Sellers who refuse to send items to PO Box.

[lotzrgood]

Due to so much mail theft and identity theft, both Australia Post and the Police advise people to get a Post Office Box for safety and security. Then WHY do so many Ebay sellers now say they refuse to deliver to a post office box? 

A few years ago, I had some very important mail stolen from my home address mail box. Why? I had an Australia Post approved mail box, but mail delivery people would always leave mail half out of the (spring loaded) mail flap. When I complained to Aust Post I was told this rediculous reason - 'delivery people will not use 2 hands to put mail in boxes'. To put mail into my box you need one hand to prise open the strong flap (strong so as to stop people putting their hand in) and other hand to put the mail in. But our dear posties will only deliver mail with ONE hand. So they leave mail hanging through the slit. I was told that if I wanted to get my mail securely, to get a Post Office box. So I did.

So now many Ebay sellers will not deliver mail to my post office box 'due to security reasons'. HOW? WHY? When I go to my post office box I have to sign for many items. And as my work sees me away from home for many days at a time, I know my mail is held safely. Many items I buy from Ebay don't need to be signed for - so why can't they go to a safe post office box? What annoys me is that if I do give my home address, and I do need to sign for the item - if I am not home, they leave a card. And I have to drive down to the SAME post office where by box is, and wait in the queue for nearly 20 minutes, just to sign for the parcel. Something I would have to do if it was sent to my PO Box!! My incoming mail is FAR more secure sitting at my post box.

Also, my brother works doing FIFO in very remote sites. These sites do not have physical addresses - all goods go to a box at the nearest local post office. He is finding it increasingly hard to get things sent to him due to this silly seller requirement. Alot of sellers will lose buyers with this rediculous request. I can understand if a buer has nil or low feedback count, but with well established, good reputable buyers, why the problem?

[surversrus]

It wouldn't be so much of a problem if sellers posted on the "Postage and Payments" page that they do not send to PO Boxes before you commit to buy, but you only find out after you hit the "Commit to Buy" button, then it is too late. This as a buyer is very frustrating & a great inconvenience in both parties as you cannot pay for the iten, nor can you cancel.

[digital*ghost]

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@surversrus wrote:

It wouldn't be so much of a problem if sellers posted on the "Postage and Payments" page that they do not send to PO Boxes before you commit to buy, but you only find out after you hit the "Commit to Buy" button, then it is too late. This as a buyer is very frustrating & a great inconvenience in both parties as you cannot pay for the iten, nor can you cancel.

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If a seller doesn't post to PO boxes, it will be in the exclusions list in the postage and payments tab.

Also, if you use the cart instead of "Buy It Now", you can't purchase the item if your default delivery address is a PO box and the seller doesn't post to them.

[surversrus]

Also have you noticed the long lists in the exclusions, even when they say post to "worldwide"

eg:

Item location: ShenZhen, China

"Posting to: Worldwide

Excludes: Alaska/Hawaii, US Protectorates, APO/FPO, North America;, South America, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, China, Korea, South, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Russian Federation, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Vatican City State, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Virgin Islands (U.S.), Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the, Congo, Republic of the, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, PO Box"

Thats a huge list, not even North America or China lol

[digital*ghost]

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@surversrus wrote:

Also have you noticed the long lists in the exclusions, even when they say post to "worldwide"

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PO Box is always last on the list, if a seller has excluded them, so just look to the end. 

[surversrus]

It used to be listed at the top where you have to click on "Postage & Payments".

If it's in the Cart system it should also be in the Buy it now.

I have accepted out of frustration items to be delivered to my street address, item never arrived, this then cost the seller who then sent to my PO Box successfully. The item was China or HongKong Post to Australia Post, small, but expensive item/package.

eBay will never fix this because they will always make their profit out of the seller even if the seller has to reimburse the buyer.

Maybe it should also have a notice in the "Postage & Payments" payment stating "Courier Delivery Only" (like "Pickup Only") for this item or for items that are impractical through the postal system due to size or way too expensive through Australia Post.

[surversrus]

I know, you know but a lot of people don't.

I usually use the Cart system, just in case I missed it, which I did today for a US0.99 item. I have messaged them but I may have to have it sent to my street address & risk it. I live next to a Railway Station, 

Today for the 1st time our local Postie actually knocked at the door to hand us an envelope that turned out to have some mounted photos in it from somebody who didn't kow our PO Box number. Must have been running early or just in an extra good mood lol.

[digital*ghost]

Agreed, there are a lot of improvements eBay could make that would result in a much more simple, enjoyable and (on the whole) usuable site. Unfortunately they are more focused on new features, and aesthetics. 

