Post office update

Recently, I had an issue with the French post office which accepted a tube-shaped package to be sent to England, but after I paid for it, they sent it back to me as a rejected item and expected me to pay for it again, chocked up so it couldn’t roll. I took the item back to the UK the following week and reposted it without a problem, but it’s sparked a bizarre chain of events. At the same time, I posted a present to my mum from the UK post office, saving me room in my suitcase for my favourite British goodies that I can’t get in France. Ten days later, it turned up in my letterbox in France: Royal Mail has sent it to the clearly marked “Sender” address instead of the one on the front of the package (also clearly marked), next to their big stamp. I’ve now filled out the form and hoping for a reimbursement.

Meanwhile, the French post office has warmed my heart after last month’s frustration: the man who accepted the tube-shaped parcel was working when I took in more parcels with my mum’s. After joking that Royal Mail are worse than La Poste, he made a point of saying he’d found nothing in his regulations book against sending tube packages overseas, then insisted on paying for one of my small packages by way of apology for the first mess-up. How kind is that? Now I regret all that stress and anger that I released in my other blog entry, although from the reactions of my friends, it’s clear that I’ve been one of the lucky ones.

About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

3 Comments on “Post office update

  1. Interesting to know what other ex-pats feel about the comparisons between Royal Mail and La Poste on efficiency. We certainly hear a lot of people saying that French postage charges are eye-watering in comparison to the UK.

  2. LWEurope, I wouldn’t say the charges are *that* different for certain objects (and can sometimes be cheaper), but there seems to be huge differences for others. Very odd.

    Sufuinjapan, it was a lovely experience, and the kind man now has some gingerbread to hang on his family tree. 🙂