Courier Lost or Smashed Your Parcel? Here’s Who Pays (and How to Make Them)

The box arrived crushed, wet, or open. Or it never arrived at all and the courier’s “customer service” is a web form that generates auto-replies. The seller says talk to the courier. The courier says talk to the seller. Meanwhile you’re out $300, $900, $2,000 and everyone is very sorry and nobody is doing anything.

The ping-pong is deliberate. It stops the moment you put the right party on written notice with a deadline.

Your rights

• Consumer guarantees for services (ss 60–62 ACL). A courier must deliver with due care and skill and within a reasonable time. A parcel that arrives smashed, or is left in the rain on a driveway you never authorised, is a breach. Courier terms that say “we accept no liability for damage” cannot exclude these guarantees (s 64 ACL).
• Consumer guarantees for goods (s 54 ACL). If you bought the item and it arrived damaged, it is not of acceptable quality. The seller must repair, replace or refund. The seller cannot make you claim on the courier; that’s their job.
• Who’s the customer matters. If you paid the courier (you sent the parcel), your claim is against the courier. If a business shipped to you, the business is your contact under the ACL and the business claims on the courier.
• “Authority to leave” is a choice you make, not the driver. If you didn’t give authority to leave and the parcel was dumped and stolen, the courier is responsible for a failed delivery.
• Insurance and transit cover. Many couriers offer transit warranty up to a set amount and cap liability beyond that unless extra cover is purchased. Caps in a contract you accepted can limit damages for lost goods, but they don’t remove the ACL guarantees, and they don’t apply where the courier’s conduct was negligent or misleading.

What to do right now

1. Photograph everything before you touch it. The outer box, the label, the damage, the packaging inside, the item. If the driver is still there, get them to note the damage. If you signed for it, write “damaged” next to your signature.
2. Report to the courier within their window. Most require damage to be reported within 24–72 hours and lost items within a set period. Lodge online, get a reference number, and screenshot it.
3. Put the seller on notice the same day. If you bought the item, email the seller: “The item arrived damaged / has not arrived. Under s 54 / s 61 of the Australian Consumer Law I require a replacement or full refund within 7 days. Any claim against the courier is yours to pursue.” Attach the photos.
4. Value the claim. Purchase receipt, postage receipt, and any consequential loss (a replacement bought urgently, a missed deadline).
5. Send a Letter of Demand. To the courier if you were the sender, or the seller if you were the buyer. The letter cites the ACL guarantees, the timeline, the amount, and a 14-day deadline before escalation to fair trading and the tribunal. This is the point at which the “we’re investigating” auto-replies stop and a person with authority responds.
6. Chargeback if it was a card purchase. “Goods not received” or “goods not as described” are standard chargeback reasons.

Which courier, which complaints body

• StarTrack is owned by Australia Post and comes under the Postal Industry Ombudsman.
• Aramex (formerly Fastway), CouriersPlease, Toll, TNT, Border Express, Allied Express, Hunter Express, Sendle: some are registered with the Postal Industry Ombudsman scheme (check the Ombudsman’s list of registered private operators); if not, your state fair trading body is the regulator.
• Sendle and other aggregators: your contract is with the aggregator, not the underlying carrier. Claim on the aggregator.
• Marketplace platforms (eBay, Amazon, Etsy): use the platform’s buyer protection first; it’s fast. Your ACL rights against the seller remain.

Put the demand in writing, with photographs and a deadline: the ACL puts the loss on the seller, and a written demand gives them a deadline and a record. When you’re the sender, a courier may offer its transit-cover amount and argue about anything above it; a Letter of Demand citing negligence sets out your claim for the rest.

“Delivered” to a place you never authorised

Couriers increasingly leave parcels without a signature and mark them delivered, then argue the parcel was stolen after delivery and it’s your problem. It isn’t, unless you gave authority to leave. Check the delivery options you (or the seller) selected at checkout. If there was no authority to leave, or you selected “signature required”, a parcel left on a doorstep and taken was never delivered to you, and the courier bears the loss. Ask for the driver’s proof-of-delivery photo and the GPS scan location. A photo of a parcel on a step at a different house, or no photo at all, decides it. If a “safe drop” was chosen by the driver because “nobody was home”, that’s the courier’s choice, not yours, and the terms most carriers use say they’ll only leave a parcel without authority at their own risk. Quote that back to them. If the parcel was signed for by someone you don’t know, ask for the signature image; couriers have been known to sign on the customer’s behalf.

Who to complain to

The Postal Industry Ombudsman for StarTrack and registered private couriers. Your state fair trading body (NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria, Queensland OFT, and equivalents) for any courier or seller. The ACCC for misleading “no liability” terms. Your state civil tribunal for the money.

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