Index- this is the number of the post office to which your postal address is assigned. In Russia it looks like a sequence of 6 numbers. Where the first three numbers are the city code, and the rest are the post office number. The index is added to the postal address and is used to automatically sort mail.
The speed of delivery of your parcel depends on how correctly the index is written. Almost all the way, namely to your post office, the parcel is coming solely based on these numbers. And only when the parcel falls into the hands of a local postal worker, pay attention to the address indicated on your postal item.

What happens if the index is written incorrectly?

If postcode indicate incorrectly, the parcel will first go to a completely different post office. And only when they get there, postal workers realize that the specified address does not correspond to the post office number and that the index was written incorrectly. They will, of course, fix it, and then send the parcel in the right direction. This will take quite a long time. Therefore, it is better to immediately indicate the index correctly.

What to do if the index is incorrectly specified?

If you entered the postal code incorrectly and the package has already been sent, please contact the seller immediately. Explain the situation to him and indicate the correct index for him. While the parcel is in China, the seller can contact the postal service and change your address details. In some cases, he will be able to do this even in the recipient’s country. It should be noted that sellers are not required to do this. Especially if we're talking about about budget unregistered mail, since this procedure may be paid or simply impossible.

How to find out your postal code?

The postal code can be found on the official website of your state post office.

It is impossible to change contact details in an already placed order on Aliexpress! Moreover, not only the buyer, but also the seller does not have such an opportunity. But if you still encounter such a problem, you can try to solve it in the following ways:

1. Notify the seller about the change of address in an already paid order;
2. Cancel the order, indicating the reason - incorrect address.

In the first case, you need to contact the seller through personal correspondence. If the order has not yet been shipped, there will be an option to print the correct address and contact details on the package. It is recommended to write the full address as a message to the order in the MESSAGE field on English language, in the following form:

• Contact Name (full name);
• Address (street name, house number, building number, apartment number);
• City (city);
• Provincy (Region);
• Post Code (postal code);
• Country (country);
• Phone (contact phone number).

You should not indicate additions to the previous address, as you may confuse the seller.

In the second case, after canceling an order with an incorrectly specified address, you should place new order, indicating the new desired address. In both the first and second cases, contact with the seller is necessary.

Note! When providing contact information, you must use the address of your place of residence, or the address to which you want your parcel to be delivered. Postal services do not need the buyer's registration address.

If your order has already been sent

If you find an error in the contact information after the order has been sent, you will also have a chance to receive the package. Track your order using the tracking number provided by the seller. As soon as the status of the parcel is “arrived at the place of delivery,” you should go to the indicated post office with your phone number and passport and try to explain the whole situation to the postal worker.

If you made a mistake when entering your house number, present your passport to the postman and give your phone number. Since the address, full name of the recipient and telephone number are indicated on the parcel, there should be no problems with its receipt.

Due to an incorrectly specified postal code, region or city, the parcel may be delayed, but in any case it will be delivered to the address. That's what the post office says.

Sending a parcel to another address
Thanks for the advice to the user with the nickname Exasa
“I found out that I, as the recipient of a mail item, can use the service of forwarding to any post office of the Russian Post from the post office where I no longer live:

1. Come to any (I think it’s better to go to your own, at your own address, where they know you) post office and ask to give you an Application-Notification form for changing the delivery address of the postal item. I didn’t find this form on the Russian Post website itself, but in order to receive it in post office I had to call the head of the department, since the operators were not in the know.
2. Fill out this application, and indicate the departure address and date of departure in Latin, i.e. as written on the parcel, the recipient's address is incorrect, also write in Latin, as indicated on the parcel. Write the new address for receiving the parcel in Russian.
3. Fill out this application at ANY branch of the Russian Post. Just go to the operator with a completed form and PASSPORT and sign up. The cost of sending one small package is 2 kg. cost me 70 rubles. After payment and registration, you will be given a tear-off notification application coupon.
4. The application is sent to the complaints department of the local central post office, it is processed there and then follow the tracking as the parcel is sent to the new address.”

