No knock, no parcel: Aussie’s note to postie strikes a nerve
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If you’ve ever waited all day for a parcel, only to find a dreaded 'Sorry we missed you' card in your letterbox—even though you were home the whole time—then you’re not alone.
In fact, one Aussie’s recent experience with Australia Post has struck such a chord that it’s gone popular, sparking a flood of delivery horror stories from frustrated customers across the country.
Let’s set the scene: a resident from Hermit Park in Townsville, desperate to finally receive a long-awaited pair of headphones, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Knowing they’d be upstairs studying and, crucially, deaf in one ear, they left a polite, handwritten note for their postie. The message, stuck to the outside wall of their door, read:
'Good morning Au Post! Please knock as I’m studying upstairs and am deaf in one ear. Thank you so much!
'
Not only that, but the resident made sure the front door and windows were open, stayed home all day, didn’t wear headphones, and kept a close eye on the Australia Post app. You’d think that would be enough, right?
Wrong. Despite all these efforts, the parcel was not delivered.
Instead, the familiar notification popped up: 'We couldn’t deliver your parcel, so we’ve taken it to HERMIT PARK LPO for collection.'
The tracking confirmed the item was now waiting at the local post office—leaving the resident, in their own words, 'fuming' because they couldn’t pick it up until Thursday.
‘Proof that sometimes they’re too lazy to knock or even try to contact you. Fuming as I can’t pick it up till Thursday,’ the user wrote.
An Australia Post spokesperson responded to the situation, telling news.com.au: ‘We are keen to look into this matter further and encourage the customer to get in touch with us directly via our website or by calling.’
According to Australia Post, their drivers—often contractors—are instructed to knock three times, wait 30 seconds, and take a photo of the front door or intercom if they’re unable to complete a delivery. These images are made available to customers through the Australia Post app or customer support.
The original post sparked a flood of similar complaints from other users.
One person wrote: ‘I got the “Sorry your parcel could not be delivered due to not being able to get past stuff in the driveway” … But they walked past everything to put the parcel slip with a note on it exactly where the parcels get put.’
Another added: ‘I get the excuse “no safe location” when the safe location is my front door which is completely obscured from the street, and can’t see anything there – where they left the card.’
A third commented: ‘Every single time I order a parcel I stand on the balcony of my third-story flat and watch the Aus Post van pull into the driveway, put a notice in my mailbox and immediately drive off – drives me crazy!’
Another claimed: ‘They deliberately avoid delivery because it is quicker to just dump every delivery and the local post office.’
However, not everyone had complaints.
‘I had a postie once who would bang on the door and scream at the top of his lungs, “AUSTRALIA POST” even if I’m looking directly at him through the window near the door. God I miss that man,’ one person shared.
Another joked: ‘My postie knocks on my door like he has a warrant, I start hiding stuff around the house (that’s not even illegal) then I realise it’s just Australia Post.’
The renewed criticism comes after a separate incident last week, where an Australia Post driver was fired after being caught on CCTV pretending to deliver a parcel.
Video footage shared on Reddit captured the driver pulling up outside a home’s front gate and sitting in the vehicle for several minutes. The driver then exited the van — without the parcel — walked through the gate, took a photo, and left.
Australia Post later confirmed the driver had been terminated.
‘Australia Post has strict protocols for parcel delivery,’ a spokesperson said.
‘These actions clearly do not align with the standards we expect, and this driver is no longer delivering for Australia Post.’
Read more: Posties are skipping doorbells more than ever—but this witty fix is catching on!
Have you had a delivery disaster or a postie who went above and beyond? Share your stories in the comments below! Let’s hear your best (and worst) Australia Post tales—maybe we can all have a laugh, or at least commiserate together.
In fact, one Aussie’s recent experience with Australia Post has struck such a chord that it’s gone popular, sparking a flood of delivery horror stories from frustrated customers across the country.
Let’s set the scene: a resident from Hermit Park in Townsville, desperate to finally receive a long-awaited pair of headphones, decided to take matters into their own hands.
Knowing they’d be upstairs studying and, crucially, deaf in one ear, they left a polite, handwritten note for their postie. The message, stuck to the outside wall of their door, read:
'Good morning Au Post! Please knock as I’m studying upstairs and am deaf in one ear. Thank you so much!
'Not only that, but the resident made sure the front door and windows were open, stayed home all day, didn’t wear headphones, and kept a close eye on the Australia Post app. You’d think that would be enough, right?
An Aussie from Townsville went viral after sharing their frustration when Australia Post failed to deliver their parcel, despite leaving clear instructions and being home all day. Image source: @Throaway19_73 / Reddit.
Wrong. Despite all these efforts, the parcel was not delivered.
Instead, the familiar notification popped up: 'We couldn’t deliver your parcel, so we’ve taken it to HERMIT PARK LPO for collection.'
The tracking confirmed the item was now waiting at the local post office—leaving the resident, in their own words, 'fuming' because they couldn’t pick it up until Thursday.
‘Proof that sometimes they’re too lazy to knock or even try to contact you. Fuming as I can’t pick it up till Thursday,’ the user wrote.
An Australia Post spokesperson responded to the situation, telling news.com.au: ‘We are keen to look into this matter further and encourage the customer to get in touch with us directly via our website or by calling.’
According to Australia Post, their drivers—often contractors—are instructed to knock three times, wait 30 seconds, and take a photo of the front door or intercom if they’re unable to complete a delivery. These images are made available to customers through the Australia Post app or customer support.
The original post sparked a flood of similar complaints from other users.
One person wrote: ‘I got the “Sorry your parcel could not be delivered due to not being able to get past stuff in the driveway” … But they walked past everything to put the parcel slip with a note on it exactly where the parcels get put.’
Many Aussies related to the post, sharing their own experiences of posties not attempting proper delivery and instead leaving a missed delivery card for collection. Image source: @Throaway19_73 / Reddit.
Another added: ‘I get the excuse “no safe location” when the safe location is my front door which is completely obscured from the street, and can’t see anything there – where they left the card.’
A third commented: ‘Every single time I order a parcel I stand on the balcony of my third-story flat and watch the Aus Post van pull into the driveway, put a notice in my mailbox and immediately drive off – drives me crazy!’
Another claimed: ‘They deliberately avoid delivery because it is quicker to just dump every delivery and the local post office.’
However, not everyone had complaints.
‘I had a postie once who would bang on the door and scream at the top of his lungs, “AUSTRALIA POST” even if I’m looking directly at him through the window near the door. God I miss that man,’ one person shared.
Another joked: ‘My postie knocks on my door like he has a warrant, I start hiding stuff around the house (that’s not even illegal) then I realise it’s just Australia Post.’
The renewed criticism comes after a separate incident last week, where an Australia Post driver was fired after being caught on CCTV pretending to deliver a parcel.
Video footage shared on Reddit captured the driver pulling up outside a home’s front gate and sitting in the vehicle for several minutes. The driver then exited the van — without the parcel — walked through the gate, took a photo, and left.
Australia Post later confirmed the driver had been terminated.
‘Australia Post has strict protocols for parcel delivery,’ a spokesperson said.
‘These actions clearly do not align with the standards we expect, and this driver is no longer delivering for Australia Post.’
Read more: Posties are skipping doorbells more than ever—but this witty fix is catching on!
Have you had a delivery disaster or a postie who went above and beyond? Share your stories in the comments below! Let’s hear your best (and worst) Australia Post tales—maybe we can all have a laugh, or at least commiserate together.
