# Australia Post



## Julia (22 March 2011)

I'm curious to know what experiences people have had with Australia Post?

Some months ago I filled out a form with Aust. Post directing them to leave any parcels at the front door if I wasn't home, thus eliminating the need to go to the Post Office and stand in a long queue to collect the article.

Yesterday I came home to find a card in the mailbox advising that a parcel was awaiting collection  at X Post Office, a place I do not usually go near.

OK, will just phone them and ask for it to be redelivered, reminding them of standing instruction.

First I go to look up phone number.  There is no individual number for this post office.  Instead
I have to ring the 13 number.  After the usual 'if you want x, press 1" stuff, I was finally placed in a queue where I was forced to listen to much AP advertising.
Although I'm repeatedly told how much they value my call, there is no indication of the potential waiting time.  
(When you phone ANZ, the voice says "the approximate waiting time to answer your call is xxx - and it's usually less than one minute".

So I wait, and wait and wait.  More than 20 minutes.  Finally someone takes the call and I asked to be put through to X post office.  "One moment please".  More long waiting, 6 or 7 minutes, and then ***** I'm cut off!!

So I have to do it all over again.   More of the above.  By the time another operator is available I have been on the damn phone for just under 40 minutes.  Fairly tersely tell her I need a parcel redelivered.

Oh, she says, they won't redeliver it.  They never do that.  You will have to go and collect it.  
No, I say, and explain about the direction which I know they have lodged because other parcels have been left at front door as requested.

She is more robotic than Julia Gillard and just keeps insisting I must collect it because they will not redeliver it.  I am equally determined that they will and lie that I have no transport.  Long silence.

Then she has the brilliant idea of actually contacting the branch to ask if they can help.  Whacko!  I am placed on hold for 8 minutes.   She returns to ask what is the barcode on the form I have.  I give her the numbers.  OK, please hold again.
Another wait.  6 minutes this time.

What is my full name and address (why the **** didn't she ask this along with the barcode if she couldn't remember what I had told her?)  I tell her.  Another 5 minute wait.  At least the time is getting shorter.  She's clearly becoming more efficient.

Finally, she informs me they 'will try to redeliver the parcel'.
OK, fine, thank you very much.

But wait, there's more :   please hold again while I send them a confirming email.

Now a wait of 8 minutes.  She apologises for all the time it is taking and gives me a reference number.

Just unbelievable.  I think I read somewhere recently that Australia Post is not profitable.  I am not surprised.


----------



## Whiskers (22 March 2011)

Yeah, they have caused me some pain at times too.

But I got my mail contractors home and mobile number to talk directly to her and she has been very helpful.


----------



## skc (22 March 2011)

I went to my local post office to get a new passport, and also to have my photos taken there. The man took the photo (a 2x2 print so 4 mugshots) but 2 of those were over-exposed. He told me that I only needed 2 for my passport so that will do, despite the fact that I've paid for 4 photos... 

I told him I needed the other 2 shots for other uses (which I did) and he reluctantly re-take the photos. What I really wanted to tell him however was that he was doing a half-ass job. 

I also find it quite annoying that Australia Post shops are more focused on selling junk than servicing customers. You go line up and they wind you through 15 bins full of crap like overpriced USB drives and 1.5 megapixel digital cameras.

Wasn't there a plan at some stage to float Australia Post in an IPO? That would have been a huge turnaround / efficiency improvement task.


----------



## Sdajii (22 March 2011)

Tehehe, you whinge about a lot of things, Julia 

I get along with Australia Post just fine. I understand the type of organisation they are and don't try to waste my own time by trying to get blood out of a stone. If you try to get more out of any organisation than they are capable of delivering you're going to give yourself a headache.

Also, before I even considered waiting on hold for the best part of an hour while someone else who any intelligent person would realise gives less than an eight of an ant's turd about my satisfaction looks up a phone number for me, I'd take it to Google and have the number myself in a few seconds.

For an apparently smart person you miss some really obvious things and have wisdom below your years in some ways, Julia!

