Club correos $42 tarriff

Howardofocal wrote:

Do I understand the new tarriff correctly?  They are now going to add a $42 tarriff to each order above and beyond what they currently charge?

Plus limit number of orders.  See Nards Barley's post #1137:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 29#2092346

Unfortunately, yes, you will have to pay $42 extra for every packet. The only way round it is to get somebody in the USA to receive, unwrap and re-pack the parcel and send it you as a gift.

The other alternative is for somebody here in Ecuador to consolidate the requirements of say 10 people and that way each person only pays one tenth of the total importing cost. Even doing this with, say, 2 or 3 people could be worthwhile. I currently need to buy a few USA things (small things of little value) but am hesitating. The Ecuadorian government will lose out overall because now there will be less imports and that indirectly can hinder Ecuadorian-based entrepreneurs who need things you can't get in Ecuador.
Ecuador could easily become the 'Switzerland of South America' by copying Panama and becoming a tax heaven. Ecuador has MUCH more to offer than Panama, so it would become a great success by also being a tax heaven.
Russell

I guess we need a Club Correos consolidator.  One will have to be careful when ordering from the likes of Amazon because they frequently break orders apart for shipping which I guess could hit one for multiple $42 charges.

Usglobalmail.com is based in Dallas,  Texas and will receive mail and  packages  and scan the mail or consolidate packages for the least expensive shipping.  Their fees are reasonable although i just got here 2 days ago and thus have not yet used the forwarding service for packages

CB48 wrote:

Usglobalmail.com is based in...Texas and will receive mail and  packages  and scan the mail or consolidate packages for the least expensive shipping.  Their fees are reasonable although i just got here 2 days ago and thus have not yet used the forwarding service for packages

U.S. Globalmail's website appears to be extremely Gringo-friendly.  The downside is that its fee for a year of usage is 12 times as high as Correos de Ecuador.

Might be worth it though, as the ESL crowd that runs the Correos sister company, namely the Econcargo warehouse in Miami, is uneducated in proper customer service (except for Mrs. Pauchi).  They won't even send a fax if requested by the original shipper, to take back a shipment deemed to be contraband for Ecuador import.  Globalmail also claims they can repackage shipments which is useful if, for instance, vitamins or some other product is inadvertantly being shipped in defiance of Ecuadorian standards.  Repackaging avoids having to send the whole caboodle back to the original shipper.

The Correos cabal couldn't get its program ready in time for the early September deadline, so they delayed it a month.  We are now waiting to see if another delay is in store.   It is not clear from posts at expat-blog and the Correos website whether certain items such as books will be exempted from the $42 charge.

Any additional charge going to Correos is a joke IMHO because of the below-par customer service, which also has included never getting a callback here in Ecuador from the Correos officer(s) I have personally met at their local offices and subsequently tried to contact by phone.  Some vitamins I ordered were shipped through to Ecuador even though I alerted Econcargo to hold the shipment in Miami, and when it got to Quito the EC government effectively confiscated the package.

"fee is 12 times as high as club correos"  I paid less than $5 for a mailbox for a year.  They do have a $4 fee for mail you want forwarded (scanned) but you have a choice about each piece sent to you.  I have found them to be prompt, reliable and easy to deal with.  If there are duplicates (I got 2 notices from the post office re my forwarding address)  They opened them, found it was the same notice and only charged once (even though I had approved both).  Got a routine notice of privacy practice from a credit card company.  I had approved for scanning.  They told me it was a form letter about privacy practices and asked if I still wanted it scanned--could easily and legally charged me.  This is the kind of company I want to do business with!

CB48 wrote:

"fee is 12 times as high as club correos"  I paid less than $5 for a mailbox for a year.  They do have a $4 fee for mail you want forwarded (scanned) but you have a choice about each piece sent to you.  I have found them to be prompt, reliable and easy to deal with.  If there are duplicates (I got 2 notices from the post office re my forwarding address)  They opened them, found it was the same notice and only charged once (even though I had approved both).  Got a routine notice of privacy practice from a credit card company.  I had approved for scanning.  They told me it was a form letter about privacy practices and asked if I still wanted it scanned--could easily and legally charged me.  This is the kind of company I want to do business with!