Date of publication: 01/25/2018

The correctly specified shipping address and postal code is one of the guarantees that the recipient of the parcel will receive it exactly within the target time allotted for delivery. Otherwise, if the recipient's postcode or address is indicated incorrectly, then most likely the parcel will be delayed or will not be delivered to the final addressee at all. And in this case, there is no point in shifting responsibility to Russian Post employees.

It is necessary to correctly understand the scheme for sending postal items: parcels and letters on the territory of Russia are initially delivered not to a specific address of the recipient (city, street, house), but rather according to an index, which is conditionally the address of a particular branch postal service(OPS). The index is necessary to facilitate the sorting of correspondence, including automatic ones.

At the very first stage of acceptance of a postal item and its initial processing, the postal employee does not check the correspondence of the full address and postal code. The maximum that a sorting point worker can pay attention to during manual processing is the discrepancy between the OPS index and the city in which this OPS should be located. In this case, the parcel will most likely be immediately returned to the sender.

Below we will consider each case separately and try to figure out what to do if you entered the zip code or address incorrectly. Will the parcel arrive in this case? We will also look at the moment when the recipient's last name or first name is indicated incorrectly.

An incorrect index was specified or there was an error in the index. Will the parcel arrive?

Perhaps the most common mistake when filling out the accompanying address for a parcel or letter is the wrong index. The index, as I mentioned above, is the conventional digital address of the post office where the parcel should be sent. If an error in the index was not detected at the initial stages of processing and sorting the postal item, then the parcel (letter) will be sent exactly to the post office whose index was incorrectly indicated by the sender. And at the final post office where the shipment will arrive, if it is determined that the recipient’s address does not fall within the service area of ​​this department, the parcel will be resent. The delivery is made to the department that serves the address (house) of the recipient.

The main thing that the recipient loses if the index was incorrectly specified is time. That is, the parcel will reach the addressee much later than it would have been under favorable conditions. And you should understand that the parcel will be delivered from a neighboring post office much faster than from a branch in another city.

True, sometimes the parcel may remain waiting for its recipient at the post office according to the zip code, that is, it is not sent back!

If the index was not specified at all, and this can happen, for example, with a simple letter, then the processing of such mail is carried out manually. Correspondence is sent to this address.

It is worth understanding that in reality everything does not always happen as described above. At any time at some stage of processing, your mail item may be returned back to the sender. Therefore, knowing for sure that the index on the parcel is written with an error, try to track the shipment and act according to the situation.

The address indicated is incorrect or there is an error in the address (street, house, apartment).

In this case, there are three possible errors:

1. In the address, that is, in the name of the city, district, street / avenue / lane, only a typo or spelling error was made.
2. If some part of the address is illegible or not indicated at all
3. The address is indicated with an error (the wrong street, house or apartment is indicated).

In the first case, most likely there should be no problems at all. The post office employs people who are well acquainted with the territory they serve. Therefore, if there is some typo in the address, it will not be difficult for them to guess where the letter or parcel should ultimately be delivered.

In the second case, if the postal employee cannot make out the house or apartment number, and in some cases the street name, the parcel will most likely remain waiting for the recipient at the post office. The postal item will be stored for 15-30 days (depending on the type of item), and then it will be sent back. In this case, the recipient’s main assistant will be the track number, with which you can track the shipment. The status of the parcel will most likely be "Came to the place of delivery".

Sometimes the item may be returned to the sender with a note "Incomplete address".

If the apartment number is illegibly written on the parcel, postmen sometimes improvise: the notice of the parcel is not placed in anyone’s specific box, but placed on the windowsill or in another visible place in the entrance.

