I guess that shouldn’t be a surprising statistic; about the only time an actual letter arrives in my mailbox it’s some kind of bill, or for somebody who lived here 20 years ago. But the shift in our buying habits has forced Australia Post to make some radical changes.
The ABC reports on the plans, which focus around the changes that we’ve made as a shoppping community. Letter sending is on the downslide — it’s that pesky email, you see — but there’s more than a few parcels piling up in Australia Post locations, largely because few of us have the time to actually go to an Australia Post store during work hours because they’re named for what we’re actually busy doing.
170 million parcels were sent in Australia last year, or roughly eight per person by count of population. I suspect I may have received more than my fair share, but in any case, that’s up ten percent year on year, a big jump given the wailing and moaning of the bricks and mortar retailers recently. But 170 million parcels that Australia Post can’t deliver because we’re not home and can’t get to them to pick up? That’s a problem.
The solution? Extended opening hours for specific parcel-only locations, as well as new parcel lockers with an SMS back-end that lets you know when your precious consignment of t-shirts or bacon has arrived. [ABC]
Image: Australia Post
Gordon
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:10 AMI’ve received like 35 this year.
Dan Miller
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:18 AMAnd again Australia are trying to catch up only when they are forced to. Pathetic.
Blake
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:23 AMThey’re doing a lot better than the US postal service!
Jacob
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:07 AMWhat point is there in changing unless the market demands it?
Scott
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 2:05 PMExtra consideration to customers needs? Being proactive instead of reactive makes customers deleriously happy. Ask the Japanese – most large city Japan Post offices have 12 hour if not 24 hour parcel pickup.
Steve
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 8:20 PMYour cute little rant is rather pointless. The only regions that are consistently better in terms of postal service than Australia are the Eastern Asian countries, and that’s because always been a part of how they get their food and basic supplies in large complexes.
The US is only in the process of beginning this conversion too and is still split between the private/public sectors (UPS/FedEx)
chuck
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:04 PMYes I believe we need a collective and universal ‘chill bro’ for all.
Geoffc
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:27 AMActually, as per the Pic, I reckon ThinkGeek have got it right.
Ordered from them on Thursday morning 8:30am
Received Monday morning 8:30am
DHL – Pretty good…
Captain Awesome
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:28 AM+1
Alex
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:31 AMI told guys at my post office dont even try to deliver items during work hours coz no one is home – but they got no control over it since delivery guy picks it up from the central location 1st… they really need to change logistics of the whole delivery operations. there is no point to try and deliver most of the items since ppl are at work so some alternatives should be provided to save time
luckily my post office works till 5 30 everyday so I got no problem picking it up after work unlike most places that work till 4 30
Dave
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 10:32 AMGet a PO Box… makes it sooo much easier, and no worry of a parcel being left on the door step!
Michael
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:23 PMWhat I hate more is being at home all day waiting for the post, only to go to the toilet, hear the knock on the door, and by the time you get there, you find a card saying where and when you can pick your package up. Normally hours later because, well the postie has other places to be, I understand that.
But what really is annoying sometimes he will leave the bulky packages at the door, and take the smaller ones back to the post office.
Chris
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 9:54 AMHmmmm bacon.
Al
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 10:17 AMi just went into my auspost and signed a statdec giving my auspost driver signature of authority on my deliveries, so if i am not home she can sign for them herself and leavfe them on my door step… i am happy with this.
but no one really knows this is an option and wont suit everyone due to local…
brad
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:18 PMi didnt realize this was an official option. my parcel guy is really good… i asked him once if he could just put them in my garage if no-one is home and he hasnt skipped a beat.
it is good to see them adapting. now, they just need to reduce their turn around time.
Penmonicus
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 10:25 AMI hate the post office’s opening hours. It’s ludicrous. Has been behind the times for years.
Thankfully work is OK with me getting stuff delivered here – though that doesn’t quite help with bigger items.
