Nicole Howell's border collie-retriever Goose left her flatmate Steffan Eagle's passport and UK work visa unusable after a courier incorrectly left the package containing both on their front doorstep. Photos / Warren Buckland and Steffan Eagle
Nicole Howell's border collie-retriever Goose left her flatmate Steffan Eagle's passport and UK work visa unusable after a courier incorrectly left the package containing both on their front doorstep. Photos / Warren Buckland and Steffan Eagle
- NZ Post has apologised to a former Napier man after an incorrectly-delivered package containing his passport and UK work visa was destroyed by his flatmate’s dog.
- Steffan Eagle made sure the package required his signature to collect, but he was surprised to find it left on his frontdoorstep.
- NZ Post had earlier refused to accept liability and had suggested the dog’s owner was at fault.
It’s one thing when the dog eats your homework.
It’s a whole new world of trouble when she eats your passport and work visa three weeks before your flight to the United Kingdom.
Self-employed tattoo artist Steffan Eagle had sent his passport to Auckland to apply for a UK work visa and was due to receive both back in a signature-required NZ Post delivery to his Onekawa flat.
The courier arrived about 7am on the delivery date in early April, and the parcel was left at the front doorstep behind the fence - no signature required.
Eagle found the package outside about 20 minutes later, but his flatmate’s border collie-retriever Goose beat him to it.
“I saw the package opened. I thought ‘Oh, strange’, looked at it and my passport was in the dog’s mouth,” he said.
“They could have left the parcel in the mailbox which was behind a gate, away from the dog or, it was a signed delivery so they could have just left a ‘sorry we missed you’ note.”
NZ Post apologised to Steffan Eagle for the incorrectly delivered package after Hawke's Bay Today made enquiries. Photo / Steffan Eagle
His passport and work visa were wrecked.
“I was flying out three weeks from the date I received my passport - that was destroyed, so it was quite stressful.”
Eagle was lucky to quickly get help from the company he was applying for a visa through, VFS Global, which covered the cost of the visa replacement, but he still had to pay $430 for an urgent adult NZ passport replacement.
He sought compensation from the NZ Post customer claims team, which had initially declined to accept liability, after an investigation.
“Under the Council Bylaws governed by the Dog Control Act 1996, it states that when a dog is on land or premises occupied by its owner, they need to ensure that there is free access to at least one door on your property.
“The dog must not be able to stop anyone from approaching that door. If the requirement is not met, the dog could be seized,” an NZ Post response to Eagle on April 9 stated.
Goose’s owners Nicole Howell and her partner Tim were overseas on their honeymoon when they heard about what happened.
Howell said she didn’t understand the reasoning of the initial response from NZ Post which appeared to place blame on the dog owner.
She said the courier told them they had seen Goose - who was out in the yard at the time - had come through the fence and had placed the package on the doorstep rather than their mailbox. This was done as someone was usually home first thing in the morning to pick it up.
“The postie is our regular postie, so he comes in and drops stuff off all the time, so Goose knows him. She doesn’t get rarked up by him at all,” Howell said.
Steffan Eagle's passport after his flatmate's dog damaged it. The NZ Post courier left the 'signature required' package on the ground at the front door. Photos / Steffan Eagle
After Hawke’s Bay Today made an inquiry, nearly two months after NZ Post received Eagle’s initial request, NZ Post reached out to him to apologise and offer compensation.
GM Customer Service and Continuous Improvement Liza Gunn said a thorough investigation by one of their claims managers found two labels appeared to be incorrectly attached to the delivered item.
“The non-signature ticket was scanned by our courier meaning the package was left at the address under correct circumstances for a non-signature ticket,” Gunn said.
“After looking into the matter further, we can see the customer originally paid for a signature ticket so the package should have not been left at the address.”
She said NZ Post had contacted Eagle to apologise directly and compensate him.
“We sincerely apologise to the customer for their experience.”
Eagle was thrilled with the outcome, but still concerned that others might have similar issues with NZ Post, and hadn’t spoken out about them.
“At the end of the day, I do see the funny side in it. It is almost like the dog ate your homework, like ‘Yeah right’.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
