Good to know
How letters reach their destination
Four tips on how you can ensure that your consignment reaches the recipient.
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1. Pack correctly
Items – including coins and, in particular, keys – can then reach their destination without a hitch if they are correctly packed: air-cushion packaging is required.
The letters and their contents move very quickly through the sorting plants; in the worst-case scenario, small items can be lost.
The employees of the letter center mail clinics care for damaged envelopes or consignments. In the central lost-and-found center in Chiasso, employees use all their investigative skills to locate the rightful owners of lost items. Some 40 percent of the 8,000 or so keys that arrive in Chiasso are thus successfully returned.
Air cushion envelopes in a range of sizes are available from the branches or at postshop.ch (pre-franked, A Mail, 2 francs per item or unfranked / neutral). It is best to keep a small supply at home!
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2. Registered is better
If you are sending something valuable by letter, it is worth sending the consignment by registered post.
Unlike normal A or B Mail, registered letter mail has a compensation guarantee of up to 500 francs per item in the event of loss or damage.
3. Indicate the sender
Unfortunately, millions of consignments are still sent every year without the sender’s contact details. If a letter cannot be delivered and does not indicate the sender’s contact details, it must be opened in an attempt to locate the sender, because Swiss Post is legally required to return the consignment to the sender. Consequently, by indicating the sender’s address on the front or back of your envelope, you can avoid your consignment being opened. If your consignment should nevertheless be opened, you can rely on postal secrecy, i.e. the discretion of the Swiss Post employees.
4. Check the address
The mail clinics work round the clock to rectify addresses. Avoid paying postage for a consignment returned to you due to an incorrect address by checking it before you post your letter. You don’t know if an address is up-to-date? With an individual address query in the “Address maintenance online” service, the new valid address can usually be found based on the previous one.
Copyright: Daniel Desborough