Australia Post is “strongly encouraging” customers to contact them directly with any delivery issues before jumping to conclusions or going to social media. It comes after an employee was accused of leaving a property without allowing a reasonable time for the occupant to answer the door.
Footage posted online this week, which attracted thousands of responses and hundreds of comments, suggested a postie from Western Australia “didn’t even bother” bringing a parcel to the door before leaving the property.
The video shows the worker ringing the doorbell of the home before seconds later rushing back to the van, when the clip ends.
The incident was captured on home surveillance cameras, with the poster writing: “It just seems a bit ridiculous, we aren’t even given the chance to get to the door before they’ve taken off”.
The resident said online they had three visits from the postie in question.
On the first occasion, they weren’t home.
The second time, the resident said the postie rang the doorbell, waited three seconds and walked off.
“I was home but upstairs, took me about 10 seconds to get to the door, they were already at their van and I had to wave them down to get my parcel,” the resident said on Reddit.
“This video is of the third time they delivered to us… they didn’t even bother to bring the parcel to the door? And they quite literally RAN from the door!!”
Almost 550 people responded to the post, which shows the staff member’s face in full view.
Numerous people blasted them, calling the service “unacceptable”, “appalling”, and “lazy”.
Yahoo News asked the company if it was aware of the footage circulating online.
After investigating, a spokesperson said the video only shows half the story.
The spokesperson explained that the WA resident’s parcel was delivered, and the clip only captures the first step of the process.
According to Australia Post, the worker rang the doorbell to confirm someone was home, then returned to her van to collect the bulky package.
They said the item was large enough that the staff member wanted to make sure the hand-off was possible before hauling it out of the vehicle.
“Australia Post strongly encourages customers to contact us directly with any delivery issues to allow us to investigate,” they said.
“After looking into this matter, we can confirm the postie delivered correctly, and records show receipt of the items being delivered and signed for at this address, at the exact time and date of this incident.”
Australia Post said “we are providing support to our team member”.
Posties rush to make Christmas deadlines
Christmas is the most hectic period of the year for Australia Post, and the 2024 festive season was its busiest on record.
Across November and December, the postal operator delivered almost 103 million parcels — a 3.1 per cent jump on the previous year.
On its single biggest day, December 9, the network processed more than three million parcels, and during the two-month peak, it averaged roughly 2,800 parcel deliveries every minute across the country.
To cope with the surge, Australia Post dramatically scales up operations.
More than 3,000 seasonal casual staff are hired at Christmas time each year. Source: Getty
More than 3000 seasonal casual staff are hired, and additional delivery shifts — including weekends in major cities and some regional areas — are reinstated to keep the network moving.
The combination of massive volumes, tight Christmas deadlines and an already stretched logistics system makes the festive period the most demanding time of year for posties and parcel-sorting centres alike.
Customers with a delivery concern can submit it online or call 13 POST (13 7678).
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