The third option is the most difficult. After all, if at least the wrong apartment number is indicated, then the parcel (small package), notice or letter may be placed in someone else’s Mailbox. In this case, the postman will not be at fault. Therefore, in this case, it is worth “arming yourself” with the postal identifier number of the parcel and constantly tracking it. After she arrives at the post office, you need to immediately go to the post office and explain the whole situation to the employee. Ordinary, normal people work at the post office, so most likely you will receive your parcel. Otherwise, the sender will need to go to his post office with a check and passport and write application to change addressee data.

The surname is incorrect (the surname or first name is misspelled)

Cases where a mistake is made in the recipient's last name or first name are not uncommon. There may be options, as with the address, when there is only some insignificant typo (a letter is missing or another letter is written instead of one) or the last name (first name) is completely different.

In the first option, the parcel will most likely be issued.

In the second case, according to the rules, a Russian Post employee should not release the parcel, although naturally you can try to negotiate with the employee. At the same time, the chance of reaching an agreement will be much higher if your registration address coincides with the address indicated on the parcel. But of course, matching addresses does not guarantee that you will receive your parcel. After all, according to the rules, the shipment is issued only to the person for whom it is really intended.

If an agreement cannot be reached, then the sender of the parcel must write a statement stating that he indicated the wrong last name (first name) on the parcel.

I personally managed to get remittance for a fairly decent amount, when the address accompanying the transfer was not indicated at all, and my last name was written without a given name and in the feminine gender (not Ivanov, but Ivanova). You can read about this case at the very end of the article: ““.

I would be grateful if in the comments below you would share cases from your life when your parcels or letters were incorrectly indicated with an index, address or last name. In these cases, did the parcel arrive? Did the postal workers give it to you?

Tell me what prospects there may be for a purchase whose index is incorrectly indicated.
Now she has been tracked for import in Moscow, and is probably going to Dzerzhinsk (a city in our region), but she needs to go to Nizhny Novgorod. Have you encountered this?

===================
Added by moderator:

When sending the parcel, I indicated the wrong postcode. What to do?

Index is an important component postal address the recipient to whom the parcel is delivered. It is a post office code, the use of which greatly facilitates and speeds up the sorting of postal correspondence by territorial basis. It is for this reason that shipments are sorted by index, and not by the specific address of the recipient.

Cases when an incorrect index is indicated when sending a parcel occur quite often. It is for this reason that Russian Post has provided the possibility of making changes to the postal details (postcode, address, full name of the recipient) after sending the parcel. All you need to do is write a corresponding application (on a special Russian Post form or in free form) and pay for the service. Along with the application and receipt for payment for the service for changing data, it is necessary to provide a receipt for sending the item whose details need to be changed, as well as information about its recipient specified when sending the parcel. After receiving this data, changes to the postal details of the shipment will be made within 5-7 days.

Incorrect index on international parcel. Will I receive such a parcel?

As was written above, an index is a code designation for a post office serving a specific area or an entire settlement. After sorting, items are sent to post offices exactly in accordance with the index, and then distributed by postal workers to specific addresses. If the index is indicated incorrectly, then the parcel will be sent to the wrong place. However, there is nothing wrong with this; such a shipment can also be received.

If the parcel was sent with a track and is tracked along the entire route, you must wait for a record to appear indicating that the item has arrived at the post office and is ready for delivery. There you can get it by presenting your passport. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to use this solution to the problem. It is relevant only in cases where the post office where the parcel arrived is located near your place of stay.

If the parcel arrived, for example, in another city, you can try to call the post office and explain the current situation to the employees over the phone. It is possible that such a call will significantly speed up the sending of the parcel to the desired department in accordance with the address indicated on it.

All this is relevant in cases where the shipment is tracked. But even if the parcel cannot be tracked (there is no track), after the item arrives at the post office, employees will notice a discrepancy between the postcode and the recipient's address. In such cases, they must redirect the parcel to the correct address by changing the postal code. The only question is how long it will take and how quickly this procedure will be carried out.

