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I need help retrieving a package in St Jean Pied De Port

Julz10

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
September 2023
Hi all,
I sent a parcel back to Australia from the post office in SJdP and the customs declaration wasn’t completed to Customs Australia standards so they have sent it back to the post office by air. It should arrive in about a week. I was told by Australia post that if the post office or a recipient makes a complaint then the postage will be refunded. It was addressed from (personal address removed by moderator, please make contact via private message for details) It’s important for us to get it back because it contains a work computer. Can any who speaks French and English help me?

Photos of the package removed since they contain personal information.
 
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HI Julz
just to clarify - you're looking for somebody to pick up the returned package (when it arrives) from the post office in SJPdP and then either forward it to you (in Spain?), hold onto it or fully complete the customs requirements and re-send it to Australia? I'm not sure which. And I don't understand the part about the refund.
I suggest you remove all the photos from your post, as they have personal address information. Ask whether someone here can help, and if so, ask them to send you a personal message (called a Conversation on this forum).
There'll probably be a moderator come along in a minute with a better solution... in which case Mods please feel free to completely delete this message!
 
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I think you would need to get in touch with someone local in SJPP (Pilgrims office?) and ask what they need in terms of paperwork to be able to retrieve your parcel on your behalf. Then they need to figure out why it was returned (most likely since you shipped something with batteries, a laptop). ...and then take it from there.
 
I want it returned to Australia. I will try and contact the Pilgrims office. Thanks
 
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Julz10 said:
I want it returned to Australia. I will try and contact the Pilgrims office. Thanks
Click to expand...
Jules I'd suggest getting in touch with Ivar as he handles pilgrim baggage and parcel storage. I'm Australian and going to Santiago but not until April next year, hope this is resolved for you before then!
 
CaminoAgain said:
Jules I'd suggest getting in touch with Ivar as he handles pilgrim baggage and parcel storage. I'm Australian and going to Santiago but not until April next year, hope this is resolved for you before then!
Click to expand...
Sorry, Ivar is in Santiago and wouldn't be able to help in France.
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Julz10 said:
I want it returned to Australia. I will try and contact the Pilgrims office. Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi, I had sent a package from St Jean Pied de Port to my fatherinLaw in Western Australia. The sender address I put on it was la Villa ESPONDA because that is where we stayed on 18 September. The parcel arrived in Australia and sat in Customs for almost a month before they decided to send it back to La Villa ESPONDA (I hope) because they said the Customs Declaration wasn’t done properly. I have sent a Whats app message to La Villa ESPONDA about returning it but have had no response. I was told by Australia Post that if the person who receives it or the post office in St Jean makes a complaint that I will be issued a refund for the postage paid. (Not sure that will happen) - Then a new Customs Declaration would have to be completed with weight of parcel and value and it could be resent. If a refund isn’t issued I am happy to pay for the postage again. I would really love someone to check with the Post Office and La Villa ESPONDA to see if the parcel arrived and resend it back to the Australian address on it. My email is [email address removed by moderator] if it’s easier to contact me that way.

[Moderator note: Please contact @Julz10 by private Conversation first, to exchange contact information. It is generally advised NOT to post personal contact information on a public internet forum. To start a private Conversation, click on the profile picture, and then on Start Conversation. ]
 
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Hopefully a Good Samaritan will be able to put aside a few hours of their Camino to assist.
These things always take a while......
But you may have to just 'write it off' I suspect.
 
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Robo said:
Hopefully a Good Samaritan will be able to put aside a few hours of heir Camino to assist.
These things always take a while......
But you may have to just 'write it off' I suspect.
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Thanks but I don’t want to write it off. I need the gear inside the parcel. Yes I know it takes time and I’d really appreciate some kind soul helping me.
 
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Julz10 said:
Thanks but I don’t want to write it off. I need the gear inside the parcel. Yes I know it takes time and I’d really appreciate some kind soul helping me.
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Maybe you tried this already, but if you just emailed them, did you try calling them? Maybe someone speaks English? Or you know someone who speaks French? The numbers are on the website:

Just a suggestion, but sometimes things happen quicker that way.

VILLA ESPONDA

Située au centre-ville de Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, La Villa Esponda datée de 1896 vous propose des chambres, studios, appartement.Les hébergements off...
www.villaesponda.com
 
Julz10 said:
I’d really appreciate some kind soul helping me.
Click to expand...
If you don't get a response here from someone local who can help you, another forum with readers who might be able to help would be the TripAdvisor St Jean Pied de Port forum. The TripAdvisor forums often have a steady group of local readers who try to help visitors. Good luck!
 
