Slashdot Mirror
Package Shipping From USA To Russia?
The following words are from Pavel Koshevoy:
About a month ago I got an e-mail from a friend of mine in Khabarovsk, Far East Russia. We were classmates until about 5 years ago, so we brought each other up to date on what we are up to. He recently got his diploma in CS so I asked him if he had a chance to play with Linux. He hadn't and was unwilling to install it because of the shortage of diskspace on his Win98 box. So, I decided to put together an upgrade package for him and did so from new and used parts (total value about $300). Now...how do you ship it?
After talking to DHL with unsatisfactory results, I decided to try UPS. I called them up and ask whether I can ship a $300 package to Khabarovsk, Russia, and be able to pay the duties on that myself. They said yes and set me up with a UPS account which costs $45 a year (to do this with DHL, you have to be a business, no exceptions). Not bad, I thought, so Aug. 22 I shipped the package (after spending hours filling forms, of course) and happily send a tracking number to my friend telling him how he could track it over the Web.
Two days later I check up on the UPS tracking Web page and discover this:
Aug 24, 2000 6:51 P.M. LOUISVILLE INTL, KY, US TRANSFER NOTIFICATION FOR INFO FOR DELIV 5:00 P.M. MOSCOW, RU VALUE OF COMMODITY EXCEEDS LIMITS 3:28 P.M. MOSCOW, RU VALUE OF COMMODITY EXCEEDS LIMITS 2:59 P.M. MOSCOW, RU DESTINATION SCAN 2:59 P.M. MOSCOW, RU FORMAL ENTRY REQUIRD FOR HIGH VALUE SHPT 1:20 P.M. MOSCOW, RU VALUE OF COMMODITY EXCEEDS LIMITS;EXCEPTION RESOLUTION NOTIFICATION-OPENSo, I call UPS and ask them about my package? The operator tells me that there seems to be a restriction on packages going into Russia, that the value of the package has to be under $100 when it is shipped anywhere except 5 cities: Moscow, Nizhnij Novgorod, Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, Togliatti and St. Petersburg. Packages sent to these five cities can be valued as high as $10,000. Later, another UPS rep calls and tells me that the package is valued over $100 and will not be accepted, and wanted to know if I would pay $164.25 to get it back. Eventually I convince UPS to return my package free of charge, however there was still the question of the original $184.25 charges from UPS for the shippment. Until today (2000/09/13) this was still up in the air. I would call UPS and complain, they would put in an urgent message to my account executive, and nothing would happen. This went on for two weeks. When I finally got a real person who could authorize a refund, she was not willing to do it for the full amount. She claimed that since I had a UPS account, I was responsible for knowing about the $100 limit, never mind that I opened the account with one goal in mind - to be able to send the package and pay the duties so that my friend wouldn't have to. However at this point I was too frustrated with them, so we agreed to go 50/50.
Then she sent me an e-mail which wound me up even more: the $100 limit includes the shipping charges.
This is the first time I was ever told this. Up until now I was going to split my package into three packages and resend them separately. You have to realise that the lowest shipping cost to Russia is $77.50, and that's for a 1 lb. package. Plus, there is a $20 surcharge for shipment to Russia for a total of $97.50. With the $100 restriction in place the value of the package must be at or below $2.50! Something is clearly very wrong here.
Effectively, UPS cannot ship packages of any reasonable value higher than $2.50 to any cities in Russia except the five I have mentioned, Furthermore, when looking through the UPS RATE AND SERVICE GUIDE I could not find anywhere mention of this restriction. No, instead, Russia is put in the same category as Norhtern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Solomon Islands. Do all those destinations also have the same restriction on the value of the package?
So, I insisted on the full refund, and I've got it with a warning that this is a one-time deal and they will not do it for me again. Even though I've got my money back, I am still upset at UPS over the grief they put me through. I opened an account with them just so I could send this package and pay duties for it. Their service guide should not even list Russia as far as I am concerned. Even more puzzling is the exception that they have made for the other five cities.
I still want to send this package to my friend, so if anyone has any ideas I would like to hear them, please.
Sincerely, Pavel (Paul) Koshevoy
People also don't feel like anything can be done. What would you have done in Kosovo? East Timor? El Salvador? Afganistan? Chechnya? Iraq?
We've learned that sending troops into a fucked up place usually just results in a fucked up place with a lot more guns, violence and destruction (Kosovo, El Salvador, Afganistan, Chechnya).
We've learned that imposing sancions on a fucked up place just results in a very poor, fucked up place (Iraq).
Sending aid to a fucked up country just results in the leader getting more power to fuck up the country more (every African country).
If you check the US Post Office's list of prohibitions for mail services going to Russia, you might very well think the DMCA is tame.
...And a typewriter a computer ain't.
http://ircalc.usps.gov/prohibitions/Russia.htm
Prohibitions for Russia
Perishable infectious biological substances.
Perishable noninfectious biological substances.
Radioactive materials.
Firearms and ammunition, explosives, combat weapons.
Printed materials, plates, negatives, developed films, photographs, movies, video recordings, magnetic computer information storage media, manuscripts, records and other sound recordings, drawings and other printed materials, and forms of plastic art politically or economically damaging to the country.
Pornographic, vulgar, and erotic materials.
Russian and foreign currency, government securities and Russian lottery tickets, Russian Vnieshposyltorg and Vniesheconombanque checks.
Eurocheck system forms and access cards.
Undeveloped movies and photographic films, photographic plates and paper.
Eggs, honey, pollen, wax, honeycomb.
High frequency radio-electronic devices (transmitters and receivers) regardless of strength, high frequency ultrasound equipment, and generators for industrial, scientific, and medical use, and location detection devices used to measure transportation speed.
Copying/reproduction equipment (with the exception of typewriters).
Hardware prices (wholesale) in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries are the same as in the U.S. When visiting Ukraine I was told this by someone who runs a small PC outfit. Given this, I'd avoid the headache and send/wire/transfer money.
I looked at your auction page and it doesn't have your full username (ie, the 12 characters that Slashdot cut off). Wouldn't that (and the story about how it came about) boost the price?
Well, maybe not. But it would be interesting.
At least with FedEx you can always go and pick it up that evening.
--
I actually picked up a package at their depot once. The trick is not to ask if you can pick it up, you tell them you need to pick it up that night.
Tried it a couple of times - no luck any time. I don't know anyone who has managed to do it with the UPS depot near where I live.
--
The saying is
"Eat your cake and have it too"
It makes a lot more sense when you think about it (:
And isn't it "capish"?
I seem to remember it was the above. I don't know what his previous login was or why FascDot killed it. But FascDot also chopped off "Ungrounded Lightening Rod"'s rod... suffice to say that Slashdon'ts mistakes are educational for anyone else wanting to do reputation management...
--
Xenu loves you!
Just make sure that Tom Hanks isn't the delivery guy.
The theatrical trailer puts it closer to the mark -- the plane crashes as he's returning on a FedEx flight from Moscow.
Mostly, if you order from overseas and US supplier agrees to send them overseas, and agrees to accept non-US credit card - which is increasingly hard thing to find, last time i tried 80% of the shops refused to accept non-US credit card - when everything here is OK your send it by air post and hope nobody steals it in the way. You do it in any case, because if just shipping via UPS is going to cost you $100 starting price, what the heck you should buy so that it would prove itself? A car? A house?
