Comparison of EMS/TNT/UPS fast mail
Comrades (Ladies and Gentlemen :D),
I'd like to share my experience with current fast mail services available in RF, for incoming parcels.
This summer my colleagues from Taiwanese HQ have sent me a parcel with 3 product samples by UPS (by my own recommendation), it has arrived in 1 week to my door, no customs fees, cost for them was around 10K Taiwanese dollars (~350 USD).
Later on they've sent me another parcel via DPEX from them and then transfered with TNT to RF territory, and it has turned into HUGE @$$ache, as local Russian TNT office has shown full impotence to pull the goods via customs. First of all they required to sign contract with them (min. 5600 rub for clearance services :D), send them photocopy of my passport (thanks God, not my credit card), 3 additional claims for local customs, and wait for several days. In 3 or 4 days they've discovered that they're able to do nothing, and asked for one more claim with my refuse to customs. Whole process took around one month (delivery to RF, TNT pulling rubber and return back to TW), dunno about cost.
This parcel was returned to Taiwan, and then, by advice of RF partners, I've recommended them to send it back to RF again with EMS (fast mail of Russian Post). They've did it, it took 11 days with 2K Taiwanese dollars (~70 USD) and delivery was to my local post office, not to the door.
This info will hang here for some time, then I'll move it to Basics or Frugal expat sections.
anyone still remembers PX Post?
they had their main office in Zorge Street. Also a re mailer. THEY pick up your mail in Finland and either deliver it to you or you have a post pox at their office and went there to pick up your mail. I had them for years.never any problems or hassles.
While -everybody- was complaining about the unreliability of the local mail service, PX Post had to close down because there was not enough business support. Sad indeed.
If needed, i use EMS mail service, they might be a little slower than TNT or Fedex but i find them more reliable. And since there is a post office on nearly every corner sending and pickup is no problem.Fair enough no English spoken there, but then the Austrian post office employees do not speak Russian either and nor do people in US post offices.
Independent Postal Service
Some years ago, I used Independent Postal Service for sending/receiving occasional letters or documents - without signing up for a mailbox.
Never had a problem.
They are in Moscow, and their site is: http://www.ips.ru/en/about_us.htm
About sending international parcels from Moscow
I needed to send a suitcase (of typical carry-on size) of stuff ahead of me as I left Moscow in December 2011, it was filled with a few books, clothes, and shoes. With a Russian-speaking friend, I stood in line at the Chistie Prudy Moscow post office for something like 4 hours.
First you have to certify or pack the stuff in your package, and I had to fill in these forms. More than 3 or so books and the lady is wont to refuse your luggage because apparently you are not supposed to send books in a separate manner. Because of this I took out 7 of the books that I'd hoped to send in the suitcase. The first lady sent us to the packing lady who sewed up a thin bag for my suitcase, weighed it, and I had to pay a small sum for that. Then I joined the first line again to waittttt for my turn to have my package addressed, stamped, paid for, and put on the conveyor belt.
The reason why it takes so long is that the first lady also packs all the other smaller packages, in brown paper or boxes or whatever. You need two of the customs declarations form, and there was a third form that I had to fill in as well. The customs form required a blow-by-blow accounting of what the items are, how much they weigh and how much they cost. The staff didn't actually check, though, and I simply estimated.
In total my suitcase was something like 11kg and cost 2300 rubles or so to send to California. The entire process took about 4.5h on a Friday afternoon.
