Is there such a thing as a postal service in Colombia?

vicshere says on Oct 24, 2008, 17:53:

nope

listo

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:03:

la campiña says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:13:

there are many private companies but not postmen as we know like a nacional service, however here in cali there are post offices where you can send letters cheaply but it is slow and they use avianca for example and also they wait for a bulk of letters or parcels before they ship them off. Deprisa,servientrega etc are safe good and fast but of course you have to pay an alarming amount of money

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:18:

august says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:22:

Darloup, stick with email man. Snail mail is a patently non-Colombian concept. They do have private services as named above, but also as named above, the prices are crazy - like 10 USD to send a postcard to the US. Regular people in Colombia do not use snail mail. It's just not done.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

la campiña says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:30:

from europe or the states its the company you choose initially that gets your package to colombia but obviously here UPS or TNT etc ( I think) don't exist however if your question is one of concern about safe handling and eventualy getting here, in my experience I have sent and had sent to me many items from credit cards to guitars and all have arrived in perfect condition eventually. If your sending an item of value its up to you to insure it and also use a company with an online tracking facility, it helps.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ronaldo says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:33:

Colombia has a unique mail system. It is called in postal terms a "ycsmbingt".
What is a "ycsmbingt" system?
It is an a system where "you can send mail but it never gets there".
The price is also right because it is only a one way system........send but no receive.

Ronaldo

0 funny, 0 helpful.

la campiña says on Oct 24, 2008, 18:48:

they also have a vetting system called ' ronaldon't know diddle squat' .com and so forth etc

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Oct 24, 2008, 19:26:

It's a crap shoot. I recently sent a couple of birthday cards to children of friends and they arrived at a private residence in Bogota eight days after they left Minneapolis.

The government postal service - Adpostal - was liquidated a year or two ago. I don't know what there was to liquidate other than a bunch of thieves and the death penalty is not permitted in Colombia.

Search for "postal service" on this site and you'll find some previous posts on the subject.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 19:45:

yes they have, since April I have received 10 letters, one from NZ came in 5 days, also got some from Canada ,Ireland, UK,Greece, Italy, all within two weeks of been sent, only one letter took 4 weeks. all were sent normal post.I even got one on a Sunday.but its a bit different the other way round its hard to find a good company to send mail as all are priced over the top, avancia wanted 95 mil to send a letter to london within 5 days, dont know if I will bother with xmas card as who knows when they will arrive, I am told there is somesort of a post office in medellin that is cheap.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Saltador says on Oct 24, 2008, 19:50:

I have actually had good results lately sending mail to cartagena and manizales from the US via regular first class mail. They arrive in about a week and a half. Costs about 3 dollars to send a small mailer. But you must remember that if you send a package, you are going to be tempting someone to steal it. But small flat items have been no problem lately.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 24, 2008, 19:53:

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:03:

yes but do not sent cash in any form as it will not get here, I dont know about parcels sent by normal post,I had two plasma Tv /dvd combi, sent from NY but that was by private company, for $60 usa.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

renalda says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:11:

no there is not because us Colombians do not want to be part of your "western"/"euro" way of life.

we charrish our families and our community. if we want to talk to someone it is by phone or in person.

no mail necessary. this is not the pony express...we have phones...I know hard to believe we have phones in colombia!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Lisa Zee says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:16:

Lat time I checked, it was $10.00 to send a card from Medellin to California!. It did no used to be like that.
When I got married, maaaany year ago, I send the wed invites at the beginning of October, the wed, being end of Nov, and they got to Medellin in January! LOL

Feliz Navidad!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:16:

renalda you say we do not want to be part of your western way of life, then why did you go and get your education in England, "double standards".

0 funny, 0 helpful.

renalda says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:18:

You can lead a camel to water jimmymcc if you have studied where the water is. Does not mean I will sell the sand that holds the water. great question!!! I thank you for your educated observation.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:21:

are you sure you were'nt just another cleaner in the UK, and trying to be something over here, yes we have all met your kind.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

renalda says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:24:

another cleaner...yes, quite certain
your kind.....do explain which kind you speak of?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:29:

no need, its past your bed time

0 funny, 0 helpful.

renalda says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:37:

or your education level. you define what the American and Euro stereotype thinks of us Colombians!

