Postal System in the DR

[LTSteve]

So, in a nutshell, what's the state of the postal system along the north coast of the DR.

Assuming I live in a building with a street address, what are the chances that mail can/will be delivered? Does one need to rent a post office box and go pick up mail?

Thx in advance.

In a nutshell do not rely on the DR postal system to get mail from Canada. Go to a local mail forwarding company and they will give you a Florida address that your mail can be sent to then forwarded to the DR. If it absolutely, positively needs to arrive do not use DR POSTAL.

LTSTeve

 

[the gorgon]

Good to see some of you using Google Translate - LOL

But to the OP - most of us on the north coast use someone like EPS which gives you a Florida mail box. Mail still takes time thought even using this method.
The Dominican Mail system does function after a fashion but we would not trust anything important to it - If you get a Mail Box at one of the Dominican Postal offices you stand a better chance of getting things. There is an office in Puerto Plata and one in Sosua . We are sure DV* can give the direction to the office in POP. In Sosua it is in the same Plaza as Edenorte office.

Our experience with Christmas Cards was even if posted in November they did not arrive until about March the following year if they arrived at all! Incoming mail to a street address is very variable but often takes several months although IRS letters seem to get through in about 3 weeks - at least to the local office!

Hope that helps

Olly and the Team

sounds about right, Olly. i got my christmas card from my son at the beginning of April.

 

[dv8]

inposdom does work, ina way.we have used them few times to send stuff back to the states. i said "back" because those were items purchased online and sent to DR via EPS and then turned out to be broken/malfunctioning/damaged and so on (not by EPS). it is too expensive to use EPS to send the items back. inposdom works with US postal service so anything you send goues to the states and from there on it goes all over the world. but this is a special type of service, not a regular post and the cost is higher than regular post.

in the past i sent some postcards from DR to europe and they were hit and miss, some arrived in few weeks, some in few months, some never. never tried to send a letter/card with this special postal services above as it is meant mostly for packages.

inposdom also offers inbound shipping services, much like EPS or BM cargo. never used it so i cannot say if it works. here is a website: Inposdom

 

[Criss Colon]

I never thought about using INPOSDOM to send thing BACK to the USA, great idea!
Less chance to be stolen.
Thanks!
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[dv8]

cccccccc, really, we sent few items, each of them valuable, nothing was stolen or missing. that's using the courier inposdom service, not the standard one. you are even given a tracking number to use with US postal website that shows the movement of your item.

 

[wanda-69]

hello I got a question, I send a letter to DR from Philadelphia on may 26 and the person haven't receive it do you know how long it takes so the person receive it...

 

[windeguy]

hello I got a question, I send a letter to DR from Philadelphia on may 26 and the person haven't receive it do you know how long it takes so the person receive it...

There is no certain answer to your question. Maybe they will eventually get it.

 

[hammerdown]

hello I got a question, I send a letter to DR from Philadelphia on may 26 and the person haven't receive it do you know how long it takes so the person receive it...

I had a letter take over 6 months to get here from NY, and others have gotten here in 2weeks....the person needs check at the post office weekly to see if it has arrived.....

 

[chic]

wow i never had a problem and always wondered how the few letters,cards , got to my place but i have used them going out...ship small phgs reasonable...no problems

 

[Bob K]

Still waiting for my Christmas card....form 2010!

Bob K

 

[the gorgon]

the DR postal services are like something from Jurassic Park. no semblance of structure and order, mail just thrown down in piles, nothing in alphabetical sequence, just anarchy and chaos. the loss rate must be at least 50%

 

[granca]

Before I moved to suburb of LT when I lived 10 years ago in La Barbacoa i had 2 letters delivered one time, they had taken over 2 years to get to me!
I now have a PO box in LT, it works pretty well.

Don't try and skype me, it doesn't work!

 

[zoomzx11]

You kidding me? We have a postal service here?

 

[bob saunders]

My mother sends us letters and parcels from Canada to Jarabacoa about 4-5 times a year and they always arrive, intact but the time varies. Last envelope took 6 days, the one before that 20 days. I have sent various letters out and they arrive in Canada in about 7-10 days. Having said that I would not send any really important papers though the Dominican post office.

 

[CristoRey]

"what are the chances that mail can/will be delivered?"

You have a better chance of winning the national lottery.

 

[bob saunders]

"what are the chances that mail can/will be delivered?"

You have a better chance of winning the national lottery.

They actually do deliver it, directly to you.

 

[Criss Colon]

In over 30 years, I have never even seen a postal worker anywhere.
When I lived at the hotel NACO 20 years ago, there was a mail box where guests mailed their post cards.
You could see it from the pool area, where I spent all my days.
NEVER saw it emptied.
Only BOB has great success, but then he likes EVERYTHING here in the DR!!!!!!!

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

 

[bob saunders]

The lady running the post office here is very nice and professional as well. I send everything airmail and it cost about ninty pesos for a regular letter and yes it is trackable online.

 

[Chirimoya]

Friend of a friend had two passports sent from the US. The person sending them ignored her instructions to use a courier and instead sent it by regular mail. She was prepared for the worst as no-one here has ever seen a postman/woman in our local area. She went to speak to the people at nearest post office, which is in Ver?n, gave them her phone number and after a nail-biting couple of weeks she got a call - the passports had arrived safely.

 

[the gorgon]

Friend of a friend had two passports sent from the US. The person sending them ignored her instructions to use a courier and instead sent it by regular mail. She was prepared for the worst as no-one here has ever seen a postman/woman in our local area. She went to speak to the people at nearest post office, which is in Ver?n, gave them her phone number and after a nail-biting couple of weeks she got a call - the passports had arrived safely.

think of what would have happened if she had not gone and discussed the matter before. i had a package sent to me by express delivery from Texas a few years ago. they sent it in April. when i had not gotten it in September, i had the guys in Texas send me the same articles, but with a friend who was coming to the DR. in October, after making more than 10 trips to the post office, i raised a ruckus, and the postmistress came out to discuss the matter. she told me that the package was in Santo Domingo. two days later, they had it in POP. they guy who handed it to me told me that it would be 300 pesos. i just paid him and got out of there. i now had spares of the original.