Singapore Post Lost My Wife’s US$400 Parcel And Does Not Care

Post Updated: 5 May, see end of post

Are we really a First World country with a world-class service industry serving the economy? Certainly not if our still unresolved issue with Singapore Post (SingPost) is a yardstick for measurement. A simple request for Singapore Post to re-deliver my wife’s parcel (containing online purchases of clothes from Forever 21) has dragged on for almost 3 weeks with no end in sight. Much worse is the customer service treatment we have been receiving at the hands of this monopolistic (we don’t really have a choice, do we?) Singaporean postal service. Truth is: no one at SingPost seems to care!

‘Parcel is Lost in Our Service’ says Singapore Post

The parcel, with a total purchase value of US$385.16, had been declared ‘lost’ by Singapore Post. And this happened while it was in its care! Unbelievable? Unfortunately, this is true, SingPost officially states so in this email and this one too. And for the record, there WAS an attempted parcel delivery to our door step on 30 December 2009 (more on this later). But it seems as though the parcel simply….vanished!

Obviously, we were deeply concerned and wanted this resolved as quickly as possible. As the lost item was a combined purchase between Elisa (my wife) and her friends and acquaintances, it is only right on Elisa’s part, as purchase coordinator, to rectify this quickly. If the parcel is really lost as claimed, then compensation must be made, especially when SingPost has clearly acknowledged losing it. Simple enough? Turns out, not quite.

Ignored by Singpost?

It is painfully obvious from our interactions that Singapore Post does not see any urgency in this matter nor does it feel totally responsible for this blunder. Despite countless calls and information request via emails, no single person at Singapore Post took the initiative or claimed any service responsibility over our case. Read on to find out how SingPost tries to ‘tai chi’ this problem away. (Note: ‘To tai chi’ is Singlish for shifting work or blame to someone else)

Since January 11, Elisa had been making periodic calls to Singapore Post’s customer service hotline to enquire about this parcel. The same mantras were repeated countless times: ‘We are looking into it’, ‘Our operation team is still investigating’, ‘The parcel is still missing’, etc. And she kept being told ‘We will give you a call’, but never heard back from anyone. Not a single call-back came from SingPost in the course of 2 weeks. Unbelievable but true.

This perceived ‘lack of interest’ by SingPost is also evident in email communication. A certain ‘Jxcqueline Lim – Senior Manager’ offered to keep a close watch on this case when Elisa spoke to her on January 22. Unfortunately, that did not happen. See the chain of emails that is still unresponded (and possibly ignored by Miss Lim) since January 22.

All Talk, No Action

From January 11 till the 22nd, this case was ‘ping-ponging’ between Singapore Post’s Customer Service team, their Investigation team and quite possibly their Claims Department. It seems like no one wanted to make any decision. If it takes 2 weeks to locate a single physical parcel, then there must be something seriously wrong operationally at SingPost.

Only on January 22, when we demanded immediate concrete action to be taken, was a police report given to us the very same evening (more about discrepancies of this police report later). We deduced it to be SingPost’s way of saying: ‘Yes, we lost your parcel but can you wait in case it turns up so that we don’t have to claim insurance and save some bucks?’

This whole episode, coming hot on the heels of the controversial Singapore Post’s “Acts of Vandalism” publicity stunt that backfired, does make us wonder the quality of decision-making business managers currently helming the company. SingPost is not exactly doing itself any favour here. And to think I had voluntarily proposed a revolutionary business idea to SingPost previously.

Next, I’ll detail a factual rundown of events that led to this blog post.

What Actually Happened

20 December: Elisa and myself left Singapore for a 3-week holiday in the Middle East.

29 December: Parcel arrived in Singapore on 29 December at 3.10pm. View the online tracking report by United States Postal Service for item CJ242179875US (Elisa’s parcel).

30 December: Delivery was attempted on 30 December by owner of mobile no. +6581461087 to our flat in Toa Payoh Central. The following are text messages (signed off as ‘S’pore post’) sent to Elisa on the same day regarding this attempted delivery:

Another text message was also sent on January 2:

31 December: My mom called on my mobile and mentioned that our neighbour, an elderly lady, had contacted her to inform of a postal delivery man at our door the previous day. Our kind neighbour had spoken to the delivery man and that she was ready to ‘make payment’ on our behalf (we found out later that Goods and Services Tax (GST) was due on Elisa’s parcel). However, our neighbour mentioned that the man was nowhere to be found when she returned to the door later with her money bag.

8-9 January: Elisa sent several text messages to +6581461087, but did not receive any reply.

11 January: Elisa made the first call to Singapore Post’s Customer Service to enquire on re-delivering the parcel. She was told that parcel cannot be located and SingPost advised that it will need at least 2 working days to look for the parcel. SingPost assured her that a return call will be made within the next few days.

Text messages and phone calls made to +6581461087 were still not answered. Gave up on that channel of communication.

13 January: No news from Singapore Post. When contacted, SingPost informed that ‘the Operations team is still trying to locate the parcel’. SingPost also mentioned that if the parcel is not found by January 18, a police report will be made in order to initiate claims. We decided to wait it out and requested to SingPost to provide a prompt update by January 18.

18 January: Again zero communication received from Singapore Post. Elisa made a call and told the same thing: ‘the Operations team is still trying to locate the parcel’.

So no police report had been made. When asked when exactly the police report will be filed, the Customer Service Officer quipped that she had just updated the system for the ‘Operations team’ to file the police report. Ping! Pong! Among other things:

Was also told that the police report would take THREE working days to complete
After which the report will go to the Claims Department to look into the matter and handle the proceeding steps Ping! Pong!
Will be updated via a phone call regarding the police report and claims

I guess Elisa and friends have to wait. Again.

The Singapore Post’s Police Report Mystery!

22 January: Still no update on a late Friday afternoon so we decided to give Singapore Post a call.

No police report had been made! The atrocity!

The SingPost Customer Service officer on the line said ‘Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it and will call you back on Monday’. ‘NO WAY!’ we protested. Eventually, by sheer verbal force, Elisa and yours truly managed to speak to Jxcquxlinx Lim (Senior Manager, Customer Service) and she agreed to file the report so that a compensation claim can be initiated as soon as possible.

Do see the chain of emails here on this. Notice an attempt to delay official action again, despite an earlier verbal agreement with Jxcquxlinx Lim. Elisa highlighted this in her last email reply.

A police report was eventually lodged by SingPost on the same evening and we duly received a copy of this report. Please do view the full copy of this police report.

Now, let’s play detective! Notice the following discrepancies in the police report:

Police report was made in the personal name of ‘Ayub Bin Hamzah’. Is this normal practice? I assume this is a safeguard so that Singapore Post, as a business entity, is likely to be absolved from any connection or responsibility in case a criminal offence had been committed.
No signature or name and details of police officer-in-charge visible in the report. The informant ‘Ayub Bin Hamzah’ did not sign as well. Extremely odd! I wonder what is the real story here. Anyone familiar with police reports?
Look again at the following text message sent by owner of mobile no. +6581461087 on the afternoon of 30 Dec when the parcel was still in his/her possession:

Notice the time and date message was sent and received:

30 December, 2.59pm

Now look at the ‘Time of Incident’ for loss of parcel as stated by Singpost in the police report.