It is so sad that the majority brings upon us all Colombians stereotypes that don't reflect all!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

jimmymcc says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:43:

please dont put yourself on the same level as other colombian people, as I have read your other comments, and your place is something thatI would just scrape of the bottom of my shoe, thats if you have any.oh sorry forgot Daddy paid for you studies or did you earn it on the street corner,

0 funny, 0 helpful.

renalda says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:46:

don't be jealous of your lower class Colo upbringing. you can still go to a local college and make a difference as there is a cable car to take you now. i'm curious, why are you hating on one of your own who wants to lift Colombia and respect for us as we have earned?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

TobyBoy says on Oct 24, 2008, 20:46:

There IS DHL, FedEx and UPS (and others) service in and out of Colombia (thtough like in most countries; not necessarily to every city.

I have also sent regular (post-stamped) mail TO Colombia from various countries, and somehow it always gets there within a couple of weeks (mostly).

I have also sent mial out of the country, BUT a lot will depend on the city you are in, and hte service you choose. Express-mial to anywhere, even letters has gotten expensive everywhere. The USPS (USA Postal Service) is lowsy anyway, w/ very long lines since it was privatized, adn thwy no longer do ground deliveries to most of the world.

People complain in France (as always), but it is actually not a bad system there (espeically if compared to how things have changed in the US).

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Oct 24, 2008, 22:39:

Who made the first phone? Who made the first cell phone? Who installed the cell network? Who started the Internet (it wasn't Gore)? Renalda, if you want to really protest US / Euro influence, you better stop using those things. Better stop driving a car or using anything that utilizes an internal combustion engine.

He who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

tabla says on Oct 24, 2008, 22:47:

1) If people are sending ANY mail in/to Colombia there must be a postal service, with a name, location, telephone number, website, etc. Where is this information? My point is it would be interesting to ask THEM for the official view.

2) Surely someone offers a service of dropping your mail from Colombia into a public mailbox in, say, Miami. From there it could go by regular mail to Europe etc. as well as USA domestic. This would be a bulk drop and therefore much cheaper than a regular courier. From what you say, might work better to make the drop in London, England!

3) I have driven past "International Post Offices" in Medellin/Bogota (can't remember where). How do they operate?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

corporalgator (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 24, 2008, 22:48:

Pirate2late says on Oct 25, 2008, 00:00:

I have sent birthday cards and special cards to Cali via the USPS (at a cost of 90 cents) and all but one was received. I wouldn't trust this service to send anything of value ($$$) but letters and the cards did arrive. If you want to send something of value and want to make sure it arrives, send FedEx........but it is very expensive!

"Fly it until the last part stops moving!"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

viajero123 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 00:17:

This is the national postal system: http://www.4-72.com.co/
It replaced Adpostal. They handle the mail that you send from the US (USPS) and Europe. It is slow, and very unreliable, especially if you send anything of some value.
I have never tried them to send post out of the country, and there are few post offices as we know them in Europe or USA. They do have one in the main entrance in Unicentro in Bogota.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Pappassito (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 05:04:

badboy says on Oct 25, 2008, 06:22:

for those who like to send cards, etc for special occasions many places have e-cards you can send. american greetings.com has a service both free and premium that is a pretty good deal. not exactly the same as receiving a card in the mail but speed and reliability always there.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 07:21:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/post/postal-service-in-colombia/

I've sent about 8 letters from Colombia to Europe, Australia, the US... 100% success rate. About 7k to 10k if it's a regular letter. Registered air mail. Takes about 3 weeks to Europe, or a bit less. Used 4-72 mentioned above in the link.

Have also received about 10 letters from overseas. 100% success rate. Have the sender write your cellphone number along with the delivery address.

Don't send anything of value through the post, but otherwise I have found it to be reliable enough.

que nota!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

machin1967 says on Oct 25, 2008, 08:28:

I sent four computer discs to Barranquilla from US to re-intstall on a computer I bought for my girlfriend. They opened the package in Bogota and demanded $99.00 tax fee or they would not deliver them. I used DHL for that one.

I do not trust anyone there with anything of any value. It seems worse than anyplace I have ever seen for that kind of thing. Even worse then attempting to send things to Philippines.

How do people get their electric bills, phone bills and such there?

