Postal
Service
EDITOR,
Despite the fact that many people have written several times about the problems
with the postal service, it seems that the problems are getting worse.
For
example, I notice that sometimes no mail is delivered for weeks. Then suddenly
I find a lot of letters, which were sent on different dates. A week ago, there
were 7 letters from the tax authorities from the Netherlands in my mailbox.
When I opened these the 1st letter was sent on 22 September, 2021 and the last
letter on 3 October, 2021.
Same
story last year. Letters sent on 16 and 23 September, 2020 by the Tax
Authorities from the Netherlands, I received on 3 December, 2020. In the
Netherlands you have 6 weeks to submit a notice of objection, if an assessment
is incorrect. The late postal delivery means that there is no longer any right
to respond, as the time has expired. I also received a default fine of
€369, plus the interest of €56, from the same tax authorities, all
because I was unable to respond in time. Much effort has already been made to
undo this fine, but usually the tax authorities in the Netherlands, just like
in Portugal, are unrelenting.
Because the CCT is not up to its task, this costs me a lot of annoyance
and money. In the past I have also submitted a complaint via the complaints
book. This was a Christmas package, I will spare the readers the misery this
has entailed. After this bad experience, I asked my family and friends never to
send a Christmas package again. The response I got to my letter of complaint was
predictable. Sickness, holiday etc but the CCT would do their best to improve
the service. Unfortunately I didn’t notice any of this. For example, a package
was sent on 23 September, but I have not yet received it. This package contains
phytotherapeutic medicines for a friend who recently had serious surgery. These
drugs are desperately needed, but I suspect that this package, like so many
others, will not be delivered. These medicines represented a value of more than
€100.
This
negligence also means that in recent years I have never even received a
congratulatory card on my birthday. The 1st this year, arrived a month late. Of
the 11 cards sent, I only received 5, the rest went wrong. The same goes for
the Christmas cards, the last one I received was on 31 March, 2021. This was
posted on 8 December, 2020. Every now and then I get a Christmas card via
someone else, because it was delivered to them. I myself find 2 or 3
letters every month that are intended for someone else. My name is clearly
stated on my letterbox. The letters that end up in my mailbox incorrectly, all
have a correct address. I then deliver various letters to the people for whom
the letter is intended. If I cannot find the address, I will return it to the
Post Office in São Brás. But often I find these letters in my mailbox again
after some time.
It is
incomprehensible to me that this organisation, CCT does not realise how
important it is if people simply get their mail delivered on time? Even worse
is the fact that a lot of packages just disappear. After this umpteenth bad
experience, I absolutely no longer dare to send a package from abroad to
Portugal. The risk is simply too great!
Yvonne Koster, by email
Postal
Service 2
EDITOR,
Does anyone know why my letter was treated like this? We are here on holiday
and an important letter sent to our UK address was popped in another envelope
and sent to us here in Portugal, tracked/signed for, by our neighbour.
After a
3 day delay in the UK thanks to a strike it was finally on it’s way. After
another 6 days it was being held by Portuguese customs! A letter weighing about
5 grams not a parcel. I had to seek help to try and resolve the issue. After 40
minutes it was established that we had to pay €6.38 at an ATM to release the
letter. The letter was delivered today, 12 days after it was posted. Is this
another Brexit benefit or is it a new way for Portugal to extract money from
visitors?
Ian Jones, by email
To the people who wrote to the Editor- my apologies in advance, what I will say next isn´t AT ALL a mockery of your misery and annoyance so well described in the letters. That said, I laughed like a maniac; it´s kind of cathartic to read this sort of thing in English, in Portugal, because Portuguese have endured the surreal in services (generally, not just mail) for decades.
By guida from Lisbon on 23 Oct 2022, 09:19
Postal services : Following Brexit, Royal Mail required that all letters and parcels entering Britain from the EU should include externally a customs declaration of content and value. In Portugal, this document can be obtained through the internet or the post office from which the object is sent. Conversely, letters and packets sent from Britain to EU destinations must include a similar declaration. Where the contents are of a value below £150, the declaration can be made under the IOSS (import one-stop shop) scheme which will prclude the payment of IVA on arrival because this has already been paid by the sender.
The reading , either by man or machine, of every item has placed an immense strain on the resources of both CTT and RM but delivery times in both directions have been cut to around ten working days provided that the new regulations are observed. For content with value in excess of £150, the customs clearance procedure must be followed and, if not effected by a nominated despechante, can take as long as eight weeks.
By Cavaleiro R. from Other on 23 Oct 2022, 10:51