:)
And yes, there are places on this planet where people can't order things online from the US. You'll be terribly surprised, but they manage to live without that
-- Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.
Your best bet is to fly over and include the goods in your carry-on luggage. It's the only guarantee.
Wordnik, a dictionary project which aims to collect
That reminds me of a song by New Model Army... but they were refering to the UK. How many countries really do consider themselves the 52nd state?!
The USPS web site didn't like that when I tried to do a look-up based on zip.
It's hard enough getting US supplies to ship to Canada, let alone more "exotic" locations. Great White North - far east Russia... they're close to each other aren't they?!! ;)
It's more forceful as
I think it would be a good idea (the original form when he was asked about Western Civilization).
--
"L'IT c'est moi!"
That's not the problem. The problem is that somewhere along the line, it's going to get stolen if it even looks like it has commercial value.
--
Nah, all the pirated software over there comes on CD =)
--
My girlfriend works for an international courier, and one of the places they occasionally deliver to is a small island in the South Pacific (I forget which one). The official delivery method is to dump a box on the beach. At some point in the next week or so, a local "postman" will come and pick it up, and take it to the intended recipient. You'll find that even technologically backwards countries have evolved reasonable efficient processes for getting things done, even if they sound unbelievable to the western world.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
Whenever I send packages to Russia (about 8 per year), I always use the postal system and lie about what is in it. OK, I am in the UK and we have a working postal system that doesn't shoot people but the theory is the same. If I send anything of value I claim it is a book with a value of £5. The package is always a solid jiffy bag with crinkly cardboard to stiffen it, so no one would know the difference. If you say what it is inside it will get stolen. If you say it is a book they don't care. As yet I have not lost a package but I accept that I could. I am prepared to risk losing the occational package as no one will get into trouble, it will just get stolen the same as it would if I wrote the truth on the customs declaration.
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
In most countries, the REAL international air courier is DHL.
For example I was in Kenya and Tanzania this summer.
DHL depots on most towns.
Same applies in most places.
DHL is the original and still the best worldwide courier.
UPS outside the USA mainly sucks.
Ever try collecting on an insurance claim for lost or damaged goods with UPS?
I have..It takes months.
Maurice W. Hilarius Voice: (778) 347-9907
I believe the lyric is "...we don't need the key we'll break in..." not "...break it..."
Send your friends messages of love at fuck-you.org
I used USPS Express Mail to send a few packages to my relatives in Kharkov, Ukraine. Every single one of them arrived within five days, it cost me about a quarter of what UPS/DHL/FedEx would ask, the declared value was higher than $100 (can't remember the exact numbers, sorry), and my mother just had to go to the main postal office of the city to get those packages (not a single incident with customs). On the other hand, when I was living there, I bought a few books at bn.com, and getting it through the local customs was a major pain (bn.com was using either DHL or FedEx).
Actually, it would be interesting to see if a sort of package encapsulation is possible (analogous to IP tunnelling). So, I am quiet sure that UPS and FedEx both have offices in Moscow. They could encapsulate my package and send it to Moskow, where it would then be opened and my package inside would be routed to the final destination. Cool idea, maybe I should tell them?
On the other hand this is probably illegal according to the Russian law, right?
Okay, even if you aren't very religious yourself, bear with me.
The pastor of our church just left us to go do missionary work in Kurdzadistan (sp?). I got to thinking about that after seeing the post recommending that you label the box as books about democracy. That would seem kind of suspicious to me as a "customs" agent and I might be inclined to peek inside and check. On the other hand, churches are sending packages to some of the most far flung parts of the world all the time so. . .
Arrange with a local church to ship the equiptment in their name to an affiliated church near your friend. Label the box Religious Materials: Bibles, Pamphlets, Hymnals, etc. If you want to be really cheeky, mark the value as "salvation". They must see that sort of thing coming into Russia all the time since the fall of the central communist party.
And you can actually line the top of the box with Bibles, which will serve a dual purpose: 1. it will reassure anyone who has a peek that the contents are actually religioius materials and 2. it'll probably help the church. The bibles will have to be in Russian of course, but I'm sure that your donation of them and the associated cost of shipping will be a welcome gesture to the church in return for their help.
Personally, I kind of like the idea of labeling computer parts as religious materials. After all, Someone had to invent solid state physics. . .
-"Zow"
As y'all go around moderating up all sorts of conspiracy theories and wacky schemes and bad ideas (like declaring zero value on a $300 package), this person is right and gets marked as flamebait.
/. community any topic, even a nontechnical one like this, and hundreds of people who don't know a damn thing about it will spout off all sorts of bilge, apparently. Heaven forbid anyone here acknowledge that they simply don't know.
Yes, folks, here in the real world there are sometimes correct answers. In response to rampant theft and corruption, most parcel-delivery companies either charge insane rates (DHL) or simply refuse to deliver to all but the most accessible, modern Russian cities (FedEx, etc.). In response to this, thousands of small courier companies have sprung up. They operate out of storefronts in immigrant neighborhoods. They advertise in emigre newspapers and on the web. They rent container space on ships and hire local delivery people. They send small, urgent packages with couriers. They get stuff delivered. Usually with 95% of DHL's reliability at half DHL's price.
This isn't a coding challenge with points awarded for the cleverest theoretical solution. It's a simple question of how to get a parcel sent reasonably safely and resonably frugally to East Podunk, Russia (or Paraguay, or rural Vietnam, or Sierra Leone, or Uzbekistan, for that matter). And the way most private citizens do it is through these small delivery companies.
Give the
>One thing that nobody seems to have noticed/mentioned is that most airlines also do package shipping as part of their regular service.
.)
But make sure the airline's not Aeroflot. (At least based on the reputaiton I've heard . .
Geoff
I think I see a trend here. Maybe for them it really would be easier to muzzle the entire internet than to produce p
I'm starting to think that UPS actually has no clue what the hell they're doing when it comes to international shipping.
I recently setup a full e-commerce site for a client who was located in Mexico. His site is run out of the US and his credit card processing is done through Bermuda but all his shipments come direct from the manufacturer in Mexico. Most of the comapnies we had to deal with had no problem understaning this....but not UPS.
We wanted to use some of the tools UPS has been hyping for e-bussiness. Specifically we wanted the tools for calculating shipping costs, estimating shipping times, generating tracking numbers, and for integrating shipping with your existing site. But after nearly two months of e-mail and phone calls I still had not made any progress getting these tools from UPS.
On thier website the say they have to licences availabe a developer licence which gives you full access to their tools so you can use them with all of your clients. And the end-user licence which must be filled out and applied for by the company doing the shipping. I filled out the form for the developer license explaining that I had a number of clients who were intersted in using these tools and that at least one of them was located in Mexico. I got back a form letter saying that perhaps the end-user tools would be better for me.
I e-mailed their customer support saying that the end-user tools really weren't a solution for me since I wasn't about to have all of my clients go to the UPS website and register separately. I never received a reply. Nor did I receive a reply to the second or third e-mails sent at weekly intervals.
On the phone I was told "Just fill out the form on the website and someone will get back to you". Even after I explained that I had already done that and that my e-mails were being ignored. Finally a rep told me that there really was no such thing as the developers license and he had no idea why their website (Which had been redesigned a week earlier) still had references to it.
