Thousands of angry Aussies take to complaints page over Australia Post delivery failures

Thousands of Australians increasingly frustrated by Australia Post's delivery failures have joined forces online to complain - but in response the national carrier has defended its service.

Stephen Shergold started the Australia Post complaints page on Facebook out of his frustration with the postal service and has since attracted a whopping 23,000 members.

Mr Shergold claimed many times the delivery driver failed to even come to his door to alert him about a delivery, he told 7 News.

'If I order things online, if it’s sent to me via Australia Post, I always have to go to the post office (to collect),' he said.  

Many Aussies shared his concerns with thousands of examples of other times the postal service has fallen short.

One disgruntled customer questioned the reason some deliveries are never made - including couriers claiming the presence of pet dogs even when the residence doesn't have one. 

'The postie puts the ‘not able to be delivered' reason due to this non-existent dog,' they wrote.

Another person said they had waved to an Australia Post worker while they were taking a photo of the resident's letterbox but they still drove off.

One of the main complaints customers had besides missing or damaged parcels, was that despite people being at home, they never got a knock at the door.

The customers would instead receive a card saying their delivery would be taken to a post office for collection.

'Two packages awaiting collection at post office. Yet there was five people home all day yesterday,' one wrote. 

An Australia Post spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia it had 20,000 team members delivering 10million parcels weekly, on average.

'At Australia Post, our protocols for parcel delivery are stringent. Our drivers are required to knock three times and wait 30 seconds when delivering to households,' said the spokesperson. 

'We are one of many courier and parcel delivery companies operating nationally.

'Non-delivery is an issue affecting all courier and delivery operators and can occur for a number of reasons.'

The spokesperson also said Australia Post has been improving its customer service experience and strives to be inclusive.

'We have a dedicated team supporting customers with accessibility needs, who help to ensure delivery drivers allow extra time for customers to reach their door and are able to safe drop parcels that normally require signatures,' they said.

Braille along with audio cues are on each parcel locker and customers can also choose a lower locker if they are in a wheelchair.

Customers can also download the app and redirect their parcel delivery in real time. 

'Sometimes, our team members will leave a card without knocking due to access or safety issues, such as an off-leash dog or locked gates, even if a customer is home.

'The safety of our team members remains our number one priority, especially when our team members are subject to more than 55 dog-related incidents every week.'

If customers wish to complain about Australia Post, formal complaints can be made to the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

'We do encourage you to go back to them first because they've got the ability to immediately change something or to fix something,' Commonwealth Ombudsman Iain Anderson told 7 News.