*waits for flames*


----------



## DB008 (22 March 2011)

Some of the Australia Post's are privately run already. Like a franchise.


----------



## Sdajii (22 March 2011)

DB008 said:


> Some of the Australia Post's are privately run already. Like a franchise.




There's one in Kinglake (at the Pheasant Creek convenience store) which was (still is?) run by literally illiterate Asians. They'd match up parcels just by looking at which names looked the same (like someone who didn't speak Chinese matching up the shapes of Chinese characters with no recognition of them). Pretty amusing, and they still got the job done! Personally I don't think that sort of thing should be allowed, but still, it worked.


----------



## Sir Osisofliver (22 March 2011)

I had a letter this year that was posted to me *from within the same suburb* take two weeks to get to me.

Sir O


----------



## AngusSmart (22 March 2011)

Hey mate,

i have often been home all day and had them cards delivered to my house saying a parcel has tried to be delivered and i wasnt here.. ha like hell.. i doubt they even deliver most parcels at all anymore..

i have a note at the front door to leave all parcels from couriers etc..

i often dont have a problem with them and the normal aus post contractor we give him wine for xmas and he will always leave the parcels etc at the house.. 

i just think aus post is cutting back more costs and not delivering parcels at all.. its easier to send a card isnt it?


----------



## prawn_86 (22 March 2011)

AngusSmart said:


> i have often been home all day and had them cards delivered to my house saying a parcel has tried to be delivered and i wasnt here.. ha like hell.. i doubt they even deliver most parcels at all anymore.




Have had that happen often to my in Sydney. Never happened in Adelaide but seems to happen here a lot


----------



## medicowallet (22 March 2011)

Mine is even better.

Even if I am at home, they just by default put a card in the mailbox.

( and I live in a standard residential area)


----------



## tothemax6 (22 March 2011)

Well I don't see many UPS shops around, so for now Its Australia Post or nothing .


----------



## Bill M (22 March 2011)

Julia said:


> Some months ago I filled out a form with Aust. Post directing them to leave any parcels at the front door if I wasn't home, thus eliminating the need to go to the Post Office and stand in a long queue to collect the article.



New staff probably, they have a redirection folder for each sorter to look through before bundling up their runs and sending them out to the green boxes on the street. The staff member either forgot or didn't know about the redirection folder. 


skc said:


> I went to my local post office to get a new passport, and also to have my photos taken there. The man took the photo (a 2x2 print so 4 mugshots) but 2 of those were over-exposed. He told me that I only needed 2 for my passport so that will do, despite the fact that I've paid for 4 photos...
> 
> I told him I needed the other 2 shots for other uses (which I did) and he reluctantly re-take the photos. What I really wanted to tell him however was that he was doing a half-ass job.
> 
> ...



I would have done the same as you. You paid for 4 you should get 4. Unfortunately I had the misfortune of queuing up today too, heaps of junk there for sale but only 2 attendants to look after the long queue of customers. I think they have been lumbered with to much to do these days, like acting as banks. They even had a led light forex board in the branch now and they were into currency exchange.



AngusSmart said:


> Hey mate,
> 
> i have often been home all day and had them cards delivered to my house saying a parcel has tried to be delivered and i wasn't here.. ha like hell.. i doubt they even deliver most parcels at all anymore..
> 
> ...



What happens in this case is the motorbike postie gets the parcel for his run. He knows he has thousands of letters to deliver and it is just too big for him to fit one parcel into his side carriers so he writes out the delivery slip before he leaves the PO. He would have to cut out several hundreds of letters in carriage on his bike in order to carry a parcel. They are usually instructed to do it this way. The bikes can only carry so much.

I get wine deliveries by the case to my home. That is done by the Aus Post Contractor, all the boxes are clearly labled "LEAVE AT FRONT DOOR IF NOT HOME". They have always been left there and I think they do a pretty good job.


----------



## Logique (23 March 2011)

I do sympathize Julia, very annoying.
I live close to my post office, but it still takes ongoing management. 

