What Do We Do, Now That Club Correos Is a Goner....

sueb4bs wrote:

A rich way to live one's life  --  do without, live la vida sencilla (the simple life) in our lovely country, Ecuador, buy less and have more experiences -- Most of all - ENJOY!   In French, we say , fetez la vie!

Yes, the world would be so different and so much better without USB cables so we can access the internet! 

Nards Barley wrote:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODAwWDgwMA==/ … i/$_12.JPG

Okay, I just bought a $3 usb cable with free shipping from Ebay which will be shipped from China to Cuenca. I have done this a few times before the law changed and it took about two months to get here.  Now, let us all do a group prayer.............

My cable for my Nook tablet arrived from China. There was a slip of paper in my p.o. box at the post office informing me of its arrival  I did not have to pay anything at the window, although if it had been a little heavier I am sure there would be a small fee based on weight of the package. 

I am encouraged by the avoidance of the $42 tax and will order cables and small inexpensive electronic things in the future from China via China Post.

P.S.
Bloggers, facebookers, web masters, ebook authors and landing guide creators will be harvesting this information for use in their publications.  Remember, they are FOC. I am not.

Nards Barley wrote:

My cable for my Nook tablet arrived from China. There was a slip of paper in my p.o. box at the post office informing me of its arrival  I did not have to pay anything at the window, although if it had been a little heavier I am sure there would be a small fee based on weight of the package. 

I am encouraged by the avoidance of the $42 tax and will order cables and small inexpensive electronic things in the future from China via China Post.

Thank you, Nards, for updating us on the shipping-fee situation as reported by you (Report #7) and your Canadian acquaintance (Report #2)

It has now been almost two months since Club Correos crashed, so...

Please, folks, let's follow Nards' example and post about your recent experiences in bringing things into Ecuador through couriers and the mails.

cccmedia in Quito

Horas estaras recibiendo el tracking number de USPS con el cual arribara tu paquete a Ecuador y los podras rastrear desde Pagina web de USPS http://www.usps.com Pagina web de Correos del Ecuador http://www.correosdelecuador.gob.ec/?p=2294

Based on that it seems there is tracking to Ecuador with USPS.  The question is whether the tracking continues to my p.o. box in Cuenca.  I will send an email with that question.

Peso    Tarifa
1 lb    $40.25
2 lb    $44.50
3 lb    $48.75
4 lb    $53.00
5 lb    $57.25
6 lb    $60.40
7 lb    $63.55
8 lb    $66.70
9 lb    $69.85

Nards Barley wrote:

Now that I have looked into it further, it appears to be the same outfit that went by the name Econcargo when Club Correos still existed....

My biggest concern is whether there is tracking all the way to my Cuenca address.

Anyone who likes doing business with a Spanish-speaking circus would be just right as a customer of Econcargo or whatever it may have changed its name to.

I recommend choosing one of the English-speaking U.S.-based delivery services that have been recommended online by posters.  Anything extra that one pays is worth it if you can avoid the Econcargo-style experience.

cccmedia in Quito

Nards Barley wrote:

CC,

When Club Correos was still in existence, which was a service within the Ecuadorian postal system I had made over 100 shipments to the Cuenca, the majority of which were handled by Econcargo.  Not one shipment failed to arrive, although at times there were delays. So I do not agree with your dismisal of them as an option for getting items here.   

That said, I am not convinced this service is necessarily the best service for getting products to Cuenca  in terms of cost or dependibility, but I know for certain, you do do not know either.

I don't know the best one, that's true.

It has been one year to the week since Correos went out of business and I haven't ordered any shipments from the U.S. since then.  The $42 extra tariff -- which I repeatedly paid -- and poor customer service left a bad taste, and the year has been more pleasant for not having had  to deal with Correos and Econcargo.

Other than your posts, Nards, we have had few comments or reviews, positive or negative, about the quality of service from currently-available shippers in the past 12 months.

Even though I ordered far fewer shipments than you did via Correos/Econcargo, the percentage of problem orders was high, largely due to my not understanding all the rules.  So I needed strong customer service.  With the exception of one Econcargo employee, I found that company's service poor.  They refused even to co-operate with Amazon on a product return, with no reasonable explanation given.  The last shipments I ordered were initiated in September 2014 and not received until January 2015, just weeks before the Correos crash.

