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USPS and Mail to Nicaragua
Submitted by fyl on Sat, 2008/12/13 - 10:25.
Ages ago I mentioned that books from the U.S. to Nicaragua seemed to take a side trip to Germany. The result was that books would show up here after one to six months. Then the USPS stopped surface shipping (to anywhere). It is looking like more service has gone away or at least businesses are finding a better option.
Earlier in the week my issue of Home Power Magazine which is published in Oregon arrived. The return address was in Managua. Clearly, the magazine was bulk shipped (and it is not likely that was by the USPS) to Managua and then mailed locally. Same for Linux Journal.
Today I picked up a letter from a business. It was "from" New York. But, the "If undeliverable" address in in Sweden. All these examples are from businesses that would mail a lot of stuff—not individuals. It seems like the businesses figured out that USPS is no longer the right option.
New Shipping Service
Check this out:
www.comprasyentregas.com
It was in the latest edition of Del Sur News in SJdS
May be the answer to some problems.
Jason at Remax can answer you questions, he is at: info@comprasyentregas.com
Mail to Managua
My friend in Managua is blind. He received books for the blind here in the states, but felt he could no longer receive them in Nica. I contacted the US Embassy, but they will not accept mail or return it for him. What is the best way to get a PO address there for sending postage paid packages to and from the US. Thanks for any info.
PO address
Just go to the local PO and sign up. It's cheap.
Just don't count on it being dependable. My experience is that 1 in 3 packages arrives without problem in 10-14 days.
1 in 3 can be had if you go back dozens of times, give them a tracking number and keep hounding them.
1 in 3 disappears forever.
Disappears
What have you done -if anything- per those packages that have disappeared? Just curiuos if they were sent Priority Mail International, which now comes with insurance as part of the price. A while back when they revised rates and dropped boat-rate and reduced the max of first class packet, they added "automatic indemnity coverage" to Priority (Express used to have it, but now regular Priority does, too).
"If anything"?
Please! for the $210 I paid, I have done plenty to try to get my package. I have done everything asked of me, by el Correo, except for the last and most outrageous request. They are now asking me to provide the name of the airline and flight number of the airplane the USPS sent my package out of the States on!!!! I gave them the tracking number around the 1st of November and I got the usual "come back tomorrow, the person who does that is not here today" too many times to remember. I have been to the Correo dozens of times, and have been given many excuses for why my package is not here. Mailed International Priority Mail in early October, tracked, left the US from Jersey City NJ. The USPS said insurance was not available to Nicaragua, so I guess, IF you are correct, they have added that option since October.
Providing information on the reality of living in Nicaragua to the man who asked ifor it is not a "bitch session". And if you think it is, just STFU and ignore this thread. Why shouldn't a blind man who wants to read, know before hand that his chances of getting what he paid for without a great deal of hassle is about one in three and he has exactly the same chance of not getting it at all.
Insurance
It was meant to be a question not a grand judgment of some kind. If your packages were insured (and I don't know if they were or not), you do not have a "contract" with the insurer unless you were also the shipper (the person or organization listed as the sender on the paperwork). The sender, not the receiver, has the coverage - and only the sender can make a claim or initiate the process. Going to the Nicaraguan post office might not even be productive even if they were competent - if the packages were insured and are in fact lost. I am not sure what the Nica post would even do with the tracking number, other than confirm that the package arrived in Managua. An "Inquiry" needs to go via the USPS International Inquiry Center, and they in turn deal with the destination country post office. Depending on what they find, you may move forward with an official "Claim".
There are two coverage options, insurance and indemnity coverage. While packages to Nicaragua might not be able to be insured at Priority Mail International (PMI) rate, the other coverage (automatic indemnity) easily predates your shipment by many months. This sort of coverage is included in the price of uninsured parcels and is based on the weight of the package (1 lb maxes out at $67) or value of the contents, whichever is less, and as the weight goes up per-pound as the coverage inches up slightly (5lbs is only $88 in coverage). There is a cap-date for filing a claim. This used to be 90-day per PMI, but may have been extended.
Some countries hold medicine parcels in customs or the main post office, often lcoated at the airport. Also, medicine might be exempt from insurance or indemnity coverages, and that depends on the PMI manual and the destination country. On top of that, medicines not registered in Nicaraugua might be classified a banned item unless shipped to and from a hospital or pharmacy (depends on Nicaraguan mail laws). The details should be availavle in the USPS International Mail Manual. Priority Mail International comes with indemnity but not necessarily true insurance (depends on the destination country); Express Mail International comes with true insurance ($100 included free); often, the price jump between Prioroty and Express is not that big and the added insurance coverage is worth it (my little 1lb box to Honduras last week was $23 Priority or $30 Express; a 3lb box would have been $33 and $43, respectively), even though Express does not go to every city (in Honduras, it is held at one of the Airport post offices and you must collect it). Though this is inconvenient, in 11 years I have never had a problem with an Express package, and more than 80 have been sent for various projects. For personal mail/packages, I routinely used PMI, and haven't had a package lost in 6 years - though I admit I am on day 13 on a 8lb box and it isn't looking good, but may be coup-related. I cannot comment on these service via Nicaragua in the last few years, but they did not used to be as bad as you are describing but, then again, the recipients I know were in Managua and delivery to other or outlying cities might greatly increase the chance of theft or whatever.