30 December, 11.47am-11.59pm

So Many Questions!

The parcel was reported/discovered ‘lost’ between those hours when it is obvious that, evidenced through the text messages sent to Elisa, the owner of mobile no. +6581461087 still had the parcel in his possession. Isn’t this downright fishy? A parcel gone missing while being delivered? Should this not be grounds for a criminal investigation?
Who is the owner of mobile no. +6581461087 anyway? Singapore Post’s official response to us on this query is “We do not know to whom this mobile number belongs to”. ???
Singapore Post does not keep track of its own delivery men/women? Inconceivable? Apparently so.
Could the owner of mobile no. +6581461087 be ‘Ayub Bin Hamzah’?
If parcel was already ‘lost’ on 30 December, why did Elisa receive another text message from +6581461087 on January 2? What was its purpose? There was no other communication after this message.
How is it possible that a parcel, in SingPost’s care and ready to be delivered to owner, can go missing and untraceable within the space of a week? Aren’t all parcel shipments individually tagged and tracked?
There was never a ‘Request for Re-delivery’ note left behind at our door by owner of mobile no. +6581461087 or was there ever an official SingPost call made to Elisa to arrange for re-delivery afterwards. Is this an attempt to cover up something?

25 January: No call from SingPost, specifically from the Claims Department.

26 January: Still no call and no news. So Elisa made a direct call to Jxcquxlinx Lim to ask for status of the claims.

Jxcquxlinx’s reply was: ‘Oh, no staff contacted you yesterday? Someone was supposed to call you. Ok, let me try to get hold of someone from the Claims department and have them speak to you.’

We felt really numb by now. Ping! Pong!

Later on a Fxdilx called, informing Elisa that the claims process will take several days. However, Jxcquxlinx had earlier agreed to resolve the claims process by Monday, January 25. Fxdilx claimed that she was ‘unaware of this’. Com’mon, SingPost, COMMUNICATE!

When asked to speak to Jxcquxlinx, Fxdilx informed that she had left for the day and instead a ‘Miss Umx’ would be calling by 9.30pm that evening. Unfortunately, Elisa missed this call. A return call to ‘Miss Umx’ was, however, unanswered.

The Final Straw: Singapore Post Washes Hands and ‘Tai Chis’ Tasks to USA Post, Forever 21 and Us!

27 January: Elisa picked up the phone and called a ‘Miss Umxmagasvary – Asst Manager, Customer Relations’ (we theorise that the concept of calling back or following up apparently does not exist in SingPost’s operations manual). In the call, the message communicated by Miss Umx simply astounded us! Elisa asked that this be documented in an email, which was received promptly. The full copy of the email is available for viewing. Reproduced here is an excerpt from Miss Umx’s email:

Dear Ms Elisa

ENQUIRY ON USA PARCEL NUMBER CJ242179875US

Please refer to your conversation with our call center dated 12 Jan 2010.

We are sorry to inform you that despite a through search, we are unable to locate the parcel. As such, the parcel has been declared as lost in our service.

We have reported the lost of the parcel to the USA Post and have requested to liasie with the sender accordingly. We have also informed them to compensate the sender at our expense as in accordance with the UPU Regulations.

As the sender would have the prior right of claim, please advise your sender to file a claim with the USA Post.

Our sincere apologies for the lost of the parcel and the inconvenience experienced

Yours sincerely

Umx (Ms)

Asst Manager, Customer Relations, Customer Service (Business Division)

DID: 65 68456222, Fax: 65 68425114

Case closed?! This is totally unbelievable! MAJOR PING PONG!

This is as good as Singapore Post saying:

‘Sorry, we fxxked up, please help clean the mess after us’.

After 3 weeks of dealing with Singapore Post’s Customer Service and after it admitted to losing Elisa’s parcel, SingPost now wants to close off this matter by making USA Post, Forever21 and us to ‘take care of business’. How much more crazier can this get? There are even more questions now:

Why is Singapore Post getting USA Post involved in this when it is pretty obvious that SingPost lost Elisa’s parcel in Singapore? The parcel was delivered and arrived safely in Singapore on 29 December at 3.10pm. It went missing under SingPost’s watch, for goodness sake.
And why is Singapore Post making my wife do their work for them? “Please advise your sender to file a claim with the USA Post”. Not content with making Elisa constantly following up with customer service at SingPost (who lost Elisa’s parcel, by the way, if I haven’t already mentioned that), she is suddenly asked to TAKE CARE OF HER OWN BUSINESS? Nasty.
“Compensate the sender”: Whatever happened to the person whose money and time has been spent in this? In this email from Miss Umx, there is ZERO mention of claims or compensation to my wife, the paying customer. An oversight? Nah. It is likely that SingPost just does not care. Instead, the email implied as such: ‘Sorry, we tried our best but you are on your own. Now shoo. Leave us in peace.’
Is this a way for Singapore Post not to claim compensation on its insurance? Or not to fork out any money from its own coffers by making the sender claim from its own insurance, etc.? In the real world, if I were to lose someone else’s property, I should jolly well be made responsible for it.

Answer our questions, Singapore Post!

Elisa and myself have given enough opportunity and time to Singapore Post to ‘play’ nice’ and resolve this matter amicably. Yes, Elisa will probably be fully compensated, albeit in a ‘gazillion years’. But there are still so many questions that need answers, even legal ones.

Thus, we decided to bring this out to a public forum. We decided to let you be a witness and, hopefully, a commentator to this issue. We are always lamenting about our Singaporean service industry and this is probably just one of many cases you’ve heard. Now here’s a platform for your thoughts so that we can all learn from this unfortunate episode.

But above all, we would like Singapore Post to respond publicly to our many unanswered questions and the mysteries surrounding the vanished parcel, police report, compensation etc. Keeping it quiet and under wraps have not worked at all in our favour. We have stopped believing in your ‘stories’ over the phone and now we desire some real deal honesty.

On to you, Singapore Post.

5 May Update:

We thank you, visitors here who have found our story, for reading and sharing your thoughts on the SingPost issue and also for giving us your encouragement and support. We are happy to update that we had received compensation directly from SingPost for the full value of the lost package.

There are still questions that remains unanswered, including what really happened with the lost package and the conclusion of the police investigation on the matter. However, we commend SingPost for taking up our issue directly, visiting us to discuss in detail, leaving comments on this blog and keeping the conversation open. Please read Peggy Chong’s reply to us on this matter.

We hope in some ways we have helped institutions like SingPost and other exasperated consumers find a way to communicate better in resolving similar issues. Technologies and communication platforms that allow a much closer interaction between businesses and consumers have evolved greatly with the Web2.0 revolution. We hope opportunities like these will be fully utilised on both sides of the commercial divide.

Thanks again for visiting and do leave your thoughts and opinions for the benefits of others. I also invite you to read the rest of the blog if you have the time. Cheers!

