New Zealand Post has 'unreservedly' apologised after a video showing a courier driver throwing parcels was posted on social media.
In the video, a worker can be seen grabbing parcels from a large carrier bin and throwing them onto the ground next to his van.
It was posted to TikTok on Tuesday by samanthawilson564 with the caption, "Merry Christmas from NZ Post".
Many social media users were unimpressed with one person saying, "Oh my god no".
Others complained about their packages being delayed.
But other people were supportive, pointing out the company is dealing with huge demands due to Christmas and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Man y'all try for this job at this time of year, I bet you'll struggle," one person said.
NZ Post Chief Operating Officer Brendon Main told Newshub the video was disappointing.
"The video was brought to our attention late yesterday. Obviously, we are disappointed because the person doing this has failed to meet the conduct standards that we expect and we are unreservedly apologetic.
"This is undoubtedly our busiest Christmas ever but it's no excuse for not treating things the way they need to."
Main said the video is an isolated case and doesn't reflect the work of the thousands of other staff around the country.
"We've got thousands of people up and down the country doing the job exactly as we expect and treating everything in the right manner. We are pretty confident this is a reasonably isolated incident and we are talking with the person involved.
"Our volumes, through the lockdown periods and Christmas, are well above what we've ever been before and we've got thousands of people doing such an amazing job.
"This is isolated and we will deal with it."
Demand for courier services surged as a result of Auckland's more than three-month-long lockdown.
Earlier in the month, Main said the company was processing more than 2 million parcels a week.
"We're currently delivering about 2.4 million parcels every week, breaking the record for the busiest Christmas in NZ Post history."
He said the company has employed hundreds of extra staff to cope with demand.
"Our teams have been working incredibly hard to deliver these huge numbers of parcels for Kiwis.
"We've brought on hundreds of extra people, we've extended our operating hours and are processing 24/7, and we've redesigned our Auckland network to get parcels where they need to be as fast as we can.
"Our message to Kiwis is to send now if you haven't already. The new Christmas cut-off dates are quickly approaching."