Providing
other experiences is also part of the process of telling someone what they can expect. Mine (and many others) are different than yours...and yes you are bitching. Maybe with cause...we all get the point, you have problems. Just because you don't get sympathy, doesn't mean no one else can comment unless they share your anger. So may it is you who should STFU.ZZT
If I was the one handling
If I was the one handling your problem at the post office, and you were the same pissy gringa that you are in these posts, I wouldn't give you your package either. I wouldn't even look for it. It sounds like that is exactly what they are doing. I would want to stop and think about why you are the only one with problems to this extent.
I get
everthing people say the send. Just letters up till now. Maybe 15 or so. Plain USPS...except one registered letter which got here just like in the states, postman at the door, Generally 8 days. Sorry I don't have anything to add to the bitch session. I"ll keep my eyes open for something.ZZT
Return Addresses
I don't know that all U.S. publishers handle international subscriptions the same way, and some pool venders for this. In some countries, a batch of the magazines goes out regionally or to specific countries, and is later distributed to in-country bookstores and individual subscribers. The return address is a place most scribers have never heard of, or the distributor, or even a bigger English-language bookstore in the capital. The publisher doesn't actually want the magazine back, if it cannot be delivered, so the in-country address serves that end as well. Even though they might not look it, many internationally-subscribed magazines were essentially drop-shipped long before the bulk-mail option left the USPS - which was a big blow to anyone who shipped books abroad (includes me).
True but ...
Being an ex-magazine publisher, I can offer some insight. When we did our own mailings (that sucked) we did international by USPS ISAL (International Surface Air-Lift) which worked as you described.
We farmed out international mailings and initially it was done the same--USPS ISAL. Then the service suggested "better, cheaper" options. That took USPS out of the loop. Today that seems to be more and more the way it works.
Home Power magazine
This is off-topic, but if you subscribe to this title electronically I believe you still get added services and also have full-text access to their last 5 years of online back-issues, and full-text versions of select popular older articles. Is there an added benefit to getting HP in paper?
Probably not
I used to get Home Power ages ago--when it had close to no advertisers. It was also when it was a do-it-yourself magazine. Today, the ads are valuable and the articles are useless for a DIY person. (Yes, I have talked to the editor about this--he says they just don't publish DIY anymore.)
So, this was a 1-year experiment. The ads have been worth it but I won't be renewing.
amazon .com
shipsfrom different warehouses, including one in Europe. The Euro portion of the order usually arrives a few days earlier than the US portion.
Magazines are now tough from the States. At about $7 each, companies are raising rates to cover the cost. Bulk shipping or mailing from another country might be the way to go. You can ship 4 pounds, quite a few magazines, priority mail for 11 bucks. My relatives save up my us mags and ship 4 pounds down a couple times a year. Don{t go over 4 pounds or the rate goes up steeply.
¨Nicaragua is poor for a reason¨
magazines
I always fill my carry on with as many magazines as can be held for Nicas and friends. Physical magazines are hard to get in Nica and can be read by many people. The mail in Granada is more reliable today than was 4-5 years ago where there were many undelivered packages and letters. Maybe they got rid of the one crook who was stealing. Granada P.O. box seems to be pretty reliable these days. If you have a package coming takes 2 weeks for surface mail and does not hurt to tell the PO you are expecting something soon.
With the growth of the Kindle and Nook (especially the Nook or Sony which reads any format) you will soon be able to get pirated books and magazines online just like dvd and mp3. So the publishing industry is soon to face the same problems the movie and music industry have been struggling with for years. I see there are some people selling 2TB external hard drives on CL with 2000 movies on them. So following Moores law we will have 8 Terabyte drives in 3 years or so.
We have a few of us who bring down things like drugs and hearing aid batteries and other stuff. Even car parts, books, specialty foods, toys, video game stuff have all be brought down in suitcase. You can get drugs online from Canada or India and have them shipped to USA address and then bring down in suitcase.
I dislike the USA system of doctors visits and prescriptions when all I need is a Z-pak. Waste of money and just one thing that the medical industry could do to lower the costs of the MIC (Medical Industrial Complex)