The service has dropped considerably in the last 12 months, ever since the new MD (ex NAB Bank) took over and decided to "shake things up". The problems we experienced in December with slow transit are beyond comprehension - the only reason is pure and simple cost-cutting - insufficient labor across the whole logistics chain. We send anywhere up to 100 parcels a day and you can imagine how much grief I get. I have to deal with it personally as you can't expect staff to put up with it. Friday 31st took the cake for crappy situations - spent the whole day getting so many parcels ready, loaded them into the van, raced around to lodge and they were closed. I could have killed someone. Making matters worse is that customers just don't accept that the nation's logistics providers (AusPost and all other couriers) basically stop for 10+ days. This morning I've taken 20 calls from people upset at not having parcels delivered on the first real day of business. Reality is there is no viable alternative at the moment. Auspost have the reach. Couriers run away from residential deliveries as they have a 50% chance of being unable to secure a signature on receipt, adding to their costs and many freighters have forwarders and 3rd parties that make it very difficult to track items. The other issue is Express is downright dangerous - I've still got $5K in claims disputed from damaged parcels. How can packs of coffee have spear holes in them ? Attempting to make claims on AusPost is harder than landing a rocket on the moon. There is a market and real opportunity for residential parcel deliveries. It was reported in The Age in December AusPost were processing an extra 100,000 parcels per day compared to same time last year - a result of the online shopping growth or just a convenient smoke screen to hide the fact they reduce their staffing levels.
