packages mailed from Italy

Wish I had a problem solving suggestion or better answer but I am still waiting for the package I sent home from Varenna in 2007. Even spoke with the Consulate here in LA. They tried very hard but all they could find out was that the package made it to Rome and from there it was lost. Disheartening but the people at the Consulate admitted the mail system in Italy cannot be trusted.

Don't use untrackable packages when sending stuff from Italy to US! It cannot be traced online but only with request in person at a post office agency.

I used the tracking number to find out the package was received in Esparto, Sacramento on 9/10. It appears my address must not have been readable, since it never arrived in Auburn. When I called USPS international inquiry, they said it was unable to be tracked now that the package was now being returned to sender - our hotel in Florence. Now I am unable to track with the tracking number on the Posteitaliane website.

Debra, have you spoken to your Florentine hotel to tell them its coming back. It may have even arrived?

A number of people here have reported not (ever) receiving packages they mailed themselves when they were in Italy, using the Italian post system.

It's too bad that your package made it all the way here and was sent back. Do check with your hotel in Florence. They should receive it if all goes well.
Italian mail is something else. My parents have a little place in Calabria and when they tried to get their house number from the mailman, he stated that they have no house number. When they then inquired as to how mail will get to them, he stated, "Don't worry. I know everyone in town. It'll get to you."

now that's job security!

The problem isn't unique to Italy. We shipped a package from Gorlitz Germany several years ago that we never received despite numerous phone calls to try and track it down.

Good luck with Italian postage! I finally received my packages four months after mailing them. The postage was more that the cost of the items, which was substantial.
I had no trouble sending items from Ireland or Germany, so I now avoid using the Italian postal system.

If it fits in with your travel agenda, one tip is to mail everything from the post office inside the Vatican. It's much more reliable than the Italian postal service.