A frustrated Aussie business owner claims dozens of her products have either gone missing or get delivered to the wrong address by Australia Post.
Co-founder of Hero Packaging, Anaita Sarkar, 37, said she has encountered the issue at least several times and claims the postal service fails to take responsibility for the problem.
Ms Sarkar claimed she has had periods where she has been contacted once every two days – and sometimes even once a day – from disgruntled customers who complain they haven’t received their products when she has already sent them.
‘The issue is that it’s their job to deliver from point A to point B and when things don’t get delivered or things go wrong, they need to say that is their responsibility,’ she told Yahoo News.
Ms Sarkar said the issue is costly as her company, which sells zero-waste packaging products, sends up to 200 orders a day to customers.
‘Our mailers are quite bulky so if shipping costs us $40 to a customer, then it is the cost of the mailers as well as the shipping,’ she explained.
The business owner, who is from Sydney, said the impact from the logistics issue is far outweighed by the perception it creates about her company when her orders don’t arrive.
‘More than the cost to the business, it’s the cost of the brand reputation,’ Ms Sarkar said.
Co-founder of Hero Packaging Anaita Sarkar (pictured) has claimed Australia Post fails to take responsibility when parcels either go missing or get delivered to the wrong address
Ms Sarkar said the company suffers financially as it bids to regain the trust of customers, which the company has worked hard to cultivate.
She acknowledged that while its to be expected some packages and parcels can go missing, it is unfair for small businesses to be blamed entirely for the issue.
She wants some kind of ownership on the part of Australia Post.
Ms Sarkar said she has been using the company to deliver products from her business to customers over the last six years.
Ms Sarkar, who is also the founder of popular marketing company Sell Anything Online, has called for businesses to be compensated when the issue occurs.
Another business owner Brittany Forrest, who is the founder of Cloth Bums, also said lost packages leave businesses, including hers, reeling.
Ms Sarkar acknowledged that packages and parcels can go missing, however she said it’s unfair for small businesses to be blamed entirely for the issue (pictured Australia Post workers sorting mail)
Ms Forrest said her business, which sells reusable cloth nappies and other baby products, claimed she was losing up to $5,000 a year due to issues with Australia Post.
An Australia Post spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia a majority of the packages and parcels they handle are safely delivered to the intended recipient.
‘Australia Post delivers 9.5 million parcels each week on average and the vast majority reach their destination safely,’ the spokeswoman said.
‘We take our responsibility to small businesses extremely seriously.
In the small number of instances where parcels are lost or damaged, Australia Post refunds postage costs and in some of those cases provides compensation.
‘Small businesses are also encouraged to purchase Transit Cover.’
An Australia Post spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia a majority of packages and parcels they handle are safely delivered to the intended recipient (pictured an Australia Post worker delivering parcels)
The spokeswoman also said deliveries with Australia Post’s own packaging will allow workers to handle parcels more efficiently.
She said the packages will be detected and handled more easily by their electronic scanners and other equipment.
Daily Mail Australia understands Ms Sarkar has been compensated.