Eventually their rep directed me to a different page and told me to fill out the form there with my clients information and that I would get a username and password to download the tools with. But on that page Mexico was not a choice for country of origin. I told the rep this and he said "Oh don't worry just fill out that form". When I told him I would have to enter incorrect informaiton to do so he told me "Yeah, just fill it out.". I then asked point blank "So you are telling me to lie on this form graning me legal permission to use your software? You really want me to enter false information and lie about the country of origin?". Of course he came back saying "oh no, I can't tell you that".
Finally after his local rep in Mexico had ignored him for almost 2 months my client managed to get an address out of his local rep which would allow you to register from Mexico. But only for the tracking tool none of the others.
And then to rub salt in my wounds the next three packages I received shipped by UPS all arrived heavily dammaged. I e-mailed customer support at UPS with a polite letter explaining all the problems I've had dealing with them and saying that receiving three heavily damaged packages in a row was the final straw. As a consumer I was going to vote with my money and no longer choose UPS as my shipper. Two weeks later I received a phone call from UPS appologising but saying they needed my shipper ID number to register the complaint. At which point I explained again as I did in my letter than I am not a shipper I am a consumer who often chooses UPS as a shipper when I order through the web or mail-order because of their price and usual quality of service. Apparantly this was too much for the rep to understand as she appologized and said she'd have soneone else contact me.
The next person to contact me again required a shipper ID! Finally after 10 minutes on the phone trying to explain the whole thing I said "Look this is silly. I don't have the time to waste on this. Just tell your manager I'm upset because you've consistantly done a bad job and that UPS just lost a customer".
--- Juggle juggle@hitesman.com
Look, you're missing the obvious. Self-insure your package. Declare the value of your shipment to be $0. Now, this may get your shipment in hot water with customs people, but I tend to doubt it. All this will end up meaning is that if the shipment is lost, broken, or stolen, you will have to pay for it yourself. But it's only $300, it's not going to break the bank or anything.
Also, does your friend have any friends or relatives in Moscow or any of the other cities?
I've shipped computers (usually laptops) internationally before and have found that declaring value only raises stupid questions. Once I was sent a laptop (purchased in the US) from Austria, and it was held up in NYC for 3 days by customs because the sender declared a value of $3k or something and there were issues of duties. Totally absurd -- as if someone would avoid customs duties on an IBM Thinkpad by buying it in AUSTRIA and having it FEDEXed priority overnight to the US!
After taking a cold war class this summer (part of my GE I've been avoiding) from a guy that has spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and Russia two things come to mind.
1) Russia's economy is very unstable right now and this may be the result of protectionist legislation. (but we all know that protectionist legislation isn't really to protect suppliers, rather its to allow the government to have its hands in international comerce)
2) Russia has long been based on client-patron relations (ie bribes). This isn't really a bad thing (as we in the west often see it) and it happend all through the Sovient Union and even before the revolution (for example, read "War and Peace", based on real characters and events). And even after the "fall" of communism (which the USSR never really was) not a lot has changed in Russia as far as how things work (BTW - as far as "the way things work" not much has changed since before the revolution) So its very possible that Russian customs has this restriction in place to require companies that ship to Russia to appeal to a patron in Russian customs (ie bribe them) in order to get their packages through. I know this sounds foreign (but it _is_ a foreign culture) and things like this don't get documented, but they never have or will be.
So my guess would be to ask your friend about how to get the package in - he just might have to talk to some people or have it sent through a local carrier.
But take this with a grain of salt. This is based on my instructors experiance (and I'm not he) and what he taught so I'm just taking his word for it. If someone in Russia would like to confirm or reject any of this please do - I'm always glad when I can say a prof is wrong about something!
\forall code \in C, \frac{\Delta readability(code)}{\Delta t} < 0
A quick look at their website doesn't reveal any sort of restrictions to Russia. Might be worth a try? Take a look at FedEx's international service restrictionsinfo.
Well first of all we're talking about a TV, and secondly I was loosely quoting the article.
You're dodging the issue. The article inflated $100 -> $10,000.
You're missing the point. It would cost $10,000 there, and you would _not_ be able to ship it because the damn thing will be stolen... I'm sure its hurting their imports considerable too... otherwise there wouldn't be such a deman.
This is because there's an extremely large black market in Russia. They won't accept anything above $100 because it'll get stolen, and then UPS has to pay for the insurance.
if your karma actually is changing this much, that's even funnier, as they apparently _can_ be bothered to fiddle with the back end, when I'm sure a simple request to not sell would have sufficed. (?)
;)
The silliest thing about that is it seems to be staying postive...you'd think they'd just give a Mr. T style bitchslap to maybe -10000...
I'd stop coming back if this place wasn't so funny.
Really! All the popularity (and the stupidity that naturally follows) has made Slash wackier and almost more entertaining than USENET.
--K
---
From FedEx's web site, it looks like they'll ship there, overnight. They don't seem to make any mention (that I could find) of restrictions on what city, etc., just that they will deliver to the Russian Federation, a 5-lb. package for about $180 or some such.
More expensive, but it seems like it'd work, and I'm almost certain FedEx paperwork has a checkbox for "charge duties to this account #" on it... setting up a Fedex account for personal use is easily achieved (I think I might actually have TWO of them *grin*)
D
DHL invented overnight shipping -- contrary to popular belief (g).
They've been doing it since the 30s or 40s as I recall -- fedex and others didn't jump in until decades later, and that's why their international capabilities still lag far behind DHL.
I think DHL used to do a lot of government/big business stuff exclusively, which is why a lot of people don't know about them. Fedex and UPS did a good job selling the service to the "general public" (including small businesses), and they got the financial rewards for it.
But for international, DHL can still get a package delivered an order of magnitude faster than fedex/UPS...
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
And you won't get any of this stupid screwing around like you describe either. They know what they're doing, they don't toss stuff on the next plane going that direction and hope for the best :)
Yes and no -- you're right that DHL is best for overseas shipping, but it still is pretty crappy. They subcontract to local folks everywhere (that's why they're better -- they've got 50 years worth of international contacts, not 20) so you're still at the mercy of the locals.
We had a $3000 computer held up in "customs" in Ecuador last year -- our rep went to pick it up from the shippers, and the local shipping company said they needed $2000 CASH or they wouldn't hand it over. We spent 6 months fighting with DHL to have them bring it back to us (similar to this guy's UPS experience -- they want to charge you to return the package!?).
I'm an investigator. I followed a trail there.
Q.Tell me what the trail was.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
This is about the experience of computers living in the world (well, reverse your choice of words). Nerds don't only/all use Linux. Or even BSD.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
...he can clear out some temp files, delete some old games, and install a minimal installation of Linux over the net.
I am guessing he is loathe to delete any of his pirated software for which he has no installation media.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
I can't imagine how this qualifies as front-page News For Nerds
The fact that you are reading and posting a comment to this story almost makes your statement a self-referencing paradox.
It's a discussion!! It's an intelligent discussion!! what more do you want?
I come to /. for "News for nerds", not "News for rabid Linux fanatics." I consider articles on Monty Python, Black Holes, Linux, and Calculus all news for nerds... and this one was too. Let's see more generic "nerd" stories; not fewer!
magic
Short answer: yes, they are unable. Nor that many of them want/need/can.
