GLASS House Mountains residents were recently outraged and shocked to learn that hundreds of letters and parcels that should have been delivered by Australia Post had been found dumped in a local bin.
The concerning discovery was flagged on a local community Facebook page resulting in a member of the Glasshouse Mountains Men’s Shed eventually stepping up to retrieve the items.
Men’s Shed member Rick Canhan said he had been alerted to discovery by his wife Tracey earlier in the day, however when it appeared that the items had still not been taken out of the council bin that evening he decided to head over to assist. Mr Canhan estimated around 300 pieces of mail and small packages had been discarded in the bin located near Matilda Fruit Barn at the bus stop near the corner of Bowen Road and Bricalli Road. He said having to do a ‘bin dive’ was not pleasant at all but he didn’t want the items left over the weekend and potentially picked up by the rubbish truck and destroyed.
“It was really gross having to reach into the bin with the maggots and all sorts of rubbish, and it took me around five times to reach in to get all of the mail out. There would have been hundreds of items, most were bundled up by streets, but some were loose,” explained Mr Canhan.
He said he then contacted Caboolture Police who advised him to report the incident to Australia Post Head Office. Mr Canhan said he was concerned about how he might have to get the retrieved mail back to local residents, however on the Monday morning following the Friday night retrieval, an Australia Post representative from the Caloundra Distribution Centre reached out to collect the items.
Speaking to GC&M News, an Australia Post spokesperson acknowledged that the incident was totally unacceptable and not at all in line with expected service standards. While it appears, the person involved in the incident was a duty contractor and not an Australia Post employee, the spokesperson reiterated that Australia Post unreservedly apologised for the incident, and said that they were working closely with the principal contractor to investigate the matter further and take appropriate action.
Australia Post also wanted to reassure customers that the vast majority of the items had now been delivered, with the remaining few items scheduled for delivery over the following days.
“We unreservedly apologise for this incident. These actions are not in line with the high service standards we expect when delivering to the community. We take seriously our responsibility to deliver mail and parcels in our care and the vast majority of items are delivered safely. We thank the community for their efforts in recovering this mail, with most having already been delivered to the intended recipients. We encourage anyone with concerns about mail delivery to contact us on 13 POST for help and support,” said an Australia Post spokesperson.