[VIC] Auspost - Long Transit Times...

How bad have Auspost been lately???

I understand that they have a reduction of workforce relating to warehouse activities, but surely they could have seen coming.. surely they could have pivoted to deal with the influx of parcels in their network by now.. i feel like they are focusing on trying to make as much money out of this as opposed to spending a little extra to actually deliver parcels in a timely manner. If the news articles from a few weeks ago were correct, then they even asked their staff to volunteer their time to clear the backlog..

In the past couple of months, what has been the longest transit you've experienced that has actually shown up? Ive had:
3 weeks Adelaide to Melbourne
3 weeks Melbourne to Melbourne (twice…)
And 4 weeks Melbourne to Melbourne…

Yes I have had express post parcels delivered in a timely manner, but lets talk parcel post/letters.

Given that they are owned by the government, you'd think this would be treated as essential given the current situation in Victoria..

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Comments

  • +20

    They did pivot, they are transiting parcels through interstate warehouses, this has added time but far less time than if they tried to process them through the Vic warehosues which are either closed or running at far reduced staffing levels

    3 Weeks Adelaide to Melbourne would be 4-5 weeks without the changes

    Melbourne to Melbourne still goes out of state due to lock down at the moment.

      • +24

        They are doing an entire states processing in another state… while still doing that states processing.

        AND those states still have social distancing rules in place.. further adding to the delays

        The workload of the main warehouse in Sydney has quadrupled according to the CEO
        Then you have restrictions on transportation through borders etc … its not as simple as lets just add a day here and there

        and Aus Post has been more than transparent about delays
        they do not even offer an express post guarantee at the moment.

        Prior to March i was getting Adel-Melb standard in 5 days or so

        Also remember that since March online shopping has increased at a massive rate.. the pressure is on Aus Post more than most

          • +8

            @rambutann: According to Aus Post the average increase in volumes is 90%. It generally takes over 12 months to add that much capacity.

            Most of the added time would be due to sortation, not transit. Its far easier to add more transport capacity than it is to add sortation capacity.

            I would be more concerned if they didn't have delays since it would mean their facilities were way over sized. Frankly they should be trying to reduce costs, or 'make as much money as possible' as you've put it. Efficiency is a double edged sword. If we want 'free' shipping, then it will take longer.

              • +3

                @rambutann: You do realise that when you lock down a million people, they are going to buy more online? Heck this year was the first year that I bought big ticket items online and I was always a buy in store kinda guy.

        • I think the question should be 'is what they are doing to mitigate this issue good enough'? Think about it this way: if this continues, will processing time keep going up since capacity is less than demand.

          If this is the case, what is acceptable and should/can they make more changes?

          If they can, is it because they are betting demand will go down? What if it doesn't?

          If they cannot make any changes, I refuse to believe that increase of 1 week per month is reality.

          Long story short, they had 2 months, I expect the situation to be at least stabilizing but it's still getting worse

      • +16

        FFS get a grip and stop being small minded. People are dying, others have lost their jobs, many businesses have gone under with many more to come, thousands of university graduates entering the toughest job market in years, the entire state making sacrifices to stay at home away from family and friends. I haven't seen my family who live 15 mins away in over 6 months. You can wait 3 weeks for your parcel.

        • +3

          Just because… doesn't mean (AusPost) they should or could (be taking longer thanb what's acceptable.

          I still haven't received my parcel that was supposed to arrive in Feb/March. When called, they told me to get the sender to call from the country of origin.

          • +1

            @Jojo-Ma:

            Just because… doesn't mean (AusPost) they should or could (be taking longer thanb what's acceptable.

            When you have the state at a standstill, that's exactly what it means. Your parcels don't magically just zip around. Parcels have to be re-routed on much more inefficient routes, sorting centres and hubs are now closed…etc.

            I'm by no means defending AusPost. They have their own issues which we can spend ages talking about, but it's small minded to simply complain without any thought about the context in which you're complaining.

            I still haven't received my parcel that was supposed to arrive in Feb/March. When called, they told me to get the sender to call from the country of origin.

            Clearly that is completely a different issue to what OP is experiencing. OP's complaint was that parcels from Adelaide to Melbourne, which would have taken around 1 week previously now takes around 3 weeks, which given the circumstances is not ideal, but perfectly reasonable IMO. You're now bringing in new information which is completely irrelevant to the original argument.