:)
A longer version: 2 problems paying and shipping. While you can ship at least to the 5 cities stated (maybe, if the site you're ordering from would, and you're desperate enough to pay fortune for it), paying will be a greater problem: hardly any site in US accepts a non-US billing address credit cards. That is, it may well be a US card, but if you're getting your bill anyehwere else -- you're out of luck.
Now, there are ways for solving the shipping problem. At least two come to mind: (a) open a mail box in US; (b) have a friend who has a friend who travels between US/Russia frequently.
The first one may or may not be valid for Khabarovsk, but there are companies that handle this type of a situation. You get a US address, pay monthly charge, on top of that pay per-pound charges for your shippments. They deliver.
The second option is less expensive, but very slow and may require some travel on the side of an adressee across Russia. It also has some limits onto how heavy a shippment can be.
Please also keep in mind that domestic mail in Russia is, preactically, bankrupt: hardly anyone uses it (things get lost/stolen, it is too slow). Local courrier services are a better choice if you want to ship something between large cities. If you need to send something into "rural" areas -- well, think thrice.
--AP
Now my Karma is taking on random values every 15 minutes or so. Taco: If you come to your senses, realize that this is no different than selling an RPG character, and decide to replace my Karma to where it was the value was "607".
--
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
I'll throw in the full story for free to the winner.
Interesting sidenote: My karma is now 32676743. Yes, really all those numbers. Looks like somebody tried to bitch-slap me and overshot....I guess Taco, like Microsoft, doesn't like his products sold on eBay.
--
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
Are Russians (except those 5 cities) totally unable to order merchandise (online or via catalogs)? I doubt it. Ask your friend how things arrive and then you'll know how to send.
--
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
All the same, UPS can be its own worst enemy, and the poster's problems are really fairly typical of that. I'll talk about that in part 2, as soon as I acually get it written. (I'm a glacially slow writer.)
(Postscript: The number of markets that it pays to offer delivery from is even smaller. The whole world postage thing is very involved and changing rapidly ATM, and I'm not an expert, so I won't go into detail. The one thing that North American readers should realise is that the UPS you know doesn't exist elsewhere. Even in the EU, private postage services are mainly associated with express delivery and deal almost exclusively with businesses.)
Someone earlier posted about using a package filled with something else to wrap around your real package. What you can do is go to a library sale or used bookstore that has lots of .10 romance novels, and stack them in a layer on top of whatever you're sending. Then use USPS and ship it book rate - just a few months ago I shipped a big 6lb box of fifty paperbacks to somewhere in Russia for about $40 I think (possibly less).
As others have said, the trouble lies in announcing that you have something that is worth taking a peek at. Even if someone with ill intent in customs opens your package, if the first thing he sees is "The Temporary Torrid Affair" and it's ilk, he'll probably send it on.
Of course, the real question is where I can get my hands on some of these low priced goods that the Russians are stealing. I could use a $10 Thinkpad or an E10k for the chilly winter ahead.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
My recently Americanized Russian wife says:
I totally believe it. You could suggest to that guy to find the russian
community in his town - I'm pretty sure Louisville has one, and they
usually have some private package shipping service going on, for nominal
fee. It originated when things were bad with food in Russia, and lots
of Russian stores in the states started offering food packages to
Russia. I've certainly seen ads here in the Houston store about sending
anything over.
--binkley
Why not just hand carry it? He'd get a vaction. A chance to see his friend. And first hand knowledge the package made it.
Quack
Yes, but that would be diplomatic/government mail, and they tend to have very large marines guarding it...ie US mail to embassies never hits the local mail system, which is where packages 'disapear' ;)
USPS just hands the mail to the russian mail system, and hopes it gets delivered. UPS/DHL do end-to-end service
All these posts suggesting that this is a troll must be right. I mean, really, shipping something to Russia via Finland? That's got to be just crazy talk, right? You won't bait me, troll. I've got your number.
I've lived and worked there a lot. I would send a shipment like that via UPS to Moscow to some friend or to a friendly company then have them send it internally to Khabarovsk. That's how we've been forced to do things generally. If you have no friends in Moscow, I would try contacting the Moscow UPS office directly and ask them about a separate forwarding service. Until Russian customs leaves behind the Soviet era, this is going to be a problem. the other, possibly better solution (another we use) is to just wire the damn money and let him pay for it there. The $200 you pay in shipping is going to be close to the markup the local companies will use. Or wait a month and the rules will change. FYI, my emergency visa card replacement was twice refused at customs as contraband. So we had to ship it with some other documents and just not mention that the very dangerous and subversive credit card that allowed me to infuse money into the local economy was present in the package.
My father has done extensive business with Russian Far East (a small siberian town called Tynda) until he passed away. Himself being from Russia, he knew how to work the ropes. He didn't even try to send anything via a carrier, government or otherwise. What he would do is go to an airport here in Seattle, which has direct flights to Khabarovks, and ask one of the passengers to take the package along. What he shipped was mostly small plastic equipment, so people could easily see they were not trafficking drugs or weapons. Russians are generally very sympathetic with causes like that, and my dad would arrange for a person in Khabarovsk to come and pick the package up straight from their hands. He'd offer $50 or so for the trouble, sometimes people would take it, other times they'd shrug it off and do it for free. He must have used this method a couple dozen times, and he never came home with a package refused. Of course you can't ship anything large that way - and so he became an expert with dealing with Russian customs for sending anything large. Basically, they are not all theives, as some people in earlier posts seemed to state. They are normal, tired, underpaid people who try to do their job the best they can with very little cooperation from higher branches in government (which is another story altogether). Basically, a few hundred-dollar bills slipped in the right hand seem to do wonders to make sure that everything is handled properly - nothing illegal being shipped mind that. Anyway, if you have Russian friends in Seattle, or another city that has a direct flight to Khabarovsk, you might work out a deal and have your friend pick up the package straight from their hands.
Hope this helps,
Alex
Airborne Express is the reason that I stopped buying from MicroWarehouse (and all other *Warehouse stores). They advertised "$7 overnight shipping" which was true. However, Airborne always outdid themselves with sheer acts of stupidity.
Here's how it would work: I would be at home when the package was due to arrive. The delivery person would walk up not to the "front door" (where the big WELCOME mat is located, and there's a bell on the side) but the kitchen door. After tapping on the screen door we have, he would give up and go next door. He didn't even leave a note saying that the package was delivered next door -- I had to call their customer service number and have them tell me over the phone.
They once left a package next door right before my neighbors left for a trip to Scandinavia for a couple of weeks. Thank heavens I called Airborne first.
For more information, click here.
Hello update()
I'm glad you and I see eye to eye on much (like /. has way to many flamebait topics).
Personally, I think if a topic is even only vaguely interesting, its good enough for /. I'm sure that others disagree. And that's fine with me. Others don't have to read the article if they don't want. Every day, the majority of stories on /. I don't even bother to read because they don't interest me in the slightest. And sometimes when bored I read them anyway because some rather interesting off-topic discussions have a tendency to pop up.
With a community the size of /. I'd rather see more stories than less. When K5 was going, the sheer number of stories was detrimental because of the small size of the community and having that many stories dilluted the number of discussions of substance. OTOH, /. has surpassed that threshold years ago. I'd wager that /. could chunk through close to a hundred stories a day and still have good discussion threads (and possibly better since *in theory* the trolls would be dilluted).