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Category: Business, Customer Service, The Customer | Tags: Business, Customer Service, lost, parcel, postal, service quality, Singapore Post, Singpost, Social Media, USPS 172 comments »

Vicky

I do agree that Singpost quality has dropped sharply since 2005. Common mails like bills government letters are sent on time. But other items are slow to reach or wrongly sorted out. All international mail will take 14-20 working days to reach the buyer. Just count Mon-Fri do not include Sat & Sun. If a parcel gets shipped out of USA on 2 March it should reach the buyer in Singapore by 19 March if you you don’t then it’s lost. Or it could be slotted in the wrong mail box then the wrong recipient throws it away. I’ve lost a total of 10 parcels worth more than USD $500 from 2005 – 2010 all from different merchants they’re my regular eshops that i buy from. So basically Singpost is a lump of Shit. i Just use it to sent funeral cards & greeting cards. All my bills are sent via e-mails from now.

For Online buyers local : Register the item at least you have an proof of shipping because once your purchase is processed at the mail counter it is not your or the the seller’s responsibility to guard the transit of goods. Always include an return address.

For Overseas buyers & sellers: Pay more for registration, if item is more than $100 USD opt for insurance some seller in the US will not ship without insured option. Give them your address in this format as an example:

Mr Joe Doe
Drive Way Ave 1
Block xxx Rm-No #11-123
Singapore (South East Asia)
Postal Code xxxxx

With this kind of format overseas sellers find it easier to direct parcels over

Always remember all parcels arriving to Singapore are held by customs office for screening then they’re handed over to Singpost. With tracking number singapost can only confirm your parcels arrival once it is handed over to them by Singapore customs, if there is an mishap at customs your parcel will show as undelivered by singapost but actually it has already arrived in Singapore.

So how to shop online? Buy and then wait for Lady Luck…. (:

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
@Vicky,

Hi Vicky,

My apologies for not replying to you sooner. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and tips on receiving packages from overseas. That is indeed a good way to ensure that packages arrive safely. I have heard of tracked ordered goods from Singapore arriving in some place in Africa cos of mis-stated address.

Thanks again, I am sure the readers’ of this blog will appreciate your comment.

[Reply]
june

it seems that almost everybody had the similar experience but the end result is different. in this case, the matter was so widely broadcast in the web & singpost had no choice but try to ‘play’ it down. wonder if it’s those ppl who suffer silently, will it be the same?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am
@june,

We are lucky I guess (matter is resolved, my apologies for not updating on this issue yet). However, we do pity those who are unable to have a voice regarding their troubles with the postal service or other buying issues. I think education plays a big part in getting consumers to leverage on platforms like blogs and social media in order to get organisations to ‘play fair’. In the long run, I hope the service industry will improve across the board once this awareness sets in.

Thanks, June, for leaving your comment and asking a question.

[Reply]
june

it seems that almost everybody had the similar experience but the end result is different. in this case, the matter was so widely broadcast in the web & singpost had no choice but try to ‘play’ it down. wonder if it’s those ppl who suffer silently, will it be the same?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
@june,

We are lucky I guess (matter is resolved, my apologies for not updating on this issue yet). However, we do pity those who are unable to have a voice regarding their troubles with the postal service or other buying issues. I think education plays a big part in getting consumers to leverage on platforms like blogs and social media in order to get organisations to ‘play fair’. In the long run, I hope the service industry will improve across the board once this awareness sets in.

Thanks, June, for leaving your comment and asking a question.

[Reply]
Vicky

Ok here is a tip for local or overseas e-shop merchants or anyone who want to send items via postal services.

Tips

1. Write the sender’s & return address clearly better to print them out and paste it on the envelope. Use clear tape & paste on it to protect it from water damage.

2. Mail the items at the post office mailbox chances of losing them will be less. If you mail them at residential post box you stand an higher chance of losing them.

3. Local merchants sending out parcels just ask your customers to pay additional to registration at least you have some kind of proof of shipment.

4. For those who are sending items overseas in the customs declaration form do not write words like jewelery, swimwear,lingerie,women’s cloths,watch,bracelet or any items names that might attract theft. For e.g if you’re sending watch,bracelet,necklace mark the item as gift sample. If you are sending swimwear,cloths or women’s cloths declare it as sample cloth or children’s cloth. Not to be mistaken i am not asking the netizens to lie or give false declaration to customs official forms but to use common mimic names like Tables + Chairs = furniture. If you’re sending an expensive “parker pen” don’t write Parker Pen on the customs form write “Stationary” or “Pen”

5. One point to note even thought your items get shipped out of postal branches or HQ all outgoing parcels will have to be screened by customs officers. Items may be held up a few days.

6. Don’t print fragile on the parcel because it will only attract mischief i mean who care whats in the parcel postman & mail sorters don’t give a hood with the word “Fragile” If it is fragile why sent it through mail right?

7. Don’t apply to many tapes and glue to the envelope because some times customs officer do open parcels to check on items and if the envelope gets damaged. then they will just declared it as damage on arrival and leave it as unclaimed. There is no such thing as customs dept sending back damage mail to postal offices claiming that they screwed uped this parcel.

8. Make sure that the customs form is firmly attached to the envelope because if it falls of then it will become undeclared. You & your customers will have an hard time & no luck in finding it.

I hope this helps Thanks …. (:

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 11:15 am
@Vicky,

This is great stuff as well! Rest assured I will re-blog this tips for others. Thanks again, Vicky :)

[Reply]
Vicky

Ok here is a tip for local or overseas e-shop merchants or anyone who want to send items via postal services.

Tips

1. Write the sender’s & return address clearly better to print them out and paste it on the envelope. Use clear tape & paste on it to protect it from water damage.

2. Mail the items at the post office mailbox chances of losing them will be less. If you mail them at residential post box you stand an higher chance of losing them.

3. Local merchants sending out parcels just ask your customers to pay additional to registration at least you have some kind of proof of shipment.

4. For those who are sending items overseas in the customs declaration form do not write words like jewelery, swimwear,lingerie,women’s cloths,watch,bracelet or any items names that might attract theft. For e.g if you’re sending watch,bracelet,necklace mark the item as gift sample. If you are sending swimwear,cloths or women’s cloths declare it as sample cloth or children’s cloth. Not to be mistaken i am not asking the netizens to lie or give false declaration to customs official forms but to use common mimic names like Tables + Chairs = furniture. If you’re sending an expensive “parker pen” don’t write Parker Pen on the customs form write “Stationary” or “Pen”

5. One point to note even thought your items get shipped out of postal branches or HQ all outgoing parcels will have to be screened by customs officers. Items may be held up a few days.

6. Don’t print fragile on the parcel because it will only attract mischief i mean who care whats in the parcel postman & mail sorters don’t give a hood with the word “Fragile” If it is fragile why sent it through mail right?

7. Don’t apply to many tapes and glue to the envelope because some times customs officer do open parcels to check on items and if the envelope gets damaged. then they will just declared it as damage on arrival and leave it as unclaimed. There is no such thing as customs dept sending back damage mail to postal offices claiming that they screwed uped this parcel.

