The Cayman Islands Postal Service has added a new service to assist customers who are expecting small packages or parcels from overseas that have been improperly addressed.

The service, “Watch for Request”, was developed for customers who, for whatever reason, were unable to include a post office box number and/or postcode when placing an order. As the public is aware, the CIPS delivers mainly to post office boxes and not physical addresses. The exception to this is when using CIPS courier service, Express Mail Service(EMS).

Deputy Postmaster General for Operations and Human Resources Melissa Martinez-Ebanks explained that unofficially, CIPS has been providing this service over the years, but CIPS staff have been seeing an increase in the number of parcels arriving without post office box numbers. “In the past, customers have called CIPS staff to request us to keep an “eye out” for the item, and though the parcel post staff makes every effort to assist, the volume is such that they can’t adequately track all these requests. So we decided to formalise the process,” Ms Martinez-Ebanks said.

The new process is linked to CIPS parcel post database and the system automatically checks each new parcel processed against the “list” and alerts CIPS staff when an item on the “list” is received. “This allows us to notify the addressee via email, when the item arrives.  Our goal is that this process will assist customers who are waiting on a parcel and eliminate the need for them to keep checking back to see if their item has arrived,” Ms. Martinez-Ebanks said.

“As part of our normal processing of parcels and packages, which Customs has requested be held for inspection, a printed notice is sent to the mail box listed as part of the item’s delivery address. This form is to be used when an addressee wishes for the CI Postal Service to “watch for” a specific item.

The problem arises when these items arrive without a post office box number and or postcode, because there is often no way to identify the persons, which means CIPS has to return item to sender,” Ms. Martinez-Ebanks said.

In order to make a “watch for” request, the addressee must have a valid item number. This service is for items that can be tracked with a 13-character alpha-number unique identifier, which begins and end with two letters (i.e. CP12345679US). It is most often listed on the receipt of posting, which the sender received when the item was posted.  If customers suspect their item is being shipped to a physical address rather than the post office box, then they can now go to CPIS website www.caymanpost.gov.ky – forms page and fill out the relevant information. The forms will also be available at district post offices.