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Mail to Baja

Aventurera - 2-2-2008 at 12:51 AM

I sent some photos via Priority mail from Northern California to Ensenada. The lady at the post office said it would take about 6 days to arrive. It has been 10 days. Any idea on how long things generally take to arrive down there?

CaboRon - 2-2-2008 at 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Aventurera
I sent some photos via Priority mail from Northern California to Ensenada. The lady at the post office said it would take about 6 days to arrive. It has been 10 days. Any idea on how long things generally take to arrive down there?

Welcome to Mexico ! I would say your mail will be here manana :lol:

And welcome to the board.

CaboRon

Bob and Susan - 2-2-2008 at 07:07 AM

last Priority Mail we mailed took 21 days

customs on BOTH sides holds it up

EXPRESS MAIL takes 10 days :light:

DENNIS - 2-2-2008 at 07:08 AM

It takes three weeks for the Mexican phone bills to go from TJ to Punta Banda. Postmarked with date in Tijuana, Ensenada, Maneadero, Punta Banda. I havn't been in a Mexican post office for a while but, the last time I was, you had to put glue on the stamp yourself. I don't know if that has changed. The postal service here has improved a lot recently but, don't look for US efficiency yet. Maybe mañana.

CaboRon - 2-2-2008 at 07:40 AM

I just wanted to add, that for photos, I would send them as an e-mail attachment, then you could print them or watch them on your computer, or burn a cd or dvd with the pics, and you can also take them to a shop and have them print the copies for you.

CaboRon

[Edited on 2-2-2008 by CaboRon]

bajabound2005 - 2-2-2008 at 08:38 AM

We received a Christmas card for the former owners of our house (they've never received mail at their house). It was mailed from SoCal, regular postage (41 cents) to their name, Rancho Packard, Carratera La Bufadora KM 17.5, Punta Banda, Baja Calif., Mexico

Wrong postage, no postal code, mail not even delivered to our camp....came right to our house and it took about 2 weeks. Go figure.

backninedan - 2-2-2008 at 09:43 AM

We average about two weeks for stateside mail to reach our PO box. It doesn't seem to make much difference how it is sent.

DianaT - 2-2-2008 at 10:17 AM

Mail going both ways is fun! We send my mother-in-law 3 or 4 letters at the same time from Vizcaino (no post office in Bahia Asuncion) and they all arrive at different times. And last time we were in that post office, they were out of the proper stamps---paid and left the letters and they were sent. :yes:

From the states, even our FedEx package to La Paz went through Guadalajara.

The lady who told you 6 days, well ---- :lol:

The better answer would have been, who knows.

Quien Sabe ?

MrBillM - 2-2-2008 at 11:03 AM

Although I've never attempted Priority mail or the like, I've had a Mexican P.O. Box for 20 Years in San Felipe. Periodically, I would send "Test" letters to myself. They would clear the U.S. post office in one day, postmarked about 2-3 days later in Mexicali and show up in San Felipe anywhere from 5-6 days to 5-6 weeks. Then there were those that NEVER arrived. It was the "Never" letters that convinced me to not have serious mail sent there. The boxes are cheap, though. In the U.S., I'm paying almost 90 bucks a year for one.

Things have probably improved, but years back the Campo owners had a Box in Calexico for important stuff. Since someone was always travelling to Mexicali weekly, they would cross the border to pick up their serious mail.

sylens - 2-2-2008 at 11:03 AM

we have found in general (no hard and fast rules, this is, after all, the mexico we love) that first class mail (41 cents) sent from california arrives at our house in ensenada in just under two weeks. with additional postage or sent from anywhere else (the other 49 states, canada, england) it takes a minimum of three weeks, because it is routed to mexico city and then to ensenada.

forget packages. customs issues delay everything.

we get our christmas cards in mid to late january every year :lol:

Aventurera - 2-2-2008 at 11:09 AM

Well, thanks everybody for the info. I guess we just have to wait patiently (or not so patiently)! Unfortunately, he doesn't have e-mail, so that is not an option.

I guess that in these days of instant communication, it's not such a bad thing to be reminded of the days when people waited excitedly for the arrival of a letter in the mail...

DianaT - 2-2-2008 at 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBillM

Things have probably improved, but years back the Campo owners had a Box in Calexico for important stuff. Since someone was always travelling to Mexicali weekly, they would cross the border to pick up their serious mail.

Don't think much has changed---as the Post Master told us, he needed more help but he could not convince the higher ups that the Calexico Post Office was really a sub-station for Mexicali.

We used to laugh at the signs that said anyone who had a P.O. Box needed to prove residency----everyone had a relative or friend. Almost all of the cars in the parking lot had Baja plates.

Mango - 2-2-2008 at 11:44 AM

My favorite Mexican mail story:

I met an Austrian the first time I went to Mexico. He told me about a postcard that he had sent home on his first trip to Mexico. The post card arrived about 4 years later with postmarks on it from: Australia, Albania, Algeria, and about 3 other countries that started with the letter "A".
:lol:

Hook - 2-2-2008 at 03:39 PM

This begs the question: just what do mexican postal workers DO all day long?

