Tracked envelopes lodgement proof issue

[11dustyattic]

Hi. Just a heads up for sellers using regular Aus Post tracked envelopes. When you lodge them, get them scanned in over the counter, not all the numbers print onto the receipt.

I posted a bunch of stuff yesterday and only noticed because I had forgotten to take the sticker from one letter. I had my postage book with me and when I went to upload tracking numbers last night, panicked thinking I had messed up 2 addresses, both in medium tracked envelopes. At that point, I didn't know all the numbers didn't show. 

Anyway, bolted down to the PO for 7.30 opening this morning, letters were still there, checked and I had the addresses correct so all good there. Still thinking they had made a mistake putting the postcode in, she rescanned, handed me the receipt and i set off to get morning coffee 😁

Then looked at the receipt and panicked again lol because the tracking numbers were the same, but with 2 different postcodes. Hightailed it back to the PO (phew are you exhausted reading this ☺) only to be told the machine doesn't print out the end numbers!! And not just a few numbers, 9 numbers no less! 

So to summarise this little saga, time wasting exercise whatever, I actually discovered I had no proof of postage for all my tracked letters, past and present, because they all show on the receipt with the same tracking number. That receipt is the only proof we have, and the reason I lodge over the counter. So it really is vital to remember to remove all stickers and keep with your postage records. Yes I know I shouldn't have missed that one sticker but mistakes can happen. I personally see this as a potential issue and in future will be manually writing the last numbers on the lodgement receipt and getting them to stamp it. 

As a side note, they only usually put the postcode in if you request it, and quite often look snarky when you do ask

[lyndal1838]

The Lodgement Receipt and Tax Invoice is just the long skinny piece of paper that comes from the till.

[11dustyattic]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

The Lodgement Receipt and Tax Invoice is just the long skinny piece of paper that comes from the till.

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Okay. So in that case, that could be a whole can of worms that sellers need to be aware of. The receipt is useless without the full tracking number on it. The numbers displayed only show the common numbers shared by all envelopes that same size. Wow, they're good at slipping stuff under the radar

[digital*ghost]

Tax invoice is the purchase receipt for the envelope(s). i.e. You need to prove you bought the envelopes, then you need to prove you lodged that particular envelope.

It does seem really strange that they don't include the latter numbers on the receipts though, considering they are all identical except for the last 4 or 5 digits. (The medium ones have a different sequence than the large, but in both cases if you'd uploading numbers for medium ones, you can copy/paste the entry for one and then just adjust the last few numbers, same with the large). 

If needing to make a claim, however, one would hope that it's just the printed copy that doesn't display all digits, and that if nothing else, time, date, and location of lodgement (all shown on a printed receipt) would allow them to identify the letter in their system. I'd want to use the lodgement receipt from the envelope if I had to prove postage to eBay / PayPal, though. 

[digital*ghost]

Hang on a second....

I just looked a few lodgement receipts.

One is from the 15th when I just lodged a large envelope - it has the full 22 digits. The second one from yesterday when I lodged two medium envelopes only has 13 digits and the destination postcode. Found an even older one for just a medium, same deal but no postcode.

The one from Tuesday (14th) has lodgements for both large and medium - all the large ones again have all 22 digits, and all the medium, 13 digits and postcodes.

I wonder if this is because the large ones are a permanent product and the medium ones are in their trial period? 

[11dustyattic]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

Hang on a second....

I just looked a few lodgement receipts.

One is from the 15th when I just lodged a large envelope - it has the full 22 digits. The second one from yesterday when I lodged two medium envelopes only has 13 digits and the destination postcode. Found an even older one for just a medium, same deal but no postcode.

The one from Tuesday (14th) has lodgements for both large and medium - all the large ones again have all 22 digits, and all the medium, 13 digits and postcodes.

I wonder if this is because the large ones are a permanent product and the medium ones are in their trial period? 

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Well that's interesting hmm I don't know. I know I don't trust them. If their system can handle the other large numbers, why exclude medium envelopes from scanning properly? This is where open public discussion is important. Thank you for sharing that