Comments on: Another Post About Shipping to Uruguay

By: IBMike

IBMike — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:07:00 +0000

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.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:22:00 +0000

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

By: IBMike

IBMike — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 22:49:00 +0000

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?

By: Louis

Louis — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 06:22:00 +0000

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.

By: IBMike

IBMike — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 17:16:00 +0000

Hey Enzo, Bring your scanner with you! They absolutely love paper here. The only bill I get online is from Hospital Britanico.

By: Enzo

Enzo — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:56:00 +0000

P.S. Here is a link to the Star Wars USPS new stamp release if you already didn’t find out about it.

By: Enzo

Enzo — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:51:00 +0000

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.

By: IBMike

IBMike — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 16:29:00 +0000

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.

By: Xavier S.

Xavier S. — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 00:50:00 +0000

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.