Registered International Mail to the US

[sohano23]

Registered International Letters from Australia are now a complete joke.

The envelope does not say the item is not trackable at point of sale and overseas postal authorities are not required now to get a signature on delivery.

So what are we paying big dollars for, surely this is misrepresentation I intend to take this futher as the conditions of sale have changed with us NOT being advised by Australia Post. 

Ebay also treat the service as not trackable so you get no buyer protection here either.

You may as well run the guantlet and use normal airmail.

[queenslander]

Mid April Australia Post is changing overseas Airmail types and Customs decs etc have seen a brief notice but no real details or costs most likey increase in price again with even less service.

[davidc4430]

the CEO of AP has a new system, if you pay for the GOLD delivery service they deliver to the address on the package, otherwise all they do is throw the item out of the plane as it flys over the country you posted to. then its up to the 'locals' to find it and deliver it. saving money so the CEO can get a pay rise for 'forward thinking'

[chezzy]

Does Registered Post still come with automatic cover of up to $100? That is why I use it and not so much for the tracking or signature (although I would hope to get one or both with it also...)

[digital*ghost]

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@sohano23 wrote:

Registered International Letters from Australia are now a complete joke.

The envelope does not say the item is not trackable at point of sale and overseas postal authorities are not required now to get a signature on delivery.

So what are we paying big dollars for, surely this is misrepresentation I intend to take this futher as the conditions of sale have changed with us NOT being advised by Australia Post. 

Ebay also treat the service as not trackable so you get no buyer protection here either.

You may as well run the guantlet and use normal airmail.

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It says it's not trackable on the website, which I do think is not really good enough, because it might not always be mentioned when people go instore to buy the service. The website has in fact recently become a nightmare to navigate and find out more information - at the top of the registered international info page, it says "Fast delivery for items that weigh up to 2kg and are valued at $500 or less, including signature on delivery.*"

So, I scrolled down to see what the disclaimer denoted by the asterisk was, and it said " * Check destination specific information. " I clicked on the link, and it takes you to a page for international post guides, with a dropdown menu for every country they deliver to, so you'd have to read each and every one of them to know what is and isn't available - I looked through half a dozen of (what I thought were) some of the more obscure places, but registered was available to them all and they don't mention anything about signatures not being collected. "Extra cover" not available on international registered though, I know the domestic registered post (letters only)  service includes $100 abut you can add extra to it, so I'm not sure if there's $100 cover on international registered. 

I would also be querying there being no requirement to collect a signature when that is the service that's advertised and sold - there has to be some kind of formal agreement between countries in order for country A to sell a service provided by country B, which there is, since many countries have signed on to the UPU agreement (there was - I'll just call it a - rumour going around recently that Aus Post wasn't going to require deliverers of international registered mail to collect signatures, which I also questioned because of the same reason, and went so far to as to contact the UPU to see if their regulations etc allowed that sort of thing, but never got a reply from them so I'm currently none the wiser, and we were advised here in the forum that the decision was reversed). 

[englishrosegardens]

There's a notice on my PO door about a two-speed international service starting in April so that'll make things even more complicated.  I think there might be other changes to international post as well.  It also mentioned certain packaging products going up, which I can find on http://auspost.com.au/about-us/important-updates.html but there's nothing there about international post.  It's only certain mailers (Bx9 and Bx15) and tubes that are going up, and return paid parcels.

[jfmgray]

yone else have info on the two-speed international thing - also a 2% increase mentioned on the powersellers board but no details.

[digital*ghost]

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@jfmgray wrote:

yone else have info on the two-speed international thing - also a 2% increase mentioned on the powersellers board but no details.

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What I know so far.... They are introducing standard international airmail which is trackable, and economy international airmail, which is not trackable. Standard is 6+ business days transit. economy is 10+ days.

Standard is replacing pack and track, while economy is "replacing" the standard airmail service we have now (this info relates to parcels only - economy international will be the only option for large letters). 

I haven't seen any info about a price increase, so can't advise anything on that. These are technically (but not really) "new" services, so there's no price rise to announce, but I suspect pricing will be similar, probably slightly higher, than the current equivalent services (i.e. standard = P&T or registered pricing, economy = normal air mail pricing). 

[bookmanx500]

According to the email I received today from austpost, there are no prices available yet.
 Some services will reduce in price, International express Post, others will increase, average
increase will be 2%.

Speed will depend on service selected..Courier 1-2 days, Express 2-4, Standard 6+, Registered 10+

Ecomony Air 10+, Sea 30+.

Barrie

[sohano23]

My Post Office recieved advice this week that they are to once again to obtain signatures for registered International mail from overseas.

I have spoken to Australia Post International division today who tell me they are about to launch a new range of international posting options.

As I explained to them the current International Registred Mail is a joke she admitted they would like to do away with this service but the service is part of an International agreement and has to stay.

There has to be changes made and customers must complain to acheive this.