Multiple reports of mishandling and careless delivery methods from NZ Post drivers are emerging following a viral video of a package being tossed from a courier van.
A spokesperson for NZ Post issued an apology on Tuesday after the video circulated showing a courier driver carelessly throwing a package onto a porch from the front seat of the van.
Since the Newshub coverage, various accounts of broken and damaged items have flooded in from readers, including damage to property and possessions.
Rolleston resident Michael Evans says he's "fed up" after several instances of damage from his local courier driver, including a time where they crashed into his fence.
"The courier driver didn't have the decency to stop and let me know she'd hit my fence, but I was home and heard the crash, saw the fence juddering and was told by my neighbour who witnessed the crash," Evans told Newshub.
"I made the repair myself because it took three weeks before NZ Post responded [to a complaint].
"They asked me if I wanted them to handle the repairs and I told them they were so slow that I fixed it myself. I told the supervisor that all I wanted was honesty and an apology from the person who didn't have enough respect for me to come and visit me and provide a face-to-face apology on the day it happened."
Evans says three weeks went by until the driver was forced to offer a "mini-apology" while delivering another item.
He says he also captured the moment on his home security camera that the driver recently mounted the curb, driving across his lawn to deliver a package.
"I'm still to get an apology."
Elliot Smyth says he was also "fobbed off with no real apology" after watching his courier driver toss a parcel onto his front porch via the security camera on his front door.
After sending NZ Post the video and information about his order, a spokesperson told Smyth there would be a meeting with the driver.
"They said they would not be able to tell me the outcome of the meeting and gave me a number to call if I wanted to discuss," he said.
"I did and it rang until I got a message to say don't leave a message. I emailed back and haven't heard anything since.
"I am still yet to get an apology."
"Not dropped but thrown."
Meanwhile an Orewa resident who wished to remain anonymous says his area's courier regularly "throws all parcels over the unlocked gates".
"[It's the] same guy every time and he just doesn't care even after being confronted about dropping the parcels which all fall into concrete pathways below."
The resident said the parcels are often "not dropped, but thrown".
"I spoke to a neighbour whose parcel was mistakenly thrown over my gate - they are five foot high gates). He gets parcels almost daily and some are broken."
"We deserve better service," he added, providing Newshub with a photo showing the tall fence the packages were chucked over.
A spokesperson for NZ Post told Newshub the company was sorry to hear about the customers' experiences, admitting that "service fell below our normal high level".
However they added without knowing "details about when these incidents occurred and the circumstances around them", they couldn't address them further.
"We do ask that any customers with concerns contact us directly so that we can help them".
The spokesperson added that NZ Post believes the incidents to be outliers, rather than the norm.
"For context, we deliver over 80 million parcels a year, and the vast majority of these are delivered on time and safely," they said.
"We are proud of the work everyone who works for NZ Post does in delivering items people care about, and we acknowledge that every delivery is something special to those both sending and receiving it."
On the viral Reddit video which kickstarted these allegations, several former postal workers commented that the treatment of the package may not be a one-off.
"I used to work at Courier Post in package sorting/handling and I can assure you this is the most care your package has received during its transit," one person commented.
"For real. I used to pick up vans from the depot at the changeover time, and have seen them straight-up drop kick packages across the room," another added.
"Ex courier here. This is pretty typical. Decent people will know what the item is inside a package and treat it accordingly though," another wrote.