Courier services are usually stated on listings from Aus sellers (not always, unfortunately, but most don't indicate they're using Aus Post services if they use couriers), however the issue with international sellers not posting to PO boxes is sometimes not about the service being used and more about the negative connotations of PO boxes, or it's because they deal with orders anywhere from 1 item to 100, and select the service based on the order volume, weight and value (i.e. at a certain point, international couriers are more cost-effective that regular mail services) - speaking as a seller who will post to PO boxes but can't post to parcel lockers / collect addresses (and no ability at all to block them), consistency and blanket bans or blocks are much easier to implement than "if X, then Y, unless Z" kinds of postage policies.  

[lorinabarina]

I am truly amazed that the couriers do so much for you.  Over the years we have had hundreds of ebay packages sent to us via Aust Post courier, and I could probably count on one hand the number of times they have actually come to the door (we have security cameras, so we know that they don't).  The offical Aust Post delivery procedure (must be official, because it's all they ever do) is :

1. beep the horn - once  

2. place a "sorry we missed you" card in the mail box

3. leave package at PO Box counter 

4. never try again to deliver said package.   

Countless times we have had them do this, and most of the time we were at home (happened again only a few weeks ago).  So every time some idiot beeps their horn, we have to do a quick run to the front yard to catch ninja couriers trying to make a quick get-away.   If the driver is in a good mood they will leave the package insde the fence, or maybe on the patio - but far more often we have to collect them - oh, and yes, we have a PO Box next to this same counter which we usually have only just visited an hour previous to collect our normal mail.

I wonder, can packages be sent through Aust Post without involving a courier?  At least that would eliminate the "middle-man" who is getting paid for just delaying my parcel.

[davewil1964]

If the parcel is coming through Australia Post, why not get it sent to your PO Box?

If it is too big for the box, it will be carded, so you would be in no worse a position than now.

Except for missing out on the aerobic exercise you currently get.

[lyndal1838]

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@lorinabarina wrote:

I am truly amazed that the couriers do so much for you.

I don't know where you get this from.....I have reread all my posts in this thread and nowhere have I said that couriers do anything out of the ordinary for me.  In fact, I avoid buying from ebay sellers who use couriers as much as possible.

Most other businesses that I deal with who use couriers give the option to give "Safe Drop" instrictions which I take full advantage of.

  Over the years we have had hundreds of ebay packages sent to us via Aust Post courier,

I think you must be confused.....StarTrack are the courier arm of Australia Post and they do very little ebay work as there are not many ebay sellers with a large enough turnover to qualify for an account.

If your ebay parcels are coming in a van they would be Australia Post CONTRACTORS.   These Contractors deliver the parcels that are too large for the postman to put in your street box.  Unless a signature is needed they are not obliged to come to your door.

I have an Authority to Leave in place so my contractor is able to put my items in a prearranged Safe Drop area.

and I could probably count on one hand the number of times they have actually come to the door (we have security cameras, so we know that they don't).  The offical Aust Post delivery procedure (must be official, because it's all they ever do) is :

1. beep the horn - once  

2. place a "sorry we missed you" card in the mail box

3. leave package at PO Box counter 

4. never try again to deliver said package.   

Your Contractor is not doing anything wrong although if you think he is you can complain to your local post office and ask that he waits for you to answer the door. 

Once your item has been carded the Contractor takes it to the post office and leaves it....he never tries to deliver again....that is what Couriers do and what you pay higher delivery charges for.

Countless times we have had them do this, and most of the time we were at home (happened again only a few weeks ago).  So every time some idiot beeps their horn, we have to do a quick run to the front yard to catch ninja couriers trying to make a quick get-away.   If the driver is in a good mood they will leave the package insde the fence, or maybe on the patio - but far more often we have to collect them - oh, and yes, we have a PO Box next to this same counter which we usually have only just visited an hour previous to collect our normal mail.

Leaving the packages inside the fence or on the patio are what Contractors do if it does not need a signature.  You are actually lucky to have a contractor who takes the items back to the post office so there is no chance of them going missing.  

If you have a PO box why don't you have your parcels delivered there.....it is far quicker than waiting for the Contractor to deliver.

I wonder, can packages be sent through Aust Post without involving a courier?  At least that would eliminate the "middle-man" who is getting paid for just delaying my parcel.

If items are going to the Post Office they are being delivered by AP Contractors and not couriers.  The only couriers who can leave items at the post office are AP's own couriers and you are unlikely to be getting hundreds of items delivered by StarTrack.

I have had thousands of parcels delivered by my AP Contractor and it is very very rare that any of them go to the PO.  Just occasionally my new postman has to return items to the PO as he is not yet familiar with my Safe Drop facility.

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