done that. An Aus Post staff member told me that this is not reflected in a parcel's tracking history, either (the request to redirect, I mean). 

I wouldn't do anything unless they contacted me about it. 

[stickerswa]

Is it possible the buyer has moved and had the package redirecte from thier old address (The one you used) to thier new address. I only ask as this happened to me about 6 months ago. 

Just contact the buyer and find out. 

[eol-products]

I find it strange that you have used the walking distance between the suburbs to say how far apart they are. As far as driving goes it is around 30 mins but still totally different areas.

[kimbooley89]

@ eol-products - Ah that was my mistake. On my Google Maps I have it currently set to walking distance since that was the last thing I used it for.

Maybe the two suburbs aren't so far apart and that's the closest post office that it could be sent to.

[eol-products]

I figured that may be the case. But they are a distance apart regarding delivery but with Australia Post anything is possible.

[kywal-5006]

This is a really old thread, but for anyone searching this query I want to correct this persons answer, because I know from personal experience Australia post is not able to change an address once the item is ordered they can’t simply redirect mail, they don’t allow changes to be made to a parcels address. 
I have encountered this issue myself today! 
you have to lodge an enquiry with auspost and see if they can intercept the item which can be like  a needle in a haystack as international tracking numbers are not always relevant in Australia. When I placed the order my suburb was not in the drop down box, so I chose Melbourne, which is now causing delivery issues 

[*sons_n_daughters*]

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@kywal-5006 wrote:

This is a really old thread, but for anyone searching this query I want to correct this persons answer, because I know from personal experience Australia post is not able to change an address once the item is ordered they can’t simply redirect mail, they don’t allow changes to be made to a parcels address. 
I have encountered this issue myself today! 
you have to lodge an enquiry with auspost and see if they can intercept the item which can be like  a needle in a haystack as international tracking numbers are not always relevant in Australia. When I placed the order my suburb was not in the drop down box, so I chose Melbourne, which is now causing delivery issues 

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You are incorrect. If you move, you can set up a mail redirection until you get around to changing all your addresses. I used to do it for 6 months (and I'm going back over 20 years since I've needed to do it), because there was always something you missed when changing addresses.

Plus, if you are a My Post customer, you can get a parcel redirected prior to it being onboard for delivery. I believe it adds an extra 2 days to the delivery, but for some, that is worth it. You really should read up on the Aust Post pages.

[sugar249]

Also when AP send you the email to say a parcel is on it's way,  there is often an option to redirect it at that point

[*sons_n_daughters*]

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@sugar249 wrote:

Also when AP send you the email to say a parcel is on it's way,  there is often an option to redirect it at that point

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You can also redirect from inside the AP app. Up until onboard for delivery, so pays to redirect early if it's what you need to do.

I did have a buyer that ended up redirecting. She was getting the parcel sent to her work address. I kept getting messages saying the address didn't exist and the parcel was being returned. It was returned to me 3 times. The last time I was lucky enough to see the tracking saying the address didn't exist and it was being returned, so I sent her a message. She immediately changed the address to a friend's, and collected it 2 days later. (like me, she was repeatedly getting parcels stolen from her front door, so was getting everything sent to her work address).

The ridiculous thing was, the address was valid. It showed as being valid on Google Maps. Aust Post said it was valid when I contacted them, but for some reason, this parcel kept getting rejected and returned.