        • I'm already used to waiting three weeks for an interstate parcel. Maybe people are just really lazy about actually posting orders, but it's usual for it to take forever to arrive to Adelaide.

      • +13

        The twenty negs are the ones who haven't lived in a certain Asian countries. The irony is that while Australia is classified a developed country, it fails to function like one: NBN, metro train, postage system, banking, toll, etc.

        When the economy was good, they had to increase postage fees because no one uses mails anymore.

        When the COVID hit us, they had to reduce work force and deal with increased workloads.

        There's ALWAYS something to blame.

        Poor NBN: our land is too vast
        Delayed metro train: our land is too vast
        Postage system: our land is too vast
        Banking: our land is too vast
        Toll: our land is too vast
        Telco oligarchy: our land is too vast

        • +3

          Our land is not too vast, our population is too small. If we had a population of 150 million, no problem.

          • +2

            @lddv04: Ozbargainers need to stop posting deals like this then: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/476210

          • @lddv04: Nope, we need ~256.71M people to match the density of US

            But interestingly our population growth percentage-wise, has exceeded the US on average since 1950~. Big jump in 2008 with international students I guess?

        • I do agree, but it isn't even that anymore. Saying "Our land is too vast" is a comparison to other lands. We can't even compare to our own land at the moment.

          Any big movement, effective leaders will try to piggyback a big change. Just look at the USPS at the moment, reducing delivery periods/frequencies, want to increase the price. Some benefit the people, most benefit the stakeholders, rarely benefits both.

          I expect if we had a war, not the exact same thing will happen, but at the end, the results will be the same

        • +1

          Agreed, excuses everywhere

  • +9

    I had a parcel take about 11 days from Oakley South to Fitzroy in Victoria. I mean I can understand it due to COVID but also understand the frustrations to both the buyer and the sellers. Online shopping at the moment in Victoria is a bit crazy ATM since every single shop is forced to close. My Amazon parcels though have been mostly on time, a bit longer than i'd like but not as bad as those sent directly via Australia Post…. their delays are pretty bad.

  • +2

    I’ve only placed 2 orders in the past month but both of those arrived in good time.

    Sydney-Melbourne was ordered on Monday 31st and arrived on Saturday 5th.

  • +6

    With pretty much everyone in the whole state locked down and bored, I can't begin to imagine how many extra parcels there are going through the system as a result of online shopping. There are already delays in the postal system at the best of times. Now imagine all those additional parcels hitting a system that is severely restricted in it's capacity by the partial shutdown.

    Be patient.

      • +2

        I would rather prefer Auspost than fastway. Even during this time, the parcel deliveries have been less than 1 week for me.

      • AusPost has been fantastic. Parcels only a day or two slower at most.

        I absolutely %#£€ hate being carded by courier companies (we’re working from home so knock dammit) that only have one depot in Sydney.

        If you hate AusPost so much, pay to have your items sent via a courier.

  • +7

    It's not just a reduction in capacity, but an increase in load aswell. During the first half assed lockdown, didn't they say volume was up 400 or 500%? Imagine what it's at now with retail closed.

    I had some weights take 2.5 weeks to arrive Melbourne to Melbourne, a lot of other stuff going melb->syd->melb for sorting. Couriers are still going well though, so if possible just do that. Sendle are great.

    • +9

      "Sendle are great" just wait until they use Fastway as their service agent and see if you still think the same.

      • +1

        I might have been lucky so far, I think toll services my place.

        I've sent out a handful of items (including a small server) to clients and it's dirt cheap + quick (Melb-Melb). I've heard it can get pricey if you're rural. It's actually cheaper for me to use sendle and have the items picked up than actually go to the post office.

      • Oddly enough, sendle delivered something for me, SYD to MEL next day. I've been pleasantly surprised.

  • +6

    Can't comment on delivery times from other retailers but Amazon seems to be able to get my packages to me within 3 days of ordering them entry single time recently.

    They're so quick with their deliveries that I don't buy anything but food from the supermarkets anymore. Was running low on body wash on Friday, ordered some in the evening, was at my door Tuesday.

