Australia Post Gave My Waki Away

It makes me even more mad when you say it was a gift for your son, who is in the AF... just an awful situation. Good luck with everything....
 
The continuing saga: The Post Office Manager told me today that one of his staff was honest enough to admit that she gave the parcel to a certain customer without following proper procedure that Friday morning. It was a busy morning but the employee remembered the incident and the distinctive triangular parcel marked for Jones. Apparently the person came in asking about an International package for Jones and the employee in her rush to move through the customer line had not checked the address properly. I assume the item had just come in and the green slip had not yet been written out to place in my PO Box. The signature of the person who accepted the parcel matched the person who was named by the employee. The Post Office have now sent a letter requiring that person to return the Waki to the Post Office. The Post Office Manager will place it in the hands of the Police if this is not done in a reasonable time. I'll give them until next Wednesday.
 
Good to hear that they've tracked down the person who took the package. I probably can't help too much at this point, but I'll just mention that this employee must have seriously rushed the transaction to give someone a parcel with the wrong address (especially a PO Box address). And for the person picking it up not to notice, well, they're either unethical or absent-minded.

Be glad that this wasn't a situation where someone pretended to be you or a friend of yours. Being an employee, I can understand stressful situations where there's a huge line of people waiting to be served and you're dealing with one guy who's (pardon the french) bitching about how he's left his ID at home and he lives so far away and that the manager knows him so it should be ok to let him off. At that point, some may be inclined to just give up and let them have it without showing ID.

In that case, we'd then go to surveillance cameras to see if we can ID the person. If there's no surveillance, no record of ID and no one knows the guy, you're essentially stuffed. Of course, Auspost will foot the bill if it was insured. And if they don't, that's when you can start really raising hell.
 
I hope your package comes back to you fast, it sounds like it is on its way.

Post services everywhere are the same it seems. I can't count on two hands the amount of serious and annoying incidents I've had with the USPS over the course of a year, and likewise how lazy and thieving the Danish postal service is (funny how they only lose valuable items).

I use a courier service like UPS, FedEx or DHL for everything I can, and try to only have USPS deliver to my work address, seems less error prone that way.
 
monsterdog said:
I hope your package comes back to you fast, it sounds like it is on its way.

Post services everywhere are the same it seems. I can't count on two hands the amount of serious and annoying incidents I've had with the USPS over the course of a year, and likewise how lazy and thieving the Danish postal service is (funny how they only lose valuable items).

I use a courier service like UPS, FedEx or DHL for everything I can, and try to only have USPS deliver to my work address, seems less error prone that way.
Click to expand...

I can't stand dealing with UPS. I live in an apartment and they're always leaving packages in front of my door out in the open or having the apartment manager sign off on them. I don't like anyone signing for my package but me. You would think that that would be the default assumption.
 
DAMN MATE!!! If i were you, and you didnt have anything to do all day.. Id stand in the post office all day long til the post master started involving himself 100% in the finding of your blade!! That may not be alot of money to some people but to me and perhaps to you thats some hard earned dough!! I really feel for you and wish there was something we all could do from around the world!!

I really hope you get to the bottom of this!

cheers!

E
 
The thing that really surprises me about this is that they'll still let you own a sword in Australia.
 
From my knowledge, there are no restrictions in most of Australia on owning a sword except one state (Victoria). My state (Queensland) has no such restrictions. However, it is highly probable this restriction will eventually be applied elsewhere. Politically, these sorts of things are popular and distract the general public from the poor performance of our politicians. Even in Victoria though I think the Waki is fine because the blade length falls below the length required to fall into their sword category. So it's really just a looooong knife.
 
It has turned out badly. I have just come back from checking what was happening. The Post Office Manager said last Friday he would contact me when he knew what was happening. He didn't contact me. I had to go to the Post Office to contact him (they don't answer their phones).

When I went in he said the person they believed had taken it denied this. I was told this was not a Post Office matter anymore but was now a Police matter and that was up to me to go to the Police. I went to the local Police station and was told that because the Post Office had willingly handed over the parcel it was not a criminal matter and it was up to Australia Post to investigate the matter. I went back to the Manager of the Post Office and he insisted it was a police matter (getting the run around).

I asked for a form to complete to lodge my complaint against the Post Office. I made the mistake of raising the matter of compensation but then the Post Office manager went on the defensive. After not raising it last week, he now definitely remembers putting a green slip in my PO Box on Friday 11/12/09 (what a memory, couldn't remember this last week but definitely, absolutely could now). I must have dropped it and another Jones just happened to pick it up (at least I know the other person was a Jones) and claimed my article. As for his staff member not checking ID. (even though posters are all over that Post Office stating that this is required for International Parcels or you don't get your parcel) well, you see, it is a busy period and staff don't always have time, and if they know the person then they don't check it. Of course, that is against their own policy and of course the person who took it had a different name and address but these are hard for staff at this Post Office to check. In other words, he is now denying his Post Office was negligent and it was all my fault. To be honest, to make a mistake is human, but I don't see why I should pay for other people's mistakes.

