That's because they're now using mostly underpaid subcontractors to deliver packages. When the post office was actually a Governmental service, and all post-people were state employees, there were much less problems with deliveries
lors de mon service militaire années 72 - 73 , les lettres mettaient 15 h pour Vannes - Toulon ; en 2021 , un colis ou une lettre administrative met 4 jours pour faire Rennes - Vannes . la poste avance en reculant
I taught in France from Sept 2020-March 2021. Just before going home to the U.S., I went to La Poste to ship some things home. The people there told me to use the machine, but the person standing next to the machine was like, "Oh, non Madame, c'est impossible. C'est cassée". While I was in France, I tried to be as French as possible, but on that occasion, I broke out my American stubbornness. I told them in no uncertain terms that I wasn't leaving until they tried it in front of me and showed me that it was actually broken. Lo and behold, when they tried it, the machine worked. I firmly believe that "c'est impossible" is French for "I'm lazy and I don't want to"
"You arrive with every piece of paper that you need PLUS your bill for electricity rom 1980 translated into Chinese... and you still dont have everything you need" mdr. I felt this.
As for the package delivery, my bet is the mailman doesn't even have it on him. In larger cities where traffic can be hard, parcels are the ban of mailmen, if they have to many they will have to drive their route in a van rather than a motorcycle so they just pre-fill the slips and drop them in your mailbox, leaving the parcels at the post office. "La Poste" in smaller cities or countryside is a lot more human and civil.
Same in large cities in The States too. And there is package theft. I find with a lot of these videos that show the negatives or difference of living in the US vs a European country, some of the same issues living in any large US city (NYC, Boston, San Francisco, etc) or densely populated area. I guess the reason some Americans have difficulties adapting is because most of America besides those areas are very spread out.
They do the same with registered letters, I don't think it's a problem of space. And often in town the letters are delivered with bikes and the packages with a van.
What would happen if a private company started up in France that provided excellent customer service and tried to compete with La Poste? One where they always answered, «Bien sûr!» instead of «C'est impossible.»?
Petite mise au point : La poste est une société anonyme depuis le début des années 2000. Donc à capitaux privés. Le personnel est sous contrat (CDD ou CDI). Il n'y a plus de fonctionnaires... Voila pour la forme juridique. Promotion canapé est un film sorti lorsque la poste n'était plus considérée comme un service public , transformée à ce moment là en EPIC (établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial) étape intermédiaire avant la privatisation. L'objectif du film consistait à discréditer grossièrement cette administration pour mieux la faire passer sous les fourches caudines. Le recrutement depuis le début des années 2000 laisse fortement à désirer. Les actionnaires recherchant le max de thunes ont amputé les budgets d'investissement au détriment de la qualité de service. Il n'y a rien à comprendre d'autre que cet enfumage est destiné à développer le profit pour LE PRIVÉ. Exit la formule "Comme une lettre à la Poste" . Grâce à l'union européenne responsable de cette évolution. Même sort pour toutes les autres administrations françaises. Update please. Traduction : Small update: La Poste has been a public limited company since the early 2000s. So privately owned. The staff is under contract (CDD or CDI). There are no more officials ... So much for the legal form. Sofa Promotion is a film released when the Post was no longer considered a public service , transformed at that time into EPIC (public industrial and commercial establishment) intermediate stage before privatization. The objective of the film was to grossly discredit this administration in order to better pass it under the caudine forks. Recruitment since the early 2000s leaves much to be desired. Shareholders looking for the maximum amount of money have cut investment budgets to the detriment of the quality of service. There is nothing to understand other than this smoking is intended to develop profit for THE PRIVATE. Exit the formula "Like a letter to the Post Office". Thanks to the European Union responsible for this development. The same fate for all the other French administrations. Update please
Je suis un ancien postier , je peux affirmer que chaque colis dont la personne était absente avait un "avis de passage "ou était stipulé l'heure de passage du facteur , la date , l'heure , l'adresse du bureau de poste ou devait être retiré le colis , et la possibilité de faire représenter le colis . Je ne sais pas de quel bureau , ou de l'incompétence dont tu as fait l'objet de le part de collègues, je trouve cela inadmissible , en sachant que la poste de 2021 n'est plus celle ou j'ai travaillé dans des grandes villes à une époque ou l'on passait des concours , aujourd'hui , je me demande si les personnes embauchées à la poste , ne viennent pas que pour le salaire , les conditions de travail n'ont pas arrangé les choses depuis le passage aux 35h , et le changement de statuts de la poste , je pourrais en écrire un roman ...
I did see a drop in poste quality since it stopped being a public service and became a company before that people would be more helpful and took time to explain or research things for you. Also, the work condition in the post is appalling (again compare to before) mostly because of understaffed. Hope that can explain the situation.
I live in the countryside near Angers and i've never had a problem of postmen not even knocking to see if i'm there. Even better, if we are actually not at home, they put a slip in the mail box saying they will come again the next day (and that's what they do !). They put the package at the post office only after 2 times of me not being at home. But for the rest, at the postoffice, i have to agree...it's a total nonsense.
Oh man, we just moved to Paris and our mail was coming perfectly. Then it suddenly stopped coming. When we put in a complaint, they said the mailman was on holiday and the substitute mailman couldn't find our very clearly labeled box and thought we moved. Old mailman comes back, still no mail. We send a registered letter to our box and it doesn't arrive and goes missing. We leave stuff in our mailbox to rule out mail theft. We send another registered letter, wait to speak to the mailman personally. He says he has delivered letters but we never got them. Birthday cards, bank information all lost. This has been going on over a month and we have literally tried everything we can think of. We now have to have mail delivered to La Poste and be charged 1 euro for every single letter :`( If anyone has any tips or contacts at La Poste, please share. The birthday cards were really sentimental and I would love to get them. We've filed a missing mail claim, and numerous complaints.
100% accurate ! Time passing by, they are still wondering why things are getting worse to them although every problem has been raised several times, but it's a little bit better outside of Paris and all big cities in general... amazing !
I agree that outside of Paris/big cities the offices are pretty good. Ours is great in our village. Limited with only morning hours but always helpful.
La poste était bien plus fiable avant, un livre est sorti cette année, "Le caché de la poste : enquête sur l'organisation du travail des facteurs", écrit par le sociologue Nicolas Jounin qui s'y est fait embauché pour faire son enquête, et il explique toute la folie de l'organisation de la poste de l'intérieur.
French post office is awful. I recently move away from Paris area and I discovered a major difference though: people at the post office are *nice*. Issues with package delivery are still very common but at least you interact with decent human beings. If only they could do their jobs... I'm working from home so I'm always there. The mailman knows it by now so I get my package at home pretty much all the time. The problem is when they are on vacation... Not so long ago, I was at home, working, and I got an email saying I was not home so I have to plan another delivery or go to the post office". Wait, WHAT? I ran to my mailbox, saw the slip, went mad. And then, saw the post office car not so far away in the street. I ran to my own car and litteraly chased them to ask them if they were kidding me?! Fortunately they apologized and gave me my package but what the hell?! Most of the time I tried to have my package delivery in a "relais colis". There's less issues with that. And I try to avoid any unnecessary deliveries (my parents sent my daughter a birthday gift two years ago... lost, never found, and Laposte did not care. This is INSANE.)
