How to send a parcel across your city

A courier is useful whenever something needs to get across town and you can’t take it yourself. A few everyday examples:

• House keys or a phone charger someone left behind.
• A birthday present you can’t hand over in person.
• Clothes, books or other small items you have sold to a buyer in your city.
• Wedding cards or Eid gifts for relatives in different parts of town.

The Courier page explains how a booking works, whether it has one drop-off or several. If you are not sure whether something can be sent at all, check the Courier Terms first.

Your parcel will travel through city traffic, with bumps, sharp turns and sudden braking along the way. Pack it for the journey:

• Use a sturdy box or a padded envelope that fits the item closely, so it can’t slide around inside.
• Wrap anything breakable in bubble wrap or soft clothing, fill the gaps with crumpled paper, and write “fragile” on the box as well, so whoever carries it takes extra care.
• Seal every opening with strong tape, and tuck in loose straps or handles so nothing catches.
• Write the recipient’s name clearly on the parcel, especially if it is going to an office or a building with a reception desk.
• Take a photo of the packed parcel before the courier arrives, in case you need to describe it later.

Most hold-ups at the end of a delivery happen because the person receiving it wasn’t expecting it. Before you book:

• Tell them a parcel is on its way and roughly when it should arrive.
• Check the exact address with them, including the floor, the flat number or a nearby landmark, and place the drop-off exactly where they will be.
• Make sure the phone number you add for them is one they will actually answer.
• Pass on their drop-off code as soon as you have it.

If they might be out, ask them to arrange for someone they trust to receive it, and make sure that person has the code. Sending something to an older relative who lives alone? Ask a neighbour or a family member nearby to be there too.

Offices, hospitals and large apartment blocks have several entrances and plenty of people coming and going. Write the company or building name, the floor and the department on the parcel, place the drop-off at the entrance the recipient will use, and ask them to tell the reception or the guard that a parcel is coming. A minute spent on this saves a lot of searching at the door.

If you sell online from home, a courier can take your orders to buyers in your city. Keep a small packing kit ready, with boxes in a few sizes, tape and a marker, and confirm each buyer’s address and phone number when they order rather than when the courier is at your door. When several buyers live in the same part of town, the Courier page explains how one booking can cover more than one drop-off.

Have the parcel packed, sealed and ready by the door before the courier arrives, so the pick-up takes a moment. If your street or building is hard to find, set the pick-up at an easy spot nearby, such as your gate or a shop on the main road.

The Courier page covers the rest of the journey, including what happens if a parcel can’t be delivered.

You don’t need to find a courier office or queue at a counter: the pick-up point can be your home, your shop or your office. There is no label to print and no form to fill in, because you describe the parcel in the app.

You can send parcels this way in each of Savari’s cities.