Buy both your postie and your parcel delivery contractor a bottle of wine, as AngusSmart astutely recommends.


----------



## Junior (23 March 2011)

I *HATE *it how you have to go and pick up your parcels... if you work 9-5 and don't work near where you live it's impossible to get ahold of your parcel without paying the extra $5.50 to have it redelivered to a different branch


----------



## Tightwad (24 March 2011)

I've found you have to be pretty quick to answer and get your parcel, or they're onto the next one.  

I'm not sure how they'd be aware of special circumstances for each address..  if in doubt they don't seem to leave them, in some places theft is an issue.


----------



## awg (24 March 2011)

Hi Julia, 

if u can get the contractors number or meet them in person, then they know what to do after that. ( same guy for years in my case, previous chick got sacked for stealing stuff)

The worry is if you get very expensive items delivered, you dont neccesarily want them left on front door ( like kilos of silver or expensive guitars)

Have found UPS etc to be incredibly efficient


----------



## Sdajii (24 March 2011)

awg said:


> The worry is if you get very expensive items delivered, you dont neccesarily want them left on front door ( like kilos of silver or expensive guitars)





I know what you mean! I hate it when my weekly delivery of 5kg of silver bars gets stolen from my front porch before I get home


----------



## McCoy Pauley (24 March 2011)

DB008 said:


> Some of the Australia Post's are privately run already. Like a franchise.




Australia Post is the biggest franchise operation in Australia.


----------



## Greg (24 March 2011)

I was under the impression that Australia Post were shaping up to offer "banking type" services, and I reckon the banks need all the competition we can get! 
Australia Post also have about the best geographic coverage of bricks and mortar outlets all around Australia, so there's a business case for something where being available to the public counts.
My local Post Office is OK, the people are courteous and quite knowledgeable, but the queue is sometimes a bit long and slow-moving.
No problems with parcels, as I am usually home.


----------



## bellenuit (24 March 2011)

AngusSmart said:


> i have often been home all day and had them cards delivered to my house saying a parcel has tried to be delivered and i wasnt here.. ha like hell.. i doubt they even deliver most parcels at all anymore.




If you believe this to be consistently the case, perhaps you should leave a sticker on your door the next time you are expecting a parcel saying something like: "Post Office Person. If no one answers, please remove this sticker from door". Then if you get the card in your mailbox and the sticker hasn't been removed, you may have some evidence to argue your case that they don't bother delivering. Remember, the sender is paying to have it delivered to your door, so an overburdened postman is no excuse.


----------



## Calliope (24 March 2011)

medicowallet said:


> Mine is even better.
> 
> Even if I am at home, they just by default put a card in the mailbox.
> 
> ( and I live in a standard residential area)




Yes. I was expecting this package and I happened to be looking out when the postman popped this card in my box. I had to chase him down the street to get this small package. 

They should bring back the whistle.


----------



## Smurf1976 (24 March 2011)

bellenuit said:


> Remember, the sender is paying to have it delivered to your door, so an overburdened postman is no excuse.



Indeed. 

What I really don't understand is why registered mail gets sent to one post office about 4km from where I live, whilst parcels end up at another about 2km away. You would think they would at least all go to the same one. On one occasion I ended up going to both in the same day to pick up different items.

My real mail problems aren't with Australia Post however. They are with the snails that keep going inside the letterbox whenever it rains (like today...) and eating the mail. I recently had a 50 page document delivered, and there was a hole eaten straight through all 50 pages. They've also eaten a water bill and, more importantly, a cheque in recent times.

I'm generally not keen on poisoning anything since all the various creatures fit into the ecosystem somehow, but it's time for these snails to go...


----------



## Julia (24 March 2011)

bellenuit said:


> Remember, the sender is paying to have it delivered to your door, so an overburdened postman is no excuse.



Exactly, and this is the point I made to the counter person when I finally succumbed to standing in a damn queue to collect said parcel today, given the non-delivery as promised.