Bonjour, Je vais m'exprimer en français pour être sûr de ne pas dire de bêtise. 3:30 - Vous êtes à Paris et votre facteur n'a que peu de temps à consacrer à chacun lors de sa tournée. C'est l'organisation de l'entreprise qui fait ça et votre pauvre facteur, ou bien votre factrice, n'y est pour rien. Après, si cela fait parti d'un envoi Colissimo(tm), La Poste est en faute car il s'agit d'une offre spécifique et qu'il y a moyen de joindre le client. Le contrat de livraison précise une remise en main propre. En fait, en ville tout est plus compliqué, surtout à Paris. Pour ma part, je vis en banlieue et mon facteur me dépose mes colis dans ma boite à lettre. Il sonne à ma porte longtemps car il sait que je travail dans le haut de ma maison. C'est totalement différent évidemment. Lorsque je fais des commandes, souvent je demande une livraison en Relais-Colis. C'est super pratique. C'est pas moi qui fais la réception du colis et je peux passer au Point Relais quand je veux (pour ma part, le Café des Sports !). Simple, pratique, convivial! Sinon, belle vidéo 👍
The mailman in France doesn't always bring packages on his/her tournée, because the mail is left on the sidewalk while they deliver the mail in buildings and packages get stolen. That's why in big cities they only leave slips
Don't worry Kate, it's the same here in New York. For instance, in my former job, we stopped using USPS to ship items to clients. And even with private companies, there are still problems. And personally, I had the same issues with UPS: was at home all day; no one buzzed the door and I found a note on the intercom saying that they tried to deliver a package and there was no one at home and I have to pick it at the closest UPS store (with no indication which one is the closest)!!! Had to find the so-called closest UPS store, went there and there was no package there (the package will be here tomorrow). It was an important package and I was very busy at this period. I've already had to be very creative to be able to stop by. I thought that I would turn like a crazy Karen at this UPS store. First, I was at home and no one tried to deliver me a package! Secondly, why on the note it is said that I can pick up the package at the UPS store when the package is still not there?... Anyway, it took me almost 10 days to be able to go back to the UPS store and to get my package! So Kate... again, don't worry: everywhere the administrations are messy :-)
My counsel would be that you leave Paris. I live in a small town in France and really appreciate La Poste services. When I have to send a package, I do everything on their web site and I put the package in my mail box where the 'facteur' takes it the nest morning. And when I'm waiting for a package and know I won't be home, I just put a notice on my front door asking the 'facteur' to deliver it to my neighbor and that's what he does. I send and receive many packages and never had any problem with La Poste.
1) ASAP, vas voir le sketch (sorry : le stand-up) de Dany Boon intitulé La Poste : c'est EXACTEMENT tout ce que tu viens de dire ! 2) Y a encore pire : les voleurs qui bossent dans les centres de tris postaux et qui en profitent pour piquer lettres, colis, plis, paquets...Au mieux, c'est par appât du gain (ils revendent leur butin), au pire, c'est par pur sadisme (ils détruisent ce qu'ils volent, leur but étant juste de provoquer de l'angoisse et de la panique chez les expéditeurs/trices et les destinataires).
I liked my La Poste in Rennes. When I moved to my little village, there is no true La Poste. I buy stamps, mail packages and pick up packages at the tabac. When we first moved, the lady who ran it was sweet, open when she said she would be and I could buy stamps from her and take them home. That way, when I want to send my mom a letter or card, I can quickly do it. About a year ago, the sweet lady retired and a younger lady and her boyfriend bought the tabac. The close at strange hours or simply not open. I walked in to buy stamps for the US and I was told “Non.” No explanation. A friend went to mail a letter to the states and was able to. So…I can hand you my letter to mail and it gets mailed but I can’t buy stamps. Also, the boyfriend doesn’t take care of packages. It took me 4 trips to mail a package to my friend in France because they didn’t open, they were closed all day and they closed early…and she was not in the shop. I feel your pain! And…congrats on citizenship!
Seriously 🤯 ? Living in the est of France (Strasbourg) I've never had some of this issues (but in 5 years, twice, I had a package that was not for me but someone else in the building so I just put it in front of his door). The only one I had was in my natal hometown of 200 inhabitants once when we were not there, they delivered a package to the neighbors. (I am too young to remember how it was before the privatization, and there was no internet anyway, so fewer packages.) But have to keep in mind that there were LOTS of suic£&es during this privatization, and that it made the headlines for a year. So maybe they released the pressure to avoid bad publicity now.
Oh my goodness. This is so it. La Poste is like the best example of all the worst things you can find in France. I sent myself a big box of books a few days before I got back from a year living in the US, and my parents (who lived at the same place cause I was a student) were never allowed to pick it up for me. And then the day after I landed, I went and they told me it'd been shipped back to the US (mistakingly early) --' so I never got them back. It's always the worst when I must deal with them. Now my whole family have things delivered to "un point relai" or I'll have my orders shipped to my local bookshop as if I lived there so I know there's always someone there. But it's so frustrating to not have a proper post office. Courage !
A mon ancienne adresse je vivais dans une petite impasse avec 4 immeubles de 6 appartements chacun et le postier regardais l'adresse et le numéro de l'immeuble mais pas le nom, donc il mettait les lettres aux hasards dans les boites au lettres de l'immeuble. Tout les jours on devait vérifier notre courrier et remettre ceux des voisins qui ont atterris dans notre boite au bonne endroit. Pour les colis si on était pas la il sonnait à tout les interphone de l'immeuble(voir même parfois celui d'à-côté) pour le refourguer à un voisin car il ne savait pas remplir un bordereau. Quand on en a fait part à la Post ils ont répondu 'oui on sait mais votre quartier est géré par un travailleur handicapé mental alors on ne peut rien faire.' J'ai rien contre les travailleurs handicapé mais s'il n'est pas apte à faire un travail, il faut lui proposer un autre poste et pas pénaliser les clients, et encore heureusement qu'on s'entendait bien entre voisin.
Okay another one :-) Their customer service, or lack there of, when trying to deal with a missing or broken package. I track all my parcels, and insure accordingly. When something arrived broken, it meant trying to call La Poste to try and be re-imbursed. My French wasn't up to navigating the phone system. I asked for help at our little village post office. She very kindly phoned them for me. (I love our little post office!) It took her 45 minutes to get through, navigate their system speak to someone, speak to another person, and I think there was even a third person, before finally information was given over, a photograph shown to my La Poste person so she could confirm. They have moved much of this now online, thankfully, but also it means if you don't have all the correct information they simply send an automated no response email to say they can't help.
Au sujet du colis qu'ils ne vous ont pas donné même si vous aviez le même nom : on ne sait jamais quand un couple va bien ou quand il est en plein divorce, par ex. Les histoires où Monsieur a subtilisé un colis ou un courrier important à Madame ou inversement, alors qu'ils étaient en instance de divorce, sont légions à la Poste. Mais effectivement le facteur aurait dû écrire le nom complet sur l'avis !
Aw dang. Been living in France for 13 years. I don't always agree with everything you say in your videos lol But... BUT.... This one? Absolutely, 100% accurate, 100% lines up with my experience here in France. La Poste, can't live with them, can't live without them. My latest story: I work from home. I have to mail a letter and don't have stamps at home. I took my one break to rush to La Poste (I had to drive, I live in the countryside) and... the one in my town was closed. Unexpectedly. No reason given. Ok, cool cool cool. I decide to get it done anyways, and drive to the next town, 10 min away. AND GUESS WHAT? La Poste in the next town over ALSO CLOSED EARLY. UNEXPECTEDLY. My blood pressure is rising just recalling this. Happened last month.
Omg Kate, I feel your pain. It's such a shame that La Poste as such a bad service, you want to pull your hair out!! I am french, been living in America for almost 23 years where customer service is the best in the world I think, so nice!!! Good luck
I have lived in France for 20 years and I can attest that La Poste is one THEE worst places to be, along with La Prefecture. Having to go there can be extremely anxiety-inducing. And, while I must admit, I've had a few decent interactions with the staff, the majority are complete jerks. That said, they've actually "improved" their service within the past 5 years or so. People who don't live in France might not know this but La Poste is a post office as well as a banking institution and there used to be one line for both, which was a nightmare. Now, they have created two spaces, one for postal needs and one for banking. It's still a crappy place to go with a broken system of customer service but it's much better than before, which isn't saying much.
It's so accurate. I was born and raised in France. I moved 5 and half years ago to the states. I was so surprised how much more professional and efficient USPS was then la poste. I had my fair share of bad service and interactions with la poste even that small amount of time. I remember as a child going there and my parents having issues with it.
The "Poste" is similar in Italy. Highly unreliable, and hard to comprehend for a foreigner/American. I am going to miss shopping online in the US. I'm moving back to Italy in a little over a month and trying to bring as much as I can from here, especially clothes.
Bonjour, je suis français et n'ayant pas un bon niveau en anglais, je dépose ce commentaire en français. Votre expérience concernant la dépose d'un avis de passage disant que j'étais absent de mon domicile, alors même que je n'avais pas bougé de la journée, m'est arrivé de très nombreuses fois. Étant handicapé, je n'ai pas la possibilité de récupérer les colis au bureau de poste, je suis donc contraint de demander à des amis de le faire pour moi. Imaginez ma gêne et mon embarras. Résultat ? Je boycotte les services de La Poste. Pour des commandes sur Internet, je regarde les conditions de livraison du site, et si je constate qu'ils utilisent La Poste, Colissimo ou tout autre partenaire de La Poste, je ne commande tout simplement pas. Par exemple, la Fnac. Un parfait exemple du comportement général de l'administration française vis-à-vis des usagers.
