Isle of Man Post Office is pleased to announce details of its last posting dates, and opening and closing times across its services for the festive period, along with other important information for customers.
Airmail bound for Africa and Middle East should be sent no later than December 2nd, while Cyprus, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Eastern Europe (excluding Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia) is December 6th and the Caribbean, Central and South America is December 7th. Mail destined for Greece, Australia and New Zealand must be sent by December 9th, with Czech Republic, Germany, Italy and Poland by December 13th. Those posting to Canada, Finland, Sweden and the USA should post items by December 14th. Meanwhile, Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland should be sent by December 15th. Finally, December 16th is the last posting date for France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and Ireland.
For friends and family of HM Forces personnel, mail must be sent by no later than December 9th for static BFPOs and November 25th for operational BFPOs. Don't forget friends and family can continue to send letters and parcels up to 2kg free of charge to any BFPO address.
The last posting date for sending letters, large letters and packets to the UK and using our parcel service -Parcelforce 48 is December 21st while last posting dates for local mail and Parcelforce next day and Special Delivery next day guaranteed service for UK, Channel Islands and local delivery is December 22nd. For full details of last posting dates visit www.iompost.com/Christmas.
From November 21st to January 14th Isle of Man Post Office will be implementing some service enhancement trials in certain areas in order to better serve our customers and the community. Trials which are opt-in include: alternate parcel delivery arrangements, parcel delivery notifications by SMS, acceptance of MiCard as a form of ID, online tracking of notice left parcels (IM1-4 only) and extended opening hours. Customers of the selected areas have already been written to and invited to partake in the trials. Further information about the trials and where they are taking place is available at www.iompost.com/trials.
With the exception of the trials at some post offices, the Post Office network will be open as normal in the lead up to Christmas. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve Post Offices will close at 12.30. Post Offices and delivery offices will be closed on Christmas Day (December 25th) through till December 27th inclusive and January 2nd, 2016. On January 3rd, Post Offices and delivery offices will be open as usual. Any business customers who would like to discuss their collections (including private boxes) and deliveries during the Christmas period are invited to call the Business Development Team on 698444.
On December 24th the posting counter at Customer Services Centre at Postal Headquarters, Douglas will be open for customers collecting and sending parcels until 14.00 and on December 31st it will close at the normal time of 12.30. Alternatively, customers that miss their parcel delivery can arrange for their item to be redelivered to their home address by completing an online request. Or, to avoid missing any deliveries altogether, customers can sign up for our Safe Place service. This means if you are not at home when the postman delivers a package it can be left in a Safe Place as nominated by you. Details of redelivery and Safe Place services can be found at iompost.com, alternatively pick up a Safe Place form at your local post office.
Customers are also reminded of the Post Office's self-service Pay & Post Kiosks which are positioned across the Island and offer convenient access to postal services out of working hours without the need to queue. The Pay & Post Kiosks assist those customers wishing to pay to send letters and packets, purchase postage and pay Government rates and rents, fixed and endorsable penalty fines and utility bills, and details of their locations can be found at iompost.com. To add to this, two new kiosks are due to be located on Island in December, one will be situated in Douglas Spar on Strand Street and another in Ramsey Post Office on Parliament Street.
During the festive period the Department of Health and Social Care has advised of the early encashment of pensions and allowances for the convenience of customers, therefore pensions and allowances due for payment on December 26th, 27th and 28th can be collected on 23rd December and allowances due on January 3rd 2017 may be collected on December 30th.
Customers are kindly reminded to make sure any items being sent are safe to fly this Christmas. Many everyday items are classified as prohibited or restricted under transport legislation therefore some cannot be flown whilst with others there may be exceptions. For a full list of prohibited and restricted items visit iompost.com. Alternatively, if you are unsure about any items you wish to post to the UK or overseas this Christmas, please contact Customer Services on 664664 or ask at your local post office.
This Christmas we continue to offer a free reply service for all the children that write letters to Father Christmas. Father Christmas will endeavour to respond to each and every letter so these should be sent as soon as possible with a reply address to ensure they get there safely and timely.
Meanwhile, you can help us this Christmas by making sure you address your mail correctly with a return address and postcode included. Information about our Father Christmas letters and sending and receiving Christmas mail can be found on the Christmas page of our website www.iompost.com/Christmas.
This year's Christmas stamps were created to celebrate one of the great Christmas traditions, pantomime, recalling some of the iconic shows which have delighted audiences young and old throughout the generations, including The Wizard of Oz, Aladdin and Snow White. "The Grand Dame of Panto" – Christopher Biggins has written the text for the stamps and Alison Lodge, who is heavily involved in pantomime production in the Isle of Man, offers a Manx perspective. To add to this, Christopher Biggins, will be on Island at Douglas Post Office to meet and greet customers, and sign some of our beautiful Christmas Pantomime stamps from 12pm – 2pm on November 12th.
The stamp collection is available to purchase from across the Post Office network and online at www.iompost.com/Christmas. The stamps are available in sets and sheets for sending out all your Christmas mail, there are also first day covers and presentation packs.
Finally, a competition to win a family of four tickets to this year's pantomime 'The Wizard of Oz', a pre-show dinner and return taxis to and from the Gaiety Theatre is up for grabs! To enter all you need to do is complete the coupon featured in the Christmas door to door leaflet, distributed to all homes Island-wide and post your entry in the special competition box at our Customer Services Centre at Douglas Headquarters or send it to the Freeport address provided, alternatively, complete the entry at www.iompost.com/Christmas or email competitions@iompost.com with your details. All entries must be with us by December 7th 2016 ready for 'Dorothy' to draw the winner on December 8th in our Douglas Post Office branch.
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