    • +5

      Yeah, I'm pretty sure they have a special arrangement, had a parcel that's been in "Melbourne" for a week, but the Amazon one that got to "Melbourne" the following day was delivered on Tuesday. Lots of delays with parcels but those Amazon ones keep coming through.

      • +5

        Agreed, Amazon parcels make it through the backlog, as do Express Post.
        The Amazon parcels have "RegFast" written on it. So it it is some sort of Express Post.

      • +1

        It's almost as if they employ Uber drivers or something. Been seeing all sorts of cars delivering parcels with people wearing non-uniform clothes.

        • +3

          I believe it's called Amazon Flex - basically Uber for deliveries. It's a great solution for end users as my Amazon stuff is arriving quickly whereas anything via Auspost is taking weeks.

        • Mine are definitely Australia Post, same driver as all of my other AusPost deliveries. Show up in the AusPost app as normal. Amazon seems to get delivered faster.

          • +1

            @Miss B: And now all the keyboard warriors seems to have turned a blind eye… Where was the "increased load and decreased labor" argument I wonder…

            Where Amazon thrives, AusPost lacks…innovation.

      • Same, Amazon parcels typically delivered overnight for me, sometimes even on Saturdays. As Amazon grows in popularity here, I'm thinking they're a major cause of the slow delivery of 'regular' parcels. Aust Post probably has a big fat contract with strict SLAs, so everything else gets pushed to the back and delivered on a best effort basis.

  • +3

    A cause for further delay has not been made public:

    AusPost has advised USPS they are no longer accepting letters and parcel for Victoria through the Melbourne AusPost mail centre. Rather the have instructed USPS to send any USA-Victoria items via either Perth, Sydney or Brisbane mail centres. This will likely add 2-3 weeks to the delivery process.

    • +2

      Also there are 100,000 Americans in Australia. With the US election coming up you can probably count on the federal postal service slowing down mail from Australia which will mean slowing down mail to Australia too. Every vote is going to count and probably Americans used to living in Australia won't be voting in the way the federal postal service wants them to vote.

  • I placed an order on Tuesday and it arrived on Thursday via auspost from NSW to Vic. It’s getting better, but I would say that if it’s coming from Vic and ending in Vic, it’s gonna be longer.

    • Great sample size :)

      • I ordered an item off eBay a couple weeks ago from Melbourne-Sydney, arrived by AusPost in 7 business days. Previous week I ordered something Sydney-Sydney on Sunday night, arrived Friday.

  • +1

    I sent shipments to NZ from WA using Auspost. Cost was about a third the cost of DHL/TNT. Took a week to be delivered (about the same time as quoted by DHL/TNT). I’m pretty happy with Auspost and will continue to use them.

  • +2

    I had a parcel that was coming from 5-6kms away from where I live take 3 weeks because it spent 2 weeks in NSW (I'm in Melbourne)

    • I ordered something from Geelong (I'm in Southwest Victoria). I tracked the parcel, it went from Geelong, to Melbourne Airport, to Adelaide, to Melbourne Airport, to Sunshine, to me.

      • Bizarre! TBH mine was close enough that I probably could have just gone and picked it up myself and even with current restrictions I could have gotten away with it. 20 minute round trip instead of the 3 weeks it took.

  • +2

    Aus post tracking is also a mess at the moment. I live in regional Vic and had two parcels sent from Sydney. The courier please parcel arrived in less then a week. The Aus post parcel took 3 weeks and tracking went from a warehouse in Sydney to your parcel has been delivered.

  • Putting aside the crazy delivery times, the carbon footprint of these changes must be off the charts. If parcels are stalled anyway, why not just stall them in Melbourne?

  • +2

    I have found Australia Post to have been quite good generally. Particularly with the addition of Saturday deliveries.

    • +1

      They even have Sunday deliveries now. I got a parcel yesterday.

      • +1

        Chatting to the AusPost StarTrack delivery guy, most drivers were working 6 days a week 10hr days in Melbourne - huge increase (100 fold) in parcels from online shopping / lockdown being in place. He had noted / been asked to do Sunday deliveries as well.

