Auspost Delivered Parcel to Neighbour - How Do I Get It Back?

Hi All,

Hope you guys can help me come up with some ideas on getting a parcel back which was delivered to the wrong address on my street.

I had ordered a parcel from China and have been waiting for it for 3 months. On Monday, I got a notification from Auspost to say that the parcel had been delivered but I definately haven't received it. After being on the phone with Auspost for 3 days I have finally got them to admit that the parcel was delivered to the wrong address but the thing is I do not want to wait 3 months again for these items. I would much prefer if I could just have my parcel.

The lady at Auspost accidentally let slip the address it was delivered to.

I am thinking of knocking on their door and asking for it back
or
having a look in their recycle bin to see if the packaging for my parcel is in there.

If I do happen to get the owner to admit they have taken it or if I found evidence of my items in their bin, can I get the police involved to get my items back?

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Comments

  • +22

    You Cray?

  • +7

    I doubt the police would care. Easily deniable. How can you possibly prove it's yours, even if you found evidence it was the same item?

    • Was hoping could find packaging with my address on it

      • +29

        just knock on their door. they may be honest. I had a parcel delivered incorrectly to my place. it took a couple of days for me to contact the sender and find the correct neighbour it was for. then i left a message for them to come grab it. your neighbour may not be as competent at backtracking it but may have it sitting there not knowing what to do next.

    • How can you possibly prove it's yours

      I mean presumably it had OPs name and address on it, and not the name and address of the person who took possession.

  • +33

    Raise a complaint with AusPost and Claim compensation.

    https://auspost.com.au/receiving/delayed-lost-or-damaged-ite…

    If you purchased shipping insurance, claim that too.

    Don't recommend going through people's trash to look for evidence

    • +25

      Only the sender can get compensation, receiver has no contract with auspost.

      • +7

        Oh dear, OP has to deal with seller in China, who will then say "package delivered". Ugh!

      • Not strictly true. By the letter of the implied contract, yes that's correct. But raise a PIO complaint and to get a satisfactory result, the agent handling PIO complaints will usually approve low value claims. (I've been successful with claims up to $150 so far)

    • +14

      Thanks mate. Will speak to the neighbour first and see if they have it. If that fails then I will do this.

    • +20

      Postage insurance has to be the biggest scam going around.

      Imagine purchasing a service, and having to pay extra insurance incase they don't do the thing you paid for.

      • +1

        Not only dont do the thing, lose something of yours and arent responsible for repayment

      • I once had a friend ship a pre paid debit card to me in Brasil. It got lost on the way. Claimed compo up to $200 I think and then the card went back to sender after 7 months or so. So I have seen it work.

  • what was the item?

    • +3

      My mrs bought $500-$600 worth of clothing and cooking utensils

      • Did you pay for shipping insurance?

        • +6

          Shipping insurance would do no good to OP. It would compensate the seller if the package is lost. Best to buy through a channel that will allow you to get a refund if not delivered - the seller should get insurance for themselves in case they have to give a refund for non delivery.

          • +2

            @Quantumcat: Oh gawd, sounds just like LMI! How naive I am to think it protects the buyer!

  • +76

    "The lady at Auspost accidentally let slip the address it was delivered to."

    Here's hoping she was accurate and you heard correctly before you begin a campaign against someone who had nothing to do with it.

    "I am thinking of knocking on their door and asking for it back"

    This is fine. Be polite, explain the mixup, describe the item. Be vague "The Australia Post people thought they'd delivered it here".

    If they tell you they don't have the package, you are out of options talking to this person. Take it up with Australia Post - it is their fault and they will have a process to rectify.

    or

    "having a look in their recycle bin to see if the packaging for my parcel is in there."

    No, don't do things like this on their property. It's trespassing.

    "If I do happen to get the owner to admit they have taken it or if I found evidence of my items in their bin. Can I get the police involved to get my items back?"

    If you're going to try to escalate on their doorstop ("ADMIT IT ALREADY, SINNER") or continue your search on their property without their permission I can guarantee the police will become involved.

    • "having a look in their recycle bin to see if the packaging for my parcel is in there."