When I next order product from overseas, it will be with an English-as-first-language company recommended by you or others on the Internet.

cccmedia in Quito

¿Cuáles son los productos más comunes que son RESTRINGIDOS de importar?
Teléfonos celulares nuevos, solo se puede importar una (1) pieza por cada ano calendario.
Ropa y Calzados, máximo 12 piezas por envio ( piezas no repetidas ) ( ENVIOS 4X4).
Cremas y maquillajes, máximo 6 piezas por envio ( ENVIOS 4X4

That says,

What are the products most common that are restricted for importation?

New celular phones, you can only import 1 piece each year.
Clothing and shoes, a maximum of 12 pieces per shipments (non-duplicated items)
Creams and makeup, maximum of 6 pieces per shipment.

The "(Envios 4x4)"  indicates that the shipment must be under $400 and 4 kilograms.  If you don't already know this,  generally you don't want to mail anything with a value over $400 or 4 kilograms or you will be subject to special importation rules.

What I found most interesting is that blurb about cell phones.  I thought you weren't able to import any new celular phones, not even one.  I would want to confirm that statement before shipping one over to Ecuador.

Seguro extendido: la consolidadora provee al Afiliado, una extensión de seguro que cubre el paquete (máximo $400) desde que es recibido en USPS Miami, hasta que es entregado al cliente en su domicilio de Ecuador. Este seguro extendido aplica para perdida, avería o daño por mal manejo de la paquetería, tiene un costo del $ 3.00 por cada $ 100.00 del valor FOB y debe ser pagado por el cliente al momento de cancelar la factura del servicio. El valor de la indemnización será transferido a la cuenta PayPal del cliente con un máximo de 30 dias a partir de la declaración de perdida o daño del paquete.

That says they offer insurance that costs the clienet $3 for each $100 of value of your shipment. And if you have to make a claim, they will pay within 30 days to your Paypal account.

Nards Barley wrote:

One glaring disadvantage of the Aeropost service is they require a form 1583.... Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent, which needs to Notarized by a U.S. Notary.   

It is looking more and more like I will be using EconexpressBox.

That's a real deal breaker, Nards. 

Here in Quito, the only U.S. notary is on the staff of the U.S. Embassy, and the charge is $50 per page.

cccmedia in Quito

DorothyPeck wrote:

i've read a lot about incoming mail to Ecuador, (sounds dismal!) but what is the best way to mail a letter-sized item out of Ecuador to the USA?

Shipping a standard letter with confirmation is going to be around $7 I think with 2 weeks to get there. I have only done it a handful of times and always with confirmation. And I did the mailing from the Post office on Borrero and Gran Columbia.

DorothyPeck wrote:

i've read a lot about incoming mail to Ecuador, (sounds dismal!) but what is the best way to mail a letter-sized item out of Ecuador to the USA?

1.  If the item is a personal letter, post card or something not considered financially valuable sent in a #10 size envelope or similar, the most common way I know is to take it to a Correos post office and buy proper postage, typically $2.50.  If you already have the EC postal stamps and know the postal rate for your mailing, you can alternatively drop it into one of the few outgoing Correos del Ecuador mailboxes around.  For instance, here in Quito, there are some boxes in Gringo-friendly Mariscal Sector and in some upscale hotels.

2.  If the mailing is valuable, hard to replace or extremely timely, don't trust Correos del Ecuador.  Find your local DHL office.  Last year, DHL was charging about $60 for a one-time service, Ecuador to USA .. but lately they have been promoting an "express" service with a discount.

Some Correos reps have said not to send money or checks through the mail.  When I once needed to send an $8 check to the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. for an apostille, I ignored this caveat and mailed the check.  The mailing got to its U.S. destination in the usual time frame -- about two weeks.

cccmedia in Quito

vsimple wrote:

Hey gurus, I want to order a couple of boot-cut jeans from Amazon. I went to Levis and Lees here and they didn't have.

Will the jeans incur duty if they are only 2 and different colors, or different shades of the same color?

If so how much? They cost about $45 each on Amazon.

Yes, the shipment will incur a $42 duty unless they are mailed to Ecuador using a regular postal service, such as the United States Postal Service, China Post etc.

Nards Barley wrote:

vsimple wrote:

Hey gurus, I want to order a couple of boot-cut jeans from Amazon. I went to Levis and Lees here and they didn't have.

Will the jeans incur duty if they are only 2 and different colors, or different shades of the same color?

If so how much? They cost about $45 each on Amazon.

Yes, the shipment will incur a $42 duty unless they are mailed to Ecuador using a regular postal service, such as the United States Postal Service, China Post etc.

Thanks for the info.