  • +3

    Not only dealing with the social distancing requirements and having to process interstate, the fact everyone's at home means they are ordering more. Last week was Ausposts busiest week on record according to their media people. That's busier than any xmas period, while working in a crazy environment. I've had some massive delays on outbound parcels i've sent as an ebay seller. I'm sure if it was easy as standing up additional processing centers they would have done so. The area I live in has always been a online shopping hotspot. We are currently getting parcel deliveries 7 days a week, two different parcel couriers a day Monday to Friday and two posties on bikes most days, one delivering small parcels.

  • +2

    Yeh I’ve had shocking experience to. Brisbane to brisbane 3 weeks. I’ve had 3 items from China that’s been sitting in ‘redbank’ since February. Aus post are making fastway look good.

    • +2

      I’m in Brisbane too during Covid and my experience with AusPost has been positive. Shipment (parcel, letter, express, standard) from SA/NSW/VIC to Brisbane all arrived quickly via AusPost but from a small parcel from Brisbane to Brisbane via Aramex (formerly Fastway) took 4+ business days.

      On a side note, parcels from Europe and Hong Kong via couriers (FedEx/TNT, UPS, DHL) usually arrived within a week.

      Something I bought on aliexpress was shipped via aliexpress from Singapore and that took over a month to get here.

  • +2

    2 weeks Melbourne to Melbourne (suburbs 21km apart) with the package going via Sydney.
    But ordered something off eBay shipping from SZ, arrived to my doorstep in 12 days?
    mumbles Aus post something something asking employees to volunteer something something executives and CEO getting $7m bonus something something sucking up to Pauline Hanson delivering racist stubby coolers to refugees in lockdown

    • That's just a headline grabber. Staff are compensated for their time + vehicle expenses. I work in a large organisation/office job, if they offered me a courier gig on the side, I would do it just for kicks.

  • One of my packages from Amazon AU was delayed and I contacted them about it. They gave me a full refund even though the package is still in transit .. that was nice of them ;)

  • We've been good, had plenty of things arrive from Melbourne to regional vic in about 3-4 business days, normal post not express.

  • +2

    Got a message of explanation saying that 80% of Australian package traffic involves Victoria as sender or receiver ATM. That's pretty crazy. My local postie says his run has 4 times the volume.

    • Wat… we literally have to rely on the Auspost network for many of our requirements because all retail is shut. If expecting a reasonable transit time (aka not a month from Melbourne to Melbourne) on what i would deem as an essential service (given that its owned by the government and all) is entitlement the sign me up at the local polo club.

    • +1

      We're relying on them, and for some reason our post needs to go to Sydney, mail that is sent 15km away takes 3 weeks.

    • -1

      The CEO gets a multi-million paycheck + bonuses, now that's a rampant entitlement!

  • +1

    I have found the transit time reasonable of late. What is irritating is that I have a delivery for Monday and I am almost sure the contractor will leave the card and run, won’t even knock. auspost are so busy, they know that they will get away with it….😡

    • Our delivery guy is great, he puts the parcel in the spot we like near the door and leaves.

  • +1

    To sell off a public asset, you firstly run it into the ground. It becomes so inefficient, you just want it fixed.

    Enter the redeemer… proposal of privatisation - efficient, streamlined, much cheaper to run.

    And you, the plebeian are so keen for any sort of remedy, you accept this proposal even if it means exorbitant price hikes.

    So, 1: Enter the boogie man (inefficient company). 2: Introduce the redeemer (privatisation). 3: Lose your liberty (public asset).

    • Wonder what will happen when we run out of roads and utilities to sell, maybe privatised local council??

  • +1

    I've had 3 weeks twice.
    once was from Northern suburb of Melbourne (1 hour drive),
    second time was from 1/2 an hour away.
    3 weeks means my boy checking the letterbox twice a day x15.

  • once was from Northern suburb of Melbourne (1 hour drive),
    second time was from 1/2 an hour away.

    News for you it goes to a distribution centre first lol

    • -1

      Yeah thanks I think everyone knows that…

  • +3

    I’ve had 3 weeks express Sydney to Brisbane. It’s not just Melbourne. Auspost is just shit. I haven’t paid for an express post package in over a year, they never get it right.

  • +2

    Mail to Japan takes 3 weeks.
    Maybe they're using that as a guideline?
    Box Hill to Springvale 3 weeks.

  • I’ve heard AusPost have also raised their shipping rates for businesses as well.

