Finding a parcel sent through regular post is a hunter's game in Kuwait. You might be lucky and end up receiving your package or you may never know where it went after the tracking stops upon arrival in Kuwait. Oftentimes, packages and parcels sent via regular post arrive in Kuwait only to be lost in the system for days, weeks or months. When one finally is able to track it down, the parcel may have been sent to an area entirely different and unconnected with the recipient's address.
Also, not all post offices have the same procedures for receiving parcels. At the regular post office in the addressee's area, the receiver will not pay for any stamp or custom duties, while in the two main offices, they may have to. Of course, a courier service is faster and more reliable, but much more expensive.

After investigating the distribution of parcels to see why a parcel may be sent to an area that doesn't match the receiver's address, it has been found that the end point is often determined by the way in which the parcel was sent. The accompanying graph shows the letter codes of parcels according to the shipment method and the post office where it will arrive.

For example, if the parcel contains an item bought online, the recipient sometimes has the option to choose the kind of postal service. But in most orders, the buyer is forced to select a certain type of service, which then decides the receiving post office.

Those renting a PO Box at a post office - if they provided this address to the sender - should receive it at this PO Box address. Those who don't have a box can simply write their home or office address to receive the parcel. If the postman goes to the address and doesn't find the recipient, he will take the parcel back to the post office in this area and call the receiver to pick it up from there.

In both these cases - whether the parcel arrives at the area post office or the recipient collects it personally from the postman - the receiver will not pay any kind of fees. But if they receive the parcel at the Hiteen or Sideeq post offices, the receiver will have to pay custom and stamp fees of KD 3.500.

The receiver can check the code of the parcel by the tracking number. The first letters will show at which post office the parcel will arrive. So if the sender used the EMS post service, it will arrive in Hiteen. Parcels with the letter C will arrive in Sideeq, while registered parcels with the letter R and ordinary mail with the letters U/L will arrive in the post office of the addressee's area. The receiver can also track the parcel by entering the tracking number on the postal shipment tracking section of the official website of the ministry of information (www.moc.gov.kw).

By Nawara Fattahova