Registered Mails

I'm a self-confess online shopaholic.

And I always find it bizarre when people get upset that their registered mails take a while to reach them.

"I have paid for registered mail and this is taking too long for a registered mail to reach me!" is a normal grouse online.

I wonder if these people know the difference among a registered mail, normal mail and couriered mail?

Registered mail is exactly like a normal mail. It wont take a shorter time to reach the intended recipient. The only difference is that a registered mail has a tracking system. You can tell at which point of the delivery it is at. Is it still at the mailing house? Or is it on its way to the intended recipient. Also, registered mail requires the person who receives it to sign off on a docket. If there is no one to do so, the registered mail gets sent back to the mailing house only for delivery to be rearranged again. Therefore, registered mail never gets lost in the mailing process, unlike normal mail.

The delivery process is a lot more cumbersome than normal postage. And that is the reason why I seldom opt for registered mails when I do my online shopping because there is never anyone at home to sign off my purchase and I hate it when my purchases get sent back to the mailing house. I have to either make a trip to to the mailing house over the weekend or arrange for it to be dropped off at my nearest post office AND of course, I have to make a trip down to the post office to pick it up.

TROUBLESOME!

If you want express delivery, courier is the way to go. I think Singpost does speed delivery too and it's called SpeedPost. This can be delivered on the same day it is mailed out and someone has to sign off the when s/he receives it. It can be anyone, including your security guard, if you have one. If I am not wrong, I have never come across an online seller that sends purchases through courier. Courier services are not cheap.

There you go. So if you opt for registered mail when you online shop, please don't be under the impression that it will take half the time to reach you compared to normal mail. It doesn't. The only perk is you are able to track where your purchase is and it is almost guaranteed never to be lost in the mail because of the tracking number assigned.

Happy shopping!