It happens to me all the time, I'm home waiting for my package to be delivered and no one shows up, then I find the slip in my mailbox, it gets on my nerves every time having to go to the post office and same thing, the open hours are often changing with just a notice upon the door that you just be aware of when you're in front of the office ! OMG it's so annoying... And no apology to anyone French or Foreigner. I hate this, so when it's possible I have my delivery made "en point relais" so I just have to go to pick it up when I'm available to do so.
Omg.... this was kind blowing. I can't believe the post in France is so bad. Holy crap.... sounds even worse than the DMV in America or the immigration office in Korea (where I live now), lol
I can relate so much.. in Brussels it is the same situation! You get a notice that you weren't home even though you were. Last week I went to pick up my package and I could see it laid down on the counter but the lady working said their post system was broken and she couldn't find my package so I had to come back another day even though I could see it...
Just caught up with this. Great video. So sad and hilarious all at once. I agree that La Poste grumpy staff tops up the chart for worst customer experience in France. Wait until you need La Poste to deliver carte de séjour from Préfecture. Supposed to be registered delivery. You better be praying for miracle! 🙏Congratulations on your French citizenship. No need to go through Préfecture again Happy New Year 🤩!
Bonjour! Personnel question: Have you ever spoke to a French native but lived 25 years(nearly half his life)in a British speaking country and having trouble speaking his mother tongue? It is quiet frustrated for myself, again.
100% true, the service is very poor. Even during the lockdown my friend got the paper that they could not deliver because she wasn't there. So she had to break the lockdown to go pick up her package... You are very lucky with the opening hours. Mines are 10:00-12:00 then 14:00-16:30... So impossible for normal office hours ..
My initial experience with the French post office goes back 50 years, when it was called the PTT (poste, télégraphe, téléphone). In those days making a long-distance phone call was a big deal. Only a minority of residences had a landline. You had to give the person at the guichet the phone number you wanted to call and then wait until they told you, for instance, "Cabine 3," where you would be connected to the person you were calling. Local calls were simpler, because all you needed was a token (un jeton). Phone booths on the streets, were not so numerous, but cafés had them, usually downstairs outside the WC. You could also send a written message by way of the air-propelled underground system all over Paris, called un pneu(matique). Similar to those tubes you use in a drive-up window at an American bank. Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be, hélas! You also make me think of my generalized complaint in France that I call the "C'est l'autre caisse" syndrome. After waiting in line you are finally told that whatever you wanted is "pas possible" there and that you should have gone to the other line leading to the other window.
I'm French and i just try to avoid going to La Poste. I already let letters I knew I didn't need, just to not go there. We cannot avoid this company then they do whatever they want... Sad but true. On the other hand they receive so many complains, it has to be difficult to face the pressure on a daly basis for the employees.
C'est marrant parce qu'étant française je n'ai pas l'impression que la poste soit un tel cauchemar. Et pourtant j'ai aussi des histoires similaires de colis perdus où tu passes des jours à appeler des dépôts et des bureaux de poste pour le localiser. Mes parents ont même failli se fâcher avec une partie de ma famille parce que les faire part envoyés pour la naissance de mon petit frère ne sont jamais arrivés. Ils ont été perdus par la poste... Mais c'est comme si c’était normal, on ne s'attend pas à mieux donc on est pas déçus...
Ah la poste! 🤦♀️ Faut un sang froid monumental pour pas les étrangler. A l’époque où j’étais encore en France, quand ils me voyaient arriver. Ils faisaient la gueule. J’ai passé beaucoup de temps à leur hurler dessus. Mais l’administration, faut s’y préparer. Du coup après 1 ou 2 fois de , il vous manque si et ça (alors que j’ai toute la liste demandée) j’avais un dossier avec moi. La tête qu’ils font quand ils se rendent compte qu’ils pourront pas me dire de revenir 🤪🤪🤪 Enfin bref, même ici (a l’étranger, pays Anglo-saxon ) c’est pas mieux mais ou moins ils sont un peu plus cool 😎
Bwahahaha This is so on point, especially today. I have an online boutique so have to deal with La Poste every day. My biggest rant is La Poste moving all international postage online. And it is way way way slower! Since most of what I send is international, I now have to spend at least an hour on their website, every day. And for the privilege, I now get to buy more ink as I have to print everything myself. Let's add purchasing sticky labels, more paper, those weird Douane envelopes... And finally after all the postage is paid for and printed, I have to navigate the new CN23 form online - which is not available as a professional on La Poste, so I have to sign out and re-sign in my personal account as for some reason it is only available there. I get the whole 'eco' thing of online, but technically what La Poste has done is shifted the paper, ink etc to the customer. Of course the costs savings La Poste are enjoying from this are certainly not found in the postage prices. And don't get me started on the potential of losing our village post office! Luckily it is part of our Mairie, and they tell me they will never shut it. Small Blessings. Ahhh, I feel a little better now. So glad to know I am not alone in my disgust of La Poste's work ethics and methods.
TOTALLY AGREE!!! I hate la poste for the same reasons. Sometimes is closed, they leave the card because the don't want to deliver packages, they have lost so many things and, same " quelqu'un a reçu le colis" Who? Not me!! I was at home!! Incredible! 🤦🏻♀️ I'm Italian, I thought Poste italiane were the worst, no no no, la post est pire!!!!
You made my day 🤣🤣🤣🤣 The only place scariest that the post office is IKEA (at least for males of any age). Can’t wait to see the episode 2 about the customer experience inside the premises with the very infamous stamping machine that don’t spare you the line 😈
nah, only the "decoration part" of IKEA, when accompanied by female companion is a problem. IKEA all by myself is perfectly fine ! (go fetch the article in the warehouse entering from the exit, pay, gone in less than 15 minutes)
Same in Italy (with Poste Italiane). They even lost my credit card (I was supposed to get the new card sent at my home address) and they said I had to find out where it was!! And I did it, I tried my best but with no luck. Finally I forced them to help me and do their job only because I went complaining at the post office again. They lost my credit card but they acted like it wasn't their fault...
"Bougez avec la poste 🎶🎵" Pour ceux qui veulent un résumé de la poste, y a le sketch de Dany Boon qui est toujours d'actualité. --- There is a comedian that talked about La Poste, it's funny and very much true.
Ahhh, la poste .. I worked with a lot of Romanians in the UK so I was thankful to have a very specific bullet in my verbal arsenal to give me some kind of catharsis. I call it La "Proste" (roll the R, it's not a nice word)
I definitely feel that an apology to all foreigners living in France is in order, concerning some of our public administrations. And I say that as a civil servant.
Everything you said is 100% accurate. La Poste is horrible. This was not the case 20-30 years ago. But nowadays, I get stressed every time I have to go to the Post Office because I don't know what will happen to me there. And the fact that they dare to assert that there was no one at my house when the delivery was made is terribly annoying. La Poste is the worst public service in France.
It's been this way for years. I think a lot of the parcel delivery is contracted out. They can't be bothered to deliver it as they are under pressure. Wouldn't it be nice if they were under pressure to deliver? The other problem is that even within 48 h of the time of the (non) delivery slip, the package is not actually at the place it is supposed to be. Third sticking point, when you check the online tracking, it will often be indicated as delivered, sometimes to the address for delivery and at other times to the parcel collection centre. So the tracking info you get can be off in terms of time and in terms of place. As for the slip being in the surname alone, French admin will obviously require the package to be handed over to the person named. (Example: imagine receiving private and confidential personal documents that you don't want someone else living at the address to see).
At first I thought, why is she angry at the post office? After listening I agreed with all you said, just I'm so used to it I'm not angry anymore :-) You're right, how come you can't get a package for your husband while the postman can deliver it to a neighbour you don't even know? It happened to me too, I had to wait until the neighbour decided to leave a note in my mailbox saying she had the parcel!
