BillBullock

To our surprise this year, our local Post Office / Sorting Office in Olhão has informed us that our square envelopes containing square Christmas cards will cost a lot more to send to the UK and the rest of Europe. A standard letter or card to UK and Europe, weighing up to 20 g, costs 80 cents so long as it is rectangular with a maximum size 23.5 cm X 16.2 cm and a minimum size of 14 cm X 9 cm. Our square cards 13 cm X 13 cm would have cost €1.40 because they are square. Has anyone else come across this new problem?

Last year we sent similar cards for 80 cents. Needless to say, we did not post our Christmas cards and I have spent the morning making them "unsquare" by putting the cards in envelopes 23 cm X 16 cm.

mfesharne

So you went to all the trouble of buying different sized envelopes & readdressing them followed by a return visit to the post office just to save 60c (per card) minus the cost of the envelope & time?

Please don't think I'm being rude but damn. I'm going to be chuckling about that all day! lol!

BillBullock

mfesharne _ Did I say that we had completed all 70 of our Christmas cards for Europe? No, only the one we take to the Post Office for weighing and pricing, before buying all the stamps. So all that was necessary to save €42 was to peel the label off the square envelope and stick it on an A5 envelope. Fortunately, I had rescued a load of white A5 envelopes that a friend was throwing out and so there was no further cost involved.

The point of my post was to ask if anyone else had come across this problem or is the Olhão Post Office unique in the way they have applied the regulations which I have since found on the internet.

mfesharne

I'm surprised people still send cards by snail mail but there you go............................ & I can still see a really funny side to it.

If it's any consolation, I think you'll find the price by size & weight is pretty standard in most countries though.

Red Eric

I think the point is that it's the shape, as opposed to the size, that's the problem.

Yes Bill, I was told yesterday that I was being charged more on the same grounds. Fortunately I've only got a handful of people who want to know me any more though

ouriquejan

Oh dear, I just bunged mine in the post box

Saz1

Our square ones also cost 1.40. The lady in the Tavira Porta Nova post office told us beforehand that it would cost more and I had heard this was the case from a friend. I have also heard that it costs more to send coloured envelopes as the addresses are harder to read. I sent my husband off yesterday with some red square envelopes to send but he forgot to check how much they were and didn't keep the receipt. He had parcels to send as well, so its not a bad memory thing. (much). With regards to sending cards themselves, I think its a lovely way to keeping in touch with friends and more individual than sending a generic e card. Also, we always try to send charity cards, although it seems they are hard to get over here.

GeniB

I read a letter sent to the local paper the other week about coloured envelopes costing more ,plus none regulation size costing more One woman's post office had a template marked on a piece of A4 paper so that she could measure against it. The letter writers card was a smidgeon over the size, so she got charged the 1.40 instead of the 80 cents.
It will be all academic soon as the powers that be are closing Post Offices all over Portugal. We will be attending a protest next week. We already find it a pain to receive parcels here. They seem to take exception to delivering to your home , The official address is just a letter box, and the post office won't take courier parcels No wonder they are closing
down.
I won't trawl back to the original post on couriers ,but would just like to say we have found a pretty good compromise in the shape of Direct Transport in Porches. They charged me peanuts ( in relation to Algarve Removals) to bring a couple of parcels over from the UK using the same system. They even deliver to a drop off point in Lagos if we wished. Its something

BillBullock

I have also found Direct Transport to be useful and reasonably priced over the years. Large items on a pallet are delivered to your door and they use a drop-off point near or in Moncarapacho for smaller items.

BillBullock

"I'm surprised people still send cards by snail mail but there you go............................ & I can still see a really funny side to it. "
Amazingly we still have a lot of old friends in their 80s who do not have computers or are not fans of electronic mail. They appreciate a Christmas card with a little bit of news inside. On the UK national news the other day there was a statement that Christmas card sales were up this year and more younger people were buying them than last year. We will continue to send personal Christmas greetings both ways despite your comments.

mfesharne

Well bully for you but I have to say I find your surprise at being charged more for larger absolutely staggering.

Always remember. There's no such thing as a free lunch & perhaps you should perhaps consider other 21st century options such as a quick skypeout call if they mean so much to you.

but hey, live like you wanna live. lol!

Jonny22

BillBullock

Mfesharne,
Do you always look for an argument on this forum? That's how it appears to me.
What makes you think that my square cards were larger? I can assure you that they were no larger than a standard business letter.
Don't lecture me and assume that you know more about modern technology than others.

mfesharne

Get over yourself.......... I think you'll find most countries have a sliding scale of charges dependent on size & weight etc and as each limit is exceeded then the price goes up................. and Skype is hardly "modern technology" - Google tells me it was launched in 2003.

Lorna at Vicenza

The Italian Post Office hates square cards as well and would prefer not to have to deal with them.