WITHOUT A TRACE

I haven't indulged in a post office rant for some time and I must admit that the service is quicker [by Sicilian standards] and friendlier than it used to be. 

But what has happened to the posta prioritaria, the option whereby, provided you were posting within the EU - of which the UK is, at the moment, still a member - and that the letter or packet weighed less than 2 kg, you could send items at a reasonable price and be fairly certain that they would reach their destination quickly? At one time, items sent from here to the UK or vice versa would arrive in two days. The only drawback used to be that you couldn't track or get a receipt for your posted item.

Alas, things have not been arriving speedily for some time now and last week I learned that the service has been changed to a two-tier one, with a tracking option. I thought I'd give this a go and was handed a slip with a QR code and tracking number.  After a few days, I attempted to track my item online and was informed that the number wasn't valid. I don't know why I was surprised!

When I made enquiries at the post office, I was told, "Oh, no, it doesn't work from this end for items sent abroad but you can tell the recipient in Britain and they can trace it from there." This might be fine if you are posting something to friends or family but I had sent an important document to a government department, where the employees are unlikely to have time to trace it or to have Italian speakers on hand to deal with the hardly straightforward post office site! And anyway, why hadn't the clerk who took the item informed me that you couldn't trace it from Italy? Because he didn't know and this, in turn, would be because nobody had bothered to tell him.

Come on Italy, it's traceable or it isn't traceable.  Stop saying it is for show and give us back our speedy prioritaria service [until the Brexit, at least].  I'd be interested to know if anyone is having difficulties with "priority post" from the UK.

There endeth my rant, along with my pazienza.