This all sounds awful!! I've had some issues with our local post office, even here in the states, but never like that. In France, the only time I had interaction with "La Poste" was at the counter they USED to have on the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to send a post card there with the Eiffel Tower post mark (which they did, nicely) and then offered to sell me pre-paid envelopes to put other post cards into because it was cheaper and would be sent faster. I thought that was very sweet. But it was also just two ladies and the counter was part of a gift shop, so they were probably more into customer service, anyway. But you are not the first person I've heard of in France have issues with La Poste. Ugh!
Watching to your video, I have rage flashbacks 😂 Living in France is hard, for French people and foreigners alike! In my experience, a package has a 50% chance of arriving without any issue.
I think they pre-fill the avis de passage and just put it in the mailbox. Period. Always faster than getting upstairs knocking and waiting for the people to eventually open. Sad but true
Beautiful ! 💓 Very nice Vlog, great clip...you can learn and see a lot from it.. Can You make clip.. Organisation, cleaning office desk - Declutter Paperwork in home or your office?
4:00 yeah. It's the usual. Also why not having une permanence for peoples that actually work regular work hours, no no, let's close at 4pm. Anytime I can get delivered to a store or a locker, i do it. They're just cutting the branch they're sitting on
Poste française , les initiales sont : P.T.T. = Petit Travail Tranquille !!! Surtout n'allez pas déranger , un fonctionnaire de la poste française , qui se repose derrière les guichets ; nous les usagers nous croyons qu'il se repose , mais en réalité ? il travaille . french post , the initials are P.T.T. = Small Quiet Work !!! Above all do not disturb , a French post official , who is resting behind the counters ; we users believe he is resting, when in reality ? he works
Vous avez raison ; ils ne font pas parti de la fonction publique . la poste tout comme la SNCF EDF -GDF , RATP ., Air France ,France télévision etc... sont des entreprises de l'état , gérer par l'état . dans chacune de ses entreprises , il y a le nom : FRANCE ! nous pouvons dire qu' ils sont assimilés fonctionnaires , tout en ayant un statut spécial très avantageux
@@ybreton6593 Pas du tout ! Plus de la moitié des agents de La poste sont des contractuels, des CDD ou des intérimaires . Quant aux avantages , ils sont inexistants !
@@lilimaka3721 bon alors , c'est dans une autre époque . a force d'avoir tiré sur la corde se sont des contractuels, des CDD ou des intérimaires qui en font maintenant les frais il est vrai que le pouvoir de nuisance de cette entreprise d'état a fortement diminuer. dans les années 60-70 a peine 24h pour envoyer une lettre à l'autre bout de la France ! en 2021 , 4 jours sont nécessaire pour envoyer un courrier administratif à 20 kilomètres .
@@ybreton6593 Dans les années 70, il n'y avait qu'un seul tarif et qu'une seule vitesse pour l'acheminement du courrier : Le courrier rapide ou prioritaire. Maintenant il y a plusieurs tarifs qui correspond à plusieurs vitesses. Le courrier non prioritaire ne prend plus l'avion , par exemple ......Les choses ont changé !
My package to Portugal came back few months later without any note. Mother was waiting these… she said-go to the post office to know why. Ha ha I said, I prefer loose my money than deal with ppl from post 🥴
@Yann St Georges "the worst version of "fonctionnaire" there is in France." The thing is, in 2021 there are probably no more than 10 % fonctionnaires working at the Poste. All the rest are worthless employees under private contrat, that's why the Poste is in the pit. It worked fine when it was fonctionnaires who did the job.
@@norbertfontaine8524 indeed, the “fonctionnaire bashing” is the most evil thing invented by neoliberals to break great tools stemming from the “conseil National de la Resistance” including the social security and retirement system
Where i live in can give a permit for them to place the package in front of the appartement door. You have to live in a house where you feel save to do so, of course.
and PS Kate: I think that I've never encounter more horrible people than USPS workers. Everytime I have to go to the Post office here, I'm already sick. I even tried to go to some other Post offices than the one in my neighborhood but it's the same: disagreeable, mean, awful.
La Poste is to France what passenger rail is to America. But rejoice! At least you don't have the nearly non-existant postal service we have in Tbilisi Georgia.
Hi Kate I always like your YT this one was 1/2 commerical (I get it ) and 1/2 pissed off. i've had my frustrating moments in Paris but most of it was because of me, my french is horrible. I can't share your frustration due to the fact that my local Post in my own neighborhood on rue des Pyrénées has always been kind and helpful, in a montmartre Post by the Blanche stop also helpful. I used to have anxiety just thinking of having to go shopping but now I just relax and do the best I can.My packages come to my door and though I have a guardien any letters or packages that need to be signed will go back to the post don't get me wrong I have had many frustrating times at the bank or Préfecture de police or Mairie when I still needed just one more paper. Your french is so good you can at least explain what is going on its a shame you are still having problems. I always think of this older woman when I first arrived in france and i couldn't get her to understand me she looked at me and said in very well spoken english with her beautiful french accent "madame if you plan to live in france then you need to learn french!" she was so right and I am much more serious about learning. Congrats on your citizenship.
We have had no problems at all with La Poste. Our delivery driver is fabulous...we live in a little rural village with no house number. UPS on the other hand.....may they rot forever in hell!!!
J'ai cru comprendre que vous avez obtenu la nationalité française. Félicitations et bienvenue dans votre nouveaux pays..... Ou il y a quelques menus problèmes. Mais bon a part ça la France peux être charmante et très belle.. Enjoy it! Gros bisous. De la part d'un franco suisse.
No doubt the one thing that will be sure to infuriate not just Americans but most people. If strikes are such a thing France, why isn't there a mass of complaints on the post in France? I agree with you that it's awful. I don't think you're over-reacting at all. No matter how I look at it, it's a major inconvenience for everyone. Not including being patient or used to it, does your husband have an easier time with the post there? And if he's experienced this, what's his reaction to the post in America in comparison? 😮💨
If you think France is bad then I can assure you that Italy is worse. Have to queue for a long time here just to get inside! I miss those automated machines posting things in France
Now you're officially french you complain like them 🤣🤣 ! And, sad part of the story, you understand why we are right to do so !! But there is even worse than la poste ! Try to transform your foreign driving licence into a french driving licence !! My mother in law has been waiting for hers for 3 years !! The office that deals with this is based in Nantes, bon courage if you try to reach them by any mean !!
Nope! Hate the place. I mean not everything is bad. But when it comes to packages, especially from overseas, it's a shit show. And you can never get surprise packages, you'll never get it. Oh oh!!! And the new law about the VAT tax, lol 😂😂😂 ah mon dieu 😂😂😂😣😭😭😭
That's because they're now using mostly underpaid subcontractors to deliver packages. When the post office was actually a Governmental service, and all post-people were state employees, there were much less problems with deliveries
lors de mon service militaire années 72 - 73 , les lettres mettaient 15 h pour Vannes - Toulon ; en 2021 , un colis ou une lettre administrative met 4 jours pour faire Rennes - Vannes . la poste avance en reculant
I taught in France from Sept 2020-March 2021. Just before going home to the U.S., I went to La Poste to ship some things home. The people there told me to use the machine, but the person standing next to the machine was like, "Oh, non Madame, c'est impossible. C'est cassée". While I was in France, I tried to be as French as possible, but on that occasion, I broke out my American stubbornness. I told them in no uncertain terms that I wasn't leaving until they tried it in front of me and showed me that it was actually broken. Lo and behold, when they tried it, the machine worked. I firmly believe that "c'est impossible" is French for "I'm lazy and I don't want to"
Most definitely.
"You arrive with every piece of paper that you need PLUS your bill for electricity rom 1980 translated into Chinese... and you still dont have everything you need" mdr. I felt this.
As for the package delivery, my bet is the mailman doesn't even have it on him. In larger cities where traffic can be hard, parcels are the ban of mailmen, if they have to many they will have to drive their route in a van rather than a motorcycle so they just pre-fill the slips and drop them in your mailbox, leaving the parcels at the post office. "La Poste" in smaller cities or countryside is a lot more human and civil.
Same in large cities in The States too. And there is package theft. I find with a lot of these videos that show the negatives or difference of living in the US vs a European country, some of the same issues living in any large US city (NYC, Boston, San Francisco, etc) or densely populated area. I guess the reason some Americans have difficulties adapting is because most of America besides those areas are very spread out.
They do the same with registered letters, I don't think it's a problem of space. And often in town the letters are delivered with bikes and the packages with a van.
I am glad that when we make the move we plan on living in a small town.
What would happen if a private company started up in France that provided excellent customer service and tried to compete with La Poste? One where they always answered, «Bien sûr!» instead of «C'est impossible.»?
Petite mise au point : La poste est une société anonyme depuis le début des années 2000. Donc à capitaux privés. Le personnel est sous contrat (CDD ou CDI). Il n'y a plus de fonctionnaires... Voila pour la forme juridique.
Promotion canapé est un film sorti lorsque la poste n'était plus considérée comme un service public
, transformée à ce moment là en EPIC (établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial) étape intermédiaire avant la privatisation. L'objectif du film consistait à discréditer grossièrement cette administration pour mieux la faire passer sous les fourches caudines. Le recrutement depuis le début des années 2000 laisse fortement à désirer. Les actionnaires recherchant le max de thunes ont amputé les budgets d'investissement au détriment de la qualité de service. Il n'y a rien à comprendre d'autre que cet enfumage est destiné à développer le profit pour LE PRIVÉ. Exit la formule "Comme une lettre à la Poste" . Grâce à l'union européenne responsable de cette évolution. Même sort pour toutes les autres administrations françaises. Update please.
Traduction : Small update: La Poste has been a public limited company since the early 2000s. So privately owned. The staff is under contract (CDD or CDI). There are no more officials ... So much for the legal form.
Sofa Promotion is a film released when the Post was no longer considered a public service
, transformed at that time into EPIC (public industrial and commercial establishment) intermediate stage before privatization. The objective of the film was to grossly discredit this administration in order to better pass it under the caudine forks. Recruitment since the early 2000s leaves much to be desired. Shareholders looking for the maximum amount of money have cut investment budgets to the detriment of the quality of service. There is nothing to understand other than this smoking is intended to develop profit for THE PRIVATE. Exit the formula "Like a letter to the Post Office". Thanks to the European Union responsible for this development. The same fate for all the other French administrations. Update please
Je suis un ancien postier , je peux affirmer que chaque colis dont la personne était absente avait un "avis de passage "ou était stipulé l'heure de passage du facteur , la date , l'heure , l'adresse du bureau de poste ou devait être retiré le colis , et la possibilité de faire représenter le colis . Je ne sais pas de quel bureau , ou de l'incompétence dont tu as fait l'objet de le part de collègues, je trouve cela inadmissible , en sachant que la poste de 2021 n'est plus celle ou j'ai travaillé dans des grandes villes à une époque ou l'on passait des concours , aujourd'hui , je me demande si les personnes embauchées à la poste , ne viennent pas que pour le salaire , les conditions de travail n'ont pas arrangé les choses depuis le passage aux 35h , et le changement de statuts de la poste , je pourrais en écrire un roman ...
I did see a drop in poste quality since it stopped being a public service and became a company before that people would be more helpful and took time to explain or research things for you. Also, the work condition in the post is appalling (again compare to before) mostly because of understaffed. Hope that can explain the situation.
That does explain a lot. Public services are better than companies in performance. Usually.
I live in the countryside near Angers and i've never had a problem of postmen not even knocking to see if i'm there. Even better, if we are actually not at home, they put a slip in the mail box saying they will come again the next day (and that's what they do !). They put the package at the post office only after 2 times of me not being at home.
But for the rest, at the postoffice, i have to agree...it's a total nonsense.
I used to live in the countryside in Southern Brittany and the Poste worked perfectly well.
Oh man, we just moved to Paris and our mail was coming perfectly. Then it suddenly stopped coming. When we put in a complaint, they said the mailman was on holiday and the substitute mailman couldn't find our very clearly labeled box and thought we moved. Old mailman comes back, still no mail. We send a registered letter to our box and it doesn't arrive and goes missing. We leave stuff in our mailbox to rule out mail theft. We send another registered letter, wait to speak to the mailman personally. He says he has delivered letters but we never got them. Birthday cards, bank information all lost. This has been going on over a month and we have literally tried everything we can think of. We now have to have mail delivered to La Poste and be charged 1 euro for every single letter :`( If anyone has any tips or contacts at La Poste, please share. The birthday cards were really sentimental and I would love to get them. We've filed a missing mail claim, and numerous complaints.
100% accurate ! Time passing by, they are still wondering why things are getting worse to them although every problem has been raised several times, but it's a little bit better outside of Paris and all big cities in general... amazing !
I agree that outside of Paris/big cities the offices are pretty good. Ours is great in our village. Limited with only morning hours but always helpful.
La poste était bien plus fiable avant, un livre est sorti cette année, "Le caché de la poste : enquête sur l'organisation du travail des facteurs", écrit par le sociologue Nicolas Jounin qui s'y est fait embauché pour faire son enquête, et il explique toute la folie de l'organisation de la poste de l'intérieur.
French post office is awful. I recently move away from Paris area and I discovered a major difference though: people at the post office are *nice*. Issues with package delivery are still very common but at least you interact with decent human beings. If only they could do their jobs... I'm working from home so I'm always there. The mailman knows it by now so I get my package at home pretty much all the time. The problem is when they are on vacation... Not so long ago, I was at home, working, and I got an email saying I was not home so I have to plan another delivery or go to the post office". Wait, WHAT? I ran to my mailbox, saw the slip, went mad. And then, saw the post office car not so far away in the street. I ran to my own car and litteraly chased them to ask them if they were kidding me?! Fortunately they apologized and gave me my package but what the hell?! Most of the time I tried to have my package delivery in a "relais colis". There's less issues with that. And I try to avoid any unnecessary deliveries (my parents sent my daughter a birthday gift two years ago... lost, never found, and Laposte did not care. This is INSANE.)
Bonjour,
Je vais m'exprimer en français pour être sûr de ne pas dire de bêtise.
3:30 - Vous êtes à Paris et votre facteur n'a que peu de temps à consacrer à chacun lors de sa tournée. C'est l'organisation de l'entreprise qui fait ça et votre pauvre facteur, ou bien votre factrice, n'y est pour rien.
Après, si cela fait parti d'un envoi Colissimo(tm), La Poste est en faute car il s'agit d'une offre spécifique et qu'il y a moyen de joindre le client. Le contrat de livraison précise une remise en main propre.
En fait, en ville tout est plus compliqué, surtout à Paris. Pour ma part, je vis en banlieue et mon facteur me dépose mes colis dans ma boite à lettre. Il sonne à ma porte longtemps car il sait que je travail dans le haut de ma maison. C'est totalement différent évidemment.
Lorsque je fais des commandes, souvent je demande une livraison en Relais-Colis. C'est super pratique. C'est pas moi qui fais la réception du colis et je peux passer au Point Relais quand je veux (pour ma part, le Café des Sports !). Simple, pratique, convivial!
Sinon, belle vidéo 👍
The mailman in France doesn't always bring packages on his/her tournée, because the mail is left on the sidewalk while they deliver the mail in buildings and packages get stolen. That's why in big cities they only leave slips
Don't worry Kate, it's the same here in New York. For instance, in my former job, we stopped using USPS to ship items to clients. And even with private companies, there are still problems. And personally, I had the same issues with UPS: was at home all day; no one buzzed the door and I found a note on the intercom saying that they tried to deliver a package and there was no one at home and I have to pick it at the closest UPS store (with no indication which one is the closest)!!! Had to find the so-called closest UPS store, went there and there was no package there (the package will be here tomorrow). It was an important package and I was very busy at this period. I've already had to be very creative to be able to stop by. I thought that I would turn like a crazy Karen at this UPS store. First, I was at home and no one tried to deliver me a package! Secondly, why on the note it is said that I can pick up the package at the UPS store when the package is still not there?... Anyway, it took me almost 10 days to be able to go back to the UPS store and to get my package! So Kate... again, don't worry: everywhere the administrations are messy :-)
My counsel would be that you leave Paris. I live in a small town in France and really appreciate La Poste services. When I have to send a package, I do everything on their web site and I put the package in my mail box where the 'facteur' takes it the nest morning. And when I'm waiting for a package and know I won't be home, I just put a notice on my front door asking the 'facteur' to deliver it to my neighbor and that's what he does. I send and receive many packages and never had any problem with La Poste.