    Unfortunately with little alternative, businesses get screwed both ways: (1) paying more, and (2) their customers have longer delivery times

  • I ordered something from Amazon and opted for the free standard delivery. The item was dispatched from Melbourne on Wednesday. I live in Southbank, VIC and the item arrived on Friday, which was surprisingly quick!

    • From what I know, Amazon is doing their own courier service way back in January
      I always get the order delivered the very next day if I order in the early morning, or the third day if sometime after midday
      A big plus for Amazon Prime

      I got a Auspost parcel sent from Dandenong South to Dandenong now two weeks but tracking still showing ‘we got it’

      • Not in this case surprisingly! I got an Auspost tracking number and all that.

        And correction: despatched on Wednesday, item arrived Thursday morning!

        I placed some more orders from them today - let's see if I'm still lucky :)

      • I had something with tracking showing Item processed at facility since the 4th of Sept.

        ETA was 8th to 11th.

        Sept 12th I got an email saying its delayed and to contact them if nothing by the 20th.

        I couldn't wait any more (was already a late bday pres) and ended up lodging an online enquiry last Friday the 18th.

        An hour later it was onboard for delivery…

  • This is what it's like in WA normally.

    • I posted a letter from Melbourne to Perth - 5 weeks
      It was never that bad..

      • In the past couple of months, what has been the longest transit you've experienced that has actually shown up?

        3 weeks and counting ..

        • express post, stuck in a processing centre in sydney from 15/09

  • +6

    If according to Aus Post the average increase in volumes is 90%, shouldn't this be translated to profit margin by similar magnitude and capacity to hire more staff?
    Where does the extra bonus for CEO come from?

    • +5

      They actually asked staff to volunteer to help clear packages.

  • +1

    I find that Auspost is doing a marvellous job, with multiple deliveries a day and even delivering at weekends. Excellent tracking to keep updated too, and interactive SMS to arrange deliveries on the day that go through multiple systems to notify the courier of my preferences while he/she is en route.

    Had an order on Monday that got delivered the next day, speedy deliveries from all over the country. Some slight delays experienced to do COVID implications, but all in all a superb service for a low price.

    • -1

      Negative posts for reporting a positive experience with Australia Post.

      What a bizarre community.

      • -2

        Because you're ignorant of others' suffering inflicted by the very institution that you praised so much.

        • No I am not, I have not cast doubt on their delays but offering much needed balance to some unhinged nonsense.

          And the notion that you would describe it as “other s’ suffering” in relation to a delay on parcels during a pandemic which is causing genuine suffering, and has also directly caused this postal delay, speaks volumes about you

          The fact is that this is an unprecedented situation with no time frame for resolution despite the people here thinking there is and Australia Post has been doing an acceptable job in the circumstances.

          • -1

            @[Deactivated]: So why don't give the commensurate level of constructive criticism when credit (albeit negative) is due?

            I can only see praises about AusPost from your comments so far.

            What I meant was tens of years of being carded and many times of receiving poor services by AusPost. We're not talking 1-time occurrence here, as with many who have complained here. Sure, it's a mental suffering no where near the physical suffering met by those fighting COVID. But the suffering is real.

            And you're of the opinion that they've done an "acceptable" job in the circumstances. You should read the comment by Khomeini.

            • +1

              @Jojo-Ma: Why don't I criticise them for no reason relative to my experience? That's insane.
              That's not a good philosophy for life.

              • -2

                @[Deactivated]: If everyone thinks like you, and have this mentality, then there world would not have as many Trump haters, Hilary haters, bin Laden haters. As if it's our business down under. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

                • +2

                  @Jojo-Ma:

                  If everyone thinks like you, and have this mentality, then there world would not have as many Trump haters, Hilary haters, bin Laden haters. As if it's our business down under. ¯(ツ)

                  Man, oh man, I love the reduction to absurdism. Getting your parcel delivered late is not even within the same stratosphere as terrorists who have killed thousands of people. What are you smoking?

  • I've got a Xiaomi Vacuum stuck in Dandenong South facility since 2nd September, no update and no response to my enquiry.

    • +5

      That really sucks…

    • Ive got one stuck there since 10th September. Delivery is 10-15 minutes from there

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