Hoping for some clever responses like...........

ANYTHING they want.

errands for the cartels using postal vehicles.

grande siestas.

watching telenovia and I Love Lucy re-runs.

Any other theories?

vandenberg - 2-2-2008 at 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Hook
This begs the question: just what do mexican postal workers DO all day long?

Hoping for some clever responses like...........

ANYTHING they want.

errands for the cartels using postal vehicles.

grande siestas.

watching telenovia and I Love Lucy re-runs.

Any other theories?

About the same as US postal workers, except they don't bring guns to work to kill each other :biggrin:

And btw. we get most of our mail from Ca. now in about 2 to 3 weeks, far cry from a few years ago, when it took 2 to 3 months.

bajalera - 2-2-2008 at 11:36 PM

Watching that Fashion Channel?

Mail to Baja

george - 2-3-2008 at 07:24 PM

We have been coming to the Baja for over 20 years. We have found that any mail that is sent down to us arrives
usually within 8 days IF you put on the label "Via Tijuana" and highlight it so it stands out. If you don't do that it goes to the Mainland first and then back to Tijuana and can take
as long as a month to get to us.

Al G - 2-3-2008 at 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by george
We have been coming to the Baja for over 20 years. We have found that any mail that is sent down to us arrives
usually within 8 days IF you put on the label "Via Tijuana" and highlight it so it stands out. If you don't do that it goes to the Mainland first and then back to Tijuana and can take
as long as a month to get to us.

Hi george...silly question...who has these labels or do you makeup your own?

Sallysouth - 2-4-2008 at 04:52 PM

Mija has her mail sent to a box in SY and they send it on down to her in Cabo.Not sure how it works but it takes about ten days to get to her.We get her mail here in So. Cal. and put it all in a Priority Mail (large) envelope, then send it to SY.Interesting tidbit about the "Via Tijuana" thing.

bajabound2005 - 2-4-2008 at 06:50 PM

I swear I read a while back that the Mexican Postal Service had contracted with the US Postal Service to help them "improve". It is fun to look at all the postmarks on the Telnor bill. TJ, Ensenada, Maneadero, Punta Banda...well, there's one quick improvement: One postmark from the city it's mailed from and it's on its way. Well, I know those photos didn't arrive today because it looks like everyone took tomorrow's holiday (Constitution Day) today for a 3 day weekend.

Hook - 2-4-2008 at 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajabound2005
I swear I read a while back that the Mexican Postal Service had contracted with the US Postal Service to help them "improve". It is fun to look at all the postmarks on the Telnor bill. TJ, Ensenada, Maneadero, Punta Banda...well, there's one quick improvement: One postmark from the city it's mailed from and it's on its way. Well, I know those photos didn't arrive today because it looks like everyone took tomorrow's holiday (Constitution Day) today for a 3 day weekend.

I remember that, too.

I have had absolutely zero complaints about the USPS in my years.

About 10 years ago, I suspected someone within my local post office was delaying my copies of Western Outdoor News as I was always getting it later than the paper said was normal.

After everyone on some of the fishing boards noticed that their deliveries were often as much as 5-6 days late, it became clear that the problem was with WON.

Aventurera - 2-4-2008 at 11:30 PM

Nope, indeed the pictures haven't arrived yet. My friend, who is Mexican and from Puebla, is quite astounded that it could take them that long just to get to Ensenada. He said, "They could walk them down here in less time!"

At any rate, he's been sent off for training in Mexico City and won't be back for a couple weeks, so hopefully they'll be waiting for him when he arrives!

Aventurera - 2-19-2008 at 12:30 AM

Just to update...(since I'm sure everyone has been losing sleep wondering about it!)...

...the packet I sent arrived in Ensenada today.

Mailed Priority from No. Cal. on Jan. 22nd...arrived Feb. 18th.

Oh, well, at least it got there! :biggrin:

Al G - 2-19-2008 at 04:16 AM

Anyone want to split a San Ysidro to San Lucas Mail box? Not cheap...well maybe.
Thinking it would get checked more often with more people going to Cabo. Now I need to find out how to set one up...sure as hell hope I do not need to go to San Ysidro

CaboRon - 2-19-2008 at 06:32 AM

Al,

There is a service in CSL that uses stateside PO Boxes in Mexicali. You use that as your address and then they courrier the mail to the mail box store in Cabo.

There is a monthly charge for the service (private company).

They usually have an ad in the Gringo Gazette.

I have my mail sent to friends in the states and they scan and send the mail as an e-mail attachment.

CaboRon

Al G - 2-19-2008 at 11:26 AM

Thanks Ron I will pickup the Gazette...Stll hoping for someone to share to cut down on CSL runs... :biggrin:

CaboRon - 2-19-2008 at 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
Thanks Ron I will pickup the Gazette...Stll hoping for someone to share to cut down on CSL runs... :biggrin:

Al,

Check you U2U... a lady in today's Onion has an ad wondering if anyone would like to share a box in Cabo at Mailboxes Etc.

Ron

Why cut down on trips to Cabo ?