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22.11.2019
Getting ready for the turn of the year, which is marked by a multi-fold increase in the volume of postal items throughout the world, Latvijas Pasts encourages customers to send season’s greetings and presents in a timely manner, so that they can reach the addressees before the holidays. When planning the sending of items, account should be taken of the delivery time, the most suitable item and packaging type should be chosen, the compliance of the item contents should be verified, an accurate and correct address should be indicated and the item must be paid for using stamps of appropriate value. The last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
November and December are traditionally the time when the volume of postal items and the workload of postal establishments throughout the world increase several times. Therefore, getting ready for the busiest end-of-the-year period, Latvijas Pasts reminds customers of a number of essential conditions to consider when planning the sending of greetings and presents.
When planning the desired time for the delivery of items, one should take into account the distance to the addressee’s country: the farther the destination, the longer the item is likely to travel, especially if there is no direct air traffic between the countries and the item moves in transit from one country to another. It should be taken into consideration that even in Europe items may require a longer time to get transported: if the postal operator of the country of dispatch does not choose to use direct air traffic for the delivery of an item, but routes the item from one country to another in the way most efficient to it, including through cargo transportation by road, the item in transit may get delayed for up to two weeks.
When choosing the most suitable sending method, account should be taken of the differences that may affect the speed of delivery and the advantages it can offer. In case of ordinary postal items, it is not possible to find out the delivery date and track their route, while the delivery status of a registered – signed for or insured – postal item can be tracked in many countries throughout the transhipment process, but if it is lost or damaged, the customer is eligible for relevant compensation by contacting the postal establishment of the country of dispatch.
Registered items are assigned a unique 13-character identifier in the global postal system, consisting of two letters at the beginning and at the end and digits in the middle, for example, AB123456789CD. Such an item can be tracked either through the item tracking system of Latvijas Pasts or through the relevant country’s item tracking system. The customer can follow the route of domestic postal items from the sender to the addressee, while cross-border postal items can be tracked depending on the service provided by the country of destination.
To ensure fast and convenient delivery of items, it is preferable to choose Eksprespasts items (express mail) which have specific delivery times, can be tracked in all countries to which they are accepted and can also be used for sending cumbersome goods.
In order for an item to reach the addressee successfully, the accurate address must be specified on it: make sure that the street name, house or apartment number as well as the postal code are written correctly. If an incorrect postal code is specified on an item, the item will reach the addressee sooner or later, but it will travel longer as items are primarily sorted based on the postal code specified. Also, in order to receive a mobile text message invitation for the receipt of an item in the post office, make sure that the accurate mobile phone number is also indicated in the addressee’s field when placing orders in local and international online shopping systems – otherwise the invitation will be delivered to the addressee’s letter-box in the traditional paper format.
It is important for the sender to make sure that the stamps of a suitable face value are affixed to the item: if the item is prepared for sending in the post office, the needed value will be accurately determined by the postal employees, but if the sender affixes the stamps himself or herself, it is recommended to double-check the information in the pricelist, which can be found on the website of Latvijas Pasts, or use the available tariff calculator, which is a handy tool for calculating the cost of sending an item.
An essential point is that postal items are mostly carried by passenger airplanes, so air carriers impose various prohibitions on air mail for security reasons: you may not send a range of household items such as perfumes, batteries and lighters. Each country may also have established additional prohibitions on the sending of certain goods as postal items: before preparing a cross-border item for shipping, check whether the selected item is allowed to be imported into the country concerned. This information is available in the Manual for Acceptance of International Postal Items published on the website of Latvijas Pasts.
It is also important to remember that it is prohibited to place money, securities, precious metals, jewels and jewellery in letter-post items: if prohibited goods and items, including money, are detected, they may be confiscated by competent authorities on any section of the item shipping route.
Latvijas Pasts would like to remind you that the last day for delivery of items before Christmas this year is the 23rd of December and for delivery before the turn of the year – the 30th of December.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with over 3,500 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Vineta Danielsone | Senior Public Relations Project Manager
Phone: +371 67608504
E-mai: pr@pasts.lv, vineta.danielsone@pasts.lv
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