8. Make sure that the customs form is firmly attached to the envelope because if it falls of then it will become undeclared. You & your customers will have an hard time & no luck in finding it.

I hope this helps Thanks …. (:

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
@Vicky,

This is great stuff as well! Rest assured I will re-blog this tips for others. Thanks again, Vicky :)

[Reply]
Anonymous

3 word for their service..CMI ~ cannot make it. They once lost my branded bags and clothes that i bought online. It cost a total of more than SGD 2K. And the dispute never ends after i go down personally to confront them. NOW i choose to use TNT, they have good customer service officers and friendly delivery chaps ~~ i rather pay more than get nothing ..

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 11:16 am
@Anonymous,

2K is a lot of money! I guess you’re right, pay a little more for security. In the long run, I will still be money saved rather than losing your precious buys.

[Reply]
Anonymous

3 word for their service..CMI ~ cannot make it. They once lost my branded bags and clothes that i bought online. It cost a total of more than SGD 2K. And the dispute never ends after i go down personally to confront them. NOW i choose to use TNT, they have good customer service officers and friendly delivery chaps ~~ i rather pay more than get nothing ..

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
@Anonymous,

2K is a lot of money! I guess you’re right, pay a little more for security. In the long run, I will still be money saved rather than losing your precious buys.

[Reply]
Alan

Hi, Have your case been resolved?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 11:18 am
@Alan,

Hi Alan,

Our case has been resolved, but I haven’t been able to update this. Rest assured I will blog on the resolution of this issue and keep readers informed.

On that note, I would like to say that the SingPost folks have been really helpful in assisting us with this issue. Kudos to them!

[Reply]
Alan

Hi, Have your case been resolved?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
April 15th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
@Alan,

Hi Alan,

Our case has been resolved, but I haven’t been able to update this. Rest assured I will blog on the resolution of this issue and keep readers informed.

On that note, I would like to say that the SingPost folks have been really helpful in assisting us with this issue. Kudos to them!

[Reply]
HarryLim

Hai~~~~~

The same happened to me TODAY! I shipped in 3 silver coins from USA.. it arrived today but i was shocked when the mail has already been partly open… When i open it up, 1 of the coins went missing (ard s$45 inc. shipping cost).. looking at the packing, its obvious that someone attempted to open up the package to steal the content… The packing has has been seal with tape but there’s sign that someone has peeled it off…

i called Singpost immediately… one of the so-call investigator came to my office… end up, he start blaming usa’s postal service, blame this and blame that.. Singpost is careless to accept it from usa postal srevice, the postman shld not have mail it… and if i want, they can return the rest of the content / package to the seller etc. i am like, now that the content is gone.. what’s the point of returning to the seller.. its basically forcing me to accept the situation….

i also find that more and more sellers on ebay are blacklisting Singapore.. They either do not ship to Singapore or they require Singapore buyers to buy insurance etc. how can the so-call first class Singapore be blacklisted for such an issue!?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
May 5th, 2010 at 9:46 am
@HarryLim,
Hi Harry,

I am sorry to hear about your situation, it is really no-win for you ya? This is the issue here where accountability is lacking. That is a clear-cut case for theft but yet, nothing can be proven or resolved. Consumers like you are on the losing end which is really confidence-deflating for dabbling in e-commerce.

I am sure there are blackhats in e-commerce everywhere. But to have Singapore blacklisted is really not what we want. It used to be that Singapore is really trusted, even Paypal got here first. I hope this trend does not continue downhill. It will suck when I need to buy rare records next time :(

[Reply]
HarryLim

Hai~~~~~

The same happened to me TODAY! I shipped in 3 silver coins from USA.. it arrived today but i was shocked when the mail has already been partly open… When i open it up, 1 of the coins went missing (ard s$45 inc. shipping cost).. looking at the packing, its obvious that someone attempted to open up the package to steal the content… The packing has has been seal with tape but there’s sign that someone has peeled it off…

i called Singpost immediately… one of the so-call investigator came to my office… end up, he start blaming usa’s postal service, blame this and blame that.. Singpost is careless to accept it from usa postal srevice, the postman shld not have mail it… and if i want, they can return the rest of the content / package to the seller etc. i am like, now that the content is gone.. what’s the point of returning to the seller.. its basically forcing me to accept the situation….

i also find that more and more sellers on ebay are blacklisting Singapore.. They either do not ship to Singapore or they require Singapore buyers to buy insurance etc. how can the so-call first class Singapore be blacklisted for such an issue!?

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
May 5th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
@HarryLim,
Hi Harry,

I am sorry to hear about your situation, it is really no-win for you ya? This is the issue here where accountability is lacking. That is a clear-cut case for theft but yet, nothing can be proven or resolved. Consumers like you are on the losing end which is really confidence-deflating for dabbling in e-commerce.

I am sure there are blackhats in e-commerce everywhere. But to have Singapore blacklisted is really not what we want. It used to be that Singapore is really trusted, even Paypal got here first. I hope this trend does not continue downhill. It will suck when I need to buy rare records next time :(

[Reply]
HarryLim

As expected… the so-call will investigate and get back to me did not happen.. the guy left and never even bother to call.. its been > 1 week… i will write an email to anyone in their management… does anyone here know any email i can send to?

thank you!

[Reply]
HarryLim

As expected… the so-call will investigate and get back to me did not happen.. the guy left and never even bother to call.. its been > 1 week… i will write an email to anyone in their management… does anyone here know any email i can send to?

thank you!

[Reply]
Brenda Lee

Hi

I’m not a regular web user, but my recent encounter with Singpost prompted me to look for other similar cases locally.

I have sent a US$400 branded to my seller in USA for an exchange, but my seller never received it. I took up the case with Singpost and they informed me that the item was lost by USPS in USA. The item was sent on 29 February, and the latest reply I got from Singpost is that they are still checking with USPS, it is already June now (4 months and Singpost is still checking) Singpost infmd that that if the item is lost, they will compensate a max. of S$68 under the Universal Postal Regulation.

Anyone knows how the postal regulation works ? Can they simply enforce this regulation and compensates only S$68 irrespective of the declared amount. Furthermore, no insurance service is provided for items to USA. Singpost even told me that I should have used another mode of delivery and not the registered post.

Does anyone can provide me advice on this. Thanks.

[Reply]
Brenda Lee

Hi

I’m not a regular web user, but my recent encounter with Singpost prompted me to look for other similar cases locally.

I have sent a US$400 branded to my seller in USA for an exchange, but my seller never received it. I took up the case with Singpost and they informed me that the item was lost by USPS in USA. The item was sent on 29 February, and the latest reply I got from Singpost is that they are still checking with USPS, it is already June now (4 months and Singpost is still checking) Singpost infmd that that if the item is lost, they will compensate a max. of S$68 under the Universal Postal Regulation.

Anyone knows how the postal regulation works ? Can they simply enforce this regulation and compensates only S$68 irrespective of the declared amount. Furthermore, no insurance service is provided for items to USA. Singpost even told me that I should have used another mode of delivery and not the registered post.