If Globalmail offers a mailbox rate of $5 a year, this is great news.  I would love to drop Club Correos like a rock when my first year "membership" runs out in a few weeks.

cccmedia wrote:

CB48 wrote:

"fee is 12 times as high as club correos"  I paid less than $5 for a mailbox for a year.  They do have a $4 fee for mail you want forwarded (scanned) but you have a choice about each piece sent to you.  I have found them to be prompt, reliable and easy to deal with.

If Globalmail offers a mailbox rate of $5 a year, this is great news.  I would love to drop Club Correos like a rock when my first year "membership" runs out in a few weeks.

Indications, including U.S. Globalmail's solid website, are that this is a quality company.

However, the site clearly states that a year's service is a minimum of $12.50 per month (two months free), or 24 months of service at $240 (eight months free).

Ipso facto, your assertion that you paid "less than $5" for A YEAR of mailbox is not credible without further explanation.

Perhaps you can tell expat-bloggers how to get a year of mailbox for around $5.
Perhaps you have a contact at U.S. Globalmail that you can share with us.

So if I order a book costing $5 from Amazon, do I also have to pay the $42 tax? Am I exempt from the tax if a package comes from a relative overseas rather than a commercial seller?

Regarding mail service, I've used AmForward.com, which is very user friendly. Since I only had a few occasional mail items, I paid no monthly fee at all. If you have more items, it's just about $4 a month ($49/yr). It's based in OR so no sales tax either.

footsoldier wrote:

So if I order a book costing $5 from Amazon, do I also have to pay the $42 tax? Am I exempt from the tax if a package comes from a relative overseas rather than a commercial seller?

These are valid questions.  However, I don't believe anyone who posts on this site can answer them with certainty.

Club Correos and its website are so opaque we can only guess at such matters.

When the "Club" postponed enforcement of the new tax one month ago, it took down from the website the original announcement of the policy.  If memory serves, there had been no details anyway about the distinctions Footsoldier is making.

The brave souls who dare to import products or packages into Ecuador in the next few months will help us find out how and if the "Club" will enforce the new policy.

Sorry. My initial enrollment was with  a groupon. The $5 price was for 6 months.  My renewal information shows that your info is correct. Didn't mean to mislead.

Does anybody know what products cannot be imported to Ecuador, e.g. vitamins, etc. Or what products will incur a penalty or be confiscation if imported?
Thanks, Russell

russelleaton wrote:

Does anybody know what products cannot be imported to Ecuador, e.g. vitamins, etc. Or what products will incur a penalty or be confiscation if imported?
Thanks, Russell

Here's a start for you on import restrictions and taxes:

http://www.gistnet.com/cidb-sample/ar-ec.import.html

russelleaton wrote:

what products cannot be imported to Ecuador, e.g. vitamins, etc. Or what products will incur a penalty or be confiscated

Vitamins are definitely a no-go.  One might be able to sneak in a small package of vitamins, but if the EC postal authorities are paying attention, you will probably be given the same choice I had:

1.  Sign an abandonment form giving the package to the EC government.  No penalty.

2.  State that the vitamins are not for commercial end use, and dive deep into another branch of the Ecuadorian bureaucracy -- requiring a high level of Spanish-language expertise -- to apply for a specific form or document that could theoretically allow the receipt of the vitamins package.

3.  Ignore the authorities and face a fine of $187 "mas impuestos."

I signed the abandonment form, forfeited the vitamins (value $35) to the gov't and replaced the product with vitamins available at health stores in Quito.

