Ajust Action Report
Data and stories of consumers fighting the system – and winning.
21 September 2026
Tom Kaldor

Australia Post’s phantom delivery attempts and the airline fee you can get back

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NumbersStoryCheat code(A)just for funWins club
Power in numbers

What people did on Ajust this week

985
people took action
298
case plans we prepared
$123,234
at stake in those plans
2498
Biggest win
Kevin’s refund from Bike Scooter City for an e-scooter order he cancelled before it shipped. Three weeks after cancelling nothing had arrived. The refund landed the same afternoon Ajust took action. His review: “In a word ‘fast.’”

Spike alert

  • Australia Post – 3% of all Ajust complaints this week. Parcels sent the wrong way, and delivery attempts the people at home say never happened.
  • Showpo – 2.7% vs 0.8%. Dresses that won’t arrive in time for the event.

Under control

  • No significant movers this week.
Story of the week

The delivery that never knocked

Nine Australia Post complaints landed on Ajust this week, close to four times the brand’s usual share. That put Australia Post at 3% of everything we saw.

It is the second Australia Post spike in five weeks, after a run of missing parcels in late August.

This time the pattern is different: parcels going the wrong way, and delivery attempts that, according to the people at home, never happened.

Where it breaks down:

1. No one at home?

One customer was marked “no one at home” while he was home, and his doorbell camera never went off.

Another says the same driver keeps faking the proof: “He repeatedly pretends to take a photo of our intercom as proof of attempting delivery”.

2. The parcel that goes everywhere except to you.

A parcel posted from Tasmania to far north Queensland took the scenic route: “It got to Brisbane the sent back to Melb. Then Brisbane again and then sent to po 1200 kms away.”

An Express Post item bound for NSW went to Western Australia. Another customer asked to redirect a parcel away from an old PO box and was told it couldn’t be done.

3. Paying for a label that never prints.

One customer was charged three times trying to return an item: “I have been charged 3 times for postage @ 15.70 ea = $47.10 and still cannot get a return label to print.”

One parcel was dropped over a fence and run over. It contained prescription medication for the customer’s dog, and the customer may need proof it was destroyed to get a replacement script.

Most of the nine cases were still unresolved at week’s end. Two customers say it’s happened to them more than once.

What you can do:

  • Keep the evidence. A doorbell clip, intercom recording or tracking screenshot beats “I was home” every time.
  • Complain to Australia Post first and get a case number. The Postal Industry Ombudsman is free, but it can only look at a complaint after Australia Post has had a chance to resolve it.
  • If a parcel is lost, start with the seller. Compensation usually goes to the sender; if it arrives damaged, the receiver can claim. And if the form or chatbot gets you nowhere, Ajust’s agent can lodge the complaint and chase it for you.
Consumer cheat code

The fee for a flight that never flew

Ashley paid Emirates a $1,840 cancellation fee to drop one leg of a trip.

Then, in his words: “the week after I asked for a refund, they cancelled the flight”.

Most people would assume the fee was gone at that point. But if the airline cancels the flight itself, ask for the fee back too.

The move: write to the airline, cite its conditions of carriage, and say this:

“You charged me a fee to cancel, then cancelled the flight yourselves. I’d like the fee refunded in full.”
In writing to the airline, once it has cancelled the flight itself

The payoff: Ajust drafted three escalating emails for Ashley and coached him through a bank chargeback. On 17 September Emirates offered a full refund. It had landed by 26 September.

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(A)just for fun

A slice of the action

B ordered a fig and walnut pie online, advertised as 52 slices. “4 miserable dry tiny slices” turned up. The online store bounced her complaint between two email addresses and a web form, then offered a replacement instead of her money. Her bank was less sentimental and put the $70 back on her card.

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Wins club

People who won this week

High five illustration
  • Karen’s $294 refund from Spotlight for a rug that did not match its description, after Ajust took it to NSW Fair Trading. Her review: “It took 6 long weeks”.
  • Tyler’s $300.09 back from ING after a PayID payment landed in a dormant account.
  • Belinda’s $149 refund agreed by Binge for a charge that arrived a year after she cancelled.
  • T’s $108 back from CommBank for two charges after a cancellation, once Ajust’s formal complaint reversed the bank’s first knock-back.
  • Lynne’s $129 Dick Smith FIRST membership renewal refunded and cancelled.
  • Kelly’s $129 Kogan First membership refunded after a formal complaint.
  • Dana’s MacBook, left on a Qantas flight to Tokyo, found after a direct call to Qantas.
  • Lee’s five-star review: “Ajust took care of absolutely everything. They kept in contact with me in relation to progress and we got the result we were looking for.”
  • Mark’s five-star review: “Ajust was back before dinner with a result and my monies returned.”

Make next week's Wins Club

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