Fed Ex And Ukraine

[dswann 1]

I shipped the visa package and some clothes to Anna in Kirovograd. I see it is in Customs since yesterday. I looked for any tariffs or things and did not see any on clothes and documents and it is still in the est time window for delivery. Any had experince with this.

David

[payxibka 10,045]

not a K-1 visa general discussion topic

moving thread

[A and S 0]

Hey David,

You're not going to like my reply, but here it is...

I tried to send my sweetie some things for Valentines. Nothing very special. A card, a shirt, a little outfit, a teddy bear for her son and 2 hot wheels cars for him as well. I sent it FedEx and it cost about 140 bucks. She lives in a relatively small town (40,000) SW of Odessa. FedEx showed the city in their database. Well.......... Within about 4 days it was in Kiev and then the fun started. After at least 10 calls to FedEx, 4 or 5 trips to the local office, sending 3 copies of the same commercial packing list (It wasn't commercial, it was personal...) paying Ukrainian customs about 40 bucks and 30 some odd days, FedEx called me and said they were shipping it back to me and were going to charge me to ship it back!!!! I told them to throw it in the trash or let the drunk Bas%^rd in customs keep it for his wife and kids. But No. They said it was coming back. And it did. About 4 days later it showed up on my porch and it now sits on my kitchen table and my little love will open it in about 2 weeks when she gets here (the visa was approved last week).

I called FedEx and raised hell and they finally gave me my money back. And they did not charge me to ship it back. it seems FedEx just does not know how to deal with Ukrainian customs, or they may be only set up for commercial transactions. Everyone I spoke to in Memphis just did not understand what was wrong with customs. So I would assume that mine was a strange case (It was just a simple small package) or no one uses FedEx to ship to Ukraine. I would assume that this is why the embassy uses DHL to ship their packages.

I hope you have better luck than I did. Years ago I shipped some things via USPS and it took about a month, but she did get it.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Sorry Doc, never tried to ship anything. There is apparently a slow service available that is fairly cheap. The Russian stores here offer it - but it takes weeks to get anywhere in Ukraine other than Kiev. If any one is interested I will ask what it's called. Vika's BFF sent a package to Kherson that took a month (it was hung up in Nikolaev for two weeks).

[Brad and Vika 129]

Sorry Doc, never tried to ship anything. There is apparently a slow service available that is fairly cheap. The Russian stores here offer it - but it takes weeks to get anywhere in Ukraine other than Kiev. If any one is interested I will ask what it's called. Vika's BFF sent a package to Kherson that took a month (it was hung up in Nikolaev for two weeks).

[dswann 1]

Well, I have made contact with Kiev and they tell me i have to pay a "cleaning fee" which is 46 dollars. I had to set up a fed ex account and they told me they will inform me of the status by 12pm eastern today. They have contacted Kiev for update for the web. Amazing, simply amazing.

David

[Brad and Vika 129]

Well, I have made contact with Kiev and they tell me i have to pay a "cleaning fee" which is 46 dollars. I had to set up a fed ex account and they told me they will inform me of the status by 12pm eastern today. They have contacted Kiev for update for the web. Amazing, simply amazing.

David

That stinks. The problem of course, being the documents. So your choices are to pay to have the package returned, or pay to have it cleared?

[SMR 368]

That stinks. The problem of course, being the documents. So your choices are to pay to have the package returned, or pay to have it cleared?

Not a clearing fee, a cleaning fee. dswann, why are you sending dirty things to Kiev?

[Martyshk 137]

From personal experience I suggest USPS International Express Mail.

I've used it couple of times sending things to Daria and it was always delivered to her home within 7-8 days after I sent it.

It works kinda like FedEx. Once they get it, they deliver it to recipient's home. If a person is not there, they call the recipient and arrange for a delivery time

[A and S 0]

David,

That sounds familiar. They made me do the same thing.... And then mine sat and sat and sat.

[LvivLovers 39]

We've used the USPS probably a dozen times to ship boxes of things to Lviv, Ukraine and never had a problem. Usually arrived within a week or two...maybe a little slower around Christmas. To ship things back, we've usually used Meest, but that's mainly since we were trying to send more things. Also never had any problems with them.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Not a clearing fee, a cleaning fee. dswann, why are you sending dirty things to Kiev?

Having it cleared means clearing customs - for cleaning, inspection, or what ever the problem was.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I shipped the visa package and some clothes to Anna in Kirovograd. I see it is in Customs since yesterday. I looked for any tariffs or things and did not see any on clothes and documents and it is still in the est time window for delivery. Any had experince with this.

David

It is not unusual for Fedex packages to be delayed 1-2 days in customs. I wouldn't worry yet.

[Casper&Diana 0]

So what is everyone's (anyone's?) experience using FedEx to ship out of Ukraine? Through my company I can ship at a reduced rate of "only" $4/lb (let's say ~$9/kg). Is FedEx any better coming out of UA than going in?

LL, you said you have used Meest. I did find them on the web and may call them when I get to Donetsk on Saturday (the do have an office there). What has been you experience with them? Reliability? Pricing? Thanks.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

So what is everyone's (anyone's?) experience using FedEx to ship out of Ukraine? Through my company I can ship at a reduced rate of "only" $4/lb (let's say ~$9/kg). Is FedEx any better coming out of UA than going in?

LL, you said you have used Meest. I did find them on the web and may call them when I get to Donetsk on Saturday (the do have an office there). What has been you experience with them? Reliability? Pricing? Thanks.

We used Meest to send a lot of Alla's things. Four boxes of books, among other things. We had good (slow) service, but we were in no hurry and chose the "slow boat". Alla also used to use them to send documents in her business. Much cheaper than Fedex. My experience with sending anything OUT of Ukraine by any means, is much better than sending anything IN. Even the post office is good for sending OUT. (slow, very slow, but my MIL sent stuff we were in no hurry for)