Hold at Post

Australia Post has announced it will extend the length of time a parcel will be held at the post office for collection (before it's returned to sender) to up to 30 days, effective 1 August 2016.The scheme, called "Hold at Post", applies to parcels held for more than five business days at the post office.POAAL warned Australia Post that Hold at Post had the potential to cause customer angst. Licensees and staff serving on the counter will be in the front line for customer complaints.MyPost customers will be charged a fee for items held for more than 10 business days.Other customers will be charged a fee for items held for more than 5 business days.Australia Post's aim may be to encourage customers to collect their parcels from the post office as soon as possible, but a more pressing priority is increasing first time delivery rates so that parcels don't end up at the post office.Collecting parcels from the post office can sometimes be difficult, especially for customers with full-time jobs. Australia Post has introduced alternative delivery options for customers such as parcel lockers, however parcel lockers are typically only available in metro areas. Other delivery options include Parcel Collect and Safe Drop.Storage space is a concern for Licensees. POAAL's members are asking how they'll be able to find the space to store parcels for up to 30 days. Already many LPOs struggle to find enough space to securely store parcels awaiting collection.Australia Post also puts extreme pressure on Parcel Contractors to deliver parcels.Parcel Contractors are under immense pressure to deliver parcels during the day. Their margins are often extremely thin. POAAL's Contractor members have to deal with all the elements, aggressive dogs, traffic and tight deadlines every day while trying to deliver a first-class service to customers.