Parcels Lockers And Collecting Something Sent To You

Receiving a parcel in Lisbon involves more steps than in a city of houses with letterboxes. The building type is the cause, and the workarounds are worth knowing before something is sent.

The street door is the obstacle

Most residents live in apartment buildings with a locked street door, no concierge and no secure place to leave anything.

A courier who cannot get in has no fallback, so a delivery fails on the first attempt far more often than it does where doors open onto the street.

Buildings with a porter are the exception rather than the rule, and where one exists, they are the reason deliveries in that building simply work.

Pickup points absorb most of the failures

Networks of pickup points operate out of small shops, kiosks and stationers, which hold parcels on behalf of couriers for a fee paid by the sender.

Choosing one at the point of ordering is usually more reliable than home delivery, and it removes the need to be present at an unpredictable hour.

Holding periods are limited, commonly around a week, after which the parcel is returned, so the notification matters.

Lockers work on a code

Automated locker banks sit at stations, supermarkets and petrol stations, and a code sent by message opens the compartment.

They run at all hours where the host site is open, which makes them the best option for anyone with an irregular schedule.

Size is the limitation. Anything bulky will not be routed to a locker, and the system will substitute a counter pickup instead.

The post office has its own process

Postal items that could not be delivered go to a designated post office, and a card or message tells you which branch and until when.

Collection requires identification, and if someone else is collecting, written authorisation plus their own identification is generally needed.

Post office queues are longest in the middle of the day and around midday closing, and considerably shorter first thing in the morning.

Items from outside the customs union add a step

Parcels arriving from outside the customs union may be held pending duties and charges, and nothing moves until those are settled.

The carrier normally sends a request for information or payment, and the item sits in a bonded facility while it waits.

Because holding periods apply there too, an unread message is the most common reason a parcel from abroad is eventually returned to the sender.