‘Out of pocket and devastated’: Australia Post customer receives nothing from her $6K delivery
- Replies 14
When it comes to online shopping, many have experienced the anticipation of waiting for a package to arrive.
But what happens when that package, especially one worth thousands of dollars, arrives empty?
This is the nightmare scenario that Deborah Levy, a Perth resident and experienced secondhand seller, recently faced.
Deborah is no stranger to buying and selling items online. She regularly deals in designer clothing, particularly pieces from the Camilla Franks line.
In a recent transaction, she purchased a parcel of vintage and irreplaceable designer dresses and handbags from a trusted seller.
‘I bought a parcel worth about $6,000 for $2,000 from a guy I have bought from before,’ she explained.
She said the clothing belonged to the seller’s mother, wife and sister who ‘wanted to offload their clothes’.
‘He sent it from his local post office who, for some unknown reason, charged him a fortune for the box and put 13kg on the box, when in fact the box should not have been more than four to five kilograms, and that package should have cost $20 to $25 max to send it express.’
‘But when the box arrived, delivered into my hands by my normal Australia Post delivery guy, I opened it, and all that was in there was brown wrapping paper and a brown paper bag,’ she said.
The box, which had been sealed with a mix of clean tape and masking tape, appeared to have been tampered with.
Immediately, Deborah contacted the seller and sent him a video of the package that had arrived,
‘He told me that wasn’t the tape he sealed the box with,’ she said, explaining there was a mix of clean tape and masking tape on the box.
After speaking with the seller, Deborah believed someone in the delivery chain between New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia ‘slit [the box] open, emptied it, and then resealed it in different tape and sent it on’.
‘I believe that this happened in the sorting area, or it could have been a truck driver that pulled over, she said.
‘But the real question is why my package had no contents listed and no value? It’s so weird. I even said to the Australia Post supervisor, “Why not just lose the parcel, why actually go to all that trouble and send it on?”’
Both Deborah and the seller reported the incident to their local post offices.
However, three weeks later, Deborah claims she's been given the runaround by Australia Post with no resolution.
‘I have called almost every day for a month, I have spoken to supervisors, I have written letter after letter, and I have been told it’s being looked into,’ she said.
‘I have also spoken to the seller’s post office, and they said the package was definitely heavy when they took it.’
‘In the meantime, I’m out of pocket and devastated that those pieces were lost.’
Australia Post has confirmed that they are investigating the incident as a priority and are in direct contact with Deborah.
‘We are investigating this issue as a priority and are in touch with the customer directly,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Australia Post delivers an average of 9.5 million parcels each week, with the vast majority reaching their destination safely. We encourage any customers experiencing delivery issues to call 13 POST (13 7678).’
Australia Post also initiated a remediation program to compensate eligible customers for their lost or damaged parcels.
This comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed that the Australia Post Group (Australia Post and StarTrack) had denied compensation requests from businesses over a four-year period ending in October 2022. You can read more about it here.
Australia Post has received complaints in the past few months over damaged or lost parcels.
In a previous story, a Melbourne local shared his frustration over his botched parcel, which showed a battered box with ‘fragile’ stickers, and the ceramics he ordered were completely broken.
Another customer was outraged after receiving their parcel ripped open during transit and haphazardly taped back together.
Have you or someone you know experienced package theft or tampering? Let us know in the comments below!
But what happens when that package, especially one worth thousands of dollars, arrives empty?
This is the nightmare scenario that Deborah Levy, a Perth resident and experienced secondhand seller, recently faced.
Deborah is no stranger to buying and selling items online. She regularly deals in designer clothing, particularly pieces from the Camilla Franks line.
In a recent transaction, she purchased a parcel of vintage and irreplaceable designer dresses and handbags from a trusted seller.
Deborah Levy received an empty parcel from Australia Post. Credit: Yahoo News Australia
‘I bought a parcel worth about $6,000 for $2,000 from a guy I have bought from before,’ she explained.
She said the clothing belonged to the seller’s mother, wife and sister who ‘wanted to offload their clothes’.
‘He sent it from his local post office who, for some unknown reason, charged him a fortune for the box and put 13kg on the box, when in fact the box should not have been more than four to five kilograms, and that package should have cost $20 to $25 max to send it express.’
‘But when the box arrived, delivered into my hands by my normal Australia Post delivery guy, I opened it, and all that was in there was brown wrapping paper and a brown paper bag,’ she said.
The box, which had been sealed with a mix of clean tape and masking tape, appeared to have been tampered with.
Immediately, Deborah contacted the seller and sent him a video of the package that had arrived,
‘He told me that wasn’t the tape he sealed the box with,’ she said, explaining there was a mix of clean tape and masking tape on the box.
After speaking with the seller, Deborah believed someone in the delivery chain between New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia ‘slit [the box] open, emptied it, and then resealed it in different tape and sent it on’.
‘I believe that this happened in the sorting area, or it could have been a truck driver that pulled over, she said.
‘But the real question is why my package had no contents listed and no value? It’s so weird. I even said to the Australia Post supervisor, “Why not just lose the parcel, why actually go to all that trouble and send it on?”’
Both Deborah and the seller reported the incident to their local post offices.
However, three weeks later, Deborah claims she's been given the runaround by Australia Post with no resolution.
‘I have called almost every day for a month, I have spoken to supervisors, I have written letter after letter, and I have been told it’s being looked into,’ she said.
‘I have also spoken to the seller’s post office, and they said the package was definitely heavy when they took it.’
‘In the meantime, I’m out of pocket and devastated that those pieces were lost.’
Australia Post has confirmed that they are investigating the incident as a priority and are in direct contact with Deborah.
‘We are investigating this issue as a priority and are in touch with the customer directly,’ a spokesperson said.
‘Australia Post delivers an average of 9.5 million parcels each week, with the vast majority reaching their destination safely. We encourage any customers experiencing delivery issues to call 13 POST (13 7678).’
Australia Post also initiated a remediation program to compensate eligible customers for their lost or damaged parcels.
This comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed that the Australia Post Group (Australia Post and StarTrack) had denied compensation requests from businesses over a four-year period ending in October 2022. You can read more about it here.
Australia Post has received complaints in the past few months over damaged or lost parcels.
In a previous story, a Melbourne local shared his frustration over his botched parcel, which showed a battered box with ‘fragile’ stickers, and the ceramics he ordered were completely broken.
Another customer was outraged after receiving their parcel ripped open during transit and haphazardly taped back together.
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