She was most apologetic and while I was there contacted the person in charge of deliveries for the region, reinforced the instruction to leave parcels, and faxed this through to that person.
Her fax included the request for the delivery person to phone me to confirm the standing instruction, location to leave parcel etc.

Her explanation was that there had recently been a change of delivery staff and the new people appear not to have caught up with standing directions.


----------



## quinny (25 March 2011)

Smurf1976 said:


> Indeed.
> My real mail problems aren't with Australia Post however. They are with the snails that keep going inside the letterbox whenever it rains (like today...) and eating the mail. I recently had a 50 page document delivered, and there was a hole eaten straight through all 50 pages. They've also eaten a water bill and, more importantly, a cheque in recent times.
> 
> I'm generally not keen on poisoning anything since all the various creatures fit into the ecosystem somehow, but it's time for these snails to go...




We cover the bottom of our mailbox with salt. That keeps the snails out.

It only stops working when junk mail is sticking out of the letterbox, allowing the snails to bypass the salt.


----------



## bellenuit (29 March 2011)

Australia Post isn't the only delivery company that makes you wonder about service.

I just received a note in my mailbox from TNT regarding a missed delivery. Fair enough, the sender doesn't allow them to leave the parcel when the recipient isn't there. The card asks that I go to their "redelivery" website and chose from the available redelivery options. The choices are to either redeliver to the same address or for me to go to their depot to pick up. 

As I am away from the house many times during the day, I thought picking up from the depot might be a good choice. But where is the depot? It doesn't give that detail on the "redelivery" website nor on their main home page. So I give them a call and the guy I spoke to said that they won't tell me where the depot is until I chose the "pick up from the depot option", in which case they will email me when the parcel is ready for collection and provide the address details in the email. He said this was to prevent people going to the depot before the parcel is available and perhaps having to wait for hours.

However, how can one make the choice to collect from the depot without knowing whether that is going to be a 1 km journey or 50 km journey? I need to know that to see if it is worth the effort to drive there. And surely they could easily avoid the arriving too early issue by just having a note on the website to say not to go to the depot until you receive the e-mail or SMS telling you to do so (or maybe do like Australia Post do and give a general collection time such as after 10am next morning).

After explaining my dilemma regarding not being able to chose the best option if I didn't know where the depot was, he told me the depot suburb but not the street address. As that suburb would have entailed a 30 km round journey, I decided to let them redeliver.

So I am forced to make an unnecessary phone call because they haven't properly thought out their processes and the implications for the customer.


----------



## AngusSmart (29 March 2011)

bellenuit said:


> If you believe this to be consistently the case, perhaps you should leave a sticker on your door the next time you are expecting a parcel saying something like: "Post Office Person. If no one answers, please remove this sticker from door". Then if you get the card in your mailbox and the sticker hasn't been removed, you may have some evidence to argue your case that they don't bother delivering. Remember, the sender is paying to have it delivered to your door, so an overburdened postman is no excuse.





Got a note at the door, the contractor knows what to do.. i do have a fair bit of volume and most fairly large so the normal post bike guy never delivered them..


I'm sure its days when the usual contractor is off, but i am also sure that Aus post just does this anyway..

80% of what i have delivered is usually left at the door.


----------



## Tanaka (29 March 2011)

My experience getting passport renewed was pretty poor. Went to website to find which Post Office could do passports in my area, the website tells you which one to go to but didn’t mention anywhere on their website to make an appointment.

I go into the empty post office with three ladies standing behind the counter talking about the footy results waited in queue while they continued their discussion about the footy, I finally get called up with my paper work and they tell me that I needed to make an appointment. I point out that it shouldn’t take too long if we do it now as no one was in the store, she said they were “busy”.

I felt the urge to strangle the b**ch, if she was a man I may have punched him. But being the nice guy I am I politely asked her to book me an appointment . 