0 funny, 0 helpful.

europeantraveler says on Oct 25, 2008, 08:30:

Of course there is an "official" state postal service in Colombia. As others have mentioned, it is now called "4-72" (http://www.4-72.com.co). They have offices in all major towns, and quite a few in Bogotá (Unicentro, there's another one at the corner of 72 and 15 next to Panamericana, etc). They have improved their service quite a lot, and I always send international letters with them - they have always arrived. You do have to drop off all letters at their offices, though, since there are no mailboxes elsewhere. But who would pay DHL a ridiculous amount of money to send a regular international airmail letter abroad?

That ordinary Colombians don't know of their official postal service's existence, nor its name, nor where the post offices are, is a well established fact. It's just part of the culture here (and I guess the result of a real bad level of service from the state postal service a couple of decades ago). Oh, and they even have ZIP codes now (see "codigos postales" on the 4-72 website), another fact that almost all Colombians are completely oblivious to.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 08:44:

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 10:00:

TobyBoy says on Oct 25, 2008, 18:33:

Corporalgator says:

“The USPS was never privatized. Where did you get that silly notion? “

...then, Pappassito says:

"Coporalgator is dead on.. USPS was never privatized..This would be very controversial.”

Well guys, it never seizes to amaze me how much some US-Americans know about the US:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USPS

And who's a fruitloop Pappassito? -get a real education and then get a life (you are out of your papa-league here champ)..

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Oct 25, 2008, 19:12:

Privatized is not the right word for the change that took place at the US postal service in the early 1970s, unless you're aware of private businesses that are subject to the Freedom of Information Act, have an Office of the Inspector General whose employees are federal law enforcement officers, have their senior executives appointed by the President and approved by at least one house of Congress, whose union employees - like all Federal government workers - are not allowed to strike, that don't pay property and income taxes, that don't need license plates on their massive fleet of vehicles, etc, etc

It's far more accurate to say the modern postal service must be a self-sustaining operation, and no longer receives operating subsidies directly from the taxpayer.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

TobyBoy says on Oct 25, 2008, 19:41:

I actually agree with a good part of your distinction Tinto. Thank you. However, please note that more changes have actually occurred under the radar in recent years.

It's just that so many people think that the USPS is exclusively a governmental agency without fully understanding how much of it's operation has been contracted-out, and its implications. By the way, most of their vehicles now DO need Lic. Plates, as they are now considered a "civilian fleet."

0 funny, 0 helpful.

corporalgator (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 25, 2008, 20:00:

Tinto (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Oct 25, 2008, 20:28:

I think the 'start up' government postal service in Colombia has a tough row to hoe.

- they lack infrastructure
- they have to overcome the rotten reputation of their predecessor
- unlike the US Postal Service, they don't have a monopoly on certain classes of mail
- as the country becomes more prosperous and wired and if electronic signatures become more acceptable, then faxes, email, email attachments, and secure web-based transactions are going to eat into more of their core document delivery business, which has already happened in more developed countries

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Oct 26, 2008, 03:03:

Machin, bills are delivered by hand. At least where I lived, a dude actually rides by on a moped and knocks on the door. People in apartment receive their bills by the front guard shack, which receives the bills by a guy on a moped. My ex-family received parcels by notices delivered by moped or horse - then they had to take said notice to a certain place to retrieve the parcel.

He who farts in church, sits in his own pew.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

mranderson says on Oct 26, 2008, 08:55:

Yeah, don´t send anything of value. My sister recently tried to send me a package of miscelaneous things and gifts. After a month of waiting we called about it and they explained that the guy delivering could not find the address. (a fairly large buisness in medellin) They told us it was returned back to my sister but of course she never got it back.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Oct 26, 2008, 12:22:

lpdiver says on Oct 26, 2008, 17:24:

When we do send something via postage we send it to sister in laws business address.

ts

"cook some rice!"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

mikeinpuerto says on Oct 26, 2008, 17:28:

mys sister sent me 2 tubes of vegemite .. they arrived after 6 weeks ......go figure .. they dont like vegemite.....

Smile and everyone will wonder what they are missing.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

turnmeon (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 5, 2008, 05:28:

turnmeon (☼Travelguide writer) says on Nov 5, 2008, 05:30: