Post office pains

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August 27, 2005 · Filed Under England, Italy, Milan

There is something that Italy and the UK have in common. Queues in post offices. They are diabolical in both countries, but possibly worse in Italy. I remember popping out of work during the afternoon in the UK to go to the post office - either I did this or I spent up to an hour hanging around in a queue which snaked and weaved all the way through the proud postal service's premises. Needless to say, the experience of whiling away time in the local post office did not enthrall me. I hated it.

The post offices in Milan are the same but worse. I couldn't pop out of work even if I wanted to get round the queue problems. You see the blasted places close at 1 pm. Our place is very close to the local post office and I often wander by and see frighteningly long trials of rather unhappy looking Milanese. I do my level best to avoid going near a post office here, although I've discovered that the post office which is part of the central station complex is very often nice and empty, or just has a minor queue. However, it's a pain to have to actually spend half an hour getting there.

By now, you will have got the idea. Post offices here (in Milan -not sure about other places) are synonymous with long waits. Obviously, the fact that getting served in the post office is probably only moderately quicker than the process of aging has escaped the notice of those who, er, manage this organisation because they have started a bank service within the post office. Great move. This now means than apart from those queuing up to settle their gas bills and collect their pensions, there are those who wish to apply for credit cards, pay tax bills and try to establish why the bank transfer from great aunt Maria has not turned up yet. The result of all this turns the already painful process of queuing in the post office into an absolute torture (And you run the risk of getting into the wrong queue, too).

What I just cannot understand is just why people should open up a bank account with a place that suffers from the most horrendous queues. Are they mad? The ads being run on the telly at the mo promote even more services to tempt you away from traditional banks. Oh how I laugh hollowly. I'd rather stuff my money in my mattress than open an account with the post office.

Please tell me someone out there whether these queues are just a phenomenon particular to Milan.

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2 Responses to “Post office pains”

Anna Curtis on March 10th, 2007 5:55 am

Help–Could you help me; How, as a Brit, does one pay utility bills in Italy? I have never done this before and need to start since my mother has died.

Is the only way through the post office? do they take cheques, credit cards, debit cards? My mother used to go to each office and pay them personally. There must be a better way, surely.

Please enlighten me. Many thanks in advance. Anna
Alex on March 10th, 2007 3:34 pm

Hi Anna,

Sorry to hear that your mother has passed away. I’ll try to give you a little advice re paying utility bills. Here goes:

You can pay utility bills in various ways. You could go to the offices of each utility, but that would be a bit of a pain.

As you mention, you can pay all gas and electricity bills at any post office, and, generally, they accept the Italian Bancomat debit cards. They may take cheques, but I don’t know and I’m not too sure about credit cards either.

Water usage charges, water rates, are generally paid as part of the service charge when people live in a block of flats. Another odd charge concerns rubbish collection. This charge is sometimes part of the service charge and sometimes not.

There is also an Italian equivalent to the council tax called ICI, but reminders are not always sent out, so it is possible to go for a few years before getting a nice large bill and fine for non-payment.

Having said the above, the easiest way to settle most bills is to set up a direct debit arrangement with your bank. This is easy to do if you have an Italian bank.

It is also possible to pay some bills via a bank transfer from an Italian bank account, although it depends on the type of bill you receive - pre-completed ‘bollettino premarcato’ payment slips cannot be paid from a bank account, whereas payment slips that do not show the ‘importo’ amount and ‘intestato’ - person who pays the bill, can be paid via a bank account.

I would check out the direct debit system if I were you. Oh, and watch out for Telecom Italia the Italian British Telecom - they have been known to bill people for mysteriously high amounts and it is almost impossible to get out of paying. You need to look at past bills to understand how high the charge should be, but if no-one is now living in the house, then the Telecom bill should be no more than the fixed line rental.

Finally, I think that is all, there is the TV licence, which is paid annually, a reminder is sent out for this.

Hope that helps a little. Ask if you need to know more, and I will try to help.

All the best,

Alex