Buncase 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Report Share Posted February 3, 2009 Am I impatient or is the Turkish postal service very very slow if it works at all??? Five weeks for a book to travel Uk to AdanaWelcome Home card UK to Adana posted mid-August never received (it is now Feb...)!!! So far, t-shirt has taken 3-4 wks - will it arrive or will it fall into the 'black hole' with the Welcome Card?! Valentine's Card posted one week ago ..... anyone want to take bets as to whether it will ever get to my hubby - OK, so I was late posting it and only gave myself 3wks for delivery!!! Hubby posted 2 certificates to me 3wks ago ..... bets on when or if I will get them??? Maybe I am holding my mouth wrong when I write the addresses???? Any tips please ....... thankfully I am 'posting' this on the computer ... LOL ..... BWCAB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Grubb 1,357 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I don't use them any more, I had packages come from the US and it took months. I waited and waited for the notification to pick up the packages, which never came, so I went to the post office and the clerk said "where have you been???" They had sent them back! So I had to have them shipped all over again, paying postage both ways. The post boxes in the apartment complexes I've been in are sometimes unable to be locked, or the mail man leaves it on a table, or even on the steps. So I don't know what ever happened to the notification slip they were supposed to send. In the future if I have anything important to mail, I'll go with a private courier service. That was only one experience, of course, but it didn't seem like PTT really went out of their way to deliver my packages (like a follow-up notification). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jonno 8 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 ...because we live betwen two houses in kusadasi ,i find having a post office box very handy ,and i only pay 3ytl a year for this sevice ,so i just go to the ptt with my key and check and see if i have any mail ,if i have a parcel ptt puts a note in my box,and i get the parcel behind the counter., also i think if you live outside a main town ,it could be they wait for a build up of post before venuring out with it ,possibly why it takes so long... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
screamlead 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I agree the postal system is bad out here - never ever send anything of value - you will never see it.we have had loads of mail go missing and never delivered. I did get my catalogue from cabela's tho' Ben but it took about three months - lol. I had some bank cards sent out via UPS which cost 80 quid from UK but did get them after 4 days and was able to track online. A friend of mine in uk however sent xmas cards this year via royal mail airmail and they turned up over 4-6 days so was impressed with that. A few people i know have said if you have anything sent make sure it is sent so you have to sign for it at this end - that seems to stop a bit of the pilfering. Anything from this end - normal mail takes about 7 weeks to get to UK - ie postcards!!! It seems the only things the PTT deliver at all round here are bills and they are always bang on time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunny 779 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I agree with the advise 'Don't send anything valuable' as chances are it will not arrive. Last Christmas, for the first time since I've lived here, all but one of my cards actually arrived before Christmas. The last one arrived yesterday. I am still waiting for a calender my daughter made with family photos. Thank goodness for emails so I/we don't have to rely on the postal system so much. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benhalterci 7 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I have never received anything through the Postal Service here and that includes my telephone bill:(Like Ben said, I never use them and thank goodness for email. However...before we lambast the poor Turks about their awful postal service.... I lived in Frankfurt and my mother sent a parcel with some of my really nice clothes and they got pilfered in the postal system. Then a couple of friends told me they had had stuff pinched like contact lenses out of the packet within the parcel??? Crime is bad in some parts of Germany so I don't feel this is any worse to be honest. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunny 779 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 I think light fingers are found in many country's postal service. As you say Benh, it's not exclusive to Turkey. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alison09400 0 Posted February 4, 2009 Report Share Posted February 4, 2009 Since coming back to live in Turkey 7 years ago I've never had any problems with mail coming from the UK. My sister sends frequent parcels for our children...sending clothes, xbox games, ipods, sweets etc..and I've had them all usually on the 5th day of her posting it. She posted a parcel last month on a thursday afternoon and I got it the following Tuesday. She always sends it special post with Royal Mail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bushman 0 Posted February 8, 2009 Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 ..... She always sends it special post with Royal Mail.I think that is the trick Special or Registered mail forces the Turkish Postal service to track the delivery. It is one thing for your sister to try and complain to the PTT that a parcel has not been delivered but quite something else when Her Majesties Royal Mail starts to kick up a fuss. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Buncase 0 Posted February 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2009 I was told by the Post Office that Registered Mail is only registered while it is in the UK (takes upto 5 days to leave). They do not take responsibility once it has left our shores. Ho hum... with these comments I certainly wont hold my breath .... CAB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saina 0 Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Thanks AllUseful to know that Royal Mail (UK) special post is likely to reach it's destination as I plan to send a small parcel of clothes for the youngest members of a family in Antep and was worried about how to make sure it reaches them. I sent a birthday card to a friend that never turned up - nothing in it I might add but it never got there.