The heartbreak of losing a loved one has been compounded for a family who may be unable to prove the death of their dad after Australia Post lost his death certificate.
The late father had been living in Vietnam with his wife before he passed in late August, but the certificate had to be posted to Australia because that was where his will was created.
To begin the process of organizing his affairs, the man’s son, Sean – based in Japan – sent the death certificate via Australia Post’s registered express service to his sister Sarah in Sydney on September 13.
Sean was at the time happy to fork out about $26 for what he hoped would be a quick and secure service, but the certificate never showed up.
The package’s tracking history, shared with news.com.au, showed it arrived at a processing facility in southwest Sydney on September 20, but it never left.
Two weeks later, Sean inquired with Australia Post and it launched an unsuccessful investigation into the package’s whereabouts.
The company, in emails to the family shared with news.com.au, said it had exhausted all options and had decided to deem the package “lost in transit.”
An employee told the family they could apply for $64 compensation and recommended they submit a claim through Japan Post.
In another email, it told the family their case would be closed because the matter had been “finalized.”
Without the important document – which cannot be reproduced – the family feared it would be unable to access their dad’s will.
Sean said he, his sister and brother-in-law were dumbfounded at Australia Post seemingly wiping its hands of their problem.
“I literally did everything correct, I paid the expensive fee and got it tracked. I’m really disappointed as well because they really tried to give us the run around,” Sean said.
He said it had already been a difficult time given he lost his dad and had to travel from Japan to Vietnam to source the correct documents himself from the Vietnamese government.
“It’s very frustrating because not only did I do it all right, but to have them [Australia Post] just be like, ‘I don’t know, it’s lost’, is really frustrating,” he said.
“And on top of my dad dying, we now have to worry about my stepmother not having enough money, and of course that money would have helped my sister who has two kids and a house.
“Of course it’s not about the money, but on top of my dad dying, it also feels like ‘oh, by the way, you’re not going to get your inheritance because AusPost lost something in the mail’.”
Sean said he could barely fathom that his family’s life was being so vigorously shaken by Australia Post not fulfilling its “one job.”
“I can’t believe it really. It’s like, you have one job. It’s the express registered post, that’s the whole point of it, and if they lose that, then what are they doing with all your normal post?” he said.
“It boggles my mind. I’m just so shocked that it even could occur, and their response – you could tell that they just don’t care at all.”
Sean said it seemed as though Australia Post was trying to get his family to “give up and go away”.
“I’m really disappointed because the reason I sent it in the express post was because I trusted Australia Post, but I guess I was wrong unfortunately.”
Australia Post confirmed to news.com.au it lost the man’s death certificate.
“Australia Post’s processing and delivery teams work hard to handle every item with care when it arrives in Australia from overseas postal operators,” a spokesperson told news.com.au.
‘The vast majority of items make it to their destination safely, however in this instance it appears something has gone wrong and the item has been lost.
“We sincerely apologize and are reaching out to the customer to see how we can provide further support.”