Australia Post Mix Up

Hi all,

A quick announcement. Just received the following two messages from two quilters sending off parcels, one from Victoria and one from Canberra. 

I took my latest quilt and laundry bag down to the post office this morning to send off, and brought the parcel home again.

The post office said that the service to the Sydney address was no longer operating and hadn’t been since 30th November.

If I insisted in sending the parcel it would just end up in some depo somewhere and would probably not get forwarded on.  At least she could not guarantee it.

AND

The post office said the free shipping of these boxes stopped November 30 for the Christmas period. 

It seems that these two post offices have confused the normal AFPO addresses with special ones that are opened up for Christmas and the again for ANZAC Day.   

There are specific AFPO numbers that only operation a couple of times a year, and others that function all year around. 

If you go to post a quilt or a laundry bag and your post office tells you that that postal address is no longer in operation do not pay for the postage. Instead politely ask them to call head office and check that the specific AFPO number on your parcel is actually still being used.   I am sure they will find that it is and they should then accept your parcel free of charge as per normal.  

If they refuse to do so please do not waste time arguing with them.  It is better to go home and call the complaints or enquiries line and explain the situation. On other occasions when this has happened the head office has "educated" the Post Office concerned and that has cleared up the misunderstanding.

If you continue to have problems please let me know but you will need to give me the name of the PO Branch and the details of your recipient. 

Have a great weekend.

Jan-Maree xx