Does anyone can provide me advice on this. Thanks.

[Reply]
Danielle

I lost a package which I ordered from a blogshop online and its $127.50.However I didnt get registered mail and my package was posted via normal mail.
I’m really upset because for a student,$100 plus means alot to me and I had to save up like hell just to treat myself to this shopping spree.
The bad thing is that I called 1605 to enquire,and then got redirected to my area’s post office and then got REDIRECTED again to RLU (return letter unit).
and no response from them yet :(
Their “tai chi” very powerful right?
Its been 2 weeks already and can you advise on what i can do to track my item if its not under registered mail?

Thanks

[Reply]
Danielle

I lost a package which I ordered from a blogshop online and its $127.50.However I didnt get registered mail and my package was posted via normal mail.
I’m really upset because for a student,$100 plus means alot to me and I had to save up like hell just to treat myself to this shopping spree.
The bad thing is that I called 1605 to enquire,and then got redirected to my area’s post office and then got REDIRECTED again to RLU (return letter unit).
and no response from them yet :(
Their “tai chi” very powerful right?
Its been 2 weeks already and can you advise on what i can do to track my item if its not under registered mail?

Thanks

[Reply]
Christina

Hi Isman,

I chanced upon your blog while searching for similar cases of lost mails by Singpost. I am glad there’s a venue for consumers to vent our frustrations at Singpost appalling delivery service.

I have been waiting for a parcel to be delivered to my home in Toa Payoh which was airmailed from Japan since 28th April 2010. It’s been more than 2 months and the parcel has not arrived.

The parcel contained some Dr Ci:Labo skincare products and other Japanese toiletries worth SGD$200. I believe there was a failed delivery attempt and the package was redirected to the post office or delivery base. No notice slip was left at my premises.

Emails and calls to the post office and Singpost customer service to get them to check on the parcel proved to be fruitless. All I got was the same old scripted replies telling me that there’s a possibility that the parcel has been returned to the sender if it is left uncollected for 10 days or they are unable to trace the package since it was an ordinary mail. Subsequent email to Singpost customer service was ignored and no response from them till now.

Doesn’t Singpost accord the same level of care and responsibility for non-registered mails? What’s the point of being a First World nation when our basic postal service system is Third World? What really bugs me is that my parcel might be deemed as “lost” even though Singpost has yet to classify it.

Judging from my past experiences, it seems like high value and bulky packages sent locally or from overseas are more likely to be misdelivered or lost in transit.

I am not sure whether our regulator IDA factor in the amount of lost mails in its yearly/ quarterly review of Singapore Post. I am sure the amount of mails lost per annum will be shockingly huge. I noticed there’s been a steady increase in lost mails in the recent months. The Postal Security Department should seriously look into this matter and shouldn’t rule out the possibility of internal pilferage (theft) and serious lapses in their delivery system as in the case of UK Royal Mail which was fined 11.4m pounds after regulators said it had failed to adequately protect mail from theft and damage . Perhaps a more stringent screening or background checks on Singpost subcontractors (3rd party delivery agents) is a good way to start.

As a consumer, we have the right to make non-performing service providers to play fair. I believe we should garner our rights and power to bring this matter to light to the public. I am preparing to lodge a formal complaint to IDA since it monitors and regulates Signpost yearly performance. Hopefully that will make Singpost to pull up its socks and get things done more efficiently.

[Reply]
Christina

Hi Isman,

I chanced upon your blog while searching for similar cases of lost mails by Singpost. I am glad there’s a venue for consumers to vent our frustrations at Singpost appalling delivery service.

I have been waiting for a parcel to be delivered to my home in Toa Payoh which was airmailed from Japan since 28th April 2010. It’s been more than 2 months and the parcel has not arrived.

The parcel contained some Dr Ci:Labo skincare products and other Japanese toiletries worth SGD$200. I believe there was a failed delivery attempt and the package was redirected to the post office or delivery base. No notice slip was left at my premises.

Emails and calls to the post office and Singpost customer service to get them to check on the parcel proved to be fruitless. All I got was the same old scripted replies telling me that there’s a possibility that the parcel has been returned to the sender if it is left uncollected for 10 days or they are unable to trace the package since it was an ordinary mail. Subsequent email to Singpost customer service was ignored and no response from them till now.

Doesn’t Singpost accord the same level of care and responsibility for non-registered mails? What’s the point of being a First World nation when our basic postal service system is Third World? What really bugs me is that my parcel might be deemed as “lost” even though Singpost has yet to classify it.

Judging from my past experiences, it seems like high value and bulky packages sent locally or from overseas are more likely to be misdelivered or lost in transit.

I am not sure whether our regulator IDA factor in the amount of lost mails in its yearly/ quarterly review of Singapore Post. I am sure the amount of mails lost per annum will be shockingly huge. I noticed there’s been a steady increase in lost mails in the recent months. The Postal Security Department should seriously look into this matter and shouldn’t rule out the possibility of internal pilferage (theft) and serious lapses in their delivery system as in the case of UK Royal Mail which was fined 11.4m pounds after regulators said it had failed to adequately protect mail from theft and damage . Perhaps a more stringent screening or background checks on Singpost subcontractors (3rd party delivery agents) is a good way to start.

As a consumer, we have the right to make non-performing service providers to play fair. I believe we should garner our rights and power to bring this matter to light to the public. I am preparing to lodge a formal complaint to IDA since it monitors and regulates Signpost yearly performance. Hopefully that will make Singpost to pull up its socks and get things done more efficiently.

[Reply]
http://robertsky.com/notepad Robert Sim

I just had a bad episode with vPost, and it was my first time using vPost! Daphne Maia forwarded this link when she read my experience.

I came home at 12am after a long day of school and my dad told me that a parcel for me was left outside the house, unattended at 2.30pm! No one was in the house to receive the delivery.

Geesh. Talk about professionalism!

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 7:26 am
THAT is really bad, anything could have happened with your parcel. And if it had gone missing, I am pretty sure the blame would have been pushed around. I’ve read your post and just realised reading your comment again that it was a vPost service. I was thinking it was one of those regular airmail delivery. But a vPost service?!?! I know lots of folks using that service for purchases in the US, and costly items too. I’m glad your parcel is safe, but really this is atrocious! And I am not surprise they did not provide you a satisfactory reply. They still seem like they don’t care at all. Sheesh.

[Reply]
http://robertsky.com/notepad/ Robert

I just had a bad episode with vPost, and it was my first time using vPost! Daphne Maia forwarded this link when she read my experience.

I came home at 12am after a long day of school and my dad told me that a parcel for me was left outside the house, unattended at 2.30pm! No one was in the house to receive the delivery.

Geesh. Talk about professionalism!

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
THAT is really bad, anything could have happened with your parcel. And if it had gone missing, I am pretty sure the blame would have been pushed around. I’ve read your post and just realised reading your comment again that it was a vPost service. I was thinking it was one of those regular airmail delivery. But a vPost service?!?! I know lots of folks using that service for purchases in the US, and costly items too. I’m glad your parcel is safe, but really this is atrocious! And I am not surprise they did not provide you a satisfactory reply. They still seem like they don’t care at all. Sheesh.