Anyway, I know that you weren't trying to be mean, but the number of "WTF is this doing here?" posts were getting on my nerves and yours had the misfortune (?) of being one of the earlier ones, so it was the one I responded to.
have a day,
-l
And I don't even the remotest desire to ship anything to Russia.
The defining point of a nerd is a thirst for knowledge. Discussions such as this broaden my understanding of the world.
And to be hones, I'd rather see questions such as this than 3/4 of the .mp3/napster or kde vs. gnome stories that have posted almost daily for the past three months. Its amazing how the exact same flame wars erupt with each one.
of course, YMMV...
UPS screws a lot of stuff up. Even in the US, about 10% of their packages are late. Not meaning to blow my own horn here, but since it *is* on topic, but I work for a company that is involved in getting refunds from UPS, so you might want to put a link up to it on your page you're making. The site is www.ontimeaudit.com . Don't let them screw you over! They guarantee delivery, fight back!
I sent a small package to Estonia (formerly part of the Soviet Union, for the geographically challenged) earlier this year. UPS charged me about $85 to send it, which I paid for at the counter. Then they lost my check and kept sending me bogus bills. Finally they sent it to a collection agency, even though I sent copies of my cancelled check and check register. It cost me about $100 worth of time and personal expense to resolve it, which of course they refuse to reimburse.
They have the most screwed up phone system I have ever encountered, even worse than Microsoft support. Each time you call in you get a different CITY, never mind a different person, and no one can communicate with anyone else. The bills came from somewhere in Nevada, and included a phone number, When I called, I got someone in the South, and she didn't have access to the billing records. Stay away from UPS. Use DHL.
Tried going via USPS? I bet the are a lot less expensive.
They are a lot less expensive, and a lot slower. Plus once it gets to Russia you depend on the local post to deliver it, which is an iffy proposition, especially it is anything of value, since it will most certainly be opened.
http://www.dhl.com/
DHL is a shipping company like FedEx or UPS, but they do a *lot* of international shipping with good door to door times and in my experiance good customer service.
__ Fast - Cheap - Good Pick any two
This is actually a very good idea, (I was going to
t m
t m
introduce this one myself, but j0el beat me to it!).
However Alaska Air (West Coast Airline) flys into Khabarovsk, and they have an airfreight service.
Another idea would to be to contact some of the companies on this site:
http://bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/rfe-usco.h
who have a business presence in Khabarovsk. They should be able to give you an idea on how to get something shipped there.
Keep in mind the information on this site
http://bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/9902khab.h
regarding customs regulation and importing stuff.
Good luck.
It soulds as if shipping no matter what is going to be as much as the parts themselves. List them as being worth $0.01 and send it and hope for the best. Don't bother insuring it.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
I don't mean to sound completely ignorant, but what exactly is DHL?
if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll);
TNT has a 25kg "Student" special but I do not know the details. I'm assuming its on a standby to standby arrangement but they will ship quite a bit of stuff for $150.
The fact of the matter is that Russia doesn't currently have a very good infrastructure. That's the way it is. UPS can ship to those cities because I imagine they're cities with decent access to the outside world.
:)
I think the majority of the people in the U.S. (I live in the US and always have, so don't flame me) don't realize that interstates aren't universal. And the plethora of airports available to us is even rarer.
If you really want to help Russia, it sounds like you could ship some construction materials to some random address in Russia...you can be assured that they will find they're way to people who can use them
Face it, as many "problems" as we have in the US (and a lot of other developed countries), we really are spoiled.
Then put anything you want in the box and ship it. No one at the border will want to touch the thing. Heh.
EMUSE.NET
"We're sorry, but the website you're trying to reach has been disconnected."
Enough to pay him a visit? If you'd consider flying over there perhaps you can take the computer as "baggage". We brought a system back (to Ohio) from California that way. I know, not quite the same thing, but...
This may be a very stupid idea, but then you didn't pay much for it.
Through various web and email list situations, I've found myself in contact with people in a variety of places, Russia being a pretty common one.
I've wondered, from time to time, how practical it is to follow up on conversations with contacts in places like Russia by sending stuff. In fact, through a mailing list, I have a guy in Russia making me a set of carving tools. I have somebody handling the shipment for me, so I don't have anything to add about the mechanics.
Anyway, this is definitely news for the nerd in me.
Our secret is gamma-irradiated cow manure
Mitsubishi ad
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Those clowns can't even ship a package intact from New York to San Francisco. They started out as a mob front, and as far as I'm concerned , they're still useless for shipping anything that can't stand being dropped off a truck by an incompetent teamster cretin.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Everything you've listed applies to USA as well.
Aside from the cheap plug about helping some poor Russian install Linux on a Win98 box, what the FUCK does this have to do with Slashdot? Do we look like postal workers? What makes you think geeks mail stuff more often to Russia?
WWJD -- What Would Jimi Do?
I am quite civilized, and I should be brought a beer immediately. -- Bruce Sterling
WWJD -- What Would Jimi Do?
I am quite civilized, and I should be brought a beer immediately. -- Bruce Sterling
I've shipped packages before (including to Russia) and they have always arrived, regardless of value, via FedEx.
Unlike UPS (which, by the way, suck) they give you no hassle, you can send it from any shipment center, and they will deliver it.
Why the heck would you even use UPS??? Pricing between the two, for Russia, is the same.
Harry
I was born in Moscow (in the US now), and currently have relatives living there. Whenever we have friends or relatives coming or going there, we're inundated with offers of packages to take to and fro.
It just needs to be accepted that the Russian postal service sucks.
A friend who recently travelled throughout Russia was able to get postcards through the mail (he sent them here when he was there), but c'mon, there's no monetary value to those
Q: What do you think about American Culture?
A: I think it's a good idea.
Q: What do you think about American Culture?
A: I think it's a good idea.
(adapted from Gandhi)
Just shows what the communism does to a country after falling due to draining the country's resources like a locust plague for their militarization against the west. The biggest problem was that they did not get rid of the old communist politial bosses out of power to allow a real economy to replace the patchwork now. Putin is a Stalin wannabie, but does not match up with that criminal leader. Unity through the grave is not a government slated to latest beyond the leader.
It does not surprise me that your having trouble send to russia your package, but I expect with in 5-15 years that russia will fall completely after they are living in early 20th conditions. It is a shame that the russian is unable to kill the communist stigma and become a responsible to their people after the huge mismanagement by the old government.
I'm not American so I wouldn't care about creating a corporation in my state (although I do see how someone else might find it appealing). Besides which some states/cities require that you own/rent a commercial building (thats much more expensive than a plaque). And wouldn't you want to be an international corporation anyway? Oh and I've been told a virtual company name can be about as cheap as $20 which is what I was really suggesting anyway.
I await the day people recognize that the US city and county names are incredibly unoriginal; although I commend you on great state names... although Florida and Louisiana were not thought up by Americans (nor, would the locals claim, was Texas), but there are 50 of them and they're mostly unique. I mean how many Londons Bristols, Parises and other more minor Cities names does one country need? near 3 of each it seems. (notice how awkward pluralizing a city's name is). I wish there was a DB of city founding dates and name change dates so that we could quite clearly see who came first.
Sorry but that book falls into my very large category of books that are useless.
