Another Post About Shipping to Uruguay
My discontent with Miami-Box escalates. Google sent me a post card to verify my mailing address for my account. They sent it on March 8th. Today is the 26th and I still haven’t received it. Also, right after I opened my Miami-Box account I changed my address on Netflix from USABox to Miami-Box. Netflix sent two CDs to the M-B address and they never arrived here and they were never returned to Netflix. Since it’s too much of a hassle to send a receive DVDs I’ve canceled my Netflix account. Since I’ve been a customer for so long with never losing a single DVD before they didn’t give me any grief over the two missing DVDs. Besides, with Blockbuster right around the corner, three stores in Punta Carretas Shopping that sell DVDs and CDs, Apple iTunes movie downloads, and Amazon movie downloads, I think I can do without the stress of sending and receiving DVDs to the US.
All right, Miami-Box is officially on my Do Not Use list. It’s a shame since on paper (I should say on their Spanish-only Web page) they looked great. Now I gotta start changing all of my addresses back to USABox.
There are other mailing service options out there and I’d love it if people would post their experiences. I think the best one available is becoming good friends with anyone who works at any of the embassies here in town (and there are tons of embassies!). Apparently they receive mail and packages totally bypassing DNA (UY Customs). Sweet deal. Maybe I’ll offer some computer networking services in exchange for some package receiving services. Hmm — something to think about.
Back to USABox. (Yes, I’m including my affiliate link on each reference to USABox. I still have no idea what’s in it for me if you sign up with them using my link but, hey, what the hell, all of this affiliate stuff is kinda cool.) They offer different plans. Here’s their most current info for shipments to Uruguay from their Web site as of today:
|
I’d been using Plan 1 since arriving in Uruguay in November. It’s $35 per month (plus $9.95 per shipment to use FedEx instead of the other absolutely horrible shipping company who’s initials are D.H.L.) For the $35 you get one shipment of up to 5 pounds. Up until this month I’d been using the full 5 pounds each month so it’s been a good deal. As I wrap up my ties to the motherland I’m receiving less and less mail. For the month of March I’m under a half a pound and from what I can tell from the scanned envelope pictures, it’s all junk mail.) Effective April 1 I’m switching to Plan A.
In the interest of full disclosure I have not received any packages via USABox with merchandise that needs to go through DNA since I’ve told them to use FedEx for all of my shipments. Since it was a local DHL employee who recommended FedEx the eternal optimist in me believes that things will be simpler. I’m tempted to log onto Apple.com to buy something to test it out. I’ll keep you updated with my adventures in shipping / receiving.
Other options that are, one, the US to UY postal service. [Unrelated interjection: I just went to the USPS Web site and they have R2D2 running around and then a link to a Star Wars ad claiming that on March 28th two powerful forces will unite. I’m intrigued. Anybody know what that’s all about?] I’ve heard theirs much less hassle receiving items that you have to pay duty on. Also, if you ship an express package from UY to the US using the UY Correo the US side of the delivery is handled by TNT (who I’d never heard of before but apparently their a big international express company like FedEx). Again, no first hand experience yet but I’ve heard good things about shipping using Correo Uruguayo. Also, from what I’ve heard, receiving letters via Correo UY is reliable.
Enzo from Sociadad Southron’s Forum wrote me letting me know that he checked out some of the Google ads that appear on my blog page. One that he saw was USA2Me.com. Their rates are slightly higher than USABox but one service they offer is that you can elected to have them open a document and scan it for you. There are other services out there that do this as well. For me I don’t receive anything that’s so urgent that I need to see it immediately scanned online so I didn’t pay much attention to the companies that offered this service. Plus their prices are usually pretty high. USA2Me.com charges $2 for up to six pages and they’ll scan document only when you request them to. Here’s a link to their rates page if you want to check them out. For some people having that scan-on-demand option could be pretty handy.
Now, I don’t want to offend the other 100 million people who live in Texas but USA2Me.com is located in TX and you’d receive a TX mailing address. After living in a country whose dictator-in-chief is from Texas and living in Florida who’s Governor is the brother of the aforementioned dictator and, of course, also from TX, I did not want to have a Texas mailing address associated with me. I’ve lived in Miami a total of around 10 years over the last 20 years so having a Miami address for me was comfortable — almost like going home. Plus most of my friends are in Miami so I got a Miami VOIP telephone number from Vonage so that my address and phone number are in the same city. Kinda makes things easier. Oh, and another thing I considered is that Miami is pretty much the “Capital of Latin America” and most shipments from the US would depart from Miami International Airport so I figured it would be good to have an address close to the port of departure.
I just looked up USA2Me’s location in Humble, Texas, on Google maps. It’s just outside of Houston about 10 yards from Bush Intercontinental Airport. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that all my mail was being flown out of an airport with that name! Please, I want to clarify that I am not Texas-bashing. I’ve been to Austin and think it’s a really great town. I’ve spent some weeks in Dallas. Another nice city with some cool people. I’ve also heard that Houston is a very gay-friendly city which is awesome. Also, I think the Supreme Court case that eventually nullified all anti-sodomy laws (read anti-gay laws) in the United States originated in Texas. Great that the people fought back but horrible that the police thought it was okay to arrest two consenting adults in the privacy of their own home. So no, I’m not Texas bashing but I am Bush bashing but since I have occasionally reader from somebody on the state.gov domain I’ll leave it at that.
Wow I really did digress.
