Be careful of the "GPS" in Italy!

Question

In my whole life I thought "stamp" means a little piece of paper issued by the post office - until I came to Venice.

I wanted to buy some stamps for the post cards, then I saw the sign "we sell stamps" in front of some shops. "How friendly!", I thought. Here I got two lessons:

Lesson 1: Frauds are usually more friendly before they get your money.

Lesson 2: Public service usually won't waste money on marketing.

I came in and asked for some stamps. The shopkeeper just gave me some "stamps" from the GPS(Globe Postal Service) and didn't explain to me that the GPS are not official postal service.

I didn't notice anything wrong until I tried to send the postcards. I saw the words on the "stamp": "Post only in GPS Mail Box". Then I know I was cheated.

I tried to find more information about the GPS and I found the post on Trip Advisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g18776…

There are lots of complaints from the year 2013 to 2017. And the frauds are not only in Venice, but also in Rome, Florence, and other cities in Italy.

Here is another post:

https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowTopic-g187…

I wish I read those posts before!

Maybe the private postal service like GPS could deliver the post cards, but they're trying to mislead the innocent tourists to believed that they're public services. That is fraud.

And the GPS are more expensive and, at the same time, slower. There is a sentence in their FAQ (https://www.globepostalservice.com/faq/

):

"To the speed of delivery, GPS preferes the constant care of the customer and the product. "

Yes, that means they're slow as hell.

I hope all other people could benefit from my bad experience and will avoid the GPS successfully.

By the way, Venice is a great city. All other things are wonderful.

NapOrsoCapo71 · Accepted Answer

You were cheated if your post cards won't arrive.

Jack S · Answer

I was cheated even if my post cards would arrive, because they were misleading me to believe that they were official postal service.

NapOrsoCapo71 · Answer

Thanks to the EU there are no more official postal services, there are those owned by the State and those owned by private companies. Tobacconists are free to sell the stamps they want, but I agree that it would be nice to warn customers about the small number of GPS boxes around.

Jack S · Answer

I don't quite understand that why in Italy there're such things like GPS. I was in Prague, Salzburg, Paris, and other European cities, there were only public post office.

I think Italy shouldn't give up the postal service. It's a important public service.

Ariel-Scarlett · Answer

Apologies if this has been asked before; what does the "normal" stamp look like? If I want my post to be sent by the state owned postal office? I can find pictures of the GPS stamps by googling but don't know how to look for the other kind.

dbabe · Answer

Did their signs claim to be official post offices for the country? If not, you weren't mislead. From everything I've heard about this company you will get your mail, it will just take a while. If your mail never gets delivered you can consider yourself cheated, if it does arrive you weren't.

Donna

maudsters · Answer

Ariel - just go to an official post office - Poste Italiane - and you won’t go wrong..

Jack S · Answer

I don't know either. But next week I'll go to Rome and will buy the normal stamps, then I'll answer your question.

Jack S · Answer

But they're trying to mislead you and avoid the legal issue, just take a look at their poster:

https://imgur.com/a/RNJgSM4

They didn't use the word "stamp", but the picture looks quite like a stamp if you don't look carefully.

Yes, they don't claim that they're official. They're too smart to do that. But still, they're trying to manipulate the innocent tourists.

I know they're not illegal, but they're evil. I would suggest everyone to avoid it.

NapOrsoCapo71 · Answer

> I don't quite understand that why in Italy there're such things like GPS.

Because the post services market has been liberalised, what's so difficult to understand? I agree with you, but We live in 2018 and the free market won, Jack.

Do you expect only state owned phone companies to sell SIMs? EU is doing the same with postal services.

Italians have disliked their (cheap) public system for so long that everybody thinks GPS to be a better option. Then they try it and start thinking that maybe Poste Italiane wasn't so slow after all...

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