Indian Post Office Opening Letters: Is This Common?

[matteob]

Hi this is not about pens exactly but about pen pals. I write to a young man in Kolkota and sometimes send him small gifts. In nearly every case the letters have been opened and the gifts pilfered: books, pens, stwmps,small denomination currency that he collects. I have advised him to go to the Post Office to complain but is there anything the post office can do? I know India is poor in parts but this is shameful for the reputation of the Indian Mail. Will registered or signed for post be safer?

Edited January 15, 2017 by matteob

[deepak23]

This doesn't happen. Customs will open packages without declaration. Make sure you include a CN22 form and and package should be securely wrapped

Edited January 15, 2017 by deepak23

[ak2k5]

what does india being poor has to do with it?

[matteob]

It was a book with printed papers written on front so no customs declaration needed. This has happened quite a few times now. I was thinking maybe low paid postal workers were tempted to steal in some cases: no offence meant.

Edited January 16, 2017 by matteob

[Tweel]

No need to apologise, this happens everywhere including the United States. Using some alternate method such as registered mail might work, but for example when my wife & I sent a Priority package to our son's girlfriend in Brazil, the postal workers simply held the box hostage at the post office, demanding that she pay a large amount of "postage" (a bribe -- obviously we'd already paid the postage) to have it released. Unfortunately the surest answer might be to stop sending the gifts.

[Erik Dalton]

There are places in the world where the mails work great. Others are like sending your package down a black hole. My worst experience was with Indonesia. But I once had a package held up at customs in Jamaica,New York(Kennedy Airport) for two months. Then when they released it USPS routed it through Vermont (wrong way)then down to me here in Delaware.

The other day i waited outside for my postman to drive up. (Tracking told me i had two pens here in the local post office.)He handed me a pile of junk mail. I asked "no Pakages" he got all flustered said "maybe i put them in the wrong box. Then reached over in his truck and pulled out my pens. Said he forgot where he had put them.

Now i don't know if i would ever have received them, had i not been out there to confront him. I watch the mail carefully now.

 

If you are intent on continuing to send to that town in India then you need to figure our the ins and outs of the Indian postal system as was mentioned above. Unfortunately there are no easy answers.

[IndianElf]

Okay, so I have some experience with this issue. When you are sending domestic mail, they almost never search the parcel or letter you are sending. When sending it internationally, they check it randomly. This is especially so if the mail is arriving from countries with security risks (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar...). The likelihood of them checking is once again increased if there are moving parts inside the mail (rattling metal parts. Etc) I have never lost anything due to this checks, so rest assured.

[IndianElf]

One more thing. If you use the national postal carrier (Royal mail, Singpost... Not sure what else) the chances of them checking is also higher. Obviously, this is cheaper and I wouldn't recommend spending the money to pay for private postal services.

[mehandiratta]

I advise you to use registered post or airmail which is trackable.. And always use the form cn22.. Whether u r sending gift item of no value or not.. It is actually recorded..

[lordofnumpties]

Pilferage is very very common. Doesn't matter what form you fill. They'll even open letters, hoping to find God-knows-what in there. The tracking system is broken, so registered/priority/speed post etc doesn't work. The complaint system is broken. They're real SoBs and are all in on it. Believe me, I've been through this drama multiple times.

 

There are two ways you can handle this:
1. Tape the (bleep) out of what you're sending. I'm talking about using half a roll of duct tape. Then put it in another envelope. Basically, make it a real chore to open the thing. Post office employees usually steal from something they can quickly open and pocket. They won't spend 15 minutes of their life cutting through duct tape if they can steal from another 3 poorly packed parcels in the meantime.

2. Use FedEx, DHL, UPS. Costly, but reliable.

Edited January 25, 2017 by lordofnumpties