As for figuring out what other items cannot be imported, the government website(s) contain a lot of legalese and dense language.  I submit the following list of prohibited items, which I got from dayinquito.com (under "Changes in Ecuador"):

Explosives
Jewelry
Firearms
Ceramics
Glass
Fuel
Cell Phones
Money, checks, credit cards
Used items -- includes any clothing with no label
Animals

cccmedia, Quito

I know someone who regularly used Club Correos to bring in vitamins.  His last package had something like 9 different types of vitamins--in other words 9 separate products.  However, for one of those of those products he ordered 4 bottles. They only permit you to bring in 3 of the same item with Club Correos.  They told him he had violated this rule, and he was forced to mail the package back to the states at a cost around $50.

Confusing the matter, I talked to another couple recently who had to send Olay skin products back to the United States for violating the more than 3 rule.  This was also through Club Correos.  However, in their case, these were all different products of Olay, but they treated them as the same item. 

Based on my possibly flawed interpretation, whatever I ordered through Club Correos via the 4x4 rule (4 kilos and less than $400) in the past should still be allowed, however, I will be dinged for $42 extra.  To me, that means vitamins are okay.  However, If I were to order vitamins through Club Correos, I would limit myself to three vitamin bottles, irrespective of whether they are of the same type.

P.S.
It appears the couriers are permiting the accumulation of purchases in Miami. So you can try and get close to either $400 or 4.4 Kigs from multiple purchases before forwarding them on to Ecuador as one shipment, distributing the tax over more orders.

Nards Barley wrote:

It appears the couriers are permiting the accumulation of purchases in Miami. So you can try and get close to either $400 or 4.4 Kgs from multiple purchases before forwarding them on to Ecuador as one shipment, distributing the tax over more orders.

I like Nards' strategy a lot.

I received notification from Correos of my first $42 surcharge, the new fee, this week.  However, it apparently covers an aggregate of three packages (sent by my sister from New York) so it feels like a bargain.  Had they charged the fee per package I would apparently be on the hook for $126.

The surcharge is payable at one of several Ecuador banks, with the receipt to be forwarded by customer to Correos as proof of payment so they will then release the packages.

cccmedia, Quito campaign manager, Nards Barley for Presidente 2017

some people want to know, can we send mobile phone out of the country by Fedex?

netbean wrote:

some people want to know, can we send mobile phone out of the country by Fedex?

When you say "out of the country", you mean from Ecuador to another country? Normally people want to bring mobile phones into Ecuador so I wanted to clarify.

yes, the one need to send a mobile phone out of Ecuador, I guess we can, but the cost is high, about $60.

In the latest cluster**** by Club Correos, the "Club" provided a list of items that are exempt from the new $42 tariff, but incorrectly stated that no advance notice to EC customs (aka SENAE or Aduanas) is necessary to obtain the exemption.

They charged me the tariff and when I pointed out that the contents being shipped were exempt and so the tariff didn't apply, the email I got back said, too bad, it has already been (mis-)categorised and so you must pay the tariff.

According to the list provided to and published on gringotree.com, the exempt items are documents (Category A) and medical supplies (Category F - see gringotree website for details on this category).

The exempt Category A documents are "personal items such as letters, greeting cards, pictures, newspapers, and magasines.  In addition, financial documents, diplomas and certifications to be used legally or personally are allowed."

This is the sentence currently posted at gringotree that is incorrect:  "Anything shipped into Ecuador through a private courier service that is NOT for commercial use...does NOT require any documentation prior to reaching customs."

The email I received (in response to my appealing the tariff) was from Ximena Lopes of Club Correos here in Quito.  She said it was imperative to have notified in advance of the requested Category A status, although her letter did not state how to do this.  (I had, at the Correos-Econcargo website, indicated the contents of the package(s) and that they were not for commercial use.)

