desertcogo
7/9/2019 13:47 EST
I married an Ecuadorian woman over two years ago but we were living apart until I moved to Ecuador permanently last December. Has anyone else living in Ecuador had trouble receiving mail from the United States when mailed using USPS? When I was still living in the U.S. my wife and I sent each other letters to determine the length of time it would take to receive them. Neither one of us ever received the letters we mailed. I have a cousin in the U.S. who mailed me a CD of various family photos over three weeks ago and I still haven't received it. When she checks the tracking for the CD she said it hasn't moved and there are no updates. Has anyone else had this problem?
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FrankNichols
7/9/2019 13:48 EST
The best way to improve the odds is to always send it using a method that provides a tracking number.
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desertcogo
7/9/2019 14:16 EST
My cousin has a tracking number but when she tries to track it's location it shows no movement. She mailed it on 6/14/19 so I'm sure it has to be somewhere in Ecuador. She called the post office in the U.S. and they told her that for there be "no movement" the package has not even been scanned here in Ecuador. In the 6+ months I've lived here I am unimpressed with the work ethic in Ecuador. My wife and I have called to get a price to install a tankless water heater and also to have a cabinet built and installed in our kitchen. We are still waiting for the person we called to show up. It's very frustrating.
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PRATSALS
7/9/2019 14:48 EST
Yes my daughter in law mailed us a package 7 months ago to our Casilla number..still haven't recieved it.
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jacmare
7/9/2019 14:58 EST
Yes, We have been here for over 5 years now. We still do not get mail from the U.S. on a timely basis. At times it takes from 4-6 weeks to get our bank statements. It gets so slow that we give up and have the bank send it again. The Postal Service has become very terrible . They need to put someone in charge that knows what they are doing. Evidently they do not have one now.
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kmarch
7/9/2019 17:42 EST
After living in EC for 5 years, when this question comes up about using the Govt. Mail System in Ecuador - my answer is - "It doesn't exist". I have mailed two letter from the USA to EC via USPS and both did arrive safely - One after 6 weeks - the Second after 4 weeks. Don't mail anything of value or important papers. If you are mailing something that matters, bite the bullet, pay the cost, and use DHL, FEDEX, or UPS. Or use a friend to mule in or out your mail.
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desertcogo
7/10/2019 06:25 EST
I'd be willing to bet the item mailed to me from my cousin in the U.S. was in Ecuador a few days later which means it has been sitting in a facility here in Ecuador for over 3 weeks and hasn't even been scanned yet so the tracking could be updated. Are the workers here in Ecuador that overworked or do they just not care?
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user001
7/13/2019 11:13 EST
Just to counter the negative views above. Have received parcels from the UK every month or 2 from the UK without an issue for the last 7 years. Always turn up, maybe not promptly maybe not consistently the same duration, but always get here.
But it is not as simple as just posting it and waiting to receive. My wife normally handles it so I am not sure of the process, but you need to register with aduenas (or an agency similar). You need to know tracking number and contact them before when expecting. It is possible without tracking, but you will need to ring them up and speak to them, which you will need competent spanish for (it isn't just a simple ring up and ask, but you need to get them to do things for you that they would probably prefer not to do (i..e work ;-) But always get tracking rather than rely on being able to sort it without.
But never had any problem. Family have sent us toys / kids clothes / kids books, food items from home you cannot get here (marmite / pickle / hobnobs / spices etc etc).
I believe there is a small charge, but is mostly negligible
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