Australia Post indicates it received 1.1 million complaints in the 2016-17 financial year regarding its parcel deliveries, causing the Commonwealth Ombudsman to call for a review of the mailer’s processes.
Complaints from customers examined were centred around carding, Safe Drop and compensation for lost and missing items.
Although the Ombudsman says complaints have declined by 30 per cent over the last two years, it still has cause for concern.
In its report on post industry the Ombudsman says, “Since publishing our earlier reports, there have been mixed indicators that Australia Post has improved its services to the satisfaction of clients. On the one hand, complaints to this Office have fallen in recent years which could suggest that Australia Post has improved the management of its complaints. It is evident that Australia Post has taken some steps to manage issues that arose in our previous reports.
“On the other hand, recently published data from Australia Post indicates that they have received 1.1 million complaints in the last financial year. While the scale of Australia Post's operations need to be borne in mind to put complaint numbers in perspective, the fact that more than a million people have complained to it is cause for concern.”
“The experience of those who approach our Office indicate that if Australia Post put more effort into rapidly resolving, rather than resisting complaints, it would deliver better outcomes for consumers, reduce effort on its part and save money—either its internal costs or the costs incurred by our Office.”
Australia Post has responded with a pledge to publish a clear guide on its website about addresses that may not be suitable for parcel delivery, give further information on its website about the investigation process for missing or lost items and provide further training for all staff responsible for considering compensation claims.
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In response to the report, Australia Post says, “Australia Post is transitioning from predominantly a letters business to now managing millions of parcels each year for our customers. Last year the number of parcels delivered across the country grew by 16 per cent.
“As the significant growth in our parcel volumes has continued, so has the number of customers contacting us through a variety of communication channels, wanting to know when, where and how their parcels will be delivered.
“We are trialling and introducing new programs such as after-hours deliveries and improved parcel tracking. We now text customers on the day of delivery to check if they will be home or need the parcel taken to their local Post Office. We are rolling out new parcel lockers and very soon we will have more than 270 locations across major towns. All of this is aimed at supporting customers receiving their parcel first time where and when they want it.
“Our on-time service performance hit a record of 99 per cent for letters and 97 per cent for parcel deliveries last year. We appreciate the Ombudsman acknowledging the improvements Australia Post has made and we know there is still more work to be done.
“We recognise that when a customer does have a complaint we also need to improve how we support them.
“We continue to add staff to our contact centre, including 340 permanent staff last year. During Christmas we also hired another 250 people to help manage this busy period. We now offer 24/7 customer service on social media.”
Recommendations made by the watchdog include changes to policy around notification cards, safe drop, compensation and complaint handling.
According to the latest Roy Morgan data, Australians spent an estimated $41.3bn online shopping in 2015, up 9.25 per cent from $37.8bn the year before, with the rate of increase likely to be higher in the last two years.
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