In Poland it is very convenient to buy different things online and it is very convenient to collect them in special Automated Parcel Machines or “paczkomats” (from the word paczka – parcel). It’s even more convenient than courier delivery, because you don’t have to wait for the courier at home, and Automated Parcel Machines are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Couriers don’t deliver parcels on holidays or Sundays. And the parcel machine is always close to home (they are located almost everywhere) and all you need to pick up your order is your phone number and the order number.
How to use it?
I’ll show and tell you an example of how to use Allegro. I have bought a special thing for workouts at home. I did not choose a particular “paczkomat”, I just entered the address and Allegro itself suggested the nearest one (it was within 10 minutes walking distance from my door). After ordering, I got an email confirming that the parcel had arrived, and the address and the post machine number were duplicated. You’ll need 2 numbers to collect your parcel (I’ve indicated with a red arrow on them): your telephone number and your order number (kod odbioru). You can also provide a QR code for the reader to pick up the parcel. For me, the codes are more convenient because I can give them to a friend or relative in case I can’t pick up the parcel myself. It’s also convenient that the email also provides the address of the nearest post office.
By the way, if you want to find an Automated Parcel Machine yourself, you can do so by following this link.
Please note that the parcel stays in the parcel machine only for 48 hours, and then it is sent back to the seller.
Automated Parcel Machine, it’s not difficult to find, they are usually placed at the end of the building (shop, apartment building, administration building) or near the petrol station. It is a lighted area, has a canopy that protects it from bad weather and is video monitored (2 cameras shooting in different directions).
Approaching the monitor to enter our code and phone number. On the main screen we have to press the “Zaczynamy” (“Start”) button. By the way, there is a QR code reader below the screen, but my phone battery was already running out, so I decided to use the code.
Then we choose what we want to do, we need to pick up the parcel (“Odbierz paczkę”). There’s an option “Nadaj paczkę” (Send a parcel), but it doesn’t suit us this time.
Next we enter the phone number we specified when purchasing and “Kod odbioru”. It is noteworthy that there is a reminder on the screen that if you pick up the order for someone you know, then enter his phone number and not yours. Apparently this is a very popular scenario when someone picks up someone else’s order.
And if the code is correct, then one of the boxes opens itself and you pick up the parcel and close it. Next you have to go back to the screen for a little while longer.
The screen “tells” us that the whole process took 30 seconds (in reality I think faster, I also took a picture of the process) and you can print a confirmation or send it by email. There’s also a button “Mam uwagi do paczki”, so if something’s wrong with the parcel, you just click it and follow the instructions. If everything is fine, then we confirm the completion of the operation by pressing the button “Kończymy na dziś”. That’s all, we took our parcel. The advantages of the parcel machine is that you can pick it up at any time, you don’t have to agree with the courier on a time when you should be home, also you can ask someone else to pick it up. Importantly, for introverts, the whole buying process is automated so that you don’t have to communicate with people.
