A small business owner has publicly criticised Australia Post for refusing to reimburse her for products worth nearly $1,000 after they were destroyed in a truck fire. Primary school teacher Emma Benli, who sells planners, was horrified when eight of her items were damaged in transit on March 16.
Incident Details
Ms Benli expressed her disappointment in a social media video, stating, 'I've never been so disappointed... Eight of my packages were on an Australia Post truck heading to Western Australia. They were involved in a car accident resulting in a fire, in which eight of my planners were unfortunately burnt and damaged.' She claimed that neither she nor her customers were contacted by Australia Post about the fire, adding that 'my customers had to contact them.'
Australia Post's Response
On April 1, Australia Post published an update on its website, noting that 'a third-party truck caught fire in Western Australia while travelling from Sydney to Perth. The driver is safe, but unfortunately all parcels on board were damaged and could not be safely recovered.' Ms Benli said she only realised something had happened after receiving a surge of emails from WA customers who had not received their planners. 'They said, "Can you chase up Australia Post for me? I can see it's been shipped but it just hasn't been delivered,"' Ms Benli recounted.
Compensation Denied
Ms Benli further criticised Australia Post for allegedly misleading a customer into believing she had been compensated. 'What really disappointed me is that it informed one customer that they had already contacted me about this and compensated me, which is false,' she said. After multiple attempts to contact Australia Post, she received an email stating she would not be compensated for the accident because the vehicle at fault was not theirs. 'They will only be compensating me for the shipping that I had to pay for each of the packages,' Ms Benli said, estimating her loss at nearly $1,000, which is significant for her small business.
Australia Post's Statement
When contacted for comment, Australia Post stated that compensation is assessed on a case-by-case basis. 'We understand how frustrating and disappointing it is for customers when parcels are impacted by accidents like a truck fire. Compensation is assessed on a case-by-case basis in line with our terms and conditions, and we work with merchants and delivery partners to support impacted customers,' a spokesperson said.
