Punta Cana - Bavaro - any alternatives to MailBoxesEtc?
I'm new in DR, retired from USA and now living in Bavaro near the beach and golf courses. The nearest I could find was MailBoxesEtc (MBE) in Palma Real Shopping Center (in Bavaro) and also near Punta Cana (PUJ) airport -- I think one owner owns both stores. I registered for free. I got a Miami address (the mail goes to Ebox Logistics Inc in Miami <
Sistema Operativo de E-BOX >). No English speakers in the Bavaro MBE office; one guy in the MBE office near PUJ speaks a little (solo mui poco) English.
When I registered, they told me their fee is RD$ 45 (US $1.15) for DOCUMENTS less than 1 pound + RD$ 200 per additional pound. And RD$ 200 (US $5.12) per pound for packages. I later calculated (after 40 shipments) that their exact fees are:
Casillero (locker) ebox personal 0-5 kg (up to 11 lb) = RD$ 0.2827 per gram
Impuestos (tax) dga / airport fee = RD$ 0.0137 per gram
Casillero combustible / seguro (insurance) = RD$ 0.1241 per gram
Gestion (Mgmt fee) = RD$ 30 per soft envelope, or RD$ 50 per cardboard box
I mailed 40 packages so far. The heaviest box I shipped was 8 pounds -- it cost me US$ 43.85 to receive it. My AVERAGE <st1:stockticker>COST</st1:stockticker> <st1:stockticker>PER</st1:stockticker> POUND for all 40 packages so far is US $7.69 per pound. But read why:
I posted everything onto an Excel spreadsheet (OK, so I'm retired, and I can waste all the time I want). About half of the 40 packages were very lightweight (under 150 grams) like <st1:stockticker>DVD</st1:stockticker> movies in bubble envelopes. The calculation of the "AVERAGE <st1:stockticker>COST</st1:stockticker> <st1:stockticker>PER</st1:stockticker> POUND" cost of all 40 packages was skewed upward to US $7.69 by the 4th fee (the Gestion -- Mgmt fee) applied to those lightweight (under 150 grams) packages. MBE charged me an average ACTUAL cost of US$ 1.82 <st1:stockticker>PER</st1:stockticker> PACKAGE for each of those lightweight packages.
But when I REMOVE those (under 150 grams) packages from my calculation, the AVERAGE cost is US $5.59 <st1:stockticker>PER</st1:stockticker> POUND.
MBE lost one package worth US $55.00 a month ago (although it was USPS Delivery Confirmation - confirmed delivery to their MBE address in Miami more than one month ago), and I cannot get a response from them about it (I asked several times, in writing, each time in both Spanish & English).
As a result, I am looking for other (better, more reliable than MBE) mail forwarding alternatives here in Bavaro. CAN ANYONE SUGGEST ANY? PLEASE?
Just an "Oh, by the way" -- As a newbie here in DR, my observation of the local culture here (in multiple, varied instances of observing) is that if the answer is not what they think I'd want to hear, they just plain ignore the question and they don?t answer at all. Not only at MBE, but pretty much in almost all stores and businesses here. But that does not change the fact that I love living here.