Lost property

WARNING RE LOST PROPERTY:

LEAVING THINGS BEHIND COULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE IF YOU WANT US TO POST THEM ON TO YOU.

Such are the things that people leave behind now and ask us to send on that we have had to employ someone specifically to deal with these things. Sending something back to the owner, even internal to Italy, involves going to a specific post-office – different post offices deal with different things and places, parcelling up in specific ways, as determined by Italian rules and regulations, filling out complicated forms – many relating to the possibility of terrorism, buying special stamps from another place all together, not to mention queuing up in all these various places…..indeed, a whole battery of very time-consuming things.

So, I am alerting you that you should insure your things because it may be cheaper for you to claim on your insurance than it is to pay us and the Italian postal service to send something back to you, especially if you live in a country, such as America, that requires an even bigger battery of investigations and documentation, predicated on a parcel entering the country, and costs at least 100 euros to send from this end, exclusive of our charges. And, other countries are starting to follow their example.

The point is, irrespective of how small an item is, the labour at our end is still the same. And, for this labour, regrettably, we must charge a minimum of 30 euros in order to cover our administrative costs, the time involved and the expertise required in handling the bureaucracy. Add to this, the cost of the postage, determined by the country it is being sent to, and you could have yourself quite a bill.

Therefore, if you want anything returning by us, the following tariffs will apply :

OUTSIDE OF THE USA

–                      40 euros for something very small eg beads, a special bra…….anything that can be fitted easily into a small Jiffy bag;

–                      80 euros for a sweater or an equivalent article of clothing;

–                      160 euros for something bulky or heavy but not so bulky or heavy that it can’t be carried.

TO THE USA

–                      add an extra 100 euros to all the above costs (the postage and the time involved is more costly).

Clearly, if you can make your own arrangements to have the article picked up by a friend, relative or courier, then, we can arrange to have it left with our friends, who own Café Di Mezzo, Madonna di Lugo, Spoleto (PG) 06049, Umbria, Italy. A parcel can be picked up from Café Di Mezzo any day but Sundays and festival days. The cost in this case will be 30 euros, to include the necessary packaging.

If you wish us to collect an item from somewhere other than one of our apartments and/or outside of central Spoleto, then, please add 20 – 30 euros (depending where we have to collect it from) to the above costs to cover us for the transport and extra time taken to retrieve the item.

In all cases, I will invoice you via Paypal, using the above criteria, and, once I have received the payment, I will arrange for the item(s) to be sent on.

Please note that we accept no responsibility, should the item be lost in the post, after we have sent it to you. Neither will we investigate such a loss on your behalf – again, it would be all too costly, time-consuming and complicated for us. All we can assure you of is that we will post it, once we have received the appropriate payment from you.

If you wish us to take out insurance or pay an extra premium on your behalf to ensure that you have some means of cover or redress with the postal service, should the item be lost in the post, you should add a further 20 euros to the costs listed above and we would send you the documentation we have received from the post office so that you may follow it up in such circumstances.

Again, I apologise for the seemingly stiff costs involved, but, I can assure you, they are unavoidable and, I am sure that you would reach the same conclusion if you were in my position.

Saluti, Norma