Given that the tariff is so new, that my stuff was shipped on Sept. 16  -- three weeks before the tariff's effective start date -- that the compliance statement had not yet been posted at the Club Correos website, and that I had disclosed the nature of the contents...Ximena's stated "indispensible" need for advance notice to SENAE was not realistic.  It all adds up to another Correos screw-up at customer expense.

Also note this inconsistency in the new tariff rule.  Correos defines "private courier service" as including Club Correos, even though the "Club" is an entity of the EC public postal service (Correos del Ecuador).

I plan to discontinue my membership with Club Correos, which runs out this month, and so have no plans to contact Ximena Lopes or the rest of the ESL crowd in the Correos-Econcargo cabal going forward.   So if you want to know how to properly notify the proper party in advance to get Category A classification and exempt status for your "documentos":
good luck.

cccmedia, Quito

I'm not in Ecuador, but I really don't understand what Club Correos is? It's like a buying club? I don't grasp what the advantages might be?

I found everything in Ecuador that anybody might need, except for a dire cheese shortage.

(And I heard from somebody who knew somebody, that there were underground cheese connections if you knew the 'right' people    )

What's the advantage/attraction of Club Correos?

gardener1 wrote:

What's the advantage/attraction of Club Correos?

Top Cat,

As for the "advantage" of Club Correos, you could conclude correctly from my posts on this thread that I don't believe there are any.

Having read online posts from Expats whose arrival preceded mine, I had concluded that Club Correos might be able to streamline my receiving of overseas packages, and that with an $11 annual basic fee, it would be worth trying it.

Well, over the year I ordered and-or was shipped 10 packages, four of which still have not arrived (shipped in September, mind you).  Every single one of the 10 was delayed and-or had issues;  nothing arrived in less than about two months.

One package was confiscated after I was threatened with a fine of $187 mas impuestos.  Three are still in limbo while I try to get relief from the improperly-imposed tariff.  One package had to be returned to the U.S. for a vitamin infraction and it took half a year to get that done as the "Club" refused repeatedly to cooperate with the original shipper's request for a non-delivery confirmation fax.

I found the website to be customer-unfriendly, the forwarding service personnel at Econcargo-Miami to be less than responsive (except for the wonderful Mrs. Pauchi), the responses to my queries and customer needs to be slow as "jarabe," and it was virtually impossible to get their representatives in Quito on the phone even after I made trips to their offices here to meet them in person.

So advantages, no, I don't see any.  (Except that some U.S. shippers may not want to use the ordinary government snailmails.) Next time I need a package from overseas, I'll sign up with US Globalmail or another shipper recommended by posters at this blog.

cccmedia, Quito

Vitamin infraction! Off with his head!

But in Quito there were vitamins.....everywhere.....
Natural shops and the farmcies, why would you need vitamins from somewhere else?

Hells bells when we were in Ecuador we bought a boatload of meds, some utterly unavailable in the US, and all at a fraction of the cost and headaches of the US.

Still I maintain that Ecuador has a cheese problem. Not a vitamin issue.

gardener1 wrote:

I found everything in Ecuador that anybody might need, except for a dire cheese shortage.

I see your point, 'Cat.   I eventually learned that vitamins are widely available here in Quito.  So the restriction against importing such is not an issue IMO.

Aside from the cheese situation -- good luck finding American, Swiss or Muenster at the Maxi chain, Mi Comisariato or Tia -- there are other products permanently or temporarily not available in Ecuador.

Until a reported recent lifting of some trade tariffs, for six months I couldn't find my favorite cereals -- the Kellogg's Muesli group -- or favorite cream (Nivea Suave) on the shelves.  At least the muesli is back now.

In an oft-noisy city such as Quito, I find Flent's Ear Stopples to be an indispensable product, especially since my MBR practically hangs over a bus route with early-morning blue-line buses noisily negotiating the hill.

And then there's my Elvis background music CD's (karaoke style), which must be imported from time to time.  Must be ready for The King's 80th birthday on January 8th.

cccmedia, Quito

The cheese.

