PBH / colombia (travelguide, pictures) / post

Shipping items to Colombia from any place in the world - NEVER USE DHL

Hi all who are thinking about sending any package to Colombia, specially xmas presents. DO NOT USE DHL THEY ARE THE WORSE COMPANY AND THE MOST EXPENSIVE EVER.
I sent my precious wedding dress from the UK to my twin sister in Colombia for her to wear it on her wedding day. I sent the dress 6 months before the date of the wedding. DHL told me that the box would arrive to the destination within 5 days. 20 days later it still hadn't arrive and could not get an answer on the 1000 times that I phoned them. They didn't even had a record of my shipping, then every single person I spoke to told me different things. Then when it finally arrived in Colombia, DHL UK told me I had to pay £180 duty tax that Colombia customs where asking for. When I refused to do so (as the wedding dress is Colombian pesos was 10 times cheaper) they told me that they could not return the box to me unless I paid them double the amount I originally had to pay. I explained to them the sentimental value that dress had to me, but they were very unsympathetic and really didn't care. When I spoke to DHL in Colombia, they told me they had no idea what DHL UK where talking about and promised me they would deliver the box on that day. But 2 days later I was still calling them asking for the box. DHL Colombia told me they had an email from DHL UK telling them not to deliver the box to me but that they not explained reason why. I told them but the UK company where asking and the Colombia DHL told me would get in contact with them. I had a copy of the email.
I then forward DHL Colombia's email to the UK and they had no explanation for it. I demanded an explanation for the money they were charging me that Colombia did not ask and then finally they decided to deliver my dress but without the explanation. To make matters worse, the box arrived open with missing jewlery and a big yellow stain on the dress, but DHL UK said they could not respond for what had happened outside the UK and DHL Colombia said the box had arrived like that. I demanded return of the £25 I paid for insurance, but I never got it back.

The stress that they caused me and my family was awful.

So that's why I urge you all do not use DHL you will regret it.

Thanks

By olga1512 on Sep 7, 2007, 13:58 in Travel tips.

RJQuilla says on Sep 7, 2007, 14:50:

Dont know if available in the UK but in the US Servientrega is the way to go. I think they are the preferred and best method to get parcels shipped to Colombia, cheap too.

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brazilianhottie says on Sep 7, 2007, 14:54:

olga1512 i am sorry to hear that this happened to your dress. I do have to agree with you, DHL is not a very responsible shipping agent. Locally they also tend to send damaged and late packages. The reason why i say this is because my brother use to work for a vendor who used DHL for delivery, and his customers always complained that about the packages coming late. Alot of people do the DHL because its cheaper then FEDEX but like they say lo barato sale caro. As for fedex, I use to work their and the company takes great pride (atleast the terminal i use to work in) in shipping its packages in a timely matter. If i were you I would try to write a letter to corporate or call headquarters and explain el mal rato q la compania te hiso pasar. The reason why i say that is because when you speak to the "high people" it makes a diiference. Something similiar occured to my uncle when sending a package to brazil and they reimbursed him the declared value of the package and opened a free account for 6 months, for shipping.

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite

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danronian says on Sep 7, 2007, 17:17:

I had a great experience with a 3 day shipment of papers I needed from PA in the US to Bucaramanga here.

I've had bad experiences in the US with every carrier when i was selling things on ebay.

In PA I've never heard of the Servientrega option. Do they go under a different company name int he US?

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Sep 7, 2007, 18:04:

DHL is part of the huge Deutsche Post organization. I don't use them because they're still about one-third owned by the German government and if I have a choice I'll give my business to a non-state owned company. More importantly, I avoid them because of their hideous choice of corporate colors. Their trucks and planes are a blight on the landscape.

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la campiña says on Sep 7, 2007, 18:28:

I know 2 places that are mas o menos certain to get your stuff to locombia both in north london 1st stoke newington and the other camden town let me know if you want more info

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juancegomez says on Sep 7, 2007, 18:29:

On a different but related note...I haven't voluntarily chosen to use DHL yet, and probably won't, but I did order a product from Amazon.com a few months back and apparently that's what they usually use for shipping to Colombia.

The package arrived perfectly fine, but DHL Colombia asked not only for the local custom tax but also an additional amount for "handling".