Stay tuned for future posts. I’m planning a two or three part series on electricity. Hopefully those of you planning to move here will benefit from what I’ve learned. After almost five months of living here I just this weekend learned something very important about the electrical system here versus North America. You’ll have to tune in later for the details. 
Also, I’ve been photographing some statues and monuments around town so I’m planning to put them all in a post.
March 27th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
I actually have used http://www.usa2me.com for mail forwarding and despite it being in Texas
they have proved pretty good - no problems so far and good communication. I have never tried usabox but they sound good too.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Hey Xavier, Thanks for the comment. Yeah, USABox has been pretty good. As the amount of (important) mail I receive from the US dwindles they feel to be very expensive. This month (March 2007) there was only one letter that looked like it could be important (it’s probably a credit card solicitation though!). If USABox had offered the scanning service I could have save a bunch by just having them open the one envelope and scan it for me.
My big disappointment is with MiamiBox. They run around town here in MVD in nice new minivans with their logo painted across the side. All of their employees have been pleasant. But, the most important thing is that I’m not receiving everything that has been sent to me through them. Oh well. Judging from their Web site they’re targeting Uruguayos who’d like to make purchases in the US.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Yeah, I wouldn’t want a TX mailing address either. There is however a benefit being associated and located at an airport, especially when shipping packages out, just like FedEx in Memphis.
I don’t keep any paper, any important mail entering my house gets scanned and archived. If the mail forwarder had this service I would not require much to be sent to me (limiting my expense), an odd letter or official document here or there. Instead of bringing my scanner, I would just have everything scanned in the US and downloaded, but those rates are cost prohibitive. I looked at a couple other mail forwarding businesses that primarily cater to RV’ers, but they don’t offer the services I want, the scanning and online availability of my PDF’ed mail. Maybe there isn’t a huge demand for this service yet. Not sure. Plus the data security issues of having someone open and possibly read/copy/leak an important document during the process. I got hooked on the idea when outfitting a huge financial center with computer equipment for their mail room. All mail delivered to the building got privately and securing opened/scanned and emailed to the recipient. Of course they had million dollar machines automate the entire process, my budget is much smaller.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:56 am
P.S. Here is a link to the Star Wars USPS new stamp release if you already didn’t find out about it.
March 29th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hey Enzo, Bring your scanner with you! They absolutely love paper here. The only bill I get online is from Hospital Britanico.
April 14th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
I wouldn’t get too upset about the google pin code not arriving. It took about 4 to 6 weeks for me to get mine. Add two weeks to any mailing date they say.
Thanks for the idea about mail box services. I’m busy surfing them now.
April 17th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Hey Louis, you’re spot on. The Google pin arrived about five weeks after they said they mailed it.
If you find any new information about mailbox services please let us know! Are you living in Uruguay or planning to make the move?
April 26th, 2007 at 10:22 am
Dear Michael,
I just read all your posts and comments regarding Miami-Box.
It seems to be you obviously have personal relations to competitors of Miami-Box like USABOX which by the way you forgot to mention have no local presence in the market.
My name is Victor (General Manager of Miami-Box) and just to clarify only one of your many mistakes…every employee here is bi-lingual, and the owners of the company live in Uruguay and are also US citizens.
We get mail for you every single week which we deliver at your address.
By your comments anybody reading would think you dont use Miami-Box…but its funny how we get your bank accounts, personal mail, etc.etc. and you seem to have taken a crusade against Miami-Box.
If you are not getting something thats only because your vendors have not shipped it, we charge only per weight so there is nothing we would like more than to be able to deliver lots of packages to you.
Last, our website is in Spanish because its basically for the local market here, there is no need to translate it, you are living proof of it as you are a user of Miami-Box.
Anyways, just wanted to clarify a few things in this blog.
Have a great day and thanks again for your patronage on using our services.
Victor
Miami-Box http://www.miami-box.com
April 26th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Hi Victor, I’m very glad you posted a comment. You’re right, your competitors are all located abroad and they use international couriers. I’ve written about my experiences with the couriers as well. My biggest frustration with Miami-Box occurred when I was waiting for a laptop power supply. It was delayed in Miami and again in Uruguay.
I did write that all of your employees have always been very pleasant. Which is true. Everyone has been professional and courteous both on the phone and your drivers in person. That’s something I can’t say about one of the international couriers.
I don’t think I’ve taken a crusade against Miami-Box. The process of importing anything from abroad is not easy in Uruguay. USABox is much more expensive than you guys and by default they use DHL. DHL’s service was horrible, extremely expensive to clear anything through customs, and their employees were not the most pleasant people. With USABox, in order to avoid using DHL, they charge an extra $10 per shipment — which makes them even more expensive. I believe I wrote that services like USABox are more well suited for people who travel often or who live part of the year in a different location.
In my opinion you’re missing out on a great opportunity by not targeting the foreigners here in MVD. There’s a huge need for your service. With all the embassies in town and more and more people from Europe, North America, and Australia choosing to live in Uruguay targeting foreigners is where your growth opportunities are.
Just to be clear, I have nothing personal against Miami-Box. Your post here is the first time anyone has contacted me about my experiences with your company. I think you guys have terrific potential.
If you’d like to meet in person to discuss my experience with Miami-Box I’d like to do that. Uruguay is my home and I’d love to see businesses here like yours thrive. If you’d like to listen to your customers I’d like to talk with you.
Thanks again for writing. I sincerely do appreciate it. If you’d like, I’ll post your comment on the main page of my blog. It’s kind of hidden here in the comments section.
PS I really do like your vans. They’re nice. Very professional.