Many things take some getting used to when moving abroad, and for one expat living Down Under it’s the Australia Post delivery system.
Caz, an Irish woman living in Sydney, recently shared her major gripe with the national postal service after failing to receive a package sent from home. And she’s not the only one frustrated by a rule our posties must follow.
“The Australia Post system is absolutely bizarre,” Caz said in a video on TikTok this week. “If they attempt to deliver a parcel but you’re not there, they don’t leave you a slip and they just drop it into the local post office and expect to know that it’s there.”
She said it’s “madness” that such a system even exists.
Australia Post confirmed the change with Yahoo News last year, saying customers will soon stop receiving handwritten ‘sorry, we missed you’ cards. At the time, it was only applicable to those with MyPost accounts. Now, it seems, the cards have been phased out almost entirely.
Caz said she was only aware because “this happened last year when my mum was sending me over a package”. At the time, someone had told her “to check the post office” when it hadn’t arrived in three weeks.
“I went up and just gave my address and it was there,” she said admitting the same thing happened recently. “This year, when she sent it again, she was like, ‘just go check the post office’ and lo and behold, it was there”.
Caz finished by urging others to always check the post office if they suspect a parcel should have arrived, even if they’ve received no message or card. According to Australia Post, customers must collect the items within three weeks before it’s returned to the sender.
Customers slam Australia Post change after failed deliveries
The swap to digital alerts is aimed at providing a better customer experience, reducing paper waste, and improving efficiency and convenience, the company explained last year. However, some Aussies have argued it’s not convenient at all.
“I just had a rant about this, they don’t bother trying to deliver and then you have to queue for ages to get it,” one person said in response to the video.
Caz replied saying she too had to queue for so long”. “Probably cos everyone is the same,” she added.
Others claim they’re often home when a parcel is expected, but that it’s sent to the nearest post office without warning.
“Was at home all day today and they didn’t even try to deliver my package. Got a text to say it was dropped into the post office,” one shared.
“I’m convinced my postman just drops all the packages at the post office and doesn’t bother knocking at all,” another said. “Also my package from home was in the post office for a month and when I went up to ask it said ‘final warning to collect’”.
Some however suggested she and others download the Australia Post app which will help customers keep track of their deliveries.
“They haven’t left me slips in a long time it’s all through the app,” one said.
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