Is it possible to get packages delivered by La Poste, Chronopost or others without having to sign for them?
I live about 300m from the main road down a private drive and have no concerns about theft. Could I leave a note on the door in case I am away from the house using a chainsaw or something?
Do any of the delivery companies deliver down long drives or do they all want to drop off at the mailbox?
Last week I ordered a couple items from Amazon at the same time, and one showed up in my mailbox and I think the other was rerouted to my local post office as undeliverable. (I used Google Translate on the email from Collosimo).
I discovered the Amazon drop off point at the local Conforma and used that with success for my second order.
Now I need to order a water booster pump and they (www.pompeaeau.fr/) ship 2 day with DPD/Chronopost but I am not seeing an option to ship to a drop off point.
Does the shipping company vary depending on the weight of the items here? Or is it just luck as to which company a vendor might use?
I do have a local cell# but as my face-to-face French is terrible I donāt even want to try a phone conversation with a delivery driver.
And while I am asking about deliveries, when buying lumber do people usually have the load delivered or do they rent a van or something and take it home themselves?
Sorry for all the newbie questions. Its my first week here and I am still sorting out lots of differences.
Yes. But maybe they need to know you first and get to know where to leave stuff. We have a veranda and our delivery drivers just drop the packages off on the veranda.
DHL can be more difficult, but the local drivers know us and it isnāt an issue.
I think it depends on value. Iāve had three items from Apple delivered in the last week, the lowest value one was put in my letter box, the next most expensive was hand delivered by UPS and the most expensive was hand delivered by UPS who requested ID and a signature.
I order a fair amount from Amazon and most get delivered by La Poste regardless of what the livraison emails from Amazon say depending on the size of the item.
Now she knows us, Madame La Poste honks her horn to alert us to something that wonāt fit in the letter box and leaves it under the porch if weāre out.
Depends very much on the delivery person, be they from La Poste, DPD, DHL or whoever.
The local postie handles all La Poste and Chronopost deliveries where we live. This was all fine with our former postie, who knew us, and when we werenāt there, would put stuff in an outside cupboard or under the stairs at the back, but unfortunately, he has now retired and the new, younger replacement doesnāt really care very much about striking up a rapport, notwithstanding the constant holiday replacements on short-term contracts who just seem to take the attitude that if thereās literally no one standing in the drive, they donāt even bother.
Weāve had DPD deliveries dropped off in the hamlet 300m away with a willing neighbour, on the excuse that the driver didnāt want to risk their vehicle up a lane the end of which they couldnāt see, and were āshort on fuelā. Your mileage may vary (YMMV) considerably, as the expression goes.
As regards which delivery service gets what from the vendor, it seems to vary quite a lot too - Amazon will use both La Poste, Chronopost and DPD for deliveries around where we live. Occasionally, with objects of value, weāve had DHL or UPS, but by and large they have been appalling and more often than not have forced us to go on a hunt for the ānearestā collection point where they might have dropped the packet off, somewhere between 20 to 50 km away.
Good drivers will always try and ring on our mobile numbers to check that weāre in, so you might have to face up to improving your French telephone skills to avoid future issues.
As for lumber, Iāve always collected whenever Iāve had to buy any, loaded onto roofrack, or trailer. I imagine that you could probably get the really big stuff delivered by the lumber yard, but you would have to factor in the inevitable extra charge (which might turn out to be significant for a relatively small order).
Hah! My La Poste refuses to signaler sa presence with a parcel by any means. Doesnāt call (itās about 25m to the gate), refused to do the quick short klaxonner agreed and working perfectly with her predecessor.
Their idea, and a few delivery driversā idea, seems to be that itās best for everyone (i.e. them) to run out the 2 or 3 delivery attempts and force the customer to collect the package at La Poste or delivery point miles away (especially if large).
I complained to La Poste I had been there repeatedly and constantly looking out all day for La Poste and no signal no indication that they were there (canāt see the gate from the back garden or house but surely hear a shout or short sharp single beep on the horn). And yet seen online (not always card left in the letter box) they claimed 2 failed deliveries.
The La Poste supervisor who called asked me to withdraw my complaint but agreed the post person had made no attempt to alert my guettant leur arrivĆ©e self. I declined as they werenāt saying any attempt had been made to let me know they were there, the single-short-horn-tap was working previously but was now being refused by the new one, and the supervisor was not offering any solution.
Iāve now bought a wireless sonnette for 4 euros and, to preserve the battery, will install it on the letterbox which fortunately has a sheltering overhang to protect the sonnette from much of the rain as soon as Iām expecting a parcel again. Weāll see if its claimed range of ringing the bell at 100m will do the 25-30 required.
Genius!!!
I did that a long time ago and it is good, when it works. Sometimes it doesnāt and of course we donāt always know if it is not, or if the battery is flat, or if it has just taken a āmonkā.
So I always ring it myself when coming home from somewhere and ask Fran when I get inside if it has worked, or not.
It all depends on the weight of the parcel. Over a certain weight it automatically has to be signed for if the sender is using La Poste or Chronopost 's business website to arrange and pay for the postage. There is no way to circumvent this unless it is done in a Post Office. If it is large company they are unlikely to do the latter as they can arrange for the parcels to be collected from them rather then taking them to the PO or depot. I think this also applies to most courier companies in France. If the parcel is a small one (under 4 or 5kg) that can be fitted in a post box there is an option to do it without signature. But that really depends on how trusting the sender is.
Not sure about that Rik - or it may mean our local drivers bend the rules. We get a 12kg bag of croquettes for the dogs from Zooplus delivered every few weeks and these days we never have to sign.
I think some companies went sign free due to covid. Not sure if it is still the case.
Probably this when you are such a regular!
Definitely bending the rules then if they are using the same method that I use regularly.
Amazed Chronopost still have any customers. We are 80 yards off main road, but they cannot find us. Everything they have for us, they make us collect from point Relais. They are totally useless. DPD, who occupy same depot, find us, without any problemā¦
It all depends on your local service. I always prefer Chronopost and avoid DPD like the plague. However thatās just down to the service of the local sub-contractors (i.e. man in a van)
Three times PS have said that they were unable to deliver to us, which is totally untrue.
Our dog would bark at anyone just coming down the lane, never mind stopping at our house or in the courtyard.
We have had to go on a 30k round trip to pick up our goods.
I ordered a new knife sharpener and, yes, we had to go and pick it up. It was from Amazon and I wrote a review, liking the sharpener, but condemning their choice of deliverers and suggesting that if they wanted to keep their customers happy they should change to another company.
Itās often worthwhile opting for delivery to a local āpoint relaisā where you then have a period of time to collect items at your convenience. It can save frustrating waits at home.
Clearly this only works well if you have reasonable access to the various points used; different vendors use different delivery services which, in turn, use different places.
And you accept this?
If I pay for delivery I expect delivery
Sorry, and you accept this? The lies about attempted delivery etc?
Have you ever tried speaking to Chronopost. They promise a re- delivery, then another email, that they cant find us. We had an order from amazon, and a email from chronopost giving time it was put in our post box. It was empty, and package never received. They told amazon, address did not exist. Replacement, delivered by normal post, 2 days later. They are awful.
Have a look at the complaints page against USP.
They donāt care and you just get wound up trying to get even an apology.
I wanted to have a go at them, but after looking at that site, I realised it was a total waste of time.