31.10.2008

Change-of-address services nearly faultless

According to a survey commissioned by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA), consumers are rather content with the change-of-address services of Itella (former Finland Post Group). Ninety-four per cent of those who had submitted a change-of-address regarded the service as rather good, at the minimum. The share of those who consider the service to be very good has risen steadily from 2002. More than half of those who had used the service were very pleased with how fast the change took effect. Also, users are of the view that there is rather plenty of information available on the service, and give less criticism on the service charges than in the previous years.

Every fifth had encountered some problems in delivery after they had submitted the change-of-address. The number of problems has not dropped from the previous years. It is still a common fault that post is delivered to the customer's previous address. Customers mentioned that they seldom experience delays in postal delivery or that their post has gone missing or that the former resident's post is delivered to the customer's new address. Customers who had submitted a change-of-address by phone had encountered these problems more often.

Half of the change-of-address notifications are currently submitted online. There has been a strong rise on the use of the internet for submitting a change-of-address notification during the 2000's as only two per cent of those who used the service submitted a change-of-address notification online in 2002. At the same time, there has been a sharp decline from 66 per cent to 17 per cent on those who submit a notification at post offices.

FICORA commissioned TNS Gallup Oy to carry out the survey during 15 - 21 September 2008. A telephone interview was carried out to 1,000 persons who had used change-of-address services in 2008. The survey report in Finnish and its English abstract is available at www.ficora.fi.

FICORA is responsible for the compliance with the Act on Postal Services

FICORA’s responsibilities include the monitoring of the compliance with the provisions and regulations issued under the Postal Services Act. The purpose of the Postal Services Act is to ensure postal services of good quality and in particular, the availability of the universal service on equal terms in the entire country.

Further information
on the survey: Tiina Aaltonen, Development Manager, tel. +358 9 6966 430, +358 40 777 4082
on the Postal Services Act: Sirpa Sillstén, Legal Counsel, tel. +358 9 6966 818, +358 050 678 20