I sent a letter registered mail to Italy and it never got there. USPS says delivery was attempted and it is sitting at post office but they can’t tell me which one. My relative was home and never got delivery notice. She checked local post office with reference number from registered mail and they have nothing. Any suggestions on how to bridge this gap and locate this letter?
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
888 posts
I share in your frustration. I wish I had a good suggestion.
I have a friend in Bucharest and I send her written correspondences, regularly. Approximately half of theses letters and small parcels arrive - the other half - vanish, somewhere in the postal void.
Recently, while voicing my concerns of this at the local post office, a woman standing in line recounted similar difficulties she encountered sending letters to her cousin in Italy. However, once she began adding "religious stickers" to her envelopes, the delivery success greatly improved. I don't know what these "religious stickers" were, but I presume they had some Christian iconography. For future mailings, you might give it a try.
In as much as Romania is primarily an Orthodox Christian country, I have had no similar success.
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3262 posts
Once a letter sent through the USPS leaves the US for a foreign country, it is difficult or no longer trackable using regular tracking means. It’s for this reason that I send things using FedEx since tracking is available “door to door.”
I am currently expecting a package from Germany. I was able to enter the tracking number and found out when it was mailed and I was notified in an email update from Deutsche Post when it entered the international logistics center and that after that point further info would be from the destination country’s website. Entering the DP # I get a confirmation from the USPS that the package is on its way. Perhaps there is an Italian postal website that might allow you to enter your letter’s tracking number?
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1652 posts
The poste italiane tracking engine is at https://www.poste.it/cerca/index.html#/
Use the right window and insert the shipping code. In the reply (you may have to click again on some search details links) you may spot where the letter is sitting. The story of the letter begins where the USPS tracking stops.
Posted by
Pleasant Hill, CA, USA
473 posts
The Italian postal service is known for being very slow. We have postcards that we sent it took almost a month to get to the US. Now the French are much better at it but that’s no help to you. Hopefully patient will prevail and you will be successful.