David
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 10:59 AMI often work from home. I just wish that AusPosties would actually deliver my parcels instead of a notice to collect. I hate the lazy bastards.
tellemhisdreamin'
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:40 AM@ david, I had that problem too. Turned out to be a contractor, who gets paid by number of deliveries. He would prefil the notices out and just not actually deliver. Caught them out twice and complained. hasn’t happened since.
grayarea
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 1:59 PMWe have similar problems with subcontractors who can’t be bothered walking up the drive to deliver the parcels. They leave a note to collect from the local post office which is only open during working hours. totally agree Australia Post need to change their game.
tellemhisdreamin'
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:17 AMyou do realise most austpost locations (at least ones I’ve dealt with in NSW and QLD) have extened hours for parcel pickup. Ususally 6.30am open. I love austpost for that. Much better than trekking across town to some courier wharehouse only to not find your delivery. And austpost have been doing this for years. I wish All courier companies could drop of at austpost if your not home (some do).
Hamish
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:48 AMIt’d be great if this was listed in opening hours against the particular shop on the Aus post website. God, even just 9 – 12 on a Saturday morning would be awesome.
JTJ
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:37 AMIf things require a signature or I’m not sure if someone will be home or not, I just get it sent to work!
There’s always someone here to accept the delivery so its no issue.
Campbell
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:43 AMIf Australia Post could put in a system that helps put some kind of organisation to when a certain parcel might be delivered, it would help so much.
For every account, there’s an address that contains the number of parcels waiting to be delivered, organize them in the warehouse and there’s local tracking which can state a predicted day when it will try to be delivered to your house. The system can have preference hours as well.
If the number’s stagnant, their is a backlog etc. But I’m sure Australia Post can work out some way to be open for an extra couple of hours to deliver packages in peak times when people will be there.
Greg
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:43 AMAgree with the other comments – either don’t require signature on delivery if you aren’t going to be there, or get a PO box.
Steve
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 8:24 PMDepends on your living arrangement. The place I’m staying in right now is a stand-alone house with a front balcony, and any parcels left there without signature won’t be seen or stolen unless people deliberately sneak onto your property.
That said, I wouldn’t do that with the last place I lived, which was a housing complex with doors right on the drive-way and people frequently stole parcels.
DarthDVD
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 11:55 AMhmmm… the sms lock on the parcel pickup locker…
someone could hax that and steal random…… stuff. (hmmmmmm bacon)
Many companys will not send items to a PO Box.
and the Large or X-large Po box’s cost quite a bit.
poedgirl
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:33 PMInterestingly enough, both of the post offices near my house are open until 6pm so getting packages isn’t a problem for me.
KADM
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:52 PMhaha, BACON… no.1 priority is to know when my bacon has been confirmed/shipped/arrived
im serious!
mike
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 1:23 PMYes I’d love to see my local depot open till 6 or 6:30. Atm i think its 5:30 and i can just make it if i leave work on time.
Also you dont know if a package is waiting for you untill you go home and get the ticket, thats more time wasted before the depot closes. So i always have to go get it the next day. And if i worked farther from home i would have no chance.
Cmdr-Shepard
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 1:34 PMNo problem with Auspost opening times. However…
Commonwealth I’ve had no issue with… Unless I try to go into a bran. 9.30 till 4 mon – fri. Are you kidding me the branch is half an hour away and I finish after it closes.
Come on. At least be open during the weekends. Pay your staff more. We already pay enough bank fees to fund a small country.
Chemenski
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 4:07 PMTotally agree with this. Branch opening hours are ridiculous. You need to take a day off if you need to go there.
Michael
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 1:48 PMI don’t really like the idea of them sending me the code as an SMS. But, I think there are some other items they could fix in my area:
1. Don’t leave a final notice as the first notice of a failed delivery. I have already complained at least a half dozen times about this.
2. If it’s raining and the item doesn’t fit in the mailbox and you don’t want to walk the 5m to the porch. Have the common sense to not complete the delivery and leave a notice.
3. Make up your mind which of the three delivery centres my house sits at the junction of is the one I have to use. I once got two notices on the same day for two different centres which I then had to go to to collect my packages from.
Prashy
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 7:30 PMThis is a fantastic idea.
Michael
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 12:06 AMAustralia Post hold a near monopoly in terms of their surface mail service and government ownership. Sure their are courier companies such as DHL, but these are not surface mail. As a result, our business despite shipping over the required quantity to achieve a lower shipping price, and despite numerous requests to Australia Post for lower prices, are being kept on extremely high shipping rates. ACCC does not seem to want to help in something that is clearly an anticompetitive action from Australia Post. We would love to pass on the cost savings, but AP have tied our hands behind our backs. Service from Australia Post is also non-existent. The government needs to shake up the entire Australia Post service (or lack thereof).