It’s in the mail … or is it? More reader stories of missing post between Ireland and Australia

Earlier this month we carried a story from a reader who had become so exasperated by his unsuccessful attempts to send cards and parcels to his daughter in Sydney that he used an Apple AirTag to track one such missive only for the package to make it as far as London before going missing. He suggested something was not right but when we highlighted it with An Post, a spokeswoman said there was “no evidence of any interference or loss within the Ireland-Australia mail stream generally”.

The story prompted other readers to get in touch.

“My Christmas card to my son in Sydney, posted in November of 2022, has not been received by him yet,” writes Seamus O’Donnell. “This was the last time I posted anything to him. Previous letters and cards never got to him either. An Post is losing out!”

“I have a dear friend living just outside Brisbane, Australia,” wrote a reader called Marie. “We only get to see each other every two or three years and, post-pandemic, it was five years. We keep in touch via email and video calls and the occasional card for birthdays and Christmas.”

In April 2023 Marie sent her friend a card for her May birthday. “Inside was a beautiful silk bookmark, bought in the Patrick Kavanagh Centre in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan. The correct postage was put on it – my husband is a postal worker – and that was the last we heard of it.”

A couple of months passed and Marie tried again. “this time with just a simple ‘how are you doing?’ card. It, too, failed to arrive. Himself, having a bit of insight into how things work, was able to ascertain that both items had left the country, but that was it,” she says.

Marie’s Australian friend was “blaming things at her end, describing the Australian Postal Service as ‘pack mule’ … her words. We never pursued it any further but I’m glad to say Christmas cards arrived and we met in person in May this year and exchanged gifts in person.”

[ Irish man uses tracker in bid to find out why his letters rarely reach daughter in AustraliaOpens in new window ]

Then there is Ruari. “My wife and I were living there last year and we had terrible trouble getting packages to Ireland,” he said. “It was very frustrating and lots of gifts and items never made it, often at considerable expense for both gifts and postage costs. Aussie postal service said the issue was at this end in Ireland but it felt like An Post wouldn’t be bothered taking it seriously. We should have tried to raise it as an issue but good to see it getting some attention. I’m sure this is an issue that affects many more people.”

We also hear from Ellen, whose sister lives in Sydney. “Thanks so much for highlighting how shocking the postal service is to get stuff over there. We had our first Christmas apart last year, and I posted my sister a Christmas card from Drimnagh Post Office at the start of November, pouring my heart into it about how much I miss her – and it never arrived. I should’ve put an AirTag in the envelope. I’m disgusted even thinking about it, the rest of my siblings sent their cards over via a parcel our mother and father sent to Oz, so their cards got to Sydney eventually, and mine never did.”

It is not only post to Australia that readers have issues with.

“I read with interest your article on theft from the postal service,” writes Gerry Grady. “Regrettably it’s not required to venture overseas to experience theft from the system. We had two recent domestic cases. A €100 voucher for Brown Thomas posted to my niece for Christmas 2022 had not been delivered well into January: eventually we contacted the shop (my wife had the voucher reference number from the till receipt) and found it had been used in Arnotts very soon after the posting date.”

When Gerry’s wife spoke to their local Post Office, they were not remotely surprised, he says.

“So while in general the postal service is highly efficient, it is not in any way secure. Anything of a cash value must be registered. The faux shock of management is disappointing, especially in light of the overwhelming evidence presented by your original correspondent.”

The story rang a bell with Bernadette Madden, who has two “ongoing problems with An Post parcels. The first relates to a package sent to the US in August last year, which never arrived. An Post claimed it was delivered but have not given me any proof of delivery.

“The second concerns another package sent to the UK in November 2022. This was also marked as delivered, so that the addressee assumed it was stolen. As it happens it was neither as the package came back through my letterbox a few weeks ago, with no indication as to where it has been for the past 18 months.

“Both packages were sent using the track-and-trace system. In neither case has An Post responded to my email enquiries, other than an auto reply with a reference number. I’ve made some phone calls to them, the last a few months ago when I was told that as soon as they had proof of delivery of the US package, they would let me know. I’m still waiting!”

We do have one – sort of – good news story, however, from a reader called Elizabeth.

“I sent a package to my niece in Sydney last December, a surprise for Christmas given she wasn’t making the trip home. It cost €18 to post the padded envelope containing light PJs for the roasting temperatures down under,” she says.

“At the time I remember thinking it cost as much to post them as they were actually worth! I had forgotten about them, and the fact I never heard whether they landed safely or not, until in mid May a package arrived in my letterbox in Dublin 15 with a return-to-sender orange sticker on the front.

“What on earth was this? Yes, you’ve guessed it. It was the PJs back again, unopened after its return trip from New South Wales when the recipient was not known at the address on the envelope. A lot of air miles clocked up by this particular piece of mail and all for just €18. What an amazing service. Will have to hand-deliver the package to my niece when she returns to Ireland this summer.”

We get in touch with An Post and a spokeswoman said that its “international team monitor the quality of service and security on all mail routes there is no evidence of any systemic issues or challenges with mail going to or coming from Australia. That said, the team will do a deep-dive check into the Ireland-Australia transit route to ensure that every part of the journey is secure.”

She said An Post was “sorry that even a small percentage of customers have experienced difficulties with mail delivery to Australia. It is important that customers make us aware of any case of alleged non-delivery/non-return so that we can address any issues that arise. Items received back as undeliverable from Australia (or anywhere) are returned to the sender if return details are provided. If no return details are available, the items are kept on file awaiting an inquiry from the sending customer. Customers can submit an online inquiry about outstanding letters or parcels at the following link: https://forms.anpost.ie/enquiry. All relevant details such as date of posting, full addressee details, description of the contents and service used must be included so that we can carry out a full inquiry.”

Regarding Elizabeth’s good experience of having an undeliverable parcel returned safely to her, the spokeswoman says it “shows the importance of always including a return address (the sender’s details) on every letter and parcel. We reunite senders with such items returned from around the world every day. Indeed we currently have a number of letters, cards and parcels which were posted from Ireland to Australia in recent months, could not be delivered (or were not collected at a mail depot there) and have been returned to us. Unfortunately, they have no return address on them. Details of those items, contents etc have been logged so that should a customer submit a matching inquiry, we can reunite them with their mail. We can’t state it enough – please always include a return address.”