      No, don't do things like this on their property. It's trespassing.

      Just wait to its on the street waiting to be emptied, no law being broken then, Will look like a crack head though going though the bin in the morning. lol

      • And if you find the wrapping where does that get you? No where.

        • +5

          yeah, OP should fence off the surrounding 10 blocks, kill everyone inside then slowly go through their possessions till they find their parcel.

          Only way to be sure

        • All out war

    • +1

      I got a parcel for a neighbour and we just made sure they got it by knocking on their door and handing it to them.
      It happens.
      Most people will probably happily help you, though you may need to speak to all members of the household.
      The advice above is sound.
      No need to go upsetting the neighbourhood, just try stepping outside your comfort zone a bit.
      Prepare a little speech if necessary.

  • +99

    So you haven't actually knocked on the door and asked for it back?

    Grow a backbone and use your communication skills.

    • +12

      OP is looking for OZB courage to do this, but in the event that it doesn't come through, then happy to go through other people's rubbish.

    • +28

      Use this one simple trick to get you items back. Neighbors hate him for it…

      • Why does this work?

    • +1

      Im at work. Planning to go after woek

    • +2

      Relax mate. I just found out the address today and I’m at work

    • +2

      Meanwhile the neighbour, assuming they received the delivery, is happy to hold onto the items rather than dropping them off at OP’s house…

    • It is not OP's problem to talk to neighbor, its meant to be AUSPOST's job (the one who delivered to wrong address).

      Auspost is meant to either
      1. ensure parcel delivered correctly if not then
      2. claim or locate the parcel and give it to receiver (aka deliver properly)
      3. If they cannot locate/claim parcel they are meant to compensate sender of parcel (usually speaking, If the parcel was simply sent by going to post office aka not online, Any one can pretend to be sender just tell them sender's details and your BSB and account no. for compensation). To be really honest it save sender SO much hassle as well, Who the heck is meant to compensate some buyer from gumtree/marketplace/private sale?? If i sold something I would not bother doing this kinda thing for buyer, because I as sender did my job correctly. Sent buyer photo of parcel with address on it, then afterwards its AUSPOST's problem (Not mine or anyone else's)

      • +3

        It is not OP's problem to talk to neighbor (sic)

        Whilst this sounds technically right, I find this sentence disappointing.
        Firstly, talking to your neighbour shouldn't be a problem. Communication is an important skill to have.
        Furthermore, whilst I agree AusPost should have delivered it correctly to begin with, this is the OP's problem - because they want the parcel. It is in the OP's best interest to talk to the neighbour. Taking this technical high ground to the detriment of OP is the most disappointing part. Despite it being AusPost's responsibility to resolve, since OP gets the greatest benefit, they should go out of their way to help resolve it. Waiting for someone else to possibly resolve the issue is a losing position for them.

    • +1

      Well I think OP should skulk around his own house resenting his neighbours and see how that plays out.

    • +2

      Don't judge man… you don't know his/her neighbours, some are just Fd up ! it could turn to all out war and he/she is the one living next to them.

      • Don't judge man… you don't know his/her neighbours, some are just Fd up ! it could turn to all out war and he/she is the one living next to them.

        OP obviously has never interacted with them.

        What is hard about knocking on a door and saying "excuse me. Australia post delivered my package to your address by mistake. Can I have it back please?" It is that simple. The response will be yes or no and then you go from there.

        • what do you do if they say "no"?

  • +15

    Do you write headlines for newscorp?

    • No..?

    • +21

      What happened next will shock you!

      • +9

        Aussie shopper discovers supermarket hack and saves millions of dollars

  • +5

    Have you tried bikies yet?

    • -2

      Nope… know any?

      • +2
        • +1

          someone should register that domain and make a whole parody site about getting the bikies on the case

          • @smashman42: Go to deep web and grab one. use your BTC.

        • Page has been taken down, maybe in a revenge attack?

      • +1

        dont we all have a mate that is cousins with a bikie

  • -4

    Auspost must compensate you in $$ you paid for it because they (profanity) up delivery. - This is what happened when i bought something of gumtree the auspost guy delivered to a neighbor's place instead of mine. But I luckily got notification saying parcel delivered, and then checked outside - found it on neighbor's door. I took it and claimed auspost delivered incorrectly. Got my full refund for it because auspost didn't do its job properly - they even had image taken at neighbor's place.

