Australia’s primary postal service, Australia Post, received over 1.1 million angry complaints during the most recent 2016-2017 financial year due to a rise in online shopping. The Commonwealth Ombudsman has criticised the organisation for being “defensive” in how it deals with upset customers.
The Federal Ombudsman has made several recommendations so that Australia Post can improve. Increasingly Australian shoppers are demanding quicker, cheaper and more reliable postal work.
Together, Australians are spending as much as $40 billion AUD on online stores. The majority of the complaints received by Australia Post are related to items not being delivered appropriately.
The report by the Ombudsman acknowledged that the overall number of complaints directed towards Australia post had decreased by a margin of 30% over the last 2 years. However, he noted that the 1 million complaints was still a significant number, even when you factor in the scale of the operation.
Many complaints cited that Australia Post had not even attempted to deliver their parcels to their doors, instead dropping them off at the nearest post office. Others have claimed that parcels were stolen when left to be delivered as well as their compensations being refused.
The Ombudsman’s report seems to indicate that the drop in complaints is because people were unsatisfied with the overall customer service of Australia Post. The Ombudsman said that the truth that “only a small percentage of complains” were made through his office was “not proof” that people have been satisfied in their dealings with Australia Post.
The Ombudsman went on to say that there were “numerous complains” about Australia Post saying that the organisations was “defensive” or “reluctant” to deal with customer complaints, even failing to provide compensation for lost parcels.
The report continued by saying that the majority of people who approach their office about Australia Post have indicated that the company needs to “put more effort into rapidly resolving” complaints than “resisting” them. It said that Australia post would create better customer outcomes and reduce effort as well as costs.
The Ombudsman has also told Australia Post to work on the advice it gives customers about appropriate delivery addresses. This would help to cut down on the complaints regarding parcels bring dropped off for collection rather than at people’s homes.
Australia Post has also been asked to reviews its policies for dealing with complaints as well as providing compensation to eligible customers.