Complaints about last-mile courier iMile are mounting across Australian consumer review platforms, with frustrated customers describing an automated customer service system that appears to offer little practical way of escalating problems to a human operator.

The criticism goes beyond slow responses.

Some customers say iMile’s chatbot creates the impression that support requests are being escalated or handled by customer service staff, only for subsequent responses to remain generic and automated.

That raises a more serious question about transparency when a customer believes they are dealing with a person but may still be interacting with software.

Tech Business News has encountered the issue directly, with iMile’s support system indicating that contact with a real person was being arranged despite the conversation continuing in a manner consistent with automated responses.

The experience appears far from isolated.

Customers Say They Cannot Reach Human Support

A review of complaints posted by Australian and international customers reveals a recurring pattern involving chatbots, automated emails and an inability to speak directly with staff.

One Australian Trustpilot reviewer said they had three packages worth more than $500 stuck with iMile and repeatedly received automatic responses saying a ticket had been raised.

“I just want my $500+ items and I cannot seem to speak to anyone,” the customer wrote.

Another reviewer described the company’s phone number as effectively leading back to a chatbot, saying it was “impossible to speak to a human person”. The same reviewer said the company’s chat service did not resolve the issue and emails went unanswered.

An Australian reviewer who experienced an undelivered parcel said iMile provided only an automated response when they sought an explanation.

The customer said their parcel had been marked as out for delivery throughout the day but never arrived, after which attempts to contact the company resulted in a bot rather than meaningful customer support.

Another customer said they called, emailed and used iMile’s website assistant in an effort to change a delivery address, but each channel either redirected them elsewhere or returned automated information.

“And in all of this there was no human in sight,” the reviewer wrote.

Thousands Of Poor Reviews

The scale of dissatisfaction is significant.

As of October 6, iMile’s Trustpilot profile had more than 7,100 reviews and a TrustScore of around 1.3 out of five.

Approximately 92 per cent of reviewers had given the company one star, according to the platform.

Australian consumer site ProductReview.com.au tells a similar story.

iMile has a rating of approximately 1.3 stars from more than 1,100 reviews according to productreview.com.au, with around 95 per cent of feedback classified as negative.

The site’s summary identifies communication problems and unhelpful automated responses as recurring themes.

Those reviews also contain allegations of parcels being delivered to the wrong address, delivery attempts being recorded when customers say nobody arrived, parcels being left in unsafe locations and support staff failing to provide usable information.

One Australian Capital Territory customer alleged iMile repeatedly promised that pickup arrangements would be made but failed to provide the promised details.

“They lie about literally everything,” the reviewer wrote, alleging fake delivery attempts and ineffective communication.

Such comments remain individual customer allegations and do not independently establish wrongdoing by the company.

Melbourne Customers Among Those Complaining

Complaints from Victorian customers are also appearing regularly.

One Melbourne reviewer said three deliveries had been taken to the wrong address within a month, despite the packages being correctly addressed.

The customer said they had notified iMile on each occasion but continued experiencing the same problem.

Another Victorian customer told ProductReview that a driver threw a package containing expensive computer components several metres towards the front door.

The reviewer said attempts to complain resulted in communications that appeared to be templated and failed to address the specific questions being raised.

Other Australian customers have complained about supposed attempted deliveries while they were at home.

One Trustpilot reviewer said the company claimed it had attempted to deliver a parcel despite the customer specifically remaining home waiting for it.

Another Australian customer said support staff appeared unable to communicate with warehouses or delivery drivers, describing the service as providing the appearance of customer support without the ability to actually resolve problems.

iMile Does List Australian Contact Details

Despite complaints about customers struggling to reach staff, iMile operates through an Australian registered company.

Its Australian legal notice identifies iMile Delivery & Logistic Pty Ltd, with a registered office in South Granville, New South Wales.

The company lists an Australian customer service telephone number and email address on its website.

Australian Business Register records show iMile Delivery & Logistic Pty Ltd has been active since January 2023 and is registered for GST.

The problem being reported by customers therefore appears less about an absence of published contact channels and more about whether those channels provide effective access to people capable of resolving delivery disputes.

Support Systems Need To Be Clear About Whether A Human Is Involved

Automated customer service itself is commonplace and can resolve basic tracking and account enquiries quickly.

Problems emerge when users cannot determine whether they are interacting with a machine or a person.

If a chatbot tells a customer that they are being connected with a real representative, consumers reasonably expect the next interaction to involve a human.

A system that continues providing automated answers while presenting itself as human-assisted risks leaving customers with a false understanding of who, or what, is handling their complaint.

That becomes particularly important when the issue involves lost goods, disputed proof of delivery, damaged property or parcels worth hundreds of dollars.

In those cases, customers generally need more than a tracking lookup. They need someone capable of investigating the driver’s actions, contacting a depot or making a decision.

Complaints Extend Beyond The Chatbot

Customer service is only one part of the criticism surrounding iMile.

Recent Australian reviews include allegations of false delivery attempts, parcels being left exposed to weather, incorrect delivery locations and packages being returned to depots despite tracking systems indicating they were scheduled for delivery.

ProductReview users have separately alleged parcels were placed at incorrect properties and, in one instance, that a customer had to locate parcels themselves after receiving delivery photographs showing the wrong location.

Again, these reports represent individual customer accounts rather than independently verified findings against iMile.

There is currently no evidence in the sources reviewed by Tech Business News of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission enforcement action concerning iMile’s chatbot or customer support practices.

The Bigger Problem Is Accountability

The volume of complaints suggests iMile has a broader customer service problem to address. However, customers can accept that deliveries occasionally go wrong.

What they are less likely to tolerate is being unable to reach anyone capable of explaining what happened.

For a logistics company increasingly handling parcels from major international shopping platforms, automated support may reduce operating costs, but it cannot replace escalation when a delivery genuinely requires investigation.

If iMile’s system represents that a customer has been transferred to a real person, the company should also make it unmistakably clear when that transfer has actually occurred.

Anything less risks further damaging trust in a delivery network already attracting thousands of highly critical customer reviews.

Tech Business News has sought comment from iMile regarding its use of automated customer service, the circumstances in which customers are transferred to human representatives, and complaints that users are unable to reach staff capable of resolving delivery problems.

Requests for comment from Imile.com were rejected. Instead, the response was a request to complete customer survey form.