    But given it's from China, this changes whole story, aka seller (from china) need to lodge complaint via China and then they will contact auspost and take like 2 months to get you refund.

    This is exact reason why i stopped buying from China, takes bloody ages to arrive, and if anything wrong takes ages for resolution.

    • +7

      The agreement with Auspost is with the person who arranged and paid for the delivery, which would be the seller in OP's case. OP needs to take up the issue with seller

      Also, did you take your item and then get a refund from the seller because it was delivered to the wrong address? You know that would come out of the seller's pocket unless they paid for extra cover

      • No i didnt get a refund from seller, i got refund from auspost directly (Seller had nothing to do in this case) Seller still had the money I paid them. So seller was not out of pocket at all. Only auspost was because of their WRONG doing and not delivering properly instead asking me to contact neighbor what happened to it- Told auspost i don't talk to neighbors AND why should i have to, they got nothing to do with it. Its AUSPOST's job if they fail to do it properly they should compensate for it, regardless of anything else

        • Were you the one that paid for and arranged delivery? Auspost wouldn’t normally refund the receiver directly

          • +1

            @FireRunner: Technically I paid seller for delivery and item, (Seller posted item like as usual). Yeah generally auspost dont even bother with receiver but i guess i was lucky that time

          • +4

            @FireRunner: I had a lost item recently, Auspost tried to start the refund with me directly and kept ignoring communications from the seller. I had to explain to Auspost how their own system works as the seller and I had figured it out (they'd get refunded then resend me what I'd ordered).

            And then the package showed up over 2 months late so it solved the problem. They're useless at the moment though with their support working from home.

        • Its AUSPOST's job if they fail to do it properly they should compensate for it, regardless of anything else

          You committee fraud against a government organisation. Just because Australia Post left your parcel at the wrong address does not mean that they should play you for the entire parcel.
          Especially because you got your parcel so did not suffer any loss.

          • @spaceflight:

            government organisation

            oh yeah exactly why they needed to gift CEO with $1000's of $ worth of Cartier watches.

            • +1

              @USER DC: Oh you mean the watches that were given where it was found that there was no evidence of fraud or corruption in relation to the purchase and gifting of the watches?

              Compared to your fraudulent compensation claim that was made in bad faith?

              • -2

                @spaceflight:

                no evidence of fraud or corruption ??

                If i am not wrong CEO had to resign because of this conduct of corruption (misuse of company's funds) . So i think you aint aware of that issue. Anyway you really reckon a $10 claim for cheap as pen refills is worth Auspost to try to find and locate. If you ever run a business you'll know the answer correctly.

                Secondly seller from gumtree wasn't even bloody replying, after posting and sending me photo of shipping label. So clearly he wasn't interested in helping me out if I actually lost item.

                • +3

                  @USER DC:

                  If i am not wrong CEO had to resign because of this conduct of corruption (misuse of company's funds)

                  You are wrong.
                  She resigned because she was bullied out of her job, thrown under a bus, and humiliated by the PM
                  Even the CEO of Australia Post said that she was treated abysmally.

                  So i think you aint aware of that issue.

                  Look in the mirror and think again

                  Anyway you really reckon a $10 claim for cheap as pen refills is worth Auspost to try to find and locate.

                  Yes they will run through their process the same as with any other lost item

                  If you ever run a business you'll know the answer correctly.

                  So I should ignore small losses because they aren't worth looking into?
                  What if all of those small things are staff theft? I don't want people working for me who steal things.

                  If you ever run a business it's likely to fail.
                  Actually, you'll probably steal from your customers to keep yourself afloat.

                  • -2

                    @spaceflight: HAHA

                    She resigned because she was bullied out of her job, thrown under a bus, and humiliated by the PM
                    Even the CEO of Australia Post said that she was treated abysmally.

                    Whatever you say it, Ultimately it was her conduct, that was at fault.