I searched every mercado, grocery store, and tienda I met in Ecuador surveying the disappointing lack of cheese and always hoping to get lucky. I found cheddar in the Super Maxi in Manta and feasted for days.

I practically live on bread and cheese. Cheese and crackers, cheese toast, cheese quesedillas, macaroni and cheese, ham and cheese, cheese omlettes, -

Feta, gouda, tilsiter, cheddar, cream cheese, cottage cheese, bleu cheese, gorgonzola, pepper jack - In Ecuador? Nope nope nope, none.

Only that tasteless queso blanco and its suspicious cousin, 'mozarella', which seemed identical to the queso blanco but cost more.

gardener1 wrote:

The cheese.

I searched every mercado, grocery store, and tienda I met in Ecuador surveying the disappointing lack of cheese and always hoping to get lucky. I found cheddar in the Super Maxi in Manta and feasted for days.

I practically live on bread and cheese....

Only (found) that tasteless queso blanco and its suspicious cousin, 'mozarella', which seemed identical to the queso blanco but cost more.

I was in MegaMaxi this week.  You couldn't even find sliced cheeses (rebanadas) in the main cheese area.  Had to go to the deli section.  There they have some white sliced sandwich cheeses which are edible if not gourmet items.

Anyway, it's time to solve 'Cat's Queso Conundrum.

It seems, though, that the posts here at the Club Correos $42 thread have become much too cheesy for the original topic.

So I have created a new thread titled For Cheese Lovers Only.  Navigate your way over there and I promise that you'll find out where one of this town's top cheese aficionadas gets her quesos preferidos.

cccmedia, Quito

If you're leaving Club Correos who will you be using instead?
any info appreciated, Russell

Russell,

If I had to choose today, probably US Globalmail.

Based on another Expat's endorsement due to his good experience with that company -- and what I saw when visiting the company's website -- I think that going with them could spare me the inadequate customer service and molasses-slow delivery times of using Club C.

At least it would give me a chance.

I might pay more per shipment, but based on a year of "pesadillas" with Correos and company, I think it could be worth it.

My other strategies:

1. Don't order stuff from overseas that can be found or approximated or substituted for, in Ecuador.

2. If buying, arrange for a bunch of stuff to be sent at the same time, to reduce the exposure to tariff(s).

3. Avoid the tariff by having packages or envelopes sent via regular overseas mail -- not a private courier service -- whenever possible.

4. Discourage incoming mailings or shipments that are not absolutely necessary.

5. Before any supposedly exempt-from-tariff package (documents, med supplies) is sent here, make sure that SENAE (EC customs) is properly notified so that the exemption is processed.  As of this writing, I have not been informed yet as to the proper way to request Category A classification.

6. Never consider joining Club Correos again.

cccmedia, Quito

Thanks for that very helpful info. All the best, Russell

I just ordered a Wii game controller off of EBAY. The vender is in China and the package will be sent using "China Post" with a tracking number.

I am hoping I won´t be dinged for $42 since I am not using Club Correos nor am I using Fedex, UPS etc.

We will see what happens. If they try and ding me, I will leave the package in abandonment. I am the guinea pig (cuy).

Nards Barley wrote:

I just ordered a Wii game controller off of EBAY. The vender is in China and the package will be sent using "China Post" with a tracking number.

I am hoping I won´t be dinged for $42 since I am not using Club Correos nor am I using Fedex, UPS etc.

We will see what happens. If they try and ding me, I will leave the package in abandonment. I am the guinea pig (cuy).

Thank you for this pioneering effort, Nards.

Now that you're within three posts of an historic 1,000...please consider
the possibility of delighting your many "fanaticos" and supporters by re-posting along with #1,000 the famous photo of Nards Barley and the Police Patrol Surveying the Ecuadorian Beachfront.

cccmedia in Quito

I have just ordered an item from ebay.com for shipping direct to my PO Box address in Quito. Will let you know how I get on.
Russell Eaton

cccmedia wrote:

In the latest cluster**** by Club Correos, the "Club" provided a list of items that are exempt from the new $42 tariff, but incorrectly stated that no advance notice to EC customs (aka SENAE or Aduanas) is necessary to obtain the exemption.

