The cost of sending a registered letter has become extortionate (as has the cost of postage in general). So I have started delivering documents by hand instead of using the post. I have my own database of numbers just like the post office. I print the unique number of the article on the article and also on a custom form for which the recipient must sign to receive.
For example, I print “livraison recommandée n°003” on the envelope and “Recommandé N°003” on the form they sign. Someone complained saying “this is not a recommandé”. My French is dysfunctional so I have no idea how I should be referring to this number. Is “recommandée” a word reserved for the post office? What phrase should I be using?
Should I just drop the “recommandée” and say “livraison n°003”? Sometimes instead of using my own form I use the post offices form which has on it “Recommandé N°”. Should I strike out “Recommandé” and write something else?
update
I tried context.reverso.net and found these translations in an effort to distinguish a “registered letter” from “recorded delivery”:
①
(en) Any claims must be presented within 30 days of the service provided by registered letter with recorded delivery.
→ (fr) Toute réclamation doit être adressée sous 30 jours après la prestation par courrier recommandé avec accusé de réception.
②
(en) All eventual complaints concerning the non-conformity of services in relation to contractual engagements may be indicated by registered mail with recorded delivery or email to Parc Résidentiel de Loisirs L’Escapade.
→ (fr) Toute réclamation éventuelle concernant la non-conformité des prestations par rapport aux engagements contractuels peut être signalée par courrier recommandé avec avis de réception ou e-mail au PRL L’ESCAPADE.
So I think “accusé de réception” or “d’avis de réception” is the phrase I need. Can any francophones confirm? Is one phrase better than the other?
After more thought, I do not think “livraison en mains propres” captures exactly what I’m trying to convey. It simply translates to “hand delivery”. I can hand-deliver something with or without a signature and that phrase seems not to distinguish the two.
The other problem: if a hand delivery attempt fails, I might then want to use the postal service. If the letter is labeled “hand delivery”, then the envelope needs to be reprinted. The fact that it’s delivered by hand is not important. It’s the fact that a recorded delivery that matters. If a carrier pidgeon brings a letter and the recipient signs and stuffs the sig into the pidgeon’s suitcase, that is still a “recorded delivery”.
So then I tried to translate “it was a recorded conversation”, which came out as “c’était une conversation enregistrée”. Bummer, because “enregistrée” implies “registered” which kind of implies 3rd party record keeping.
Maybe there simply is no viable answer… no short-phrase translation into French for “recorded delivery” without implying a 3rd party.