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The national mail carrier and its subsidiary StarTrack committed “extremely concerning” breaches of consumer guarantees over four years, the ACCC says.
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AusPost to refund $2.9m for lost, damaged parcels
19 December 2023
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The Australia Post Group has agreed to pay back $2.9 million to over 11,000 businesses for “extremely concerning” breaches of consumer guarantees it committed when denying compensation claims for lost or damaged parcels, the ACCC said.
Around 1,000 recipients of parcels lost or damaged by Australia Post subsidiary StarTrack and 10,500 Australia Post business customers were incorrectly denied compensation claims, according to a court-enforceable undertaking.
ACCC commissioner Liza Carver said the “failure” by the Australia Post Group to provide business customers with the remedies they were entitled to was “extremely concerning”.
The ACCC said guarantees in consumer law entitled customers to remedies if a product was of unacceptable quality or a service was not performed with due care and skill, fit for purpose, or supplied within a reasonable time.
The law exempted certain transport services for a business, but an amendment narrowing the exclusion in October 2018 meant that consumer guarantees would still apply to receivers of packages if they used them for a non-business purpose.
However, Australia Post Group failed to apply the amended exemption correctly, the ACCC said, denying compensation requests from businesses with lost or damaged parcels and telling others that no compensation was available between October 2018 and October 2022.
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This amounted to “misleading or deceptive conduct” and the making of “false or misleading representations”, breaking Australian consumer law, the ACCC said in the undertaking.
Ms Carver said business contract customers who sent goods to customers without a business purpose that were lost or damaged in transit with the Australia Post Group “have been entitled, and continue to be entitled, to consumer guarantee rights”.
Australia Post Group self-reported its breach last May and signed a court-enforceable undertaking last week that mandated “rectification measures” to compensate business customers and a compliance program for staff members.
“We acknowledge that Australia Post self-reported this conduct to the ACCC,” Ms Carver said.
“We are pleased that Australia Post Group has undertaken to provide compensation for this error and to put systems in place to ensure similar errors are not made in the future.”
Australia Post Group identified around 10,500 affected business contract customers and 1,000 receivers of StarTrack deliveries it would directly contact with instructions on how to lodge a claim, the ACCC said.
Recipients of lost or damaged goods would be refunded their value with interest while business contract customers would be able to claim compensation for postage costs.
The ACCC also warned affected customers that scammers might take advantage of the situation by falsely claiming to help businesses with refund claims.
“Australia Post Group will not provide clickable links or phone numbers and will not ask for email or text message responses. If you receive a call from anyone offering to help you with a refund, hang up immediately. If you have given information to a scammer or lost money, contact your bank immediately. Report scams to Scamwatch,” it said.
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