I had been in touch with Australia Post Investigations unit on Wednesday last week when I first discovered the loss. They haven't made much progress because they found (as I had found) this Post Office does not answer the telephone nor does it have an answering machine. They haven't been able to make contact with the Post Office this week to check how things were going. When I complained about the Manager of the Post Office it was suggested that I go to a different Post Office in future. This is what I would do except for one thing, in their brilliance over the years, Australia Post has privatised their Post Offices and the Manager is the owner of this monopoly service in our town. I had to explain to the Australia Post Investigations officer that I live in a rural area where there is not even a mail service and that to go to another Post Office would require me to travel to another district. I did ask about the signature on their new you beaut computer thingy but was told that the new technology was virtually useless in cases like this. The Investigations unit had complained about the new technology but Australia Post had done nothing. I can't believe Australia Post from the Post Office level to the top has gone to the dogs like this.

I was told by the Investigations Unit that Eric would have to start an investigation at his end with the USPS and Eric had already done that. The Australia Post Investigations unit will let the USPS know what had happened and any compensation will be between Eric (the sender) and the USPS. Meanwhile the Australia Post Investigations unit will continue trying to make contact with my Post Office to find out what is happening.

All I can say is - Australia Post, hang your head in shame, you're organisation is a sham.
 
That really sucks Glenn. Sorry to hear about your frustrating situation.
 
I have filed a claim on my end and I will follow up, now that it appears they are going to be jerks I'll make sure and make as much noise as necessary.

Eric
 
Sorry to hear about this mate, pretty low that they are now accusing you of making the mistake. They all on strike up at your end? Hope it all works out for you mate.
 
I feel for you and I wish you did not have to go through this. I do not know if it is worth you money but you might consider talking to a lawyer and contacting you mayor or other local executive.
 
Glenn Jones said:
It has turned out badly....

I was told this was not a Post Office matter anymore but was now a Police matter and that was up to me to go to the Police. I went to the local Police station and was told that because the Post Office had willingly handed over the parcel it was not a criminal matter and it was up to Australia Post to investigate the matter.
Click to expand...

Which state in Oz? In Vic it is illegal to possess a sword without an appropriate permit or knife collectors membership etc. If a sword had been handed over to someone that potentially does not have the appropriate paperwork, this might get the police interested :confused: - but I think it depends on the laws in your state... [Edited to add I am a dumbo, you are in QLD, if I'd read the thread clearly I would have noted that... sorry., was just trying to help :o]

Most deliveries into Australia are very smooth, this seems very unfortunate; kudos to sellers that continue to make Bussekin blades accessible in Oz :thumbup:

Fingers crossed for you, Glenn. Hope the insurance comes through or the blade turns up! :cool::thumbup:
 
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I'll just keep plugging on one step at a time. Tomorrow I will submit the official complaint. If no result, I will put in a complaint to the relevant Minister. They usually have to be answered within a certain time period and there are a few things that Australia Post need to fix ie. making staff accountable if they do not check ID, fixing the problem with their waste of time electronic signing for parcels. I will also check if there is an appropriate Ombudsman for this area. It is also probably a good one for notification to a popular television news service. They sometimes gather a few complaints in the one area (eg Postal Nightmares) and then run a story on their Current Affair programs - I'm brainstorming. I'll wait and see. I have to admit that I am in the mood of a dog with a bone - I intend making this Post Office accountable to someone.
 
The good thing about being on a forum such as this (besides the wonderful support) is that it is better than keeping a diary of events. It may come in handy as a form of my documenting events as they happened and could become useful if this incident becomes a legal issue. There can always be the suspicion that a diary can be back-filled. That can't be done with a forum. If Eric is happy for me to do it, I might print these threads off, highlight my story, and attach it to my official complaint.
 
that sucks, I feel for you bud and hope it gets resolved, I can't stand theifs and even if the post office gave the package to this gentlemen the fact that he is keeping it makes him a theif. :mad:
 
First step has been completed. I was at a Post Office at 9am (in a different town) and submitted my Australia Post official complaint form plus material that Eric had supplied plus a copy of each of my threads in this forum as a diary of events (four pages by itself). The Post Office staff who took the complaint were somewhat puzzled by the actions of the other Post Office. I now wait and see what happens.
 
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