[Reply]
Pingback: Delivery screw up by vPost » My Notepad
Fire the lazy postman

had a few occurrences and encounters with singpost. First of all, do try to understand, even though I was pissed off also, that they do handle thousands of parcels a day and there are only a few people at each post office.

the bureaucratic nature of the organization is probably something that the employees themselves hate too, so if you really must blame someone blame Singpost, f**k their CEO/COO and not the rank and file employee.

After all the incidences with Singpost, I’ve learnt that you HAVE to be pro-active. If you’re expecting a parcel, check on it, and if you think there’s a problem, call immediately!

But one major problem I have with the postmen; of ALL branches. I feel it’s laziness. Whenver they have a large parcel or a registered item etc, that they have to bring up to your house and you are not around, they will just slot a piece of paper/card in your door.

9 out of 10 times, the paper will fly away. (happened to me just recently – my dad picked it up nearby by CHANCE!) So just call your nearest singpost and ask if there’s a parcel for you, cite your address.

[Reply]
Fire the lazy postman

had a few occurrences and encounters with singpost. First of all, do try to understand, even though I was pissed off also, that they do handle thousands of parcels a day and there are only a few people at each post office.

the bureaucratic nature of the organization is probably something that the employees themselves hate too, so if you really must blame someone blame Singpost, f**k their CEO/COO and not the rank and file employee.

After all the incidences with Singpost, I’ve learnt that you HAVE to be pro-active. If you’re expecting a parcel, check on it, and if you think there’s a problem, call immediately!

But one major problem I have with the postmen; of ALL branches. I feel it’s laziness. Whenver they have a large parcel or a registered item etc, that they have to bring up to your house and you are not around, they will just slot a piece of paper/card in your door.

9 out of 10 times, the paper will fly away. (happened to me just recently – my dad picked it up nearby by CHANCE!) So just call your nearest singpost and ask if there’s a parcel for you, cite your address.

[Reply]
Pingback: Singapore Post Lost My Wife’s US$400 Parcel And Does Not Care | citrajob.com
deexay

SingPost had also lost my package 3 weeks ago and still in the midst of ‘investigating’. seriously, my experience is also considered a mystery and truly a negligence due to their part.

it was stated that my package was delivered on 24 July, 11.50am. i only knew it was delivered the next day, on 25 July. I KNEW i was expecting a package on 24 july but didn’t receive it and felt strange. there was no delivery slip so i thought the postman didn’t come. i tracked my package the next day and to my horror it was delivered and the package was not at my home!

i panicked and called my family members to see if they signed any package cos i was not at home till evening that day and there was no delivery slip at my door as well. it was a Sunday when i found out and i could only call SingPost on the next working day which is monday.

i called SingPost early in the morning at 8plus. the status was delivered in their system too and when i said i didn’t receive it, they said they will carry out an investigation and get back to me.

the next day on 27 July, the CSO called asking for my email address as she wanted to email me the delivery invoice and someone did sign for it, but it wasn’t me or my family members. i called SingPost again to say that the signature wasn’t mine and asked for the progress of the investigation. again, they would get back to me.

2 days later, i was told that my package was delivered to Toh Guan Road while i stay at Jurong East and they need to investigation which unit it was delivered to! so i waited………

no good news for the rest of the week, i think they can’t track the unit, and they gave me bullshit. the postman said that it was my father who redirected the postman to deliver it to Toh Guan Road. my dad wasn’t even home that day, or practically no one was home that day! so they got back to investigating.

on 4 August, the CSO called and told me that the package was INDEED delivered to me because the postman mistook my inquiry for the lost package as another customer’s. i insisted that i DID NOT receive the package and they were back to investigation again.

on 6 August, i called them again cos there was news at all. they said that the postman will retrieve the package on Saturday (7 Aug). there i thought my package was found!!!! but NOT. the postman came to my house on Saturday morning to signed that invoice which was emailed to me, with my signature overlapping the former one who accepted the package! i did…. cos i scheduled a delivery of another package and i thought i was signing for that package which was supposed to arrive. i only realised it was not after i signed it…

ok back to the postman. i asked him about my lost package and he looked lost. very. he was pretty sure he was the one who delivered that package on that day but had no idea if he had delivered it wrongly. so SingPost sent someone who has no idea what he has done to clean up the mess.

on 12 Aug, i was told a police report has been made in order to file for compensation claim. when asked if it will be a full compensation, they said it depends if insurance had been bought which i have no idea. i tried emailing my sender which is Gmarket but received no replies from them for 1 week. hopeless already.

i don’t care if there’s any insurance or not, i just want my package or a full compensation. it’s lost due to Singpost’s employee for delivering to the wrong unit, and a dishonest one for not returning that package. just my luck.

i will be fighting for full compensation no matter what. if i can, i won’t ever use EMS. i would rather pay more to use DHL but i didn’t have a choice.

[Reply]
deexay

“the postman came to my house on Saturday morning asking me to sign on that invoice which was emailed to me”

sorry for the language and grammer errors in the post.

[Reply]
missk

Hi Isman,
I came upon your blog, like several others here (I’m guessing), because I was Googling terms such as “Singpost screwed up” and “Singpost f**ked up”. Ha! I’m a big online shopper and a few months ago, I was awaiting two parcels from a US-based clothing e-commerce site, worth about USD200. Never came, and response from Singpost was just along the lines of, “We can’t do anything about it because there’s no tracking number.” Like many others, I wonder, do we now have to pay extra just to make sure an item is delivered to us safely? Isn’t that the point of paying the postal costs in the first place — FOR DELIVERY?
What is your opinion, how DOES one get heard around by Singpost?! Must everyone write to the press or write an extremely detailed blog entry (like yours) just to get a reasonable response? You should post the email addresses of the Singpost senior management members who replied to your blog entry so the rest of us can send THEM our complaints — instead of some random clueless service officer. I’m (half) kidding, but, man, it would be great if you could do so. :)

[Reply]
Nobody

Hey man, very detailed report you got there and its good to hear that you got everything sorted out. Yeah, I bad experienced with Singpost before. Eventually filed for a claim but only got paid $60 which is their highest amount for claim. Got a auto-generated reply from their claim department that i will be receiving my payment in 3 weeks time. But guess what, it took them 2 months to get it in my mail box. They are most probably sucks operationally and hate their job. They lack of ownerships in their job scope that’s why we experienced similar situations. But well, we still have DHL adn Fedex to choose from if you can pay a premium.

[Reply]
Sandofsad

Same problem with me, sender write wrong address, and item still received to another person,
why they not call contact number since they go and the no one name as EMS address, so frustration..

[Reply]
mitts

thank god you got your money back. but the trouble you went to get what belong to you ( the compensation) was obviously excruciating. and this shouldn’t be the way. i think singpost should avoid more cases like this by taking action against the thieves that they are employing.