Needless to say, I wasn't happy about this hidden cost, considering that I had already paid a reasonable sum for S&H, but I guess that's life...next time I'll either pay less or make other shipping arrangements.

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RJQuilla says on Sep 7, 2007, 18:33:

You can find Servientrega on the web. I think its a Colombian company. To get items to Colombia you must first ship the item to the Servientrega office in Miama and from there it will get where it needs to go. I use US mail express or overnight to the office in Miami. There are posts in PBH about what to do.

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wendell13 says on Sep 7, 2007, 19:12:

I second the motion on Servientrega. I have used them a few times. They are reliable and reasonably priced

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robi666 says on Sep 7, 2007, 19:30:

juan, what did you buy on Amazon? I guess books and cds are free from custom and VAT... O no?
Anyway, never paid taxes or customs and I ordered from Amazon like 10 time in two years.
Anyway, when I was living on my sailboat in Cartagena, I did order some electronic and spares that I needed for my vessel. It has always been a problem with DHL, did not want to deliver things without paying customs, even if my vessel was a foreign vessel in transit... i had to fight to get my things, phone to Bogotà, visits to Cartagena office, letters from my custom agent, etc.
On the contrary, I never had a problem with Fedex. After some time, none in the boat community was using DHL anymore.

"I am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. A nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present."

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juancegomez says on Sep 7, 2007, 20:04:

robi666: A DVD worth less than 50 USD. I have no problems with paying the customs tax (even though I think the rate is absolutely robbery, especially for such a small purchase, I accept it's how things work at the moment), but finding an extra "handling" charge upon arrival was just too over the top. You'd figure this would be included in the original shipping and handling charge, but apparently not.

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Colombiano_81 says on Sep 7, 2007, 20:07:

they are all over 100 thousand pesos per kilo..that is not reasonably priced

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chewy says on Sep 7, 2007, 20:26:

Hi Olga:
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I am in Puerto Rico and once I sell my house I am moving to the farm I just got in Turbaco, Colombia. I have a lot of sentimental things to send to Colombia and wanted to know inputs from any one about this. Your bad experience is a lesson to us. Thank you so much for sharing it with us

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capitan_centella says on Sep 7, 2007, 22:26:

Sue it. Put a civilian inquiry about it.I don´t know about thing about law in UK but I do know lawyers. And they LOVE to go against a corporation. Even more if what you say it´s true.

"When you open your eyes, you turn around with the world, But it can change, if you only close it, and see a dream to yourself." Me.

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Cerealkiller says on Sep 7, 2007, 23:38:

Im sorry to hear about that awful experience. I always use DHL for my stuff; Papers, gifts to friends on bdays, books to get stacked back at home cause i havent got enough space here in London and I have never had a problem with them, My mom uses UPS, never had a problem either...I have used ordinary royal mail as well and everything has made it to Colombia safe and sound.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives -John Stuart Mill

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miamimike says on Sep 8, 2007, 10:10:

Its been a widely discussed issue on how lousy and Expensive DHL service here on PBH ever since II've been a member(going on 3 years) So its no secret! Steer clear of DHL unless you have Money to burn and lots of spare time to wait for your item to arrive. I've used several Carriers here in Miami, mostly Servientrega which has several off airport locations in the greater Miami area, a few now in Ft. lauderdale. I have used Avianca Air Express also with good sucess(they treat their boxes better then their actual passengers--LOL). Avianca also off airport drop off and pick-up locations. Servientrega and Avianca Air Express are next door to each other in Hialeah on 82 ave at NW 25th street. I also use another smaller Air cargo service, believe its called AB express. I have had good luck with this company also, same price, more or less, as Servientrega. Servi and AB offer door to door service, usually 2-3 days delivery.I cannot remember if Avianca has door to door service but never a problem with them either.

"Wait a minute. What did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gas? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that." -- Feb. 28, 2008 --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C.

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Rikito says on Sep 9, 2007, 16:54:

I have had similar problems with DHL...my advice, stay away. As I read in hear there are much better services.

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

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chester says on Sep 11, 2007, 17:44:

FedEx is all F'd up too.

use your local colombian beaner service.

only gringos use DHL or Fedex.

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