-Daniel
Absolutely; DHL is great, they could deliver to dubai in the UAE 10 years ago in a couple of days rather than the months it takes to normally get/send stuff.
So, I suggest going to town hall, and registering a virtual company (I believe that's what its called). Its basically a name that's like to your name; then you open a bank account to accept money in that name or pay in that name. The IRS will probably want to set it up with a unique tax ID, but then perhaps that's not necessary since a virtual company is not limited in anyway. (i.e. you are personally liable for the operations of that company, which is okay for a small thing).
Then go to DHL and get them to do it right with this company name.
Alternatively, The Island of Nassau in the Bahamas has this deal that you pay them money yearly to have a corporation, they officially give you an employee that does the local paperwork, and a plaque on the wall of a building (that looks like its made of plaques). But this is costly, and only really necessary if you need incorporation for yourself, which I don't really need... but I found its available so... I don't know how to contact them and set this sort of thing up though, sorry.
-Daniel
Before the one-click patent fiasco, I ordered "October Sky" (with script) as a gift from Amazon when the VHS firt came out and sent it as a gift wrapped present to some friends in Russia. After a while I inquired and discovered that they had the package delivered but were unable to receive it because taxes were due on the package that exceeded their monthly income. Amazon had declared the actual value of the VHS tape ($120) for purposes of customs, and there is a huge tax placed on such "imports" which must be paid by the recipient.
Seastead this.
Search for the town 'Dikson' in the north of russia, then you'll know what I'm talking about.
A monkey is doing the real work for me.
The problem in russia is that the country is *SO* big and there are hardly any concetred roads. Especially in the hinterland for people it's almost impossible to get to the next big town: the whole country lacks public transport.
And there will be risks (e.g. transport vehicle could get FUBAR because of the bad roads) that UPS simply can't ignore.
The whole issue is (unfortunately) quite a good example that russia still has to wear the USSR's legacy. :-/
A monkey is doing the real work for me.
Score 5: Informative's should actually be competent. There is no "Island of Nassau in the Bahamas." Nassau is a city on the island of New Providence. And it's a whole lot cheaper to create a new corporation in the U.S. Not to mention that if you do create a corporation outside of your state of residence, you probably still have to pay a hefty fee to register that corporation to do business in your own state. See: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1574101250/ o/qid=969020624/sr=8-1/ref=aps_sr_b_1_3/ 104-3506991-0795118
Don't be a dork. It's an interesting problem and it's nice to see so many people being helpful.
what about asking your friend to set up a PO Box in the nearest large city that's on the acceptable list, have him tell them to forward any mail that comes in from that account to his home address.
after this, UPS the package to the PO Box in the major city and pay for the shipping to get there.
would that work?
By the way, I can't find your full name anywhere on the ebay auction thing (that is, anything after the "Pr"...).
-----
Just out of idle curiosity, why are they large marines and not say, medium ones? Because its russia?
mov ah, 0
mov al, 13h
int 10h
mov ax, 13h
int 10h
Now they are saying that they are going to go back and try to get the package back..!
UPS sucks.
1. My friend sent me a lot of magazines (very heavy packs) via standard mail and I've got all of them. Some packs were somewhat chewn, but not open... one had a footprint %-) It's easy to put a CD there between old magazines.
2. When I bought 2 footmouse devices I've paid about $35 per box :) Just find a company which does import something and they will happily help you.
3. About economic situation -- it's becoming better and better during last two years. It's just an opinion.
4. Almost any buerocrat could be beaten. You just have to know how. When I've tried to get technical approval for my car our GIBDD (like DMV in U.S. or whatever... who check for barke condition, CO2, etc) refused to give it because wheel disks were "somewhat rusty" (officer just looked at the car and said "no"). I did not pay any suggested bribe, but contacted a laywer who helped me to file in a complaint. On the paper, it's important. Whoa, after I came to their boss and demanded them to sign a copy of the complaint (i.e. they could not ignore an official paper) they danced around me and gave the approval without even checking my car... BTW, tat special auto lawer cost me only 550 roubles (~$20, less then suggested bribe). It's simple: DON'T GIVE UP :)
Personally I wish the west would embrace Russia more..this keeping them at arms length deal isn't good. I'd like to see some airlines invest cash in some of the new Russian aircraft. They're getting to be pretty advanced, near glass cockpit like Boeing/Airbus models.
Call on God, but row AWAY from the rocks!
It's not always possible to send packages to the listed cities. I've a friend in Nizhny Novgorod, and ordered him a copy of a Linux distro from LinuxMall. It was held in Moscow, and he was notified that he'd have to travel to Moscow to pay duty and pick it up! A later copy went through. We just sent some foodstuffs (nuts, dried fruit) and a few books and crafts for their children. The package was torn open, but at least it arrived. Russia is no longer communist, but it's not a democracy. It's a kleptocracy. -- Bill "A blessing for the Tsar? Of course! May God bless and keep the Tsar... Far away from us!"
I think you have two options. Simply lie about the cost of the materials you are shipping. Tell them that it costs $2.50; maybe you're shipping a broken disk drive to your friend for some reason.
Option 2: Find a friend going to Russia and have him/her physically take the package with them.
I can't imagine how this qualifies as front-page News For Nerds (was it the passing mention of Linux?)
It's the other one -- a chance to beat up on UPS, the M$oft of the shipping world.
I live in Brazil and we had a recent problem with UPS. My mother is the president of a non-profit organization for fighting a rare genetic disease, called Wilson's Disease.
This association gives medicine against this disease for free to people who cannot afford it, to keep them from dying. Its money comes from donations.
Well, we imported some boxes of this medicine, from US to Brazil. Unfortunatelly we chose UPS. When the medicine was sent to UPS, it was sent as "prescription drugs" in the UPS bill,so it was very clear it was medicine.
Medicine, in Brazil, has no customs taxes. UPS knows it, for sure, as this can't be the first time they deliver medicine.
Guess what? BEFORE the product even arrived to Brazil, UPS had already paid customs a total of US$ 1660. This even before customs asked for this money. When the medicine arrived, customs noticed it was medicine and didn't charge anything. But, oops, UPS had already paid for that. They probably do this to expedite things.
What happened next is that UPS wanted to be reimbursed for this money, so they were not allowing us to get that medicine box.
Lots of phone calls to the Brazilian UPS branch, to no avail. They simply said they'd keep the box till we refunded them.
As people could die without this medicine, and negotiations with UPS were resulting in nothing, the association had no choice but to borrow money to pay UPS, as it was urgent, and we intended to negotiate later.
Now we're asking UPS to refund us, from this money they charged us because of their mistake.If they don't refund us, we're going to the press, both here in Brazil and US, and show everybody what happened, what probably will cause far more damage for them than $1600.
I even registered this site (that URL translates to something like "beware of UPS"), that has no content yet, but will be dedicated to showing this and other UPS errors, in case they refuse to give the money back.
It'd be nice if you post here on Slashdot your problems with UPS, so I can put the messages on this site. You can also e-mail me the problems you had, if you wish. If the site goes up, I'll use them.
-
Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
Got Rhinos?
I have had some success with shipping goods to the former Soviet Union. Granted, this was in 1996 and I was shipping to Kiev, however this approach may still have some effect. Just remember three magic words - No Commercial Value. Of course, it also helped that I was doing this through a business, so I was able to use DHL.