                    I aint running a business, and if i was i wont be wasting $100 + (standard cost to investigate, etc. that's why Auspost limit is $100 on standard parcels) to save $10 everytime in all cases.

                    Staff theft ? This is nothing to do with staff theft, if that's the case its a totally different issue (like someone deliberately delivering their own parcels to wrong places, and Auspost does ensure this doesn't happen they got their own staff's personal details).

                    you'll probably steal from your customers to keep yourself afloat

                    HAHA your thought are insane! I here said its everything that opposed this statement i.e. receiver should be compensated. you are making too much stuff

                    • +1

                      @USER DC:

                      Whatever you say it, Ultimately it was her conduct, that was at fault.

                      You mean the conduct where there was no evidence of fraud or corruption? (Unlike you)

                      I aint running a business, and if i was i wont be wasting $100 + (standard cost to investigate, etc.

                      It's impressive you know the cost for Australia Post to investigate when you don't even work for them.

                      that's why Auspost limit is $100 on standard parcels) to save $10 everytime in all cases.

                      No it isn't.

                      It is because the postal ombudsman has a view that some form of compensation is a necessary feature of the postal service and that the liability to compensate for service
                      failure also acts as an incentive to optimise service delivery.

                      If Australia Post didn't have to offer it they wouldn't.

                      Staff theft ? This is nothing to do with staff theft, if that's the case its a totally different issue

                      You know that because you found the parcel.
                      Australia Post doesn't because you told them you don't have the parcel.

                      and Auspost does ensure this doesn't happen they got their own staff's personal details

                      Wow an employer has their staff details, who would have thought!
                      The main reason they have have those details is not to stop theft.

                      receiver should be compensated.

                      Compensated for what?
                      You got your parcel.

                      you are making too much stuff

                      No I'm not but think that if it makes you feel better. At least I'm not a lying fraudulent thief.

    • +2

      You guys really think the seller from Aliexpress/China gives a ****. They don't have time to chase this up, nor do they care.

      Once it shows up as delivered, neither the seller or Aliexpress can help. I had a wrong item sent out and even sent in a video as asked by Aliexpress as evidence and I still lost the case. It's the one thing eBay has over Aliexpress, in that the buyer "usually" wins.

      • +1

        I just had something from AliExpress say that it was delivered despite it never turning up. Then refunded me the full amount no questions asked.

        • +1

          I'd say you got extremely lucky.

      • same once i ordered ebay from china, Stupid idiot put wrong post code, (totally different state (same address though)) So item came in Australia only to go to sender again. Ebay was so reluctant even though that parcelsapp.com clearly displayed that delivery post code doesn't match the postcode i put in.

        Had to waste hours and days to finally get a refund. Sellers from China dont give a dam about buyers, and Aliexpress - the whole system is crap. No point ordering from aliexpress, end result will always be disputing from Bank

    • Oh, so fraud

      • No, not really.

        Auspost did a mistake, which they compensated me for. AND Auspost knows they made mistake.

        I ain't the courier to be ensure my neighbor delivers parcels to me, nor is my neighbor a delivery person. Auspost and other couriers are paid to delivery goods properly to correct address. If they do not do that they are meant to compensate.

        What if I was at work when item was delivered ?(aka not be able to see item delivered to neighbour), ?? Neighbor will definitely have either put it in bin or Taken it as his own like in this case.

        Its simple if Auspost knows it messed up a delivery it is meant to compensate for it. And in my case claim amount was so small like $10 or something that Auspost definitely said its much easier on them to pay me $10 than even bother looking for parcel.

        • +1

          Too late, I’ve reported you to the Internet Police. You’re going down.

  • Let me know the address and I will collect for you.

    • Will you accidently pee on that parcel ? Agggg don't know if anyone would want that parcel after that

      • +6

        What makes you think it hasn’t already been peed on?

  • +1

    You need to contact Current Affair right now … dont delay

    • Bikies
  • +10

    Good luck OP. Got parcel delivered mistakenly to my address a couple of times and I went out to drop them off to my neighbours. I lost one too who was marked as delivered but never arrived, it was a pain to follow up with AustPost (different suburb from where I am living now)

    • +6

      You are a good person 👍

    • I get shit meant for the neighbours every few months - mostly bills they really want to not have go missing. If they're home I knock on the door, if not it goes in their letter box. If I got a parcel I'd sure as hell give it to the owner directly (all my own parcels go to a business address so there is always someone available to sign shit, local parcel gimps are the card without trying type at best)

  • Ask AusPost for documentary evidence item has been delivered, and the address.