Robo said:
Maybe @Monasp has some ideas?
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Just FYI - MonaSP is either "THE" manager, or "A" manager at the St. Jean Pied de Porte Pilgrim's Office, located at #39 Rue de la Citadelle in St. Jean Pied de Porte. She is a regular Forum participant and is always very helpful.

I am confident that she will have some good suggestions of you. Start a private conversation (see envelope button in upper right corner of screen). Mona's Forum name is "MonaSP."

Please let us know if she was able to help in any way.

Hope this helps.

Tom
 
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Thanks Tom. I will email Mona and let you know. La Villa ESPONDA responded yesterday saying it hadn’t arrived but I might ask if she’ll visit the post office and check.
Cheers
Julie
 
Julz10 said:
Thanks Tom. I will email Mona and let you know. La Villa ESPONDA responded yesterday saying it hadn’t arrived but I might ask if she’ll visit the post office and check.
Cheers
Julie
Click to expand...
I’m checking through but can’t find her email address. Can you please send it to me?
Julie
 
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The post office at SJPdP is about a 10 minute walk from the Pilgrim Office. Consider that, IF Mona can help you, you will have to write to her with specific permission to pick up the parcel for you.

This being France, and the French bureaucracy being among the most intractable in the world, you should assume that the note must be in French. Rely on Mona’s advice.

At this point, it’s your best chance.

Hope this helps,

Tom
 


The French post/administration is not more or less bureaucratic than many other national systems.
There are rules to follow, there is nothing more to it than that!!

Good luck to the OP. Picking up something at a local post office involves showing some kind of ID-card to verify the package will get to the right owner.
 
Julz10 said:
the customs declaration wasn’t completed to Customs Australia standards so they have sent it back to the post office by air. It should arrive in about a week.
Click to expand...
Julz10 said:
La Villa ESPONDA responded yesterday saying it hadn’t arrived
Click to expand...
Hi @Julz10, I understand that you are worried about this unexpected course of events but why don't you just wait until the parcel has been delivered to the (sender's) return address that you had indicated on the customs declaration form (I guess you filled in a CN-23 form, right?) and which is the address of the hotel where you had stayed in SJPP?

The parcel will be either delivered to the reception of the hotel who can then take it from there or, in case the mail person insists on delivering it to you personally and you are obviously not there, they will leave a form with the details and requirements about how the parcel can be retrieved by a third person at the SJPP post office.

Just curious, as this may be helpful to know for others: What was it that Customs Australia did not like about how you had filled in the customs declaration form? I know that the content of the goods in the parcel has to be described in great detail on the Description part of the form. In the Category part of the form, I usually just tick the box "Gift" and not "Other" because that requires additional explanation. I hope you did not tick "Return of merchandise" ...

BTW, occasionally I have been asked to add a pro forma invoice even when the value of the goods is low and well below the €425 limit but not always. No idea why ...

I was amused when, in the opposite direction (non-EU to EU), I once received Hiker's Wool that I had ordered from a producer and vendor in New Zealand. It was obviously commercial merchandise and I had paid for it but they had ticked "Commercial sample" on the form. I guess this choice might smoothen transit through the world's customs offices.
 
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Now, now, I was not trying to be accusatory.

In my experience with postal Systems in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal, some are more or less casual than others.

I have found the French system, to be very professional, but very strict. Then again, the German postal system, was also VERY officious.

I am NOT beingjudgemental. I used the language I did to try to enforce the need for preparing a permission document for a third party to retrieve a parcel addressed to you.

It's all good. These bureaucrats are just doing their jobs. I understand that. I used to be one of them myself - before retiring.

Tom
 
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CaminoAgain said:
Jules I'd suggest getting in touch with Ivar as he handles pilgrim baggage and parcel storage. I'm Australian and going to Santiago but not until April next year, hope this is resolved for you before then!
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Ivar’s located in Santiago, not SJPDP.
 
I found sending packages from France to our home address to be absolutely incredibly easy !!! The staff are organized. Helpful and their computerized touch screens make our country look absolutely Stone Age !! Also. I ended up leaving my CC there by mistake. I finally retraced my steps and the gentleman who had helped me had called my hotel to let them know where it was as well. I honestly can’t speak highly enough of my experience with the French.
 
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