[Reply]
ROAR

ARGH I AM ALSO SUPER PISSED OFF WITH SINGPOST, THEY LOST MY PARCEL AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF! This one was worth over 60 SGD!!!! Previously i had lost 2 parcels worth about 30 SGD EACH thanks to them.

[Reply]
jamie

I am currently in the same situation! My $400 package has mysteriously gone missing! Ive called them 4 times only to be hung up on/ transfered/ ignored.

Unbelievable how they run a service like this!

[Reply]
Fantasia Reply:
March 15th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Out of my 100+ transaction postage to Singpost. 5 out of them were never delivered. its like enter at your own risk. Why would a business be like that?

Im a blogshop owner and this small little things hurt us. Singpost is really that bad that we now said to customer we will not bear responsibility for item lost and even thought of setting up a much better courier service in singapore.

[Reply]
Liew Reply:
July 13th, 2011 at 9:42 am
hi. I have the same situation. Vpost refuses to take responsibility for lost item ! asking me to liaise with the US seller when item is lost by them! So when the US side refuses to take responsibility, I get ping-ponged around and nothing gets solved. I’m out of $180 like this.

1) the invoices don’t tally (the US and vpost generated ones)
2) 160g weight loss on 2 invoice? ( WHAT? ) 560g from the us invoice compared to the vpost’s invoice.

The customer service rep is clueless and did not answer to my specific concerns from the 2 points above and keep denying responsibilities. When i requested to talk to the supervisor, requested is denied and she says “oh the operation side don’t talk to people”

They don’t have mouth to talk ? Seriously! And i’ve been waiting for someone to answer my email but until now, no news for the past 2 days. Just avoid VPOST at all costs, they are CROOKS who apparently has a way or two to deny responsibilities when things like these happen.

[Reply]
http://agroovyweb.com Isman Tanuri

Hi everyone,

I have been reading the comments for the last half year or so. Thank you all for sharing your opinion and experience dealing with SingPost. I hope you have managed to resolve your issues with them at some level and I wish you all the best if you are in the process of pursuing the matter with them.

My apologies for not replying to your more recent comments left on this blog, but I endeavour to keep this blog and specifically this post up and running in order to highlight the issues we have been experiencing because of SingPost.

Just a quick note: I had used Comgateway recently for a purchase from the US. Very reliable and local delivery is managed by DHL. This is a better alternative to Vpost. Do consider them or Borderlinx (Citibank customers) if you are purchasing from the US in the future.

Thanks again for commenting and do continue sharing your experience here. We must assist others in not making the same mistakes.

Cheers!

[Reply]
Fadhli Jaffar

I know how you feel bro. I just had this problem too the moment Singpost handles my delivery. Delivery usually takes 1 working day in Singapore. My parcel from the States arrived last week but til now I have yet to receive my parcel from Singpost. I have no problems with http://www.borderlinx.com (Sg Citibank/DHL) and delivery is fast and up to date.

[Reply]
Isman Tanuri Reply:
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:27 pm
Hi Fadhli, thanks for leaving a comment. I really hope you will receive your parcel soon. I’ve used Comgateway too, pretty good and I believe that was either DHL or FedEx. I don’t think I will ever trust Speedpost again for items of value.

[Reply]
Attika

Can we gather all the people who has suffered & lost their precious package & do something ie, report to the relevant authorities to highlight Vpost incompetence, perhaps request the IDA address the rampant missing package & iusse them stiff penalty? Can the media do their part to highlight this problems? Please help..thanks a million~ paul

[Reply]
http://www.myqute.com kelly

I am sorry this happened to you! Years ago I ordered polymer clay from someone who didn’t give a damn to where my package was. To add insult to injury, I had actually paid extra (1/2 day after I placed my order) for them to send me by trackable Fedex or courier.

The clay supplier pinged ponged me from one person to another until I heard nothing from them. My package costed me equivalent of SG$330 which is roughly US$285.

I checked with Singpost too, but no reply. I asked my bank for a refund but they said 90 days have passed since my online purchase. So there was nothing I could do.

However, my most recent experience was with Singpost….a Philippine customer service staff who said he did not need any of my naked baby photo in order for them to give me a reply. I had told him that I will go down to their office to settle the matter if email and phone calls cannot settle the matter. He was courteous, fast and efficient and his name is Jose. We finally sorted it out. My brother was the one who signed for the package when he said he did not remember receiving it. All that trouble for nothing! lol

[Reply]
http://twitter.com/erickohsg Eric Koh Chuan Koon

vpost sucks… vpostusa in this case! Ordered my kindle from amazon and they shipped it across USA to vpostusa Oregon in a couple of days, with proper tracking.

Wait 1week+ and still no updates on my account to ask me for payment. Had to call up vpost at 1605 to ask happened. Customer service checked their system and said my package did arrive but didnt come with the invoice so I had to manually scan and email them the invoice. Fine, if there’s no invoice, tell me so immediately, why key it into the system and do nothing until I have to call them up?

Pro tip: Do not use their ‘vEzy’ option of having them to declare for you. Because they are retarded. Stick to the ‘vFlex’ method so that you get to send them the invoice manually.

So I immediately emailed them my invoice. CustService said they will put in a request to expediate the process. Waited 3-4 more working days, still no update. Called 1605 again. CustService checked and said please resend invoices. Promise to put in request to speed up my case. Ok, so I resent again.

It’s been another 3-4 working days now. Called 1605 again as usual. I’m getting to know their staffand modus operandi very well now. This time, they checked the system and confirm that the invoices have been received, so she will put in a request to expediate blah blah… same old modus operandi..

What’s with their system of keying in useless updates instead of taking real action? What internal tracking system are they using? Facebook status updates? I’ll see how long this is going to take…

btw, I’ve used vpostusa a few years back. They actually packed someone else’s order together with mine! The box sat in my office for a few weeks before they sent someone to collect it back from me…

I’m ashamed to be holding singpost shares, I will have to get rid of their shares on the next upbounce… There’s obviously something wrong with their top management for tolerating such low performance in their workflows and staff. HIGHLY RECOMMEND A SELL!

[Reply]
Seizethecake80

Me too. Last year, my elderly aunt sent some cash (about $200) put between a birthday card to my son. This is not the first time she did it, though it is quite silly. It never showed up. I have been experiencing having other people’s mail in my box and vice versa. It was never the case about 3 years’ ago.

In October, Pension Office sent my aunt her pension card TWICE and until today, she never received it.

I used to have so much faith in our postal system but with all the outsourcing and the size that it has grown to, whoever is in charge is very tardy with efficiency.

[Reply]
Uncle

You did the right thing to make this public. Sometimes it’s not the organisation, it’s a few individuals who screw up and do not take ownership of their mistakes. Typical Singaporean mindset.
This was a good read and I know now what to do if Singpost screws up my shipments. I do have a bad feeling that your case is just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks Isman

[Reply]
Clement

First of all, I am glad that you got your money back after all the trouble.

I can fully relate to your predicament and Singpost has more than once failed to delivery on their “promises”.

It all sounds too familiar when you mentioned that Singpost do not return calls.

The fact is that they do not, unless you do so.

