I recent won a radio on Ebay and the seller duly posted the radio last week and it was due to arrive on Monday, being registered express post. No go though and through no fault of the seller.

Australia Post, in its infinite wisdom has decided to take the radio on an interstate tour according to the tracking page on their website:-

With postal revenues in a sharp decline due to the scale of online communications these days you would think that the last bastion of profitable business at Australia Post would be run more efficiently than this.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I once had a shipment arrive via StarTrack courier at my local PO on a Monday, only to have the local PO staff put it in the next outgoing StarTrack courier's van, to be delivered back to them (and me) the next day.

Brad it does not surprise me at all. I hope the radio enjoyed its day trip to Melbourne and back.

The post office is old school, fated to die on its old-fashioned business model and inefficiencies.

The radio arrived safely today, which is a good thing.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Gents, I have one word for you all........SENDLE,google it ....

Consider yourself lucky that your radio arrived.
I ordered something off e-bay seven days ago, and it still has not been posted.

I find that Aussie Post will not deliver anything that resembles a parcel. Even a padded envelope will not be delivered to my mail box which is a very large army ammunition box.

I have no faith in Australia post to deliver anything at all, and now whenever I have the choice, use click and collect.

Wayne.

On the whole I've found my experience with dealing with people who are selling radios and radio parts to be more reliable than anyone else. This is probably because most in vintage radio circles are older people who are more comfortable with the task of posting letters and parcels as there was a time when this was the only option.

Out of around 200 radio purchases I've made online over the last thirteen years or so, all have arrived on or close to time (sellers have always posted items on time and delays have only been due to the post office) and only two radios have arrived with damage - both Kriesler 11-20 plum puddings and both poorly packed. The 11-29 I received the other day was from a trusted seller I've dealt with before and was well packed. Kriesler is a brand that people do have to take more care with as their use of two-part cabinets and thin gauge Bakelite made them vulnerable to breakage with only light pressure on them.

To try and encourage Australia Post to do the right thing I use a GPO box. It is bloody expensive and arguably a rort but the issue of security and poor handling by delivery contractors can't be overlooked either.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

I ordered something off e-bay seven days ago, and it still has not been posted.

Unless the seller said they are away on holiday, or similar, then that is far too long to wait between paying and it being posted.

I use a mail box, too, however in my experience only AusPost's own courier StarTrack will deliver to PO boxes and I get the feeling that's a restrictive trade practice by AusPost to the advantage of its own courier service.

I have tried Click'n'Collect at Big W once to see how it went. It was a bit of a bind dealing with their LayBy counter people who didn't seem very familiar with the process, otherwise it's a good idea for bulky goods and to avoid having stuff left at your door when you're not home.

Generally my experiences with Australia Post have been quite favourable and the delievery service to my door reliable.

Although having said that have heard horror stories like Brad has related. Seems to be a lucky dip at times.

Apart from Australia Post some friends of mine whom get stuff in from the States have stories of the U.S postal/freight system which are unbelieveable.

Brad's experience is far too common unfortunately.

Be aware that although Aust Post offer tracking on their various services in fact they do not actually record in which bag, on what vehicle and when the item actually went. So the best that you can usually get is that the item was posted/lodged at Post Office A and was received/delivered at Post Office B. I recently had a case of a critical document sent express post with tracking from Adelaide to Canberra. The document vanished somewhere never to be found but when I asked Aust Post to trace it via the tracking number I was told that 'tracking' only meant when it was lodged and when it was delivered. The Aust Post bloke seemed rather surprised when I told him that this was not tracking at all because I knew it was lodged as the sender had told me and I also knew that it had not been delivered as I had not received it. What I wanted to know was where it was when they lost it! I knew that an Aust Post mail truck had crashed and burnt on the Hume Highway so I thought that it was possible my item had been on that truck. He told me that Aust Post do not keep records of what bags are on any particular truck so that they have no idea of what had been destroyed. The best he could offer was a 'free' express post envelop to the sender.

I rented a small box at the local Aust Post Office some years ago after I discovered that mail delivered to my house had a 50/50 chance of being nicked as the local druggies had taken to following the postie on his rounds to grab anything that looked valuable. The annoying thing is the number of businesses that refuse to post anything to a PO box because they reckon it is not 'secure'. Invariably these same businesses give a PO box as their address to receive payment by cheque.

GTC is correct about Startrack, Aust Post refuse to accept parcels from any other courier which can be difficult when the sender wants to use some other courier. I have had arguments with various companies who think that I will always be home waiting when their preferred courier decides to put in an appearance.

Andrew

There was a spate of letter box thefts in my neck of the woods to the extent that police did a letter drop box about it. Thieves were unlocking every box in the street with keys because the boxes come standard with L&F locks which are the easiest to get so-called master keys for.

Many of us have replaced those cheap and nasty locks with GEM type. No problems since.

Regarding undelivered "tracked" items, every now and again we read about a post office employee/contractor being found with a houseful of undelivered mail articles. I would strongly advise anyone whose "tracked" mail gets "lost" to make a formal report to AusPost about it. Believe it or not, they do have an investigative department that keeps stats on missing items and look for trends among their personnel in relation to that. You may not get your item, but you may help uncover a dishonest AusPost employee/contractor.

As for security and post office boxes, many sellers prefer to have proof of delivery and, as no one else other than StarTrack can deliver to PO boxes, they insist on street addresses. Hugely inconvenient. Click'n'collect may become more popular as an option.

I kept losing mail to my house (the postman leaves the letter sticking out, so easily stolen), so I rented a PO BOX. But now it's over $120 a year, which is a lot to pay for problems THEY caused. So recently I've contacted every company I deal with to have everything sent by email. There's still a few neanderthals out there, such as Sydney Water and certain councils, but most are glad to switch over. I don't even send Christmas cards any more. So at the next renewal (March 2017) the PO BOX will be closed off.

After that, Australia Post only gets used for the occasional parcel or when dealing with a stone age company.

My box is at the GPO and it is over $600 per annum - an absolute rort though Australia Post just assume that only big business rents letter boxes. The problem for me is that it is generally the easiest place for me to have a box. Although mine is a triple size and that does add to the cost. When I got it, it was the only one that was available at chest height. I got sick of crouching down to open the old box I had.

Startrack Express is owned by the post office these days and that's why there is some favouritism. Of late I have noticed B-double trucks with one Australia Post trailer and one Startrack trailer. It's fast becoming a combined operation to cut costs.

As for sellers who won't post to PO boxes - I just refuse to use them. If they can't serve their customers to my satisfaction them I just get what I want off someone who will. Anyone/any business who thinks a domestic letter box is more secure than a PO box has been smoking too much Marry Joanna.

If an item is large I make an exception and get it delivered where I work.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...

Each AusPost location sets its own PO box rates. Mine is a large one to accommodate magazines and small parcels. Can't say I've seen a triple size.

In 2007 it cost me $365 a year, and that included an additional fee for me to be notified by email when there was an item in the box.

Nine years later it's $476 and there is no longer an email notification fee because they have dropped that useful "push" notification service. Now I have to log into AusPost and check for mail and their website is a royal PITA to use.

Triple = a box three times the size of the smallest size. The GPO has a large size that is the same as six small boxes and didn't want to give an impression that was available for $600.

I've had a box for a very long time now and remember when the small ones were about $40 a year. The current pricing is a racket and am trying to work out how I can get in on it. PO boxes mean that they can employ fewer posties so they should be paying us.

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A valve a day keeps the transistor away...