Do Polish workers have post-Christmas break?

Do Polish postal workers have a break or something after christmas?

Considering before Christmas i sent some stuff to UK which took about 4 days to arrive (normal) I am always amazed at how late things arrive coming the other way (if they arrive at all).

I received notice of an Amazon order being dispatched on 22nd but on 31st I still have no sign of it. Likewise, a number of items posted before then still haven't arrived.

Is this normal or is there some kind of post-christmas build up which explains the delays?

I guess it's normal ;) in the sense that you usually wait here for donkey's year for any kind of mail to arrive regardless of the season. But obviously, there is certain build up, as you wrote it yourself, around the Christmas time.

I got a better one for you, my friend living in the same city (!) posted a letter to me, which I received a month and a half later.

The only thing you can do is get used to it or find a way to avoid Poczta Polska.

for our amusement please let us know when/if they ever arrive.

there are a few threads explaining why you should not use poczta polska.

When I first came here, people used to say that any parcels should be sent, if possible, to an office address - they are less likely to be opened and stolen.

Perhaps this is still true.

Sometimes things get stolen or just disappear when poczta polska is involved.

Or it might have gone missing in the UK...hardly an uncommon occurance!

we'd better answer the question.

a non working weekend followed christmas... same again for new year.

could be another week or so before anything arrives.

On one hand, you have to take into account that it is frequent for a letter/card posted from Poland (or at least Warsaw) to a foreign destination (at least in Europe) to travel faster than one from Warsaw to Warsaw (also true when you compare Europe to Warsaw with Warsaw-Warsaw). I have had several examples this year again with Xmas cards. I am told that this is a remnant of the old times, when all resources/efforts at Poczta Polska were focused on international traffic rather than domestic, in order for PP to show its best face internationally!

On the other hand, I have lived for some time in 4 countries (Poland, Canada, Uk and France) and by far the worst postal service I encountered was Royal Mail. I cannot recall the number of items I received at my address which were meant for someone else, which always led me to wonder how much of my mail was delivered elsewhere.. But that was in the nineties, maybe things have improved now!

Things have got worse - Royal Mail has detoriated to the point where the permanent staff are nothing short of inept, incompetent and useless. The staff are refusing to adapt with the times, and with it, the service is going down the drain.

Poczta Polska are no worse than the Royal Mail - and in some aspects, are vastly better. The integration between the post offices and the delivery is excellent in Poland, whereas in the UK, it's disjointed and useless. The fact that they see Poczta Polska not having post offices in every village as "a disgrace" tells you a lot - most villages in the UK have lost their post offices!

Mind you, missing stuff isn't just at christmas... bought a set of old photos from US about 3 months ago. Never arrived. The guy sent replacements to UK. They were then sent to me here.


Oh, I know that one too. When I was in Glasgow I lived at 88 Copeland Rd. I kept getting mountains of mail for 88 Nelson Street (Obviously they could only read numbers). The bloody sorting office was 100 metres from my house. I complained loads of times and took the mail back and gave it to them face to face. One time I was missing something I'd been waiting for. I said I wanted the postie to go to Nelson Street and ask all the people if they'd received it (Nelson street was a tenament, so about 8 flats; Copeland Rd was a house).

The post woman replied, "Oh, there's no point, there's nobody living there with your name!" She just couldn't get it when I pointed out there was nobody in my house with any of the names of the dozens of people living in Nelson Street.


Yippee! Both arrived this week. Only two weeks, not that bad! I'm still waiting for the photos posted from US in November.

I got a delivery today as well from the UK that was sent on the 22nd December, really can't complain!

What? Impossible. In a textbook which I used about 20 years ago they said that British Post was a very professional reliable institution.

The Parliament has just voted for non working Eve 24th Dec starting next year. So far, shops were open until 2 - 3 pm on the day.
What do I think of it??? Actually, nothing special coz I am flexible and adapt easily to changing conditions if that`s what most people expect and they are able to explain their sound reasons in a sensible way.

Makes sense because the 24th is actually the main even of Christmas celebrations in Poland. The 24th as a working day (and 26th as a holiday) have never made sense to me.

There do need to be at least two shopping Sundays before the 24th though.