Australia Post can you help?
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| So whose got my mail? |
This is probably puzzling some of you readers who tune in for photography behind the scenes and the latest HighRPM videos, and I promise I'll be back to normal blogging soon!
However I've gone off on a tangent today with the saga of me receiving someone else's mail for the past couple of years which has culminated into the realisation that they have also been receiving mine, it's just that I seem to be missing some!
At first thought you might agree that this is an inconvenience, especially if it happens again and again.
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| NOT my mail , again |
Inconvenience? Yes indeed, in fact I just had to re-address another two just then. As you can see by my first official notice to Australia Post below though I have been missing mail that is costing me in late fees, and that takes away from Auki's happy place!
After calling and being on hold for 20 minutes I decided I'd be better off putting it in writing for reference anyway, theirs and mine.
Here's my initial contact submitted via the Australia Post online
form:
I would like to lodge a formal complaint and have this complaint followed through to a resolution, as the situation we currently have with Australia Post has now eventuated with us not receiving mail, and, in some instances cause us to incur financial penalties in the form of late fees.
Over the last couple of years we have, on an intermittent but increasingly regular basis been receiving mail intended for another address, one that shares the same unit/number as ours but a DIFFERENT street address. Initially it was thought this was an excusable one off type of mistake and the letters were sent back, with hand written note, to Australia Post for re-delivery.
HOWEVER these mistakes have continued, each time with the same outcome, a hand written note on the envelope asking Australia Post to ‘please deliver to the correct address’. (For your reference the two addresses involved in this mix up are [address removed] and [address removed])
About two months ago totally by chance, a friend who happens to live in the same unit block as this address to which all these letters should have been sent to, spotted some correspondence of OURS in this other persons mailbox as she was taking out the bins. The person whos mail we have been incorrectly receiving and redirecting.
It had not occurred to us before this discovery that we were also not getting mail that was addressed to us, due to the same issue.
Now with the knowledge that our mail may have been going to the other on many occasions I require someone at Australia Post to rectify this.
In the past year we have received at least two late body corp final notices that have indicated we had not paid their original notice for due fees, the original notice that we never received. I paid late fees for this. At this stage I was unaware of the problem with sorting our mail and presumed I had overlooked something.
In the last two months my partner underwent surgery and was specifically waiting for her medical bills to arrive, as luck would have it, the first indication of these medical bills was a letter saying that we had overlooked paying the initial bill, my partner immediately took this second notice in to the practice and explained that due to this mail problem we are having she had not received an initial notice for payment. She did not incur a late fee for this.
This also leads me to assume that perhaps our incorrectly delivered mail is not being sent on for re-delivery by the receiver? If it had not been for our friend spotting mail intended for us hanging out of this other person's mailbox we might still be ignorant of the situation.
Today I have AGAIN received two more items of correspondence to this SAME incorrect address. I have AGAIN written a note to have them redirected and have taken them both up to the local post box for Australia Post to handle. I will also now be keeping a photographic log of any further occurrence in case you need a reference as to how many times it may happen till this situation is resolved.
Points that may (or may not) be of help to your customer service people if they follow this through.
- These incorrectly addressed items sometimes come bundled in amongst correctly addressed items all bunched together with a rubber band. The postie is delivering to the correct address according to the top letter that he can see.
- When we went in to the Casuarina post office to see how the problem could be addressed we were informed that we would have to take this up with the Winnellie post office as that is where the mail is sorted. Perhaps this is another alternative, but I am lodging this official complaint centrally with you to chase up in the first instance
- At the Casuarina post office it was suggested to resolve this that maybe we should just get a PO Box. I will not be paying for a service that I should be receiving at my home address. Possibly one to train staff not to suggest as an alternative for Australia Post issues.
I look forwarding to hearing from someone soon regarding this.
*UPDATE Sunday 10 June 2012
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| Close, but no banana, our mail at someone else's address. |
Just as an update, I was sent this mobile picture from the mail box at the other address that has been receiving our mail, obviously this has been blurred out for security here but that is my address on the correspondence.
I have the original image should
Australia Post require it.
I have also requested that my friend does not deliver this to me. It is not her responsibility to perform the carriage of mail for me.
*UPDATE Tuesday June 2012
Thank you to Australia Post for replying to my
tweet as of the Tuesday ( Monday was a public holiday in many states ).
On the same day I also received an email reply (below) back to my lodged complaint form as well, it's good to see the process has started.
I'm hoping there is a resolution in sight as I have taken to sending more important correspondence and packages to my relatives home addresses and picking them up from there for the moment.
I have to say I'm always glad to see an organistation embrace social networking as part of true customer interaction rather than just as an advertising medium.
Dear Auki
I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing so many incorrect deliveries. This must be very frustrating for all concerned and i can certainly assist you in this matter.
I have forwarded this information to Darwin Delivery Centre to ensure correct delivery of your mail in future. This issue will be addressed with the delivery staff concerned and steps will be taken to ensure your complaint is addressed. . I am very confident that the steps taken by Darwin Delivery Centre will prevent a future recurrence.
On behalf of Australia Post please accept my apologies for the inconvenience this matter has caused you.
If there’s anything else I can help you with please let me know and have a great day.
Kind regards,
[name removed by Auki] | Digital & Contact Centres - eServices | Australia Post
Online Services Consultant
GPO Box 9911 In Your Capital City
www.auspost.com.au
*UPDATE Wednesday 13 Feb 2013
I received email notification with a tracking number this morning:
Article Number 83201136757094
Consignment Number 83201136757094
Total Articles 1
Date/Time 13.02.13 05:09:05
Current Status Onboard with Driver
Location DARWIN DELIVERY CENTRE
A package is on its way! A little later I received another update ..
| Date/Time | 13.02.13 08:59:18 |
| Current Status | Delivered |
I assumed this meant the parcel would be waiting for me when I got home. Not so. I looked in the letterbox, the front porch, my neighbouring units letterboxes just in case .. nothing.
I rang Australia Post to confirm the delivery address and it was definitely this one, so where was the package the delivery driver had said was delivered here? I asked for a ticket to investigate and was given VH2366641
Auki Henry currently presents for the north Australian motor sports show HighRPM. In his spare time he also works freelance as a producer and photographer.