The unsurprising lack of service by SA Post Office

My recent experience with the SA Post Office, while atrocious, was I suppose exactly what I expected.

In purchasing a product online that had to be shipped internationally, the seller selected local courier was our SA Postal service. Upon noticing this I was instantly disappointed as I immediately expected problems with receiving my parcel. But in trying to be more positive I made an effort to change my expectations and give the postal service a chance to provide good service despite its poor reputation.

Unfortunately I have been left extremely disappointed and frustrated with the pathetic level of service, or rather lack of service I have experienced. But while disappointed, I cannot say I am surprised .

Tracking of a parcel is extremely poor, updates online upon entering your tracking number come to a halt without further information as to where the parcel is. After no progress with online tracking, one is inclined to contact them directly to enquire about parcel whereabouts, but this is quite literally impossible. The email address given on the SA Post Office website is what I used, and after 2 emails I had still received zero communication back after a week. I have also called the customer service line multiple times without EVER getting through due to "high call volumes" and "all operators being busy" regardless of time of call and how long you hold for.

So without any way of determining where my parcel was I was left with no other option but to wait a bit longer and see. I had a glimmer of hope restored when I eventually received a paper notification that my parcel had arrived at my local post office and assumed my dealing with the SA Post office was almost over, for now. Unfortunately it would appear that the poor service and lack of commitment to customer satisfaction filters down to the local post offices as well. The local post office is also unavailable, unreachable and simply isn't open during regular office hours as per the website or their own hours of operation sign at the office without any notification as to the reason for closure at the offices itself or online.

So without a way of contacting the local post office where supposedly the parcel is held, as their phones only ring without answer, and without any way of querying this at the national customer service line, I feel that this type of pathetic service must not go unnoticed.

I definitely advocate for using private couriers as far as possible and would like to express my extreme disgust in the absolute lack of service for the SA Post Office.