Courier companies Aramex and GoSweetSpot, have admitted to engaging in illegal cartel conduct following separate High Court proceedings brought by the Commerce Commission.
The Commission confirmed both companies reached settlements after admitting to entering into and giving effect to anti-competitive arrangements in New Zealand’s courier market.
Penalty hearings for each will be scheduled shortly.
Aramex admitted to a contractual arrangement that allocated customers and fixed prices between itself and another courier competitor. GoSweetSpot separately admitted to arrangements that allocated customers between itself and another competitor.
The Commission said the conduct occurred within the reseller and carrier business model, where carriers handle the physical delivery of parcels and resellers, or brokers, sell courier services directly to customers. Both can compete for the same clients.
Cartel conduct — including price fixing, allocating customers, and rigging markets — is banned under section 30 of the Commerce Act. Since April 2021, it has carried a potential prison sentence of up to seven years, reflecting the seriousness of offences that drive up prices and limit consumer choice.
The latest development follows a Chris Lynch Media investigation in July last year that exposed ongoing complaints about Aramex Canterbury’s operations, including delayed deliveries, lost parcels, and poor customer service.
Hundreds of emails were received by chrislynchmedia.com from frustrated customers and former employees, revealing systemic issues within the company.
One Christchurch customer said their parcel, which arrived at the city depot on June 6, was marked undeliverable two weeks later despite people being home at the time. “I called customer service numerous times for an urgent re-delivery, but to no avail,” they said. “In all of my interactions, I struggled to understand the Aramex representatives and could not get a proper answer.”
Another customer described losing trust altogether after multiple failed deliveries. “First, they completely lost a parcel that was supposed to be overnight from Invercargill to Christchurch,” they said. “On another occasion, a parcel took three weeks to arrive instead of the promised overnight delivery. The third time, a parcel showed as delivered in their system but was not received, and the driver brought a different parcel.”
The Commerce Commission said it will not comment further while the matter remains before the court.