Came back the next day for the appointment, went through all the paper work but I had forgotten 1 document, okay I will bring it back right away I only live 5 minutes away. I come back within 15 minutes and I am told I would need to make another appointment. I explained once again that the shop was empty and that I had just explained my intentions to get the last document. She stands by her statement and I politely ask to speak to the manager, she is the manager. I ask her to put me on the phone to her manager. At this stage she roles her eyes back, huffs and puffs and complies with my request to finish my visa.

I completing understand Julia’s frustration.

But sadly Australia Post is not the worst company in Australia, Jetstar is. But I won’t hijack this thread with that complaint.


----------



## Julia (29 March 2011)

bellenuit said:


> However, how can one make the choice to collect from the depot without knowing whether that is going to be a 1 km journey or 50 km journey? I need to know that to see if it is worth the effort to drive there.



Such a simple and fundamental point.  Just unbelievable that they should not have covered this.






Tanaka said:


> My experience getting passport renewed was pretty poor. Went to website to find which Post Office could do passports in my area, the website tells you which one to go to but didn’t mention anywhere on their website to make an appointment.
> 
> I go into the empty post office with three ladies standing behind the counter talking about the footy results waited in queue while they continued their discussion about the footy, I finally get called up with my paper work and they tell me that I needed to make an appointment. I point out that it shouldn’t take too long if we do it now as no one was in the store, she said they were “busy”.
> 
> ...



Tanaka, I'd encourage you to lodge a complaint about this via the Australia Post website.  If they get enough customers objecting to the sort of utter rubbish you have been subjected to, they might do something about it.

I don't want to go through life complaining about every minor inconvenience, but there are times when the behaviour of usually government departments is so woefully bad, we do need to yell in pain and insist on an explanation.

My complaint has, I am advised, now 'progressed in the queue' so to speak, and been passed on to the Dispute Resolution section who, I am further assured, will be most concerned to discover why their service failed in this instance.

I am not holding my breath for the outcome.


----------



## Tanaka (30 March 2011)

Julia said:


> Tanaka, I'd encourage you to lodge a complaint about this via the Australia Post website.  If they get enough customers objecting to the sort of utter rubbish you have been subjected to, they might do something about it.




I should have lodged a complaint.  Too late now as over a year ago. 

For good karma I have a 3 compliments to every 1 complaint policy, recently I don't complain because I find it too hard to find compliments to keep my policy in check. I complained with 3 different flights with Jetstar and each time I received a $100 voucher for my next flight. The last time they gave me the $100 voucher I sent it back to them with a letter stating how the $100 voucher was worthless as I wasn't going to ever fly with them again. That was 3 months ago and still no response. 

Don't get me wrong we need to complain, I used to be a very active complainer and I mastered the art of complaining. But the process involved with most big companies and government departments is so time consuming that it wears you down and takes away from your life. I believe if we all gave more compliments then we would have happier employees and better service, positive reinforcement 

I heard a story about the late Kerry Packer, it’s probably an urban myth but a good story about customer service and giving compliments.

Kerry and his associates were looking for a place to eat late one night. They went to a cafÃ© and walked in, the manager told them he was closing, one of the associates stepped forward and said but this is Kerry Packer. The manager said ‘no, we are closing’. They then walked to the cafÃ© across the road and asked if they could get a feed. The waiter said we are closing but we’ll make an exception as the group was large. At the end of the night Kerry Packer called the waiter over to the table and said ‘I’m going to give you a tip but you need to promise me you will walk across the road tomorrow morning and tell that cafÃ©’s manager how much’ …Kerry hands over $10,000 to the waiter.

Wouldn't it be nice if we were in a position where we could do that for good customer service.


----------



## sptrawler (27 October 2021)

Australia Post, I wish they would stop patting themselves on the back and try to spend as much time improving their systems.

Today I was told by star track to expect a pretty expensive delivery, I had to leave home at 12.30, but the 40 year old daughter was home.

At 16.00 I checked tracking and* it said delivered at 12.50*, I sms'd the daughter and she said it hadn't been delivered.

So I ring star track at 16.00, they say it has been signed for, but they can't give much info, because it was subbied out to a third party.

