Of the many customer service options the Swiss post office offers, the one I use most frequently is a package delivery service called PickPost. Like many people, I have a busy schedule that varies day to day, so I’m not always home when my mail carrier tries to deliver packages, and sometimes the little “You have a package” slips the carrier leaves get lost or misplaced with the rest of my mail. That’s why I signed up for a PickPost address.
Image credit: SwissPost.ch
Here’s how it works: PickPost is a free delivery service offered by the Swiss post office. La Poste customers can sign up for a PickPost account online here. Customers pick their own unique customer ID and select a preferred delivery point for package delivery (e.g., a particular post office, a train station). There are more than 700 delivery points available in Switzerland, and customers can use any of those delivery points at any time.
Packages must be addressed to the customer with his or her customer ID and delivery point information (this complete address is provided when customers sign up for a PickPost account). Then, when a package is delivered, the customer is notified by SMS message and/or email. Any parcels delivered are held for the user for a period of time (usually 1 week). To pick up a package, the customer needs only a valid ID (e.g., passport, Swiss driver’s license) and a copy of the text / email message. I just bring my cell phone with me to the Poste and show the SMS message to the clerk for pick-up.
Image credit: SwissPost.ch
I use my PickPost account primarily for receiving packages from my family and things I order online, and I have everything delivered to the La Poste office closest to my house. My family members all have my PickPost address, and I keep the same address saved to my online shopping accounts, too.
Picking up packages is as easy as stopping by La Poste on my way home each day. One other advantage is that I am often able to get my packages the same day they arrive (thanks to the SMS messages and email alerts) instead of having to wait until the next business day, which is what I had to do for packages before I discovered PickPost.
PickPost – one of the many unexpected services offered by the Swiss post office!
Thanks to PickPost, I don’t have to worry about misplacing collection slips like this anymore! Image credit: SwissPost.ch
A note of warning: PickPost works for any package coming through regular or international mail, but it won’t work for packages sent via international shipping carriers like DHL, FedEx, or UPS. Those carriers need a physical address to deliver a package (something I learned the hard way after a very confusing conversation with a DHL dispatcher!), so you would need to use a home or business address, not PickPost, for those deliveries. PickPost also won’t deliver unregistered mail.
To learn more about PickPost, including to sign up for your own PickPost address, visit Swiss Post’s website by clicking here.
Photo courtesy of Supplychaindigital.com
We are a group of international women living in Geneva, Switzerland. If you would like to join the AIWC, please visit our website at http://www.aiwcgeneva.org/.
Living In Geneva 
Thanks for this nice explanation. I stumbled upon the word “PickPost” quite by accident when looking for the address of the main post office in Martigny (which I visited in 1973). A Web search led me to this page. Very informative, but not useful for me, as i live near Seattle. Cheers.