To begin with, let’s explain what Russian Post means by letter. From her point of view, this is a postal item with a written message. Letters can be simple, registered or with declared value.

The speed of delivery of postal items depends on the correct spelling of address details. Following the rules for writing addresses and postal codes is especially important today, when Russian Post is introducing new automated technologies mail sorting. At the same time, letters, passing at high speed through the photocells of the sorter, are automatically distributed according to specified indexes, then the letters are grouped by index and sent to the recipients' post offices.

Picture 1

Index search window for an address on the Russian Post website

Collapse Show

Figure 2

Result of index search on the Russian Post website

Collapse Show

If there is no index in the address, the letters go to manual sorting, where exactly in manual mode already sorted by address. Manual sorting is much slower than automatic sorting, which means that the letter will reach the recipient with some delay (what it will be depends solely on the human factor).

But the letter will reach the addressee in any case. And this is the same for all letters that fall into category "simple letters". These are called postal items, accepted without issuing receipts to the senders, handed over (delivered) to addressees without a receipt.

The postal code is an integral part of address data. If you do not know or are not sure about the accuracy of the destination index, you can check it at the post office or on the Russian Post website at http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/ru/home/postuslug/searchops (you will be taken to the search page shown in Figure 1; and Figure 2 shows the search result).

Please note: on letters and postcards with a code stamp, the addressee's index is filled in with stylized numbers in ink of any color, with the exception of red, yellow and green. This will make the index "readable" to automatic sorting machines:

Figure 3

Example of correct writing of index numbers

Collapse Show

Figure 4

Filling in the index in the designated area

Collapse Show

Figure 5

Filling out an index on envelopes without special lines (such envelopes are not subject to automatic sorting)

Collapse Show

"Registered letters" And "letters of insured value"- This is a slightly different category of letters; they are called “registered”. When a postal employee accepts them from the sender, he issues receipts in return, and such items are handed over to the addressees (or their legal representatives) against receipt of receipt.

Such letters can be “tracked” on the Russian Post website or at post offices by mail id(domestic 14-character or international).

Registered letters without an index from the sender will not be accepted, since the address will be considered incomplete. The receipt for receipt of registered and valuable correspondence cannot be printed, this is an automatic operation, and the persuasion of the postal worker will be in vain.

However, any post office should have a catalog of indexes of all central post offices of regional centers and large cities. You can always ask a postal worker to help you find the index. In this case, the letter will be sent to the nearest large city to the addressee and there it will be redirected to the desired address.

In addition, the index for the address can be determined using the Internet. Firstly, you can go to the Russian Post website page shown in Figure 1, and the search result will be as shown in Figure 2. Or you can type in the search engine keywords“find out zip code” and you will be given many other sites willing to provide this information.

Now let's answer last question regarding delivery times. The control dates for sending written correspondence between federal cities and administrative centers of constituent entities of the Russian Federation are approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 24, 2006 No. 160:

• on the intracity territory of cities of federal significance, on the territory of administrative centers of constituent entities of the Russian Federation - 2 days;
• between the administrative center of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation and the administrative centers of municipal districts on the territory of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation - also 2 days;
• between the administrative center of a municipal district and settlements located on the territory of the municipal district - 3 days;
• between cities of federal significance and administrative centers of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, a single period cannot be established, because distances can be fundamentally different (it’s one thing to deliver a letter from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and quite another to Khabarovsk), so a whole table of deadlines has been developed, which can be downloaded at http://www.russianpost.ru/rp/servise/ru/ home/postuslug/termsdelivery (in doc format it takes up 982 KB). We will present data from it only selectively (see table below).

Thus, a simple letter sent within one city (not counting the day of departure) should take 2, maximum 3 days. Of course, in practice it happens differently, especially if the index on the envelope is missing or is not written in special stylized numbers suitable for automatic reading (i.e., not as in Figures 3 and 4).