So who is responsible for the delivery and what if the delivery can't be found? Is there any comeback?


----------



## Ferret (27 October 2021)

Hope you track it down SP.

I've noticed a lot of deliverers taking a photo of the item and where it has been left.  That would show if it was left at the wrong address.


----------



## sptrawler (27 October 2021)

Ferret said:


> Hope you track it down SP.
> 
> I've noticed a lot of deliverers taking a photo of the item and where it has been left.  That would show if it was left at the wrong address.



Apparently not, if they have sub contracted the last mile.
I have a camera on the driveway and no one came down at the time of said delivery, I have worked out what happened because the delivery finally arrived later in the evening.
I think that the Star track courier, signed it over to the third party courier, then it came up as delivered at 12.50.
When in reality it wasn't, well that's my guess, I'll find out tomorrow when I ring for answers.

The issue still is, if you buy something on the internet and they send it in good faith with Australia Post, but they then on sell the last mile to a third party and when that third party picks it up it is signed off as delivered.

Who do you chase up, if it actually doesn't arrive at your door, the vendor has fulfilled his obligation by sending and having proof of delivery.

The carrier has fulfilled their obligation by having proof of delivery, what obligation if any is on the third party? Also trying to prove your case may be an issue, it probably would end up with the purchaser just banging their heads against a wall IMO.

I bring this up because I had a similar incident with Aliexpress, I purchased an item that wasn't available in Australia for an electric scooter.

The item never arrived and I opened a dispute, the seller posted as evidence a delivery document showing delivered, I highlighted that the delivery document was for an item sent to the Netherlands(postNL) not to Australia.
Alliexpress said they have shown it was delivered suck it up princess.
So I'm just concerned we are heading down the same path, meanwhile everyone is patting themselves on the back, for doing a great job getting us there. 😭
By the way I will give the ACCC a heads up on this, because IMO it is a mine field.
When you contract a courier, it is their responsibility to ensure that tracking, if provided is provided, they can pass on responsibility, but not accountability to a third party.
They took the contract, to deliver the parcel from A to B, not From A to whoever.


----------



## moXJO (28 October 2021)

Delivery of anything is shocking at the moment.


----------



## wayneL (28 October 2021)

Sidebar:

I miss Julia.


----------



## sptrawler (28 October 2021)

wayneL said:


> Sidebar:
> 
> I miss Julia.



Absolutely, she would tear some ar$es on here. 🤣


----------



## sptrawler (28 October 2021)

moXJO said:


> Delivery of anything is shocking at the moment.



Delivery delays I can forgive, pizz poor systems that abdicate them of their responsibility to actually deliver the item, I can't.


----------



## moXJO (28 October 2021)

sptrawler said:


> Delivery delays I can forgive, pizz poor systems that abdicate them of their responsibility to actually deliver the item, I can't.



Responsibility seems to be absent a lot lately.


----------



## sptrawler (28 October 2021)

moXJO said:


> Responsibility seems to be absent a lot lately.



That is so true, Australia has become a place where every problem is not theirs, it is some one else's to solve.


----------



## IFocus (28 October 2021)

moXJO said:


> Delivery of anything is shocking at the moment.





Waited 2 months for PU glue out of NSW  at the same time got 50 lengths 2.2mt x 300mm x 5mm of Paulownia wood out of the Rear Wang Village, Taoyuan Town, Cao County, Heze City, Shandong Province in 7 days, go figure.


----------



## sptrawler (28 October 2021)

IFocus said:


> Waited 2 months for PU glue out of NSW  at the same time got 50 lengths 2.2mt x 300mm x 5mm of Paulownia wood out of the Rear Wang Village, Taoyuan Town, Cao County, Heze City, Shandong Province in 7 days, go figure.



Your not going into the surfboard making business, are you? 👍


----------



## rederob (28 October 2021)

sptrawler said:


> Delivery delays I can forgive, pizz poor systems that abdicate them of their responsibility to actually deliver the item, I can't.



I heard that Dominoes Pizza is taking over StarTrack's contract.  What topping do you want on your next delivery?


