kitty4

Hi
I'm looking for some suggestions or other people's experience with getting mail here.
We have been on the sunshine coast for 6 weeks and got a PO Box as soon as we got here. Problem is, we have hardly recieved any mail in it, even though we have had a relative post several bundles from the UK and other documents have not arrived from financial institutions etc. When we check it most days, it's empty, sometimes there is mail in it, usually for someone else who we assume had the box before us. We have had about 4 items of mail out of the dozens we were expecting. I haven't recieved some items posted locally to me from Aus companies, so I don't think it's just an international post problem. Obviously, if the person who had the box before us hasn't changed their address with whoever they deal with, it will still get posted in our box, but that doesn't explain where ours has gone. Aus post agree with me that it's very unusual to have so many items not arrive, but then give me the usual 'we can't do anything if it's not registered mail' and insist no one could possibly have access to our box. Even though it's xmas and we expect delays, this doesn't seem right - or is it? Have others had problems receiving mail, like never getting it, or does it turn up eventually? I've checked with the people posting to us that the address they have is right and it is ( we have had a few items in the box from them). I'm getting a bit concerned and have a theory (best kept to myself as I'm hopefully worrying over nothing). Mail addressed to our new rental address is getting here just fine. Anyone had problems, or is it just me expecting too much. Sorry for waffling.

Vernons

Hi
Sorry Kitty we didn't use a box. Had it all redirected to my mum and she is keeping it all for us, opening anything that looks inmportant and then we go from there. Fingers crossed it is just the slow old post and things will get sorted out. Maybe meet you at the coast meet after Christmas. Good luck with your post.
Michelle

Vin 'n Bin

We had word from the UK that there is a postal problem over there ....not quite sure what though

Vash the Stampede

The problem was identified some years ago. It's called "Royal Mail".

Wendy

PMSL

Wol

Vash will vehemently disagree, but Australia Post misplaces a significant number of mail items, certainly in our experience.

Our latest was two replacement Virgin Credit Cards, which did not arrive 3 weeks after they were posted - just got the replacement replacements today!

kitty4

Thanks guys

looks like it's luck whether we get stuff or not. best make sure anything we really want is posted registered, although I don't think UK banks/credit card companies will want to fork out the cost and extra time (need to keep letters coming from these until we've got rid of debts, sold the house in the UK etc).
Still doesn't seem ok to me though that you never know if you will get your expected mail or not (I'm talking most of ours, not the odd one). Seems maybe the respective mail companies in the UK/Aus make an interesting team .

Wendy

Have you rung the banks etc and asked if they could put your statements online instead of posting them?. It would make things easier for you as well as being more secure.

kitty4

Thanks

have done that as far as possible.

however, as our move here turned a bit disastrous on the financial front/house sale fell through as we left etc, we have had to think up contingencies to keep us going, therefore we have quite a lot of forms to sign and other stuff, which I've asked to be emailed so I can print off and sign and post back, or to be faxed, but to no avail, I'm told I have to wait for the hard copies by 1st class airmail (this was 5 weeks ago and not just one but waiting for several letters). Think I'll be waiting and waiting at this rate. The banks etc can have my new rental address now and eventually the PO Box can get st*"@ed. It's just that this has cost us so much time, worry and money. Even some letters from my Aus bank haven't been recieved in the PO Box - I've now given them my new permanentish rental address and got them fine. Thought PO Boxes were secure and we could get our mail while moving into somewhere then moving again, but it seems not or maybe I'm just unlucky.

Vash the Stampede

Having worked as an Aussie Post employee for four and a half years, I totally agree with you that we lose items. Whether or not the number could be called "significant", depends on your definition of the word. Anecdotal evidence doesn't signify much, I'm afraid.

During my time at Post, our "on time" delivery performance stood at 95%, as measured by KPMG.

Last year's figures look pretty good too:
Australia Post.

I don't know how many we lost, but I am willing to bet that we're still miles ahead of Royal Mail:
psc.gov.uk

In 2005, RM's service was even worse.

Wendy

I hope you get it sorted out soon.

ElshaUK

How odd, and how annoying!

I don't have a PO box so cannot comment on that, and all my redirected and regular mail has arrived just fine. Only annoying thing today was that the parcel post people did not attempt to ring our door bell/knock on the door but just left a 'while you were out' type notice for us to collect a parcel. We were in all day and there was no knock or ring.

Nevermind, collected the parcel now (from UK Amazon) woohoo

Seems very odd though that you have had dozens of mail items not reach you!

Pollyana

Not wishing to argue with anyone that has worked for Aus Post, and bearing in mind I haven't worked for Royal Mail........from personal experience, my first job in Aus was in an Aus Post sorting office. The mail was sorted by electronically scanning the envelopes as they whizzed past on a vertical conveyor belt. Belt stops/jams mail on it falls off, inside the machine. Too expensive to open the machine and retrieve the mail, so it gets left until there is a major failure. We had one of those failures on one machine on December 23rd. The supervisor said the machine had not been stopped for over 5 months, and the amount of mail we retrieved from inside it was horrifying - by some twist of fate, one of the items retrieved was the last card I sent to The Bloke before leaving my flat back in the UK - on OCTOBER 18th. Postmarked in Aus on October 22nd.
The attitude there was that noone really cared - I heard a lot of people sayng "its only mail, so what!"

One tip I did get was - the machines can't deal with red/green/orange or shiny envelopes, they are extracted and sorted manually.......so now you know what colour envelope to use!

ElshaUK

I am off out to buy red, green, orange and shiny envelopes or shiny envelopes with all of the above colours in them!!!!

Dorothy

Don't know about Royal Mail, but my father posted 2 Christmas cards to my children registered mail from Canada on November 15. On November 16 he mailed a Christmas card for me. The kids received their cards Friday December 1. Mine has not arrived yet. He checked with Canada Post and their online tracking shows that it arrived at Sydney sorting station on the 21 of November. So, where the hell is my card?