1) ASAP, vas voir le sketch (sorry : le stand-up) de Dany Boon intitulé La Poste : c'est EXACTEMENT tout ce que tu viens de dire !
2) Y a encore pire : les voleurs qui bossent dans les centres de tris postaux et qui en profitent pour piquer lettres, colis, plis, paquets...Au mieux, c'est par appât du gain (ils revendent leur butin), au pire, c'est par pur sadisme (ils détruisent ce qu'ils volent, leur but étant juste de provoquer de l'angoisse et de la panique chez les expéditeurs/trices et les destinataires).
So true! I'm french and i hate French post office. It's worse since it became a private company. Happy to hear that you're a French citizen now! 🍾
I liked my La Poste in Rennes. When I moved to my little village, there is no true La Poste. I buy stamps, mail packages and pick up packages at the tabac. When we first moved, the lady who ran it was sweet, open when she said she would be and I could buy stamps from her and take them home. That way, when I want to send my mom a letter or card, I can quickly do it. About a year ago, the sweet lady retired and a younger lady and her boyfriend bought the tabac. The close at strange hours or simply not open. I walked in to buy stamps for the US and I was told “Non.” No explanation. A friend went to mail a letter to the states and was able to. So…I can hand you my letter to mail and it gets mailed but I can’t buy stamps. Also, the boyfriend doesn’t take care of packages. It took me 4 trips to mail a package to my friend in France because they didn’t open, they were closed all day and they closed early…and she was not in the shop. I feel your pain! And…congrats on citizenship!
Seriously 🤯 ?
Living in the est of France (Strasbourg) I've never had some of this issues (but in 5 years, twice, I had a package that was not for me but someone else in the building so I just put it in front of his door). The only one I had was in my natal hometown of 200 inhabitants once when we were not there, they delivered a package to the neighbors.
(I am too young to remember how it was before the privatization, and there was no internet anyway, so fewer packages.) But have to keep in mind that there were LOTS of suic£&es during this privatization, and that it made the headlines for a year. So maybe they released the pressure to avoid bad publicity now.
Oh my goodness. This is so it. La Poste is like the best example of all the worst things you can find in France. I sent myself a big box of books a few days before I got back from a year living in the US, and my parents (who lived at the same place cause I was a student) were never allowed to pick it up for me. And then the day after I landed, I went and they told me it'd been shipped back to the US (mistakingly early) --' so I never got them back. It's always the worst when I must deal with them. Now my whole family have things delivered to "un point relai" or I'll have my orders shipped to my local bookshop as if I lived there so I know there's always someone there. But it's so frustrating to not have a proper post office. Courage !
A mon ancienne adresse je vivais dans une petite impasse avec 4 immeubles de 6 appartements chacun et le postier regardais l'adresse et le numéro de l'immeuble mais pas le nom, donc il mettait les lettres aux hasards dans les boites au lettres de l'immeuble. Tout les jours on devait vérifier notre courrier et remettre ceux des voisins qui ont atterris dans notre boite au bonne endroit. Pour les colis si on était pas la il sonnait à tout les interphone de l'immeuble(voir même parfois celui d'à-côté) pour le refourguer à un voisin car il ne savait pas remplir un bordereau. Quand on en a fait part à la Post ils ont répondu 'oui on sait mais votre quartier est géré par un travailleur handicapé mental alors on ne peut rien faire.' J'ai rien contre les travailleurs handicapé mais s'il n'est pas apte à faire un travail, il faut lui proposer un autre poste et pas pénaliser les clients, et encore heureusement qu'on s'entendait bien entre voisin.
Okay another one :-) Their customer service, or lack there of, when trying to deal with a missing or broken package. I track all my parcels, and insure accordingly. When something arrived broken, it meant trying to call La Poste to try and be re-imbursed. My French wasn't up to navigating the phone system. I asked for help at our little village post office. She very kindly phoned them for me. (I love our little post office!) It took her 45 minutes to get through, navigate their system speak to someone, speak to another person, and I think there was even a third person, before finally information was given over, a photograph shown to my La Poste person so she could confirm. They have moved much of this now online, thankfully, but also it means if you don't have all the correct information they simply send an automated no response email to say they can't help.
Au sujet du colis qu'ils ne vous ont pas donné même si vous aviez le même nom : on ne sait jamais quand un couple va bien ou quand il est en plein divorce, par ex. Les histoires où Monsieur a subtilisé un colis ou un courrier important à Madame ou inversement, alors qu'ils étaient en instance de divorce, sont légions à la Poste. Mais effectivement le facteur aurait dû écrire le nom complet sur l'avis !
Aw dang. Been living in France for 13 years. I don't always agree with everything you say in your videos lol But... BUT.... This one? Absolutely, 100% accurate, 100% lines up with my experience here in France. La Poste, can't live with them, can't live without them.
My latest story: I work from home. I have to mail a letter and don't have stamps at home. I took my one break to rush to La Poste (I had to drive, I live in the countryside) and... the one in my town was closed. Unexpectedly. No reason given. Ok, cool cool cool. I decide to get it done anyways, and drive to the next town, 10 min away. AND GUESS WHAT? La Poste in the next town over ALSO CLOSED EARLY. UNEXPECTEDLY.
My blood pressure is rising just recalling this. Happened last month.
Omg Kate, I feel your pain. It's such a shame that La Poste as such a bad service, you want to pull your hair out!!
I am french, been living in America for almost 23 years where customer service is the best in the world I think, so nice!!!
Good luck
I have lived in France for 20 years and I can attest that La Poste is one THEE worst places to be, along with La Prefecture. Having to go there can be extremely anxiety-inducing. And, while I must admit, I've had a few decent interactions with the staff, the majority are complete jerks. That said, they've actually "improved" their service within the past 5 years or so. People who don't live in France might not know this but La Poste is a post office as well as a banking institution and there used to be one line for both, which was a nightmare. Now, they have created two spaces, one for postal needs and one for banking. It's still a crappy place to go with a broken system of customer service but it's much better than before, which isn't saying much.
It's so accurate. I was born and raised in France. I moved 5 and half years ago to the states. I was so surprised how much more professional and efficient USPS was then la poste. I had my fair share of bad service and interactions with la poste even that small amount of time. I remember as a child going there and my parents having issues with it.
The "Poste" is similar in Italy. Highly unreliable, and hard to comprehend for a foreigner/American. I am going to miss shopping online in the US. I'm moving back to Italy in a little over a month and trying to bring as much as I can from here, especially clothes.
Bonjour, je suis français et n'ayant pas un bon niveau en anglais, je dépose ce commentaire en français.
Votre expérience concernant la dépose d'un avis de passage disant que j'étais absent de mon domicile, alors même que je n'avais pas bougé de la journée, m'est arrivé de très nombreuses fois.
Étant handicapé, je n'ai pas la possibilité de récupérer les colis au bureau de poste, je suis donc contraint de demander à des amis de le faire pour moi. Imaginez ma gêne et mon embarras.
Résultat ? Je boycotte les services de La Poste.
Pour des commandes sur Internet, je regarde les conditions de livraison du site, et si je constate qu'ils utilisent La Poste, Colissimo ou tout autre partenaire de La Poste, je ne commande tout simplement pas. Par exemple, la Fnac.
Un parfait exemple du comportement général de l'administration française vis-à-vis des usagers.
It happens to me all the time, I'm home waiting for my package to be delivered and no one shows up, then I find the slip in my mailbox, it gets on my nerves every time having to go to the post office and same thing, the open hours are often changing with just a notice upon the door that you just be aware of when you're in front of the office ! OMG it's so annoying... And no apology to anyone French or Foreigner. I hate this, so when it's possible I have my delivery made "en point relais" so I just have to go to pick it up when I'm available to do so.
Omg.... this was kind blowing. I can't believe the post in France is so bad. Holy crap.... sounds even worse than the DMV in America or the immigration office in Korea (where I live now), lol
I can relate so much.. in Brussels it is the same situation! You get a notice that you weren't home even though you were. Last week I went to pick up my package and I could see it laid down on the counter but the lady working said their post system was broken and she couldn't find my package so I had to come back another day even though I could see it...
