Australia Post warns of delivery delays amid COVID-19 as shoppers slam service

Australia Post has been blasted for major delivery delays with more than half of shoppers complaining of parcels arriving late. It comes as the service announces a dramatic shake-up of services. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.

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Shoppers have shared their horror stories of delivery delays as Australia Post announces a dramatic shake-up of delivery services and warns of major parcel delays amid a surge in online orders.

A poll of hundreds of Daily Telegraph readers has found that almost 60 per cent suffered major delivery delays or inconveniences with the service in recent weeks.

It comes as the nation’s postal service cuts letter deliveries to every second day and warns of “severe delays” as the company works through stringent hygiene protocols and increased demand amid the outbreak.

Australia Post has cut some services and is warning of major parcel delivery delays as demand for online orders skyrockets.

The delays are already plaguing the system, with some complaining of parcels arriving more than a month later and postmen being accused of laziness as they’re caught throwing parcels onto the street without ringing the bell.

One shopper from Sydney’s south west says it took more than a month for her parcel to travel interstate from Melbourne to Penrith in Sydney’s southwest and another still not arriving despite four weeks passing, she said.

“With the corona issue, I knew there might be a slight delay but not this long!,” she said.

Another reader who paid a premium for fast-tracked shipping says her parcel still hasn’t arrived at the destination despite more than 16 days passing.

Australia Post has been blasted for major delivery delays with more than half of shoppers complaining of parcels arriving late – sometimes by more than a month.

“I went into the Australia Post I sent it from and they were of no assistance. The customer service helpline won’t even accept calls unless it’s for passports.”

Postmen have also been accused of laziness for allegedly throwing parcels over the fence and leaving them outside or taking them back to the post office without ringing the bell.

The missed deliveries have forced others to queue outside the post shop to collect missed parcels.

The line up an hour before the post office shuts on Pitt street... so even the relief we get from online shopping is dented ...@australiapost well played, well played ! #coronavirusaustralia at least we aren't waiting for bread so there that ... oh hang on ... pic.twitter.com/JNDzV7XIex

— Huda Olsson (@HudaOlsson) April 16, 2020

An overall reduction in air freight capacity and passenger flights, an increase in parcels requiring manual sorting and increased health and safety measures are all sparking the delays, a spokesman for Australia Post said.

“While the majority of our items are still arriving on time, we ask and thank our customers for their patience, and assure you all that we’re working as hard as we can to get parcels to you as quickly as possible.”

A spokesman for Australia Post said the network has been inundated with parcel deliveries like during the Black Friday and Boxing Day sales as people opt to buy online during the lockdown.

“Due to significant reductions in air freight capacity, there will be severe delays on the letters and parcels network that Australia Post operates around the country, particularly to regional and rural communities. Social distancing in our facilities also means that we are unable to simply put on more people, like we would do during peak Christmas periods,” they said.

Deliveries may arrive a few days later than expected as the network struggles to keep up with high demand.

People are being urged to use the network’s hundreds of Parcel Lockers to make it easier for them to collect their goods.

Staff at Australia Post are working through the same volume of parcels as Black Friday and other shopping events.

The changes to parcel delivery services have raised the ire of the CWU union, who are concerned the move could suggest more cuts are to come.

“We’ve got postmen delivering essential goods like food, medicine and education supplies during the current crisis. Cutting those vital services back too far would be incredibly risky at this difficult time,” secretary Greg Rayner said.

“Postmen are working harder than ever at the moment. From the frontline, it seems strange that Australia Post needs to go down this path and the company needs to immediately come to the table to engage in genuine consultation as to how it plans to implement these changes, and how it plans to return a five-day-a-week letter delivery service to our communities once Australia is through the worst of this crisis.”