Australia Post’s Hold at Post proposal a sign the organisation “doesn’t understand its business”
A GIFT to competitors, “a joke” and a ploy to “piss people off”. It’s fair to say Australia Post’s new plan is extremely unpopular.
IT SEEMS the only thing Australia Post can deliver effectively is outraged customers.
The publicly owned organisation has been bombarded with complaints following Monday’s news that customers could be charged up to $9 a pop to pick up a parcel.
Australia Post has been labelled “a joke”, and the move “a blatant grab for cash” with claims staff often fail to check if someone is at home before leaving a card demanding they pick up their parcel at the post office.
Meanwhile, competitors have gone in for the kill lambasting the move to charge customers as “another clear indication Australia Post doesn’t understand its business”.
But in a sign the organisation is seriously rattled by the parcel pandemonium, Australia Post has confirmed to news.com.au it may drop the plan altogether — but only if the anger continues.
The delivery giant said the initiative was formulated in response to “customer demand”.
Currently, undelivered parcels are held at post offices for 10 days at no cost before being returned to the sender. But from August, parcels not picked up within five days will attract a $3 holding fee rising to $9 if they are still in the post office after three weeks under a proposal nattily called ‘Hold at Post’.
Coming just months after Australia Post raised the price of stamps, it’s fair to say the news has proved about as popular as the final of Reno Rumble.
The fees fiasco managed to completely overshadow Australia Post’s big PR announcement on Monday, that its parcels subsidiary Startrack would use a new fleet of Qantas jets to deliver the mail.
While Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour joined Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce in posing next to the shiny new planes, social media and news sites were being engulfed by anger at the new charges.
‘AUS POST IS A JOKE’
One comment received by news.com.au was typical. “Australia Post delivery is a joke. The posties just drop parcels and run for their lives.”
Many complained that they wouldn’t have to traipse to the post office if delivery staff made more of an effort to check if people were home.
Late last year, Australia Post copped a storm of criticism after CCTV footage was published showing a Sydney courier making no attempt to deliver a resident’s parcel.
Marie from Brisbane said, “I have seen them pull up at the letterbox, drop the slip in and ride off.
“I have run down the stairs, opened my front door and run up the road to stop them, but to no avail. If they can avoid knocking on your door, they do.”
On Australia Post’s Facebook page, Kerri Jordan said, “This is just a blatant grab for cash. Perhaps before you start charging storage fees you should consider delivering within stated time frames”.
‘DUMB’ MOVE
Karen Schuler asked, “Does that mean I can charge Australia Post for my time and the mileage to go and collect a parcel that could have been delivered?”
Or as Peter Frith summed it up. “If you keep pi**ing people off they will use other courier services instead and Australia Post will die”.
Sean Cooney echoed many when he said the move was “dumb” and the opposite of customer service: “I will solve this problem by simply refusing to purchase any products from companies that want to ship using Australia Post. Simple.”
Parcel delivery service Zoom2u chief executive Steve Orenstein would be more than happy to pick up Mr Cooney’s business.
“The recent price hike is another clear indication that Australia Post doesn’t understand its business,” he said on Tuesday.
“On face value it seems to make sense, customers who are not at home should pay a fee because Australia Post needs to store the parcel, which costs money.
“But, the reality is many Australians order online precisely because they want the convenience of not having to leave their home to collect goods,” he said.
Australia Post, Mr Orenstein said, “hasn’t solved anything with this decision”. Rather than charging it should be looking at delivering parcels when people were actually at home.
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS
Victorian Council of Social Service chief executive Emma King said people facing financial hardship would also suffer.
“A couple of bucks might not sound like much, but every dollar counts when you’re getting by on a low income.
“Increasing cost of living pressures are already a massive problem, and the last thing people need is an extra cost to receive mail.”
Australia Post said 92 per cent of parcels were collected within five days and would continue to be fee-free under the new proposals.
When asked on Monday by 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, whether the organisation would reverse the decision if customers said “no, hate it, will you dump the idea?,” Christine Corbett, Australia Post’s manager of postal services, said it would.
While market research had suggested the charge was palatable, Ms Corbett said “let’s see if our real customers say that once we actually put that in the ground”.
On Tuesday, Australia Post spokeswoman Michelle Skehan mapped out for news.com.au exactly how that would happen.
“If over the next three months our customers tell us they don’t want us to hold their parcels for more than 10 days, we won’t introduce the service.”
However, if the umbrage dissipates you can bet your bottom dollar, or nine, that you’ll have another fee to pay to use the post.
benedict.brook@news.com.au
Shock university trend sweeping Australia
There is a huge trend that is on the rise across the country, with young Aussies moving away from the traditional university experience.
‘Failed too many’: Insurers lashed on floods
A parliamentary inquiry into the response of insurers to severe floods in several states in 2022 had let down many victims by failing to meet their obligations.
Iconic Aussie chain faces $2.9m dispute
One of Australia’s best known chains has come under further fire as a bitter dispute emerges.