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ebullough 6 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I used the registered post from Turkey to the UK never got there, my daughter sent pics of her kids every year never got them. Im in Izmir Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aliwake 1 Posted March 22, 2009 Report Share Posted March 22, 2009 I left a letter out on the apartment mail boxes to mail and it never was picked up. I've been looking for a mail box for the last two weeks and finally asked someone how to mail a letter and they said you have to take it to the Post Office down town. I can't even begin to be irritated that my letter hasn't arrived because I can't figure out how to send it in the first place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chalapip 32 Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 i have moved 4 times since being here and 2 out of 4 of the places we lived got post in 2 yrs i have only had 2 packages lost and i get maybe one a month. i have found them open and checked in maybe half of all of them but never had anything taken... the new address we have though proves a mystery...ironically its nearer centrum and the local postal office unlike the second address it went to a local shop far away... but we have had our last 2 packages lost in transit it seems...... small post often comes 8 wks later.... but over a4 size and packs maybe 3 wks.... i have to say when i started putting his and my name it helped and a telephone number.....they used it more than once to say you come and collect it!! i dont care as long as i get it!.....when i worked i got my stuff sent to our wk address and they ALL came and fast.... interesting....and in person to to my desk!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Meral 486 Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Our local postie left last year to do his military service, and he was pretty good (with a name like Mustafa Kemal, he'd have to be !). I was also impressed with the new people. They had been trying in vain to deliver a package I wasn't expecting, but couldn;t locate us because the council had changed all the house numbers in our street 2 years earlier. They went beyond the call of duty (in my opinion) to get our phone number from the council to find us. After the call, the postie jumped straight on his motorbike & was on our doorstep within 5 minutes, with 2 packages & 2 letters. We normally wouldn't use the PTT to send important stuff -- we use a cargo service ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ciftlikkoy13 57 Posted March 23, 2009 Report Share Posted March 23, 2009 Bitter experience has taugjht me never to use the Registered or Recorded postal services from the UK. They cannot track the letter or package once it leaves the UK anyway. A few years ago, friends in England sent us some vital official documents (vital to them, not us) in order to recover some of their money from a Turkish Bank Account (a long story!). The documents never arrived. Neither British nor Turkish postal authorities could help - or were even mildly interested in the problem. My advice is to send anything using standard postal services or, if it's valuable, a courier service. To be fair to all concerned, we haven't had any problems with ordinary postal deliveries but, as we live in a semi-rural area we do used a PK Box. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
aliwake 1 Posted March 24, 2009 Report Share Posted March 24, 2009 I thought I'd better pass this information along. I mentioned I was having a hard time getting a letter mailed. Yesterday my friend said she'd mail it and went to two post offices where the line was out the door about 15 deep. I went with her today to try again. Only five in line so we waited. She asked if the mailperson will pick up letters left at the apartment mailboxes. The answer is no, the mailperson will not do that. She asked if there were mail boxes where letters could be left. The PO worker said that because people put trash in the mail boxes the postal workers have stopped picking up mail there. I haven't seen any mail boxes but it they are out there, I don't think anyone should use them. I don't know if this is a policy just in Denizli or through out Turkey. I will go directly to the PO now that I know where it is to mail my letters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Turunc 0 Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 I too have had problems with mail,now the only thing I send from here is postcards. We have some good friends who have a home both here and in Uk when they return from here they take sml packets and letters to post for me. When post is sent here now my family always post parcels signed for and cards they dont seal the envelopes (since they started this lots more have arrived),my gran (bless here) has sent me a number of letters all of which have got here fine - she always posts with a uk 2nd class stamp . Tracex Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Buncase 0 Posted April 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 WHOOPPPEEEEEE!!!!!!!! The post has finally been delivered!!!! Hubby's t-shirt is now on his back and looking very nice even if I say so myself! It took 11 weeks to get to him. His Valentine's card still has not arrived but it was posted 2wks after his t-shirt, 3 wks before Valentine's Day. The best one is ....... he posted a couple of my documents in early Feb. They have just been returned to him - what's that all about then?! I've told him to keep them and I'll have them in person when we meet in 2wks time. Better late than never I guess ..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jozsika 2 Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 G'day,Today in the papers it was stated that the parcels held back in customs for any reason, (cost-weight-size-content) the courier companies charge extra fees for paperwork, follow-up and sometimes storage. PTT doesn't charge these fees. Such private couriers as DHL, UPS, FEDEX, TNT, MNG, YURTİ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Turunc 0 Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 pleased he finally got his t-shirt :Dpapers returned - that is a bit strangexx Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zehra 0 Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 We have various tariffs for posting in/out of Turkey.. Ordinary posting(normal posta): Lasts forever (normally 2-4 weeks) or gets lost sometimes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunny 779 Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 Zehra thanks for that comprehensive information about postal choices. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
KKW 18 Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 We've lived in Turkey for 5 years and Mrs KKW runs a business on Ebay. She's sent and received hundreds of parcels from suppliers and to customers all over the world. Only one package has ever gone missing in all that time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sunny 779 Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 That's very interesting and reassuring KKW. Does she use any particular choice of mail? Welcome to the forum bye the way, if you'd like to go to 'Meet and Greet' to say 'hello' ,we can give you a proper welcome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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