spainrico

I returned home yesterday to find an 'Aviso de Llegada' one of the Correos's yellow and white papers telling you there is something to collect from the Post Office.

I knew it was an official letter for my wife, who is not currently in Spain, but I thought I would try and collect it as I knew had I been in the postman would have handed it to me.

So armed with my passport and our joint Padron I went to the PO and explained my wife was away and I wanted to collect her letter - producing my passport and joint padron.

But the lady said she could not hand it over. But had I been in, I said, the postman would have given it to me.

Ah, she explained, "Protocolo differente" yes he could have given it to you in your house but I can't give it to you in this office.

She did proffer a 'Lo siento' and I told her I understood the situation. The system is the system. Frustrating but good to know how much care is taken of the post!

amideislas

Sounds familiar. Just didn't want to be bothered. Go again tomorrow, get a different person, and they'll probably hand it over.

MaryJones

A friend of mine has a dog who is very precious to him. All his friends understand that the dog is more than a family member and occasionally they like to send presents to the dog. It has been extremely difficult to explain to the post office that 'Alfie Jones' cannot collect his own post. Friends have been advised to send any presents to the human and they will pass it on to 'Alfie'

spainrico

Yes I would love to know what goes through the heads of the Correos staff with that one!

Countryboy1

Tricky position IMO for any 'official' in these circumstances. There could be instances where private correspondence for one spouse should not be handed over to the other. I'm not suggesting this is the situation in this case, but if for example, one party was divorcing the other, then clearly private legal correspondence for one party should not be disclosed to the other.
Annoying and frustrating but I can see why it might be the correct thing to do.

jackytoo

I thought there was a section on the form to fill in if collecting for someone else

spainrico

Yes I think you are right but that has to be filled in and signed by the intended recipient.

EsuriJohn

I think you can ask at the post office to re-deliver say your wife will be home tomorrow and then when the postie arrives you can take it in the normal way.

lynnxa

that's a good idea

actually my daughter went to the correos last week to collect a couple of things - one addressed to me & one to her sister

I suggested she take all our passports with her, but she only took her own

I was surprised that they handed both packages over with no problem whatsoever.....

spainrico

I think the rules vary depending on whether it has to be signed for or not. When I collected 'official' company mail I had to show the escritura of the company.

The Correos moves in mysterious ways.

jimenato

Chico, our postman, called to me from across the street. "Simon, there is a package for you at the correos - I think it is for your dog".

Sure enough, mother in law had sent a package to "Fraggle ..."

I should put that one in the Customer Service thread.

MaryJones

There is asection on the back of the form where you can authorise someone else to collect your mail. But, you have to sign the form and give your NIE. Dogs cant do either! ha ha

But I was in the post office the other day and there was a woman who was trying to collect a 'signed for' letter for her husband. He was away and wasnt going to be back in time to collect it himself before the 15 days deadline. He obviously couldnt sign the yellow form either. She suggested that he could fax the post office to advise them of authorisation but they wouldnt do that either. I can understand why the post office wouldnt hand it over but frustrating all the same for her

rspltd

They are only looking for a signature - I suspect they couldn't care less whose it is. Don't forget it's jobsworth compliance - there's no security involved. Just stick a squiggle on the form and they'll accept it. Alternatively if there's an 'r' in the month they might accept it anyway.

Pocaloca

Your cynicism is horrible. The rules are there for a purpose - would you want them to hand over your official mail to your estranged wife, for example? If they know you both, they might be more flexible, but personally I'd rather they stuck to the rules even if it means some inconvenience.

TheBuzz

A friend of mine, who lived over here in Spain at the time, went away for a weekend in a hotel and had to hand over his passport when booking in, when he left the hotel he forgot to collect his passport so phoned them when he returned and asked them to post it to him which they did, but he wasnt it when they came to deliver so he had to go to the Post Office to collect it .....

Get out of that one then ... you need your passport to collect the parcel which actually contains your passport ... ??? He ended up grabbing the parcel off the clerk and ripping it open in front of him to prove it ...