Postal Service In Argentina

[Shelmar]

Is the postal service as bad as they say. Want to sent letters and packages to Ireland. Also will be receiving some packages from Ireland. How long does it take post to go back and forth and do items go missing.

 

[walkingtwig]

everything i send to the uk gets there. nothing except postcards from the uk reach me.

 

[ItsyBits]

The postal service is horrible. But it seems to me that it is a little faster now than before the crazy import restrictions. For packages being sent to you, it is best if they are small enough for the postman to deliver them to you. Ive had success with packages up to 2kg. See through package tape on padded envelopes makes them hard to rip up easily. Printed address labels are better than handwritten.

 

[jp]

Never had a problem sending things out of Argentina - the system seems works well in that direction. We've had packages arrive from the UK, but plenty have never made it. I don't think its correo argentino thats the problem - its the aduana.

 

[Eriq]

I've had a friend send me a small box of toiletries (facial scrubs, shampoo, lotions, etc) and vitamins from the US.The Aduana refused to let me even see the box until and when I can verify the contents of the box. That was the first trip to customs next to EZE.

My friend then sent me the list of things which I sent to Aduana, who then demanded me to get a doctor's note to verify that the toiletries and vitamins were not illegal drugs. When I showed the list to my doctor here in BsAs, she was shocked at the request, since she pointed out that the items were nothing more than safe-to-use toiletries and multivitamins. Regardless, she issued a note for me to give Aduana to inform that the contents of the items were not harmful.

Second trip to Aduana and I finally managed to see the box and the contents. But I was not allowed to retrieve them since the Aduana people were not convinced with the doctor's note. I spent almost half a day there trying to convince them of the harmless nature of the items. End of the day, I left Aduana so frustrated and without the box.

Even though I adhered to EVERYTHING that those Aduana people demanded me to do and give to them, they still refused to release the box to me.

I hope whichever Aduana officer who took the box for themselves ends up with flawless skin, shiny hair and a healthy life. NOT!

On another hand, I've done online shopping before and had no problems receiving boxes from North America, Europe and even Australia containing books and even smaller packages containing small pieces of clothings.

 

[jp]

Eriq - they were likely waiting for you to offer them a bribe. Sad but true.

 

[sergio]

Eriq, this is typical, Don't have your friends send any more things. Not worth it. People in Argentina have no idea what a working postal system is like. If you are used to the US or UK postal systems you will be shocked at Argentina's. When I first arrived in Argentina I was horrified that the postman just dumps a packet of mail in the planta baja and leaves it to the porters to distribute under doors. I see packets of mail sitting on the hall table for hours, anyone could take it. Then its up to the good will of the porters to distribute it. Completely unreliable.

 

[arlean]

Up until a year ago I had very good experience with the postal service. Since then it's been pretty much downhill. I ordered three books from three different sources about a year ago. It costs about as much for the postage as for the book. Not a single book arrived. My son recently sent me some notarized papers. They have not arrived. They still might--sometimes things are incredibly delayed--like maybe for six months! I would not think the Aduana cared about my papers but . . . who knows?

 

[johnw100]

I`ve had mixed success from things being sent from the UK.

Anything small and thin ie less than A4 envelope arrives no problem. I had 2 envelopes that were important so I had them tracked, but they disappeared. Probably got noticed by the postman.
I had two 2kg parcels with mainly our own clothes, they were sent tracked and arrived in just over a week no problem.
About a year ago I had a very important package so I sent it fedex, that proved a nightmare. two trips to the aduana, total of 10 hours waiting. Had to send faxes to them to prove the sender was legit,etc. Then had to pay $300 pesos to receive it.

I hope Santa has better luck!

 

[Eriq]

Yes, receiving things from outside of the country seems next to impossible.
But what about sending out packages from the country?
Anyone had any good experiences with that?
And which delivery company would you recommend?