Democracy is dead. All kneel to the Commander In Thief.
I used to work for a company that's similar to Mail Boxes Etc. I would recommend you try to find a company that does the same thing, but is not a chain. MBE is hideously expensive, but the non-chains are usually 1/4 to 1/2 as expensive.
You know Chernoble? Well the marines in Russia are over FIFTY FEET TALL!
----
ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
They won't be particularly happy about it, but they can do it.
Looking for a computer support specialist for your small business? Check out
Sending it through the US Postal service would have been a lot cheaper. Also, having the recipient pay customs insures a safer delivery. Customs agents want their money, and if it is paid in advance they won't protect the contents as well.
I sell things on ebay from time to time and have had good luck selling to foreign countries. But when I price delivery, UPS never wins.
blessings,
"Only in their dreams can men truly be free 'twas always thus, and always thus will be."
--Tom Schulman
I agree, I have found the USPS to be less than reliable. Things don't get delievered and get returned months later with "LOST IN MACHINE" stamped across the front in BIG RED LETTERS.
---------------
-- sed s/liberty/profit/g US.Constitution
In many countries service is Subcontracted. Even in the US this is true in many cases. To further the problem dealers are given pretty sweeping powers for having parts reassigned to a different machine. Where there is some under the table cash there is a way.
A while ago I worked for an American Company that was rolling out new servers to all their locations world wide. One of these servers was a rather high end IBM RS/6000 Unix box. Since the company in question sends items to russia by the Metric Ton getting it there wasn't a problem. What was the problem was when the computer was uncrated we found that the computer had been replaced with some large rocks while it went through customs.
Even if your package had made it into customers you'd have a 50-50 chance of ever seeing it again. You're friend is screwed. You're better off wiring US cash and letting them buy it locally.
I could see nothing on that site limited cities in Russia, it just said that transit time to the Russian Federation is 3-6 days. May want to check it out.
You probably need to try DHL
Did you read the article? "After talking to DHL with unsatisfactory results"
<O
( \
XGNOME vs. KDE: the game!
Will I retire or break 10K?
...in Moscow to send it on for you! Cant the american embassy do it, or am i just being hopelessly naive? :)
Wouldn't it almost be cheaper to fly there and deliver it yourself and spend some time visitin? ;)
Moo! www.distributed.net
Team Slashdot!
Sponge!
have you talked to the USPO? they can probably get it to russia for cheap.
doesn't russia have a postal service? they have frickin' stamps, they must have a postal service. maybe you can find someone reliable in moscow to forward the package once it's there.
the biggest problem is the rampant corruption and organized crime. Russia is worse now that Chicago was in the 1920's. It's doubtful a package would ever reach the outer areas.
I had some russian instructors at my university and they stopped visiting the homeland after being robbed and having their rental car stolen on their last trip.
Treatment, not tyranny. End the drug war and free our American POWs.
See my user info for links.
.. they make *Mexico* look organized. ;-)
73 de N5VB (ex-KD5BIV) AR SK
I've sent packages to everywhere you can legally send things, and then some. DHL always came through. They are even very good about working with Interpol to track down the organised crime rings that steal high-value packages. (At one time, every Mac we sent to Saudi Arabia disappeared along the way.) You can also tag a high-value or fragile item so that it will be handled by one person only at each hub.
BTW, in "third-world" locations, DHL contracts with local companies to handle the actual deliveries.
What are we going to see next? Soliciations to participate in some pyramid scheme?
I used to send stuff to Taganrog, Russia using the US Postal Service. I don't think anything has every costed more than $10-15 to send. The only problems I've had was it usually takes around 3 to 4 weeks for the package to get there and there is a chance your package will get lost in the mail and disappear. I've also heard (altho I've never had this problem I think) that their customs have a tendency to sometimes open packages and take stuff inside. The worst I had tho is at least one package that disappeared and once I sent a video tape and when my friend got it she said it looked like someone put their foot through it to break it (of course she blames the American gov't.. I have my doubts about that... )
Wow, I love it how no matter how short the full text of an article or question is someone still manages to NOT READ IT.
It clearly says in the text of the question "to do this with DHL, you have to be a business, no exceptions"
Honestly why do people make comments without reading what they are responding to?
-Nails-
Tell them the package is worth 2.00. You may get it in the pants if it is lost or stolen, but based on the info you gave, you don't have much choose.
I don't mind helping out, but I have no Idea why this was put on Slashdot, while my(and others) submissions about new technology is rejected.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
...or is that just not viable?
BlackNova Traders
Being an ex-native of Nizhnij Novgorod, I can shed some light on why those 6 cities get special treatment.
Moscow and St. Peterburg are trivial -- the two metropolises are far larger than any other city in Russia, have the highest density of foreigners, economic activity, etc.
Nizhnij Novgorod and Togliatti, both noticeably smaller, are the sites of two major automotive factories, which entails (1) a lot of economic activity, (2) increased foreign ties, and, most importantly (3) much more mafia interest. Obviously all 3 have their say.
Krasnoyarsk and Novorossiysk are a bit more of a suprise, but presumably this links with their raw materials industries, which scores on the same 3 points as above.
Does this excuse UPS behavior? No. But definitely goes to show that the local distribution of power has serious effects on the operations of a US company. Hrm....
And for the record, in terms of population, Moscow/StPetersburg/NN are the top 3, but the other 3 are minor towns that aren't much more important than most US county seats.
// zyqqh
Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.
blah blah blah....
I live in Brazi too, and when I read the front story I scanned the posts looking for someone saying *anything* positive about UPS, so as to bash the sucker to death. It seems I'm not finding anyone to bash today...
I'm not telling my experience with them, for it was not nearly as dramatic as yours, but I'm not ordering anything that ships via UPS again.
You should try either USPS, or FedEx. FedEx is also sposed to ship anywhere in the world, but many times they offer better service at a better price. This could be the simplest answer you have.
Glen
Track your fuel economy
I'm sorry, the USPS of which you're so proud of is crap. Two weeks ago I sent postcards from San Francisco back to the UK and France, neither of them have arrived yet. This is after they told me that a postcard to Europe would cost me $0.60 and would arrive in a week. If you can't trust them with a postcard you'd be a fool to trust them to deliver computer components...to Russia... Oh stop, you're killing me!! ha ha ha
If you send it usual mail, you have a 50:50 chance it gets there. I was lucky because I was sending inexpensive things, but a hard drive will probably be lost :-(
FedEx and DHL are not worth the price. I remember how one friend of mine sent me a hard drive from Russia using DHL - it was not only late (2 weeks), but also damaged.
The best ways to do it:
1) Send money and let him buy what he needs;
2) You've already got the stuff. So, you need somehow find friends in Seattle (www.russianseattle.com); there is an Aeroflot (www.aeroflot.org) flight between Seattle and Khabarovsk, so you can just give it to one of the passengers.
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
It has nothing to do with communism, and it's West who is continuing to militarize (300 bln vs less than 10 bln of $ as yearly defence budget for this year).
...
The problem is that the government at any level IS mafia or its part
Tigers respect lions, elephants and hippos. Maggots respect no one. (C) S. Dovlatov
My wife is Russian and we regularly send items from food to perscription drugs to Yoshkar-ola,500 miles east of Moscow. and we us the U.S. Postal services. As long as the package is registered the Russians will not steal it. For computer parts or medicine use American Express. We have even sent $500 this way! It ussually arrives in under 7 days. For bulk items like food or books ship it by sea. It will arrive in two months. However do not insure anything for more than $99 dollars. If your item is insured for more than 100 then the customs agents will charge the recipients %35 of its value.