Do Singpost communicate internally? The fact is that they do not, unless you help them to do so.

It is Christmas Eve today and I was checking on the status of my parcel from the USA.

I was told by the customer service lady over the phone that it would not be ready for delivery until Tuesday, December 27.

Because of this, I requested that the parcel be delivered to Sengkang post office on Tuesday so that I can pick it up from there just in case nobody is at home at the time of delivery.

However, a few hours later, I got a hunch to check on the Track and Trace website.

Guess what? My parcel was now on delivery with the courier.

I called up Singpost again to verify that what I saw on the Track and Trace is correct and I was told that it is indeed and it would be delivered to my residential address instead of Sengkang Post Office.

I also checked with the customer service lady to see if my parcel can arrive between 4 to 5 pm as I have an appointment then and do not want to miss the parcel.

The customer service lady took down my number and told me she will try her best to find out for me although no promise was made.

(You are right. Nobody call me back.)

However, she mentioned that the parcel will be delivered before 6 pm.

As the parcel is something which I would like to have before Christmas, I decided to reschedule my appointment to stay home and wait for the parcel.

I waited till 6.30 pm before I step out of the house and there was still no sight of the postman.

When I got home at around 10.00 pm, there was no sight of postal slip and it was still reflected as “With Delivery Courier” in Singpost’s Track and Trace site.

This is a huge let down from Singpost and like I said, this is not the first time but this time, a simply apology would definitely be not enough for me.

I have written to Singpost about this and they will be getting a call from me first time Tuesday morning.

Someone has to be responsible for this.

Clement

[Reply]
Jeremy Tng

I have ordered quite a few items that were delivered by speedpost. My packages were either EMS, Priority Mail, Economy Mail from US or Japan. I had used vPost service for US & China as well.

The worst that i’ve seen is that they had the delivery truck breakdown (twice) as a reason not to delivery my package, at 7-9pm. Not sure if that is real reason or not but i finally got my package the next day.

Usually i would track my package’s tracking number 3 – 4 times (am rather obsessed) a day (once it leaves the seller) to see if it had arrived in Singapore. Then i’ll check in the morning at about 9am – 10am if it’s with the delivery courier.

If i see that it indicates that it’s with the delivery courier at about 8.30-9.30am, then i’ll get a knock on the door at about 10.30am-12pm. If it indicates that it’s with the courier after 9.30am, i will get it in the afternoon. (I live in Sembawang, btw)

Personally i’ve yet to face any major problems with delivery from speedpost but it’s something that i hope not to face someday.

[Reply]
Dr fake

Hi @groovygenie:disqus ,

I found this post from Google. I’m facing a similar situation now. I had twelve parcels arrived at SingPost Processing Center (SPC) on 19 Dec 2011 together, and 11 of them were delivered to me on 22 Dec. However, one of them (A mobile phone 649 USD + 59 SGD GST) remains at the processing center as shown in the tracking record. There was no attempted delivery. On 13 Jan 2012, I was told by the service person at 1605 call center that the parcel may be lost at the processing center and they need 5 more working days to confirm this.

I did not buy any insurance for this item. The thing is that there was no attempted delivery for this item. It was lost at the SPC before any delivery. Could you tell me should I expect to get a full compensation in this case? Thanks.

[Reply]
Dr fake Reply:
January 19th, 2012 at 2:19 pm
Hello @groovygenie:disqus ,

I called them (1605) again today. The service person said that the package was reported lost at the processing center by the relevant department and they requested an investigation from the police. She asked me to wait for three weeks for them to get the documents from the police before they decide how much to compensate me.

I still don’t know whether I can get a full compensation. Maybe I should just wait for the report from the police and see what’s next.

[Reply]
Dee

Ouch, that really sucks. You should’ve started off a protest because Singpost really needs a good knocking or 2!

I’ve had one of my Iherb packages lost by Singpost before and their staff couldn’t be bothered to even answer a query: they simply shot me a pre-generated reply.

Also, Singpost seems to be getting worse by the years. I heard that people staying in Punggol or some other area have massive problems with lost mail. Almost every letter was lost, so handphone bills = possible disconnect, possible disruption of insurance policies and so on and Singpost doesn’t seem to care.

Also, they’ve constantly misdelivered letters and packages to our address and when we complained and returned them, the people simply had them delivered back to us… ugh. Singpost seems to be doing so poorly, that these days sellers insist on registered mail.

And lastly, they’re so incompetent that even their staff member didn’t even know they sold local stamps. I’m serious… this was a staff who’d been working there for years and she was either half asleep on her job or just fooling around. She refused to sell me local stamps, claiming they didn’t exist.

[Reply]
Sales Reply:
February 2nd, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Wait til you see the Jurong Post mail. I have more than ten parcels missing in the Jurong area lately. Must be a big thief from SingPost hanging around the Jurong Post Office stealing all the packages. Must issue a report against this thief. Imagine if I lose more than ten packages, that guy alone must have stolen hundreds in a mth

[Reply]
Aditya Candrasaputra

I know this has happened quite long ago, I think yes Singpost is guilty of many things (such as not leaving a note on your doorstep asking you to collect parcel at post office xxx within x working days due to nobody being home) , but I can be sure they are not to blame on two things..

I have dealt with large scale movement of packages between countries, so I have perused the 700+ pages of UPU regulation

USA Post must be involved because it is the SOP of international postal union that claims will be dealt with from the sender’s side, and the postal authority doing all the compensation will be from sender side not the receiver side, no matter where the mail is lost as long as the package/mail have not been received by the recipient. Even when it is lost at destination country’s sorting facilities, etc. This is because any insurance option (if purchased — optional in many countries) is dealt by the sender’s postal administration…

I do agree though that singpost could have served the customer better and explained this more..

I think they are making empty promises, best case is they are waiting from the foreign postal admin to inform them, worst case is they really do nothing loh..

[Reply]
Dingcy2005

Can insurance pay for it?

[Reply]
ST

I know this post is 2 years ago, but I just found it and it has made me more alert! My sister has been losing normal mails (Woodlands area) and I thought it was ridiculous! Who would want to steal utility bills and handphone bills?? I thought our postal service is quite efficient compared to other countries. But it’s great your post has alerted me in their shortcomings.
One thing I wholly agree on is that service standards in Singapore has gotta improve. Especially from monopolistic agencies, which, sadly, are a whole lot in SG.

[Reply]
DEMOCRACY

I am a regular online buyer, started about 4 years ago.
I received most of my overseas purchases despite a couple
of “lost” ones. Thats beside the point.
The point is, Singpost is just sucks on communications,
responses, responsibilities, etc.
Its run by incompetent manager named, Bxx.
Its just LL as its the only Postal services under stat board.
What more to expect of their attitude ?? Its actually same as
Singtel or Singnet and the likewise.

[Reply]
emma

i stumbled upon yr blog, am horrified to hear of this story. may I know if your parcel was found or did singpost compensate you?
They just lost my book I ordered via vpost. I have been communicating with them for 3 weeks and like you said, they dun seems to care and no one bother to get back to me properly. so upset about this.

[Reply]