Online petition launched over Australia Post’s proposed parcel collection charges

An online petition has been launched on www.change.org which aims to gather opposition to Australia Post’s proposals to introduce fees for late parcel pick-ups. As Post&Parcel reported yesterday, Australia Post has proposed to charge a fee for parcels which the receiver picks up after five working days (or after ten working days, if the receiver is a MyPost customer).

The petition currently has 845 supporters (as of 09:30 GMT) and its originator, Lynda Bergstrom, plans to deliver it to Australia Post CEO Ahmed Fahour and Christine Corbett, the Executive General Manager for Postal & eCommerce Services at Australia Post.

Meanwhile, the delivery start-up Sendle has called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate Australia Post’s proposals.

“We believe that this is unconscionable conduct on behalf of Australia Post”, said Sendle CEO James Chin Moody.  “The law is very clear that when one party has superior bargaining strength they cannot use this to extort money from the weaker party.

“By charging a customer up to $9 before they will release a parcel, Australia Post is using undue influence and unfair tactics to force them to pay. What is even worse is that Australia Post has no contract with the receiver, but rather with the sender. They are forcing someone to enter a commercial relationship with them.”

Moody added: “Things like this hurt the whole industry. If consumers start to become wary of purchasing online, many small businesses will suffer.”