It might sound old-fashioned and not very environmentally friendly now, but at the time it had one big advantage: you could write ANYTHING you wanted to on it.

Such as “package damaged”.

Not that I received many damaged packages back then, in fact did not receive many packages at all at home, but I often signed for them in the office and I was aware of the fact that the carrier would only accept liability for damage to the contents if I wrote it next to my signature.

This, however, is not possible with the electronic terminals that I have to sign on these days, and being self-employed I received quite a few parcels each week.

When this first started happening, I told the courier that I wanted the damage noted.  Surely there is an option for that on the terminal?  “No, there isn’t” was the reply.  Apparently I would have to sign for the parcel, and then call the depot immediately to inform them of the damage.

Does that sound just a tiny bit fishy to you too?  I did call the depot, and asked if this was correct.

“No” was the answer – the courier can note it on the terminal and if he or she is not prepared to do so, then I should just refuse to accept the parcel and inform the sender so that they can make a claim.

I can only assume that there are people delivering parcels out there, who either do not know how to note the damage, or who just do not want the hassle of doing it and taking the parcel back.  Mind you, they are not very happy when I refuse to accept the parcel either!

Parcels with damage like this, where it is not just a dent, but a whole corner ripped open:

In an even newer trend, I have noticed that some parcel services do not even require a signature any more.  They just hand over the parcel and go again!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Lufthansa’s excellent customer service
• Post Pack
• Paket & Päckchen

A few weeks ago I was called to appear as a witness at a local court. I’m not going to go into the details of the case, but I learnt a new part of the postal service in the process.  The “förmliche Zustellung”.

We’ve spoken before about the different options for sending post in Germany, ie. the Einschreiben for proof of sending, the Rückschein for recorded delivery and even options like the Einschreiben eigenhändig to ensure that only the receipient signs for something.

But the court has another option, that I was unaware of until now.

The förmliche Zustellung comes in a yellow envelope. On the envelope there is space for the postal worker who puts it into the letter box to write the date on it. This is the date that it went into the letter box, and the court is then informed that the post has been delivered.

There is no notification like with the Einschreiben. If I understand it correctly, the letter is considered to have been received, and if you don’t check your post box regularly or are on holiday then that’s your problem.

I guess this gets round the problem of people refusing to sign when they see who the envelope is from, but I do wonder what would happen if I had been out of the country for a few weeks, or even if the postman had put it into the wrong letter box by mistake.

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Post Pack
• My first day in court
• Unfrei

This is often indicated on the envelope as “Gebühr bezahlt Empfänger”.  Some companies pre-print their envelopes with “Bitte freimachen, falls Briefmarke zur Hand” requesting that you put a stamp on the envelope, but that they will pay the postage anyway if you do not.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download the MP3 file | Comment in the forum

Subscribe to the podcast | Listen by telephone

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Die Zuschlagmarke
• Die Förmliche Zustellung
• Post Pack

Situated just over the border between Belgium and Germany it offers a family meal for around 10EUR plus drinks which we find very good value for money.

Whilst I was paying for our meal this time, a lady with a British accent came up to the cashier and wanted a postage stamp from her for her postcard. The cashier politely pointed out in her broken English that there was a queue and asked the lady to join it. She did not – she just repeated her demand and said that she had paid for the postcard and now wanted her stamp for it.

I decided to help the cashier at this point and also told the lady politely, that the cashier was serving us and had a queue of people waiting. But no, she wanted her stamp. She had, after all, paid for her postcard.

By chance I caught a glimpse of her receipt (as she turned to her friends to complain about her loss, then deciding to give up and buy a stamp elsewhere). She had indeed bought a postcard – and just a postcard. Without a stamp.

The trouble is, I believe, that in many countries you automatically get sold stamps with postcards and maybe come to expect it. This is not the case in Germany!

If you want a stamp, then you have to buy it from the post office, or one of their agencies, or from a machine.

In some tourist hotspots (Rüdesheim springs to mind) you may also find that shops selling postcards also sell stamps for them. Judging by the response from the cashier at the service stations they may well do too.

But remember, they sell the stamps as an extra service. The price of the stamp is not included in the price of the postcard.

Oh, and please join the queue!

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Unfrei
• Children are welcome…
• Die Zuschlagmarke

These sorts of stamps often appear before Christmas and include a small donation to a charity. In the above example 55 cents would be the postage for a letter and 25 cents would be the donation.

The donation is not allowed to be higher than half the value of the postage itself, although this has not always been the case and stamps used to be produced with values such as 12+38.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download the MP3 file | Comment in the forum

Subscribe to the podcast | Listen by telephone

Some other posts on this topic that you might like to read:

• Post Pack
• Unfrei
• Die Förmliche Zustellung