Just caught up with this. Great video. So sad and hilarious all at once. I agree that La Poste grumpy staff tops up the chart for worst customer experience in France. Wait until you need La Poste to deliver carte de séjour from Préfecture. Supposed to be registered delivery. You better be praying for miracle! 🙏Congratulations on your French citizenship. No need to go through Préfecture again Happy New Year 🤩!
Bonjour!
Personnel question:
Have you ever spoke to a French native but lived 25 years(nearly half his life)in a British speaking country and having trouble speaking his mother tongue?
It is quiet frustrated for myself, again.
My post office works well in my city, Vichy, in my Parisian pied-à-terre, in the country I visit, in Normandy...
"Bougez avec la Poste!", If there is one place on earth where you can't move on, it is in Post Office
100% true, the service is very poor. Even during the lockdown my friend got the paper that they could not deliver because she wasn't there. So she had to break the lockdown to go pick up her package...
You are very lucky with the opening hours. Mines are 10:00-12:00 then 14:00-16:30... So impossible for normal office hours ..
My initial experience with the French post office goes back 50 years, when it was called the PTT (poste, télégraphe, téléphone). In those days making a long-distance phone call was a big deal. Only a minority of residences had a landline. You had to give the person at the guichet the phone number you wanted to call and then wait until they told you, for instance, "Cabine 3," where you would be connected to the person you were calling. Local calls were simpler, because all you needed was a token (un jeton). Phone booths on the streets, were not so numerous, but cafés had them, usually downstairs outside the WC. You could also send a written message by way of the air-propelled underground system all over Paris, called un pneu(matique). Similar to those tubes you use in a drive-up window at an American bank. Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be, hélas!
You also make me think of my generalized complaint in France that I call the "C'est l'autre caisse" syndrome. After waiting in line you are finally told that whatever you wanted is "pas possible" there and that you should have gone to the other line leading to the other window.
🤣🤣🤣😂😂30 ANS vous êtes français🤔🤔 au cas où je pense que la France vous manque 😉
I'm French and i just try to avoid going to La Poste. I already let letters I knew I didn't need, just to not go there. We cannot avoid this company then they do whatever they want... Sad but true. On the other hand they receive so many complains, it has to be difficult to face the pressure on a daly basis for the employees.
C'est marrant parce qu'étant française je n'ai pas l'impression que la poste soit un tel cauchemar. Et pourtant j'ai aussi des histoires similaires de colis perdus où tu passes des jours à appeler des dépôts et des bureaux de poste pour le localiser. Mes parents ont même failli se fâcher avec une partie de ma famille parce que les faire part envoyés pour la naissance de mon petit frère ne sont jamais arrivés. Ils ont été perdus par la poste...
Mais c'est comme si c’était normal, on ne s'attend pas à mieux donc on est pas déçus...
Ah la poste! 🤦♀️ Faut un sang froid monumental pour pas les étrangler. A l’époque où j’étais encore en France, quand ils me voyaient arriver. Ils faisaient la gueule. J’ai passé beaucoup de temps à leur hurler dessus. Mais l’administration, faut s’y préparer. Du coup après 1 ou 2 fois de , il vous manque si et ça (alors que j’ai toute la liste demandée) j’avais un dossier avec moi. La tête qu’ils font quand ils se rendent compte qu’ils pourront pas me dire de revenir 🤪🤪🤪 Enfin bref, même ici (a l’étranger, pays Anglo-saxon ) c’est pas mieux mais ou moins ils sont un peu plus cool 😎
Bwahahaha This is so on point, especially today. I have an online boutique so have to deal with La Poste every day. My biggest rant is La Poste moving all international postage online. And it is way way way slower! Since most of what I send is international, I now have to spend at least an hour on their website, every day. And for the privilege, I now get to buy more ink as I have to print everything myself. Let's add purchasing sticky labels, more paper, those weird Douane envelopes... And finally after all the postage is paid for and printed, I have to navigate the new CN23 form online - which is not available as a professional on La Poste, so I have to sign out and re-sign in my personal account as for some reason it is only available there. I get the whole 'eco' thing of online, but technically what La Poste has done is shifted the paper, ink etc to the customer. Of course the costs savings La Poste are enjoying from this are certainly not found in the postage prices. And don't get me started on the potential of losing our village post office! Luckily it is part of our Mairie, and they tell me they will never shut it. Small Blessings. Ahhh, I feel a little better now. So glad to know I am not alone in my disgust of La Poste's work ethics and methods.
I lived in France and since moving back to North America I am a super appreciative of the Amazon here since they leave everything.
I’m too old and American to ever adapt to that. I would freak the hell out. Thank you for your awesome videos! I love them all.
Wow. I suddenly have a new-found respect for USPS. Who knew?
TOTALLY AGREE!!! I hate la poste for the same reasons. Sometimes is closed, they leave the card because the don't want to deliver packages, they have lost so many things and, same " quelqu'un a reçu le colis" Who? Not me!! I was at home!! Incredible! 🤦🏻♀️ I'm Italian, I thought Poste italiane were the worst, no no no, la post est pire!!!!
You made my day 🤣🤣🤣🤣 The only place scariest that the post office is IKEA (at least for males of any age). Can’t wait to see the episode 2 about the customer experience inside the premises with the very infamous stamping machine that don’t spare you the line 😈
nah, only the "decoration part" of IKEA, when accompanied by female companion is a problem.
IKEA all by myself is perfectly fine ! (go fetch the article in the warehouse entering from the exit, pay, gone in less than 15 minutes)
Same in Italy (with Poste Italiane). They even lost my credit card (I was supposed to get the new card sent at my home address) and they said I had to find out where it was!! And I did it, I tried my best but with no luck. Finally I forced them to help me and do their job only because I went complaining at the post office again. They lost my credit card but they acted like it wasn't their fault...
I'm French and I totally get your frustration. I wish I could say I had a better experience but NOPE...
"Bougez avec la poste 🎶🎵"
Pour ceux qui veulent un résumé de la poste, y a le sketch de Dany Boon qui est toujours d'actualité.
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There is a comedian that talked about La Poste, it's funny and very much true.
Ahhh, la poste ..
I worked with a lot of Romanians in the UK so I was thankful to have a very specific bullet in my verbal arsenal to give me some kind of catharsis.
I call it La "Proste" (roll the R, it's not a nice word)
I definitely feel that an apology to all foreigners living in France is in order, concerning some of our public administrations. And I say that as a civil servant.
Everything you said is 100% accurate. La Poste is horrible. This was not the case 20-30 years ago. But nowadays, I get stressed every time I have to go to the Post Office because I don't know what will happen to me there. And the fact that they dare to assert that there was no one at my house when the delivery was made is terribly annoying. La Poste is the worst public service in France.
It's been this way for years. I think a lot of the parcel delivery is contracted out. They can't be bothered to deliver it as they are under pressure. Wouldn't it be nice if they were under pressure to deliver? The other problem is that even within 48 h of the time of the (non) delivery slip, the package is not actually at the place it is supposed to be. Third sticking point, when you check the online tracking, it will often be indicated as delivered, sometimes to the address for delivery and at other times to the parcel collection centre. So the tracking info you get can be off in terms of time and in terms of place.
As for the slip being in the surname alone, French admin will obviously require the package to be handed over to the person named. (Example: imagine receiving private and confidential personal documents that you don't want someone else living at the address to see).
At first I thought, why is she angry at the post office? After listening I agreed with all you said, just I'm so used to it I'm not angry anymore :-)
You're right, how come you can't get a package for your husband while the postman can deliver it to a neighbour you don't even know? It happened to me too, I had to wait until the neighbour decided to leave a note in my mailbox saying she had the parcel!
This all sounds awful!! I've had some issues with our local post office, even here in the states, but never like that. In France, the only time I had interaction with "La Poste" was at the counter they USED to have on the Eiffel Tower. I wanted to send a post card there with the Eiffel Tower post mark (which they did, nicely) and then offered to sell me pre-paid envelopes to put other post cards into because it was cheaper and would be sent faster. I thought that was very sweet. But it was also just two ladies and the counter was part of a gift shop, so they were probably more into customer service, anyway. But you are not the first person I've heard of in France have issues with La Poste. Ugh!
Hi Kate, I just noticed a possible grammatical error in the title: "Addition" instead of "Edition" :)
Watching to your video, I have rage flashbacks 😂 Living in France is hard, for French people and foreigners alike! In my experience, a package has a 50% chance of arriving without any issue.
