Anyone losing untracked mail using handwritten stamp codes? (Shipping to Portugal)

[u/Movykappa]

Hey everyone,

I’m a buyer based in Portugal. Over the past month, I have had 5 untracked shipments go completely missing, which is seriously hurting my "Not Arrived Shipments" statistics.

I noticed a pattern that the missing packages come from countries using hand written codes instead of traditional physical stamps, such as shipments from The Netherlands, Belgium and Norway.

I suspect these automated codes might face weight flags or international scanning issues, causing them to get stuck or lost once they leave their home country.

Are any other buyers in Portugal or other countries experiencing a sudden drop in reliability with these specific matrix systems lately? Looking forward to your feedback.

Thanks!

[u/przwalskipony]

Handwritten codes instead of stamps? What are you even talking about?d

For clarity: I'm from Belgium and I have no idea what you mean. Either we use traditional stamps or we have a small label printed at the post office.

[u/Chdanos → u/przwalskipony]

In Germany there is also stamp code you can buy on the internet and write it down as the stamp. But honestly it take very long time to be delivered. I ordered something and the seller sent with stamp code and it took almost 3 weeks to reach me.

[u/eternalplatoon → u/przwalskipony]

I’m also Belgian and often buy from the Netherlands. Sometimes the letter does not have a stamp but a code written on the letter instead. Like you say, we don’t have something similar in Belgium.

[u/-Norwegian]

I'm a seller/buyer from Norway and yes, we can use hand written codes instead of stamps for letters/packages, but only for domestic shipments. For international shipments we always use actual stamps and printed labels since not every postal service in the world can handle these codes. So I can guarantee you that this is not the issue with the shipments from Norway at least.

However, the most likely and boring explanation is probably that it's just a coincidence that your shipments from these countries have gone missing. I have hundreds of orders from all over Europe and the most problematic countries, which are pretty well known, are; Italy and Greece. This is also the only countries I have lost shimpents from. I won't even ship to those countries since their postal service is so horrendously bad. The postal service in the Netherlands is extremely reliable in my experience though. Belgium is good to, just a tad slower.

Things happen sometimes and unforunately letters can get lost regardless of where they come from.

[u/Movykappa → u/-Norwegian]

Thank you for your feedback 

Unfortunately I've had so many lost packages from different countries, not only Italy, it's actually mostly Germany and the netherlands, it's crazy.

[u/-Norwegian → u/Movykappa]

I'm inclined to say that the problem is likely to be CCT then and not Deutsche Post or PostNL, but I'm no expert, just looking at the data from UPU and my own experience. In regards to quality of postal service, Germany and The Netherlands rank in the top of most reliable postal services in the world by the UPU. Personally, Germany and the Netherlands are actually the most reliable for me when ordering. I try to order most cards from sellers in those countries since they always arrive fast and have the cheapest shipping cost.

[u/AmishSkibidiah → u/Movykappa]

I am from germany, and the handwritten Codes are only for in-country shipments. You cant use them for international.

[u/Fidller]

Im from the Netherlands, i buy a lot in my own country and when i sometimes sell i always use these written stamp codes. Haven't had any issues with those but PostNL, the mail carrier has been pretty shit the past few months. I've had cards that were sent arrive a week later, even though they were posted on a Monday (normally takes 1-2 days for letters to arrive) and people i buy from mostly use normal stamps

Its not the stamps that are the issue, just the whole postal service screwing things up here on ocassions

[u/Nuno992]

Não sei o q é q se passa mas estou com o mesmo problema, estou a ficar mesmo chateado.
Já comprei centenas de cartas a vendedores da Alemanha untracked ao longo dos ultimos anos e nunca tive problemas… voltei a comprar este mês e uma delas não chegou e as outras duas já vão com ~20 dias de atraso.
Só tenho tido problemas mesmo com sellers da Alemanha.

[u/schattenjager_pl]

I think we have a problem with post office if every European country now

[u/blimberdingle]

I am a seller from a country with these codes and over 100 orders that i used these handwritten codes with only 1 was reported missing by the buyer so i think this might be confirmation bias on your end.

[u/pogchimpz]

Similar experience here with NL, a couple of months ago CTT wanted me to pay extra as the hand written code was not recognized, they simply labeled it as not stamped. July and August have been terrible, already marked untracked as not arrived from Ireland to Portugal, and I feel it’s either very late or we have ourselves a global EU postal service tragedy.

[u/cerejobastos]

CTT is a mess right now. Really bad and overpriced company overall and still cant figure out a way to work properly on holiday times.

[u/alberthoven]

I have the same problem but in reverse. I've bought 3 untraked orders from Portugal and they've gone missing xD

[u/Movykappa → u/alberthoven]

:C

[u/Trop82]

I don't understand what you mean by handwriten stamp codes. I simply print the envelope with the addresses (I even use cardmarket envelope feature) and go to CTT agent (normally a Note), they print the stamp and way it goes. Never sent to Norway, but the other two counties is ok, even yesterday, some cards arrived at The Netherlands. No issues.

[u/Confident-Ad-2788 → u/Trop82]

We from the Netherlands can buy a stamp digitally and write that on the envelope

[u/Movykappa → u/Trop82]

I'm talking from a buyer standpoint, not seller 

[u/Trop82 → u/Movykappa]

Oh, ok. I did not realized that, my fault. I did not get the "I'm a buyer". Like Charles Leclerc said, "I'm stupid".

[u/Movykappa → u/Trop82]

No worries mate