PerthNorg

"Dear Postman"

Yesterday I was out working in the inner city of Sydney and I noticed a note sticky taped to the front gate. It was an appeal from the resident to the postman asking not to throw parcels over the fence. Obviously when the parcel lands on the ground, it may break. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.

So what is the solution?

Occasionally I have parcels sent to me. Depending on if the deliverer is Australia Post or not, I may elect to have the parcel sent to my Post Office Box. However, some companies will not deliver to a PO Box but insist on a street address. Hang on, isn't a PO Box technically on a street so it has a street address?

If the company specifies a street address and not a PO Box, I have the parcel delivered to my home. Sometimes when this happens, I will get a knock on the door when I am home and when I get to the front door, there is a parcel waiting for me. Very rarely will the courier be at the front door when I answer it. This of course assumes that they do knock on the door. I've often heard no knock on the door and I've gone to my front door to check the mail and there is a parcel.

Often I'll get home from work and there is a parcel waiting for me. Who knows how long it has been sitting there! It is very rare for the company to put a note in the letter box or under the door telling me that a parcel has to be picked up. Maybe this is what should happen and you go to the post office to pick it up.

I would much rather go to the post office and pick up a parcel rather than run the risk of having the parcel broken when thrown over the fence or to have it stolen from the front step. That's not to mention the hassle of then phoning the company concerned and telling them that the item is damaged and then getting a replacement. For residential customers, should parcel delivery default to the post office? It would be better for the customer in terms of having a reduced risk of damage or theft and it would possibly reduce delivery times as well.

Source: http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/1655/lettertopostmanjr3.j…