Australia Post announces FREE parcel collection hack: 'Fast, safe'
Australia Post customers will now be given the option to avoid post office queues when collecting their parcels with an exciting hack.
Customers who receive a card letting them know a package is waiting to be collected, will be given the opportunity to fetch their item from an Australia Post parcel locker at any time of the day or night.
The 24/7 lockers will store customers’ missed deliveries for free for 48 hours, before being transferred to the post office for collection.
The postal giant has announced that the free service will be offered to customers over the busy Christmas period, at over 250 locations, out of the 1060 locker locations around Australia.
The lockers were first trialled at the Brisbane General Post Office in 2011, and have since been rolled out to other sites.
Currently, more than 20,000 carded parcels are placed in Australia Post’s lockers per week, which is expected to rise significantly over the Christmas period amid increased parcel demand.
The parcel lockers are available in over 1000 locations Australia-wide, in both metro and regional areas.
Customers will notice lockers at their Australia Post post office, 7-11 convenience stores, BP service stations, train stations, delivery centres, and Woolworths supermarkets.
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David McNamara, Australia Post’s General Manager of the Post Office Network, has said that the parcel lockers offer a faster and safer option for parcel delivery.
“We’re delivering around 10 million parcels a week and we’re always looking at ways to make it easier for people to receive those online purchases,” he said.
“Parcel lockers are a fast, safe way to have packages delivered, and we’re constantly adding more locations to give people even more choice about where they collect from."
“We’re already seeing people really embracing the idea, particularly in regional areas, and it's also great news for our busy post office teams heading into what is set to be our biggest Christmas yet.”
Australia Post’s dedicated parcel locker webpage states that customers can feel at ease when using 24/7 parcel lockers.
“Unlike a PO Box, a Parcel Locker is yours only while your parcel is in it,” the webpage says.
The webpage also states that using a parcel locker minimises face-to-face contact, and provides a safe and secure location for customers wishing to collect packages outside of traditional business hours.
How Australia Post parcel lockers work
Following a missed delivery, customers whose packages are being taken to an Australia Post parcel locker will receive a notification upon arrival.
All orders that include a mobile phone number may be eligible to have their parcel taken to an Australia Post parcel locker, although some items are not permitted to be stored in lockers.
Parcels consisting of heavy items and those requiring ID to be collected, will be taken to the post office as per usual.
Collecting the parcel involves entering a one-time access code, which will be provided, into the locker’s computer system, which will unlock the locker and allow access to the parcel.
If receiving parcels at home is not the best option, customers can also sign up to have a parcel locker set as their delivery address for all parcels, through a free MyPost account.
Public loving parcel lockers: ‘The best’
Of the 950,000 customers who have already registered for an Australia Post parcel locker, many have taken to shared their experiences on social media.
A post called ‘PSA: Australia Post parcel lockers” was posted in r/australia on networking site Reddit, which has attracted several comments.
“They’re more certain than not knowing if a porch pirate stole your stuff,” said one person.
“As someone who has used them for a few years, they can be very handy,” commented another.
“They are simply the best - there should be more of them, they should be in all shopping centres,” wrote a third.
Many comments are still being added by Australia Post customers who are openly discussing the convenience of the lockers.
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