----------



## IFocus (29 October 2021)

sptrawler said:


> Your not going into the surfboard making business, are you? 👍





Not at the speed I make them one to two months a board, a proper shaper takes around five to six hours labour total for a standard glass board hand made production line it and its 3 to 4 hours.

Brought 50 lengths of paulownia because that was minimum order size, they wanted to send a pallet load, I just couldn't explain that to the wife


----------



## Ferret (29 October 2021)

IFocus said:


> Not at the speed I make them one to two months a board, a proper shaper takes around five to six hours labour total for a standard glass board hand made production line it and its 3 to 4 hours.




Sorry for going off topic, but why are so many boards still glass fibre?

I see heaps of broken boards around my way.  Why isn't carbon fibre more widely used?  The extra material cost would be a small part of the overall board cost.


----------



## IFocus (29 October 2021)

Ferret said:


> Sorry for going off topic, but why are so many boards still glass fibre?
> 
> I see heaps of broken boards around my way.  Why isn't carbon fibre more widely used?  The extra material cost would be a small part of the overall board cost.




Could write a book or two re surfboard construction.

These days there are a range of different types fibre glasses (E and S etc) , epoxy's, different blank densities (EPS) and other really strong materials for making sandwich constructs around the foam blank as well as carbon fibre.

Then you still have the old standard PU blank (polly urethane) with 4 to 6oz fibre glass and polyester resin which remain popular.

Why do they break?

Mostly due to price, most are made in Asia often China these days for the cheap labour costs, blanks are often softer lightly glassed but they tend to look the part and are cheap.

Weight, flex and feel are also a big reasons the flex patterns change when you use different materials and are not always accepted stronger can mean less or no flex.

Brands like Sunova are very strong but you pay a premium and the shapes may not suit many.

Here in WA locally made boards tend to be stronger due to the waves and usually good quality, a friend still shapes by hand  but his margins are very thin.

Then there is the conspiracy theory (isn't there always one these days)   is that the boards are made to break so you have to buy a new one and I dare say there is an element of truth in that..


----------



## wayneL (29 October 2021)

IFocus said:


> Could write a book or two re surfboard construction.
> 
> These days there are a range of different types fibre glasses (E and S etc) , epoxy's, different blank densities (EPS) and other really strong materials for making sandwich constructs around the foam blank as well as carbon fibre.
> 
> ...



Takes a pretty strong board to survive a big Perth close-out over a sand bar.

I have some scars from that too


----------



## moXJO (29 October 2021)

IFocus said:


> Waited 2 months for PU glue out of NSW  at the same time got 50 lengths 2.2mt x 300mm x 5mm of Paulownia wood out of the Rear Wang Village, Taoyuan Town, Cao County, Heze City, Shandong Province in 7 days, go figure.



It's insane. And I suspect its Australian side.
Who did you order the wood through?


----------



## wayneL (29 October 2021)

moXJO said:


> It's insane. And I suspect its Australian side.
> Who did you order the wood through?



Also, there was a Pawlonia plantation up around Cataby IIRC @IFocus.

Is that still there.... Or whatever happened to that?


----------



## IFocus (29 October 2021)

moXJO said:


> It's insane. And I suspect its Australian side.
> Who did you order the wood through?





Alibaba, website worked really well.


----------



## IFocus (30 October 2021)

wayneL said:


> Also, there was a Pawlonia plantation up around Cataby IIRC @IFocus.
> 
> Is that still there.... Or whatever happened to that?





Yes, no idea what happened to that timber tried to find out if it was milled in WA but didn't get far, there is an Australian producer / supplier on the east coast but had sold out due to the NSW lock down apparently every one rushed out and bought up all the paulownia  for projects to do during the lock down... criminal these lock downs seriously   

So hence buying paulownia from the Rear of Wang Village some where in China, the manager was called Smart Lee... what could possibly go wrong, strangely nothing.

Pic of board below using the Chinese paulownia about 1/2 way done


----------

