Am I SOL?

bendundat

New member
Sep 16, 2008
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I sent two cellphones via US mail(don't ask me why) to Higuey one month ago. I have no way of tracking the shipment once it leaves the country. Is there any hope of the package arriving or am I SOL courtesy of the DR "postal" system?
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
40,964
936
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What postal system?

Your tuition was the cost of two cell phones.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,504
5,932
113
dr1.com
We sent letters to and receive letters from Jarabacoa, Moca, Santo Domingo. Santiago, San Francisco....etc. Some take 3 weeks some take two months. I have sent 3 packages through the mail- two arrived.
 
Feb 7, 2007
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The DR post has SOP to remove anything of value .... so you are so SOL

I cannot believe somebody would be so cheap or stupid to send ONE (much less two) cell phones by standard mail. I mean, you don't have to use FedEx... just EPS or Buisness Mail... so to save 10 dollars you lose hundreds...

More... if the phones were new, they certainly had to go through customs clearance and the import duties were levied which you have to pay... do you THINK that THEY will track YOU down to ask you to come down and pay the duties? It will sit on a shelve... 3 months (maybe) and then get "discarded" for your failure to pay the duties.... consider those phones your "tuition", as mentioned.

If, for any miraculous reasons the phones turn up or you are called in to come pay the duties, consider the phones an unexpected Christmas gift .... for YOU.
 

osanhopps

New member
Aug 19, 2007
73
0
0
They only way to have something shipped to the DR, is by either FEDEX or UPS. This way you get a receipt of the package, which can be delivered to the individuals home, place of business or picked up at one of there stores. I have had several things sent to the DR. You just learned and expensive lesson!
 
Feb 7, 2007
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Call the number and see if anyone picks up...

I suppose the phones did not have SIM cards in it.... and you cannot call a phone without a SIM card ... and when they put the SIM card in, you have no way of knowing what the number is
 

Celt202

Gold
May 22, 2004
9,099
944
113
Thank you Celt and to those who enlightened me via PM :)

TYVM

HTH

INPOSDOM is actually a functioning postal service. I used it for all my mail for several years and never lost anything.

Then the bottom fell out and MOST of my mail was not getting through. I went to the main post office in Santo Domingo in la Feria and a supervisor looked into it and told me there was a new postman on my route.

A friend of mine told me about Business Mail and I signed up and never looked back.

I have interests in the USA that have tax consequences. Last year I finished my state and federal tax returns at the last minute and realized that if I sent them via Business Mail they would reach Miami and be stamped, mailed and postmarked after the cutoff date and I would be subject to late penalties.

Since I didn't owe so much I decided to send the two letters from INPOSDOM. I went there and asked them to hand cancel it which they did but their hand cancel does not have a date on it so I just hand wrote in the cancel stamp 14/4/2007.

The checks were posted back to my US Bank account within 10 days.

Many situations here involve a leap of faith. It's like doing a header off a cliff in the dark. Will you land in the water or on the rocks? If you jump you find out.
 

Drro

Bronze
Mar 22, 2006
1,407
102
63
I sent a box of books Priority Mail International Flat Rate Service - up to 20 lbs (and the box has to close without bulging)for about $50, couldn't be tracked - to Santo Domingo in plenty of time for my arrival.

It did arrive but it certainly wasn't worth the aggravation and stress I went through. It did have a Customs # and I had a local person track the package, find it, and have it delivered.

I would not send anything via US mail to the North Coast however!

My advice: shop local and walk away with the phone in hand!