There are so many links in the transport chain when you send or receive a parcel to and from Spain and abroad so let’s study the process of urgent letters and economy packet services to and from Spain, why most go right and a tiny proportion go wrong.
1) Paperwork. All Citibox customers have to have their paperwork printed and ready for collection before the messenger collects. Without this parcels can go by the wrong parcel service (economy instead of priority or vice-versa), the packages can get lost because they no longer contain the correct barcode and delivery address details and we cannot track them under the original tracking number. Please always print what we send you, we are experts in knowing just what it takes to get your shipment through.
2) Collection. Don’t misunderstand me, 99% of collections go well but there are three reasons why a collection might go wrong. (a) Wrong address or difficult to you’re your premises without further information (b) No one there when the van arrives (c) Courier is being taken many km off route for a single collection and decides to invent either (a) or (b).
3) Transit. Even short-haul packages go through several hubs until they reach their destination. A parcel from Marbella, Spain to Central England, UK will be collected by a small van and driven to Málaga where it will be sorted and put on a plane to Madrid. In Madrid the package will be packed into an airline container destined for the UK and flown to the FedEx European hub in Paris. This container, maybe containing your urgent letter from Spain will then be flown to Stansted in England before being transferred to a flight to Birmingham. From Birmingham it will be distributed to the local FedEx UK International depot and loaded onto a van for delivery the same day. We are talking about 24 hour delivery with all these transfers from vans to aircraft to conveyor belts through X-Ray machines which look for dangerous contents like aerosols; a fully automated process until it gets back to human hands.
4) Customs. While packages are in Customs they are out of our control and with a government agency. Spanish Customs scrutinise parcels going out of Spain as well as incoming parcels to Spain trying to stop the courier export of prohibited goods, the import of medicines and to levy duty on parcels arriving in Spain. UK Customs look for any illegal goods such as alcohol, cigarettes or drugs.
5) What happens to a lost parcel? Most parcels are located and delivered, even if they are late, in which case the transit cost is refunded. Some packages are lost or damaged and then Citibox submits a claim on behalf of you, our customer, and sees it through to payment from FedEx direct to your bank. Loss or damage of a UPS or FedEx courier package from Spain is such a rare event that we are able to contact managers in all countries to fast-track the claim process.
6) Delivery. Like “2) Collection” above, this is where human error can creep in for the reasons a, b & c already stated. The individual van driver is the one who decides how professional the service is going to be but we have to take account of human nature. Does he have a hangover; has he rowed with his wife; does he need to finish early to collect his children from school? Each person has different priorities and these can change daily. Most drivers are really professional but we get ones who let down the standards of their profession and we report these to their managers. The chain is only as good as its weakest link and this is where it is.
The main thing is that if you send your package, parcel or suitcase or letter through Citibox Spain you have a whole back-up team ready to spring into action the moment there is a problem and work just for you to ensure that the package gets through or you get the insurance payout. Please don’t be alarmed, the chances of you losing a parcel are negligible, far less than the postal services but, if it happens, you are better off with Citibox courier services.
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