  • +7

    Auspost Delivered Parcel to Neighbour - How Do I Get It Back?

    Knock on neighbours door and ask for it back..

    unless your the dude who started war with neighbours over wrong fences recently, then your going to be shit out of luck

    • +2

      I accidentally had something sent to my old address recently. Knocked on their door, apologised and asked them.

      They were super nice about it and it's all resolved. Definitely worth the friendly approach first for everyone involved.

  • Usually it's the Auspost people who have to go to the address to retrieve it as it's a bit harder to deny that "no you did not hand me that parcel" when it's the same guy lol. Anyway if you are 100%, could say that opening someone else's mail is a federal crime and you will report it due to the value. Not sure if the police will give a shit but might scare them into giving it back.

    If you look through their bins, you will be the one they call the police on.

  • +2

    Happened to me once. Had my items delivered to the wrong street that had similar spelling, same postcode. The posties have to take photos of when they drop a parcel. In my case, the postie went back retrieved it and delivered to me the next day. Some o/s websites don't have a field for suburb, so I send the full address in a note.

  • +1

    So wait, you know where the parcel is and you haven't gone to get it back?
    Did AP deliver it to the local Al Queda office or something?

    • he said he just found out and is still at work

  • +6

    My partner had a parcel from Canada lost by Austpost. They could trace it to a local sorting centre but then it disappeared. Never delivered. They only offered $60 for a parcel worth several hundred. He took his claim to the small claims court and Auspost was ordered to pay the full value.

    • I find this hard to believe the contract is between the sender and Auspost not the receiver and Auspost.

  • +19

    I've posted this before, but we had the same problem with a Nespresso delivery. Nespresso had put the wrong street number (twice, even after we'd rung them), so Aust Post had delivered them there. Got address from AP and we went to the house. Guy was very helpful. He'd kept both parcels, expecting them to be collected at some stage, so just handed them over, unopened. He was pretty down on his luck, so later, we dropped a Coles gift card into his letterbox to thank him for being so honest.

    Be polite and ask the neighbour. Going through their rubbish is illegal and underhand. Be prepared that they may not have it or give it back, and if so, use legal means where possible.

    • +1

      Wow that’s very nice of you

  • +5

    Um…knock on door say Australia Post said they accidentally delivered your parcel there. 'Did you receive it?' 'Yes..here it is' or 'No I dont have it'…then take up with Australia post.

  • +6

    What happened when you knocked on their door?

    • Same thing that happened when the other person received a delivery not belonging to them; nothing…

  • Ask them. I can't imagine many people would deny such a delivery if you have the evidence.

  • +2

    Go to the address and ask them whether they had received a parcel…. I have had to do it a number of times. We all have.

    If the person does not own up… if say an item from eBay, you state item had not been delivered and seek your money back.

    The "contract of delivery" is between the sender, and the courier (Oz Post)… not you. All you can do is ask where they delivered the parcel, and do they have proof. If it was via a parcel delivery, they are obliged to take a photo of the delivery… in this image you would be able to ascertain whether that is in deed your address or not, and possible provide a clue toward it actually had being delivered at another address.

    That is all you can do.

  • +1

    I had one of my parcels delivered to the wrong address a few weeks ago. A knock on the door and an older gentleman said 'This is yours. They delivered it to the wrong address'. It must have only been a few streets away, as he left on foot! I wish I had gotten his name…

    Another time, I got a parcel. I thought it was mine and opened it, to discover it wasn't! I took it back to my local post office. (Now I always check name on parcel!)

  • Amazon delivered one of my parcels to a house across the street, I know it is that house because Amazon said it was delivered to a neighbor and I can see the photo of where is was left. I don't know what the right course of action should be so I left it. Some people just have no morals, I always walk wrong address deliveries to their owners.

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