When you buy an item on AliExpress, one of the final statuses your shipment goes through is “arrival at the delivery office”. Let's see in detail what this means and what you have to do.
Remember that you can find out exactly where your order is by entering this section of AliExpress.
What is “arrival at the delivery office”?
If your order status shows one of these two statuses:
- “Delivering: arrival at the delivery office”.
- “In transit: arrival at the delivery office.”
This means that your local courier company has already received the package and that the letter carrier will soon deliver it to your home.
As we told you in the post about shipping in AliExpress, in every country, the company in charge of processing most of the packages that are sent with ordinary shipping (such as AliExpress Standard Shipping, Cainiao, SunYou,…) is your local courier.
Therefore, if you did not choose an express shipping with private courier (such as UPS, EMS, DHL), your package will be at the local post office closest to your home.
If you chose private courier, the package will be ready to be delivered in one of its local offices or in the nearest location where it is based.
Can I pick up the package at the delivery office?
You cannot go to pick up your package the moment you see “arrival at the delivery office”. If you try, they will not give it to you.
When a package arrives at the delivery office, the employees sort and distribute it according to the delivery zone. They do this in their warehouses and from there the letter carriers pick them up to distribute them to the addresses in your city.
If you go to your local carrier, the employees at the counter will not have access to your order at that time.
It is better to wait for the letter carrier to take it home and, only if he has not been able to deliver it to you, go to the office to pick it up.
What happens if no one is home at the time of delivery?
For cheap shipping
If the letter carrier goes to your house and nobody is there, two things can happen, depending on whether it is registered or not.
With registered mail, the delivery person will make a second delivery attempt the next day and, if you are not there either, he will leave a notice for you to pick it up at your local office (you always have to wait until the next working day).
If it is a shipment without a tracking number and the package is small and fits in the mailbox, it will drop it there. If not, it will also leave a notice for you to pick it up.
For “premium” shipments
For shipments by private courier, usually the delivery person will call you on your cell phone at the first delivery attempt.
If it suits you better, he will give you the option to leave your package at one of his offices that same day, so you can go the next day to pick it up and not wait any longer.
Where do I have to go to pick up my package?
In the notice that the courier will leave you, they will tell you the office where you have to go. You may also receive an e-mail or SMS to your cell phone notifying you of the failed delivery attempt and where you have to go to pick it up.
If your shipment comes by private courier and the delivery person calls you on your cell phone, it is best to ask him directly. You may also receive an e-mail or SMS with the address of the collection office.
If not, the best thing to do is to call customer service: with your details and your tracking number they will tell you where you can pick it up. Go to AliExpress.