What to do in a situation with a Parcel locker?

[dealuxe_store]

I sold an item to a customer and sent it to their address which was a parcel locker. I sent the item with my courier, and the parcel was subsequently rejected by the parcel locker as it is an Australia Post service and couriers need to pay an additional fee to lodge into the AP network. The parcel has been returned to me.

I had a look on the AP website and read that

"Other carriers / delivery providers can deliver items to a 24/7 Parcel Locker as long as they lodge the articles into our network and pay for this service.

StarTrack is a subsidiary of Australia Post, and parcels carried by StarTrack will be accepted for delivery into 24/7 Parcel Lockers.

Where possible, you should check with the sender or company you are buying from which delivery providers they use.

Delivery providers who do not wish to lodge your parcel into the Australia Post network for delivery to your parcel locker, should follow current standard procedure for carriers, which is to contact you or the sender to organise alternative delivery or pick-up options.".

After reading this, I believe it is up to the customer to check with the seller what service they use to ensure that the package will be accepted by their parcel locker. My listing had stated Courier delivery in the listing.

I sent the customer an invoice for redelivery fee but the customer now wants me to resend the package out of my own pocket to their home address.

Who would have thought that a "Parcel Locker" only accepts parcels from only AP?

Has anyone else had a similar experience and who is in the right here?

I feel like I am being held to ransom by the negative feedback system as even though I believe I am in the right, the customer will be able to leave me negative feedback and likely force a refund from my Paypal account.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks in advance.

[amber-eyed-girl]

For me it is about twice the distance as the post office. At the local Uni.

Expansion would require demand amongst other things (like where to put them, is it saving AP money,
I guess) I had a quick look at "reviews" of them online, some people do like them for online purchases.

[lyndal1838]

My concern is where the Lockers are situated.

When they were first advertised by AP I did a bit of research.  There were 8 locations within 5 km of my place but only 3 of them were on AP property.  The others were in service stations, Seven Eleven outlets and other convenience stores.

Knowing the sort of customers who frequent these places at night I would be very loath the go there alone and hope that my parcel/s were still there.

Until AP give some sort of guarantee that the parcels will not go walkabout from the Lockers I would not trust my parcels to the system.

[amber-eyed-girl]

good point.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

There's actually a few things that can't be sent to a parcel locker, which are sent via Aus Post (eg letters and anything requiring signature on delivery - if they're sent using AP, though, the items are supposed to be forwarded on to the address used to sign up for the locker. So, even if the courier items were ultimately lodged with AP for delivery, if they required SOD - as most couriers do - it never would have gone to the locker anyway). 

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Actually you can have these delivered to a parcel locker.

I asked when they first came out and when you sign up for the service, you are accepting a blanket authority to have signature items delivered. The assumption is that you receive the notification, only you have the password, so you have collected it, collection details ie when you access the locker are available digitally in the event of an "I didn't get it".

I think the only thing you have to do over the counter is if there is extra postage to pay or a COD. But signature is fine.

[letscleanupmycupboards]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

My concern is where the Lockers are situated.

When they were first advertised by AP I did a bit of research.  There were 8 locations within 5 km of my place but only 3 of them were on AP property.  The others were in service stations, Seven Eleven outlets and other convenience stores.

Knowing the sort of customers who frequent these places at night I would be very loath the go there alone and hope that my parcel/s were still there.

Until AP give some sort of guarantee that the parcels will not go walkabout from the Lockers I would not trust my parcels to the system.

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But they are electronically locked and you need your code, your login plus the pin code which is a one off thing.

Yes anyone can take a crowbar and pop them all open, however that is no different whether they are on AP property or not. They are all 24/7 meaning they can't be secured inside like some PO boxes. How exactly can they go walkabout?

[annies_fancy_dress]

I would have expected a Parcel Locker to be under AP's control just like PO boxes so would not have sent a parcel by courier to this kind of address.

BUT, surely any courier would know this and the pick up drivers are trained to check the address labels are on the parcel, legible and look legit.

Why didn't the pickup driver just say so, and refuse to collect the parcel?

[lyndal1838]

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@letscleanupmycupboards wrote:

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

My concern is where the Lockers are situated.

When they were first advertised by AP I did a bit of research.  There were 8 locations within 5 km of my place but only 3 of them were on AP property.  The others were in service stations, Seven Eleven outlets and other convenience stores.

Knowing the sort of customers who frequent these places at night I would be very loath the go there alone and hope that my parcel/s were still there.

Until AP give some sort of guarantee that the parcels will not go walkabout from the Lockers I would not trust my parcels to the system.

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But they are electronically locked and you need your code, your login plus the pin code which is a one off thing.

Yes anyone can take a crowbar and pop them all open, however that is no different whether they are on AP property or not. They are all 24/7 meaning they can't be secured inside like some PO boxes. How exactly can they go walkabout?

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My point was that some of the Locker locations are in most unsavoury locations where the local louts congregate at night.  I would not put it past them to take a crowbar and pop the lockers open as you suggest.

I just would not trust my parcels to them at all.

[lyndal1838]

Annie, couriers do not check every parcel they pick up...they just don't have the time.

My OH does pickups from places like the ATO and the Passport Office where they can have multiple items which are in flash bags....the driver never looks the individual addresses on the parcels.  They just scan the barcodes and make sure that there are Con Notes to match each one.

The driver does not have the right to refuse to pick up anything that has been booked with the company...all they are responsible for it picking it up and taking it back to base to be delivered by the driver in that area.

[digital*ghost]

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@letscleanupmycupboards wrote:

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@digital*ghost wrote:

There's actually a few things that can't be sent to a parcel locker, which are sent via Aus Post (eg letters and anything requiring signature on delivery - if they're sent using AP, though, the items are supposed to be forwarded on to the address used to sign up for the locker. So, even if the courier items were ultimately lodged with AP for delivery, if they required SOD - as most couriers do - it never would have gone to the locker anyway). 

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Actually you can have these delivered to a parcel locker.

I asked when they first came out and when you sign up for the service, you are accepting a blanket authority to have signature items delivered. The assumption is that you receive the notification, only you have the password, so you have collected it, collection details ie when you access the locker are available digitally in the event of an "I didn't get it".

I think the only thing you have to do over the counter is if there is extra postage to pay or a COD. But signature is fine.

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Yes, I did ge that wrong, I posted the full list of ineligible items a few posts later, and it's items that require proof of ID that can't be delivered to a locker (so packages with services like person to person delivery can't go to a locker).

Re: security - my little box can't even hold half of my items, so if my PO box was jimmied open, the most they'd get is a small package or two and a bunch of "you have mail to collect cards", and thankfully the PO staff know me (and my box number) well enough to be unlikely to hand over the packages to anyone else - plus, if they came in during office hours with those cards, the burglary likely would have already been discovered, so it wouldn't be the wisest of ideas to return to the scene of the crime with the stolen property in order to try and get more.... 😄 

[lyndal1838]

Ordinary PO boxes are pretty burglar proof Digi.   It would take more than a petty criminal deciding to take his chances.

And you are right about them being silly yo enter the PO with stolen cards to pick up other parcels.   We are so well known at our PO that the parcels are already on the counter by the time we get to the head of the line and they never even look at ID.  But I guess not everyone has been at the same address for over 40 years....we should be well known.