Help Top Cat Decide If She'll Need a Courier for EC re Credit Cards

How reliable if Fedex or DHL in Ecuador? Imagine if was needed on a frequent basis it would be a bit expensive, but for something important, and infrequent like receiving u.s. credit/debit card, would probably be worth the cost, no?

Have no personal experience sending or receiving packages in Ecuador, but have used DHL for several other international destinations, and never had a problem.

I also used DHL -- originating here in Quito -- for a recent envelope to New York.

It contained a document for which my signature had been endorsed by the U.S. notary here (at the U.S. embassy) for submission of the document to a probate court in Westchester County, NY.

It went out the day before the Thanksgiving holiday and an attorney in New York emailed me early the next week to say he had received it.

However, based on my prior experience with debit card replacements, I would save the cost of international courier service (in this case DHL charged $67) and trust that my U.S. banks would have my back (as they have before in merchant disputes, and a hacking incident in Quito) if there was a problem.

cccmedia in Quito

When I needed an important document (my police report for my visa) sent by my daughter in the US, my Quito attorney recommended UPS. That what my daughter used, and it arrived in 2-3 days (I forget). The cost was similar to yours, ccc, $65 if memory serves.

I suppose the best solution might be to check with the card-issuer to ensure that they will protect against losses. If so, then regular mail to a condo or a PO box would seem to work (this also assumes a willingness to wait two weeks or so).

It is my perception, having talked to my current credit union (where we keep our money) and Bank of America who is our credit card issuer, that neither one allow a choice of mailing services for replacement cards. US Post Office or bust.

I suspect they do this because the Post Office is under federal regulation and the tough US mail fraud and theft laws. None of the private courier services are subject to those laws. At all.
(I know this because I spent a career working for UPS)

So that's one of the reasons I thought to go with the mail forwarding service. They could just collect the mail in the US, and then courier it down to Ecuador. But that process takes time.

Last year one of our credit cards was cancelled without notice, which I knew nothing about until one day out of the blue a new BofA credit card arrived in the mail. I called to ask why they had sent a new card with a new number as our other card was still active and paid up. The BofA rep mumbled something about 'protection' and 'security' and a mass mailing of new cards to customers. This says to me their own system was hacked and they were not admitting to it, but many cards had to be replaced on short notice.

- As an aside, did you know that many gem dealers prefer the US Post Office as their favored courier because of the strict federal protections for USmail?
I know that because as a UPS driver I had a raw gem client and he sent the really good stuff through the mail. Wouldn't ship the big stuff with us. -

Cccmedia, can you give us a little more info on the Quito based hacking incident?

The Largisimo wrote:

Cccmedia, can you give us a little more info on the Quito based hacking incident?

Back about eight years ago when I was visiting Quito periodically, I returned home to the U.S. after a visit.  I discovered there was an unexpected charge for over $500 on my credit card statement from a retailer in Quito with whom I was unfamiliar.  The charge had been posted during my then-recent visit to Quito.

I disputed the charge with my U.S. bank, and it was reversed promptly.

I never had direct contact, even by email, with the purported vendor.  The bank handled everything, to my satisfaction.

I was using Internet coffee shops all the time during that visit, and a likely scenario is that someone hacked into my account due to the fact that the Internet connection was not secure.

cccmedia, Quito resident since 2012

Thanks. I always try and avoid financial stuff at Internet cafes. On one of my trips, also 8 to 10 years ago I used an atm at Banco Pichincha it made all of the right noises but didn't spit out any cash. 200 came out of the account. My bank fixed it promptly too