Via email, I appealed the decision to wrongfully impose a tariff on personal documents from my mother's estate which had been sent by my sister three weeks before the tariff was supposed to be imposed.

In a decision passed to me by Correos's Ximena, SENAE stonewalled me, saying:  too late, we already put your stuff in a category (the wrong one), taxable Category B.

I have just emailed Ximena, asking for instructions for the procedure Expats need to follow to notify SENAE in advance, in order to get the allowable exemptions from tariffs for documents and medical supplies.

Obviously, it would have been too much to ask for them to make such information available beforehand, so instead we got the incomplete and inaccurate information they gave to Gringotree.

In my experience, the Correos-SENAE cabal is the most opaque and least flexible of the opaque and inflexible bureaucracies in La Republica.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

In my experience, the Correos-SENAE cabal is the most opaque and least flexible of the opaque and inflexible bureaucracies in La Republica.

Banco Guayaquil accepted a $42 tariff payment from me today and issued me the Correos-required "comprobante" -- an official bank receipt that proves that I paid a "tributo."

According to the pop-up that has been appearing on-screen for weeks when I navigate over to the Club Correos website, I now must send this comprobante -- which is a small piece of paper -- to the following email address:  [email protected]

Nards, are you writing this down...

Now, I don't know how to do the trick of turning this piece of paper into electronic mail (could be scanning), but the folks at an Internet center over at Plasa del Teatro usually can do this sort of thing for me for a buck or so.  I'll have them scan it (if that's what is required) and send it to the pagosliquidaciones email address.

The deadline to get this sent is in two days.  If I were to miss it, the packages fall into temporary abandonment at Correos or Customs and I probably would have to pay a "multa" on top of the "tributo" and the Miami-to-Quito shipping charges that I have already paid, to get them out.

cccmedia in Quito

Holy cow all these charges and authorizations are for some vitamins??

But I saw vitamins and tonics and potions in shops all over Quito. I don't get it.

gardener1 wrote:

Holy cow all these charges and authorizations are for some vitamins??

But I saw vitamins and tonics and potions in shops all over Quito. I don't get it.

Not vitamins this time, 'Cat.

Months ago the EC government confiscated my vitamins shipment.

Since then I know better than to order vitamins be sent to Ecuador.

And you're right.  Every vitamin I ordered that time -- and every vitamin I have ever wanted to buy here -- is readily available in many shops.

cccmedia in Quito

when I bought a adapter of laptop in Gye, the staff said it's from Miami. That is about $10 in China, and sell $20 here.
so, I guess the tariff is not too high for import.

After two attempted shipments from amason.com in the U.S. and months of delays, I finally got my noodles.  The final leg was accomplished by paying the new $42 tariff.  The noodles came in a box delivered by Correos that also contained hard-to-find-in-Ecuador items such as Flent's ear stopples.

So why have pasta sent from the U.S....

Special pasta made by the Dreamfields company is not on MegaMaxi shelves and is a boon to folks who can otherwise experience blood sugar "swings" if their menu contains regular pasta.

The first shipment was rejected months ago because it contained the forbidden over-the-counter vitamins discussed earlier.  Months of delay were involved as Correos's Miami forwarder, Econcargo, repeatedly refused to cooperate with a request for a fax confirming that the shipment never left Miami.  They did not explain this refusal even when questioned via email.

In the second shipment:  with customer's consent, Econcargo removed three of the ten pasta boxes from the original packaging (before forwarding the full shipment from Miami), to meet weight requirements.  This was actually an extra service by Econcargo, rare in my experience, as it prevented having to send the whole shipment back to its origin...again.

cccmedia in Quito