I think they pre-fill the avis de passage and just put it in the mailbox. Period. Always faster than getting upstairs knocking and waiting for the people to eventually open. Sad but true
Beautiful ! 💓 Very nice Vlog, great clip...you can learn and see a lot from it.. Can You make clip.. Organisation, cleaning office desk - Declutter Paperwork in home or your office?
LOL! I shouldn't laugh. Your experiences are totally relatable. The Post Office in France is exactly like the Post Office in Canada.
4:00 yeah. It's the usual. Also why not having une permanence for peoples that actually work regular work hours, no no, let's close at 4pm. Anytime I can get delivered to a store or a locker, i do it. They're just cutting the branch they're sitting on
Poste française , les initiales sont : P.T.T. = Petit Travail Tranquille !!! Surtout n'allez pas déranger , un fonctionnaire de la poste française , qui se repose derrière les guichets ; nous les usagers nous croyons qu'il se repose , mais en réalité ? il travaille .
french post , the initials are P.T.T. = Small Quiet Work !!! Above all do not disturb , a French post official , who is resting behind the counters ; we users believe he is resting, when in reality ? he works
Petite correction, les travailleurs de la poste ne sont pas des fonctionnaires.
Vous avez raison ; ils ne font pas parti de la fonction publique . la poste tout comme la SNCF EDF -GDF , RATP ., Air France ,France télévision etc... sont des entreprises de l'état , gérer par l'état . dans chacune de ses entreprises , il y a le nom : FRANCE ! nous pouvons dire qu' ils sont assimilés fonctionnaires , tout en ayant un statut spécial très avantageux
@@ybreton6593 Pas du tout ! Plus de la moitié des agents de La poste sont des contractuels, des CDD ou des intérimaires . Quant aux avantages , ils sont inexistants !
@@lilimaka3721 bon alors , c'est dans une autre époque . a force d'avoir tiré sur la corde se sont des contractuels, des CDD ou des intérimaires qui en font maintenant les frais il est vrai que le pouvoir de nuisance de cette entreprise d'état a fortement diminuer. dans les années 60-70 a peine 24h pour envoyer une lettre à l'autre bout de la France ! en 2021 , 4 jours sont nécessaire pour envoyer un courrier administratif à 20 kilomètres .
@@ybreton6593 Dans les années 70, il n'y avait qu'un seul tarif et qu'une seule vitesse pour l'acheminement du courrier : Le courrier rapide ou prioritaire. Maintenant il y a plusieurs tarifs qui correspond à plusieurs vitesses. Le courrier non prioritaire ne prend plus l'avion , par exemple ......Les choses ont changé !
My package to Portugal came back few months later without any note. Mother was waiting these… she said-go to the post office to know why. Ha ha I said, I prefer loose my money than deal with ppl from post 🥴
"La Poste" has a really bad reputation in France. Their employees are considered to be the worst version of "fonctionnaire" there is in France.
the main issue being that there are no more fonctionnaires there anymore.
private subcontractors paid pennies per package delivered is much worse
@Yann St Georges "the worst version of "fonctionnaire" there is in France." The thing is, in 2021 there are probably no more than 10 % fonctionnaires working at the Poste. All the rest are worthless employees under private contrat, that's why the Poste is in the pit. It worked fine when it was fonctionnaires who did the job.
@@norbertfontaine8524 indeed, the “fonctionnaire bashing” is the most evil thing invented by neoliberals to break great tools stemming from the “conseil National de la Resistance” including the social security and retirement system
Where i live in can give a permit for them to place the package in front of the appartement door. You have to live in a house where you feel save to do so, of course.
and PS Kate: I think that I've never encounter more horrible people than USPS workers. Everytime I have to go to the Post office here, I'm already sick. I even tried to go to some other Post offices than the one in my neighborhood but it's the same: disagreeable, mean, awful.
Frankly, be honest. LA POSTE ship in your home colis from any order on line. They say the time, morning, or after noon.
La Poste is to France what passenger rail is to America. But rejoice! At least you don't have the nearly non-existant postal service we have in Tbilisi Georgia.
Hi Kate I always like your YT this one was 1/2 commerical (I get it ) and 1/2 pissed off. i've had my frustrating moments in Paris but most of it was because of me, my french is horrible. I can't share your frustration due to the fact that my local Post in my own neighborhood on rue des Pyrénées has always been kind and helpful, in a montmartre Post by the Blanche stop also helpful. I used to have anxiety just thinking of having to go shopping but now I just relax and do the best I can.My packages come to my door and though I have a guardien any letters or packages that need to be signed will go back to the post don't get me wrong I have had many frustrating times at the bank or Préfecture de police or Mairie when I still needed just one more paper. Your french is so good you can at least explain what is going on its a shame you are still having problems. I always think of this older woman when I first arrived in france and i couldn't get her to understand me she looked at me and said in very well spoken english with her beautiful french accent "madame if you plan to live in france then you need to learn french!" she was so right and I am much more serious about learning. Congrats on your citizenship.
We have had no problems at all with La Poste. Our delivery driver is fabulous...we live in a little rural village with no house number. UPS on the other hand.....may they rot forever in hell!!!
2:12 got me laughing so hard almost spilled my coffee xdxd
It's the exact same in Germany and their postoffices 😓
Your video is hilarious!!! It is terrible but also very funny to hear it! I grew up in France and I forgot all about it! Happy to be in the states 😂
Delivery & pick up difficulties are similar to those I experience with FedEx in the States. Byzantine.
J'ai cru comprendre que vous avez obtenu la nationalité française.
Félicitations et bienvenue dans votre nouveaux pays..... Ou il y a quelques menus problèmes. Mais bon a part ça la France peux être charmante et très belle..
Enjoy it!
Gros bisous.
De la part d'un franco suisse.
Perhaps the mailman just thinks that rules are made to be broken.
No doubt the one thing that will be sure to infuriate not just Americans but most people. If strikes are such a thing France, why isn't there a mass of complaints on the post in France? I agree with you that it's awful. I don't think you're over-reacting at all. No matter how I look at it, it's a major inconvenience for everyone. Not including being patient or used to it, does your husband have an easier time with the post there? And if he's experienced this, what's his reaction to the post in America in comparison? 😮💨
I wonder if they are so unhelpful to encourage you to use the machines and then their job will be obsolete.
I think you nailed it on the head. It must be a nightmare to work there. They probably know. Don’t worry about speaking French.
Remontada de la France: ua-cam.com/video/RnSKcIVDyt4/v-deo.html
Eeeeek interesting video! Fyi you misspelt 'post office edition', just wanted to clear that up. Congrats on the citizenship x
If you think France is bad then I can assure you that Italy is worse. Have to queue for a long time here just to get inside! I miss those automated machines posting things in France
Hate is such a strong word…. Very much dislike could have worked as well. ❤️ I come in peace.
No. Regarding La Poste, "Hate" is about right.
Now you're officially french you complain like them 🤣🤣 ! And, sad part of the story, you understand why we are right to do so !!
But there is even worse than la poste ! Try to transform your foreign driving licence into a french driving licence !! My mother in law has been waiting for hers for 3 years !! The office that deals with this is based in Nantes, bon courage if you try to reach them by any mean !!
And yeah, it'll be a cold day in hell before French person will apologize HAHAHA
Nope! Hate the place. I mean not everything is bad. But when it comes to packages, especially from overseas, it's a shit show. And you can never get surprise packages, you'll never get it. Oh oh!!! And the new law about the VAT tax, lol 😂😂😂 ah mon dieu 😂😂😂😣😭😭😭
You didn’t hold back! La Poste is horrible. It’s France at its worst.
Ha! Yes it is a nightmare.
ps its a common thing in whole europe
Madame , rendez vous compte , vous critiquez les PTT et la fonction publique française ? MAIS , VOUS ALLEZ DECLENCHER UN GREVE
Congratulations on your new citizenship
I agree 100%
youre lucky you find a note they passed lol or not stolen on the way or the way back toamazon in france or packages delivered empty
9:20 and that they would have given it without question if they actually delivered it at home!
I think is an European thing. Is just the same in Portugal
Congrats on the new citizenship !
All true 100%!!!!