I can't understand how this topic appeared on /. ...., anyway:
The well-known way of sending parcels to Russia is to find somebody who goes there. Even if you have no such friends, you can search local conferences of russian immigrants/workers and ask for a favor (for example, news://fido7.russian.z1). Depending on how mercantile the person is, it can cost you from a bottle of vodka to $100. There are little chances that somebody is going to Khabarovsk, but the parcel can be send by local Russian postal service once it gets inside. Of course, nobody gurantees it will reach destination, but at least you can be shure that nothing will be stolen by customers.
no, they abolished limbo, not purgatory. so all those unbaptized babies and accident victims are under direct papal order to go to hell, or somesuch.
come for the naked robots, stay for the zombies
Pay UPS its fees to get it into Russia & then let an intermediate handle the details of getting it to your friend. Might work.
managers...why god invented purgatory
Try air freight via Aeroflot with enough insurance to cover it. They fly from Moskow to Khabarovsk every evening. You may need to find a freight forwarder in New York to handle the customs forms.
Back years ago, the only reliable way to get things in and out of the former USSR was by getting a friendly courier to bring it. If you know anyone who's going to be visiting your friend, that might be the most secure and safe way to get it to him.
My parents had to do that, to get a computer to some family members in the USSR.
Good luck. You'll need it. Russia is still a kleptocracy. If it goes through the usual Russian mail, it won't reach your friend.
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn. Or a juggernaut.
I laughed when I read your post. Not because the idea of using the postal service is stupid, but because of your typo:
...
I've emailed electronics to Eastern Europe with no problems
What email client do you use? Mine only lets me attach files...
This is supposed to be great art. So why does it look like a bunch of decapitated naked people? -- Calvin
Anyone who actually does business in third world countries (and yes, Russia outside those five cities does qualify) will tell you that DHL is the most competent service by a great deal. Anybody can fly a box to Stuttgart, it's when you need to get something to darkest Sierra Leone that you see who really knows what they're doing :)
:)
So jump through whatever hoops there are to use DHL, and you'll have at least as good a chance of getting your stuff where it's supposed to go as you will with any other service, you can be quite confident of that.
And you won't get any of this stupid screwing around like you describe either. They know what they're doing, they don't toss stuff on the next plane going that direction and hope for the best
I would suggest a plain man-in-the-middle "attack" finde someone in Moskow, talk him in to accept you package, and send it further by the national postal service. I really think its just a insurance problem.
.de guy to re-mail you stuff
I just checked the german postal service, and they seem to accept packages up to ~500 USD value and max 10kg... so you may optionaly find a
42 cows on a 42km road on their way to 42.org
My mother mails packages to Poland via a private companies. True there trustworthness might not be the best, but every package arives. You can find these people near you local Polish/Russian church.
hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
No, I am not making a "spy" joke. A very close friend of mine has a tiny little import/export business of her own to/from some isolated parts of the former Soviet empire. Socks, sweaters, gum, candy that sort of thing. Her boyfriend has been in the business for a few years, and travels back and forth between the US and Russia quite often. Perhaps you could poke around the local Russian immigrant enclaves and find some Russian-branded products and work your way up the distribution network until you find the entrepeneur running the thing. He or she would probably be willing to strike a deal to hand-carry your goods to a trusted courier in-country at the other end, and he/she also knows how to get through customs. Another couple I know, retired from running *the* biggest (legal/non-govt't) import/export business in the early to mid 80's brought back thousands of dollars worth of jeweled boxes and whatnot from Russia without problems. The secret? Put all the clothing, underwear, etc. into one suitcase and all the valuables in the other and make sure they get the "clothes" one first. Helps if there's some lingerie in there, embarrasses the customs guy and they don't want to open the other one...
-cajun
First off, it easy to get around the "businesses, no exceptions" rule. If they have a "high volume only" rule, then it's a lot harder. I'm a business - the tax ID # is my SSN, it's a sole proprietorship. It sells whatever I have on hand, and my time. Sales are low (because it only has me as an employee, and only during moonlighting hours) but profit margins are high. If necessary for a rather small fee (time) I'd be willing to send it DHL for you, using my business name, addy (mine) ph# (mine) etc. But you'd have to be paying for whatever wacky fees they charge, and I certainly still wouldn't guarantee it wouldn't get stolen. Just as easily, you really could do this yourself.
More options: first off make sure you've checked every carrier. I seem to remember a couple of other ones going there, although I've really no experience with it. Did you try USPS? 2nd: No Commercial Value - is a beautiful thing. Include a letter (preferably in Russian) saying it is broken, you thought it was a really interesting way to break, and you thought he'd be curious to look at it, from a theoretical CS point of view. That should slightly reduce mafia tendencies. Of course, you have less recourse when it's stolen.
I bet you could mail something to the US Embassy, and inside have a letter and another package and ask them very nicely to remail it in Russian mail. I don't know anything about Russian mail, but it's got a better chance of getting there than sitting on your couch. Similarly, you could ask the State Department, they might know. You can even better try this trick with anyone either one of you know who's in one of those big cities.
Next ask someone (like someone else said) who's going to be shipping stuff to Russia - find a Russian community somewhere. While you're at it, you could try paying someone to carry it with them into Russia and then mail it in the Russian mail - and just hope they don't keep it. See my story above.
Call the Russian embassy and ask them.
If the State Dept trick doesn't work, btw, a similar plan could possibly be used with a university or other educational institution - write that same anti-mafia letter, and set it up with someone by email at a university, first. Maybe paypal them some hard currency. Possibly the school he went to is in one of those big cities?
That's all I've got for right now...
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
Find a business in your area that uses DHL, and have them send it for you. Pay them the $$ and be done with it. You may have to demonstrate to the people sending it for you that there's nothing in the shipment that will get them in trouble, but it's got to be easier than dealing with all the other b.s.
--- Submission is feudal.
Oh yeah dude, that will really work so good. What a great idea. too bad the postage handlers won't know what the hell it reads because its written in english.
www.droppingdimes.com
This is a country which never even flited with capitalism until now and is actually flourishing with the most fundamental, unregulated, unfettered capitalism at in its purist form.
Russia is not flourishing. For the most part the economic trend in Russia has been a continuation of the downward trend established in the 80's, and the demographics (such as life expectancy) are reflective of this fact.
Russia's economy is not characterized by "unregulated, unfettered capitalism ..." As for regulation, I have heard anecdotally that the law would require an individual to go through 13 separate bureaucracies just to start a business that sold socks. What's really going on is that Bureaucrats make a living by asking for bribes; regulations exist in order to give government employees something to be bribed to overlook. Just as in other countries, organized crime specializes both in corrupting the government so that things can actually get done, and outright protecting people from the law. It is now true, and has probably been true for many years, that most of the production that goes on in Russia is against the law. That's how heavily regulated business is in Russia. Some of the other former Soviet republics are about as bad.
Capitalism means, among other things, "private ownership of the means of production." From what I've explained so far, you can imagine how little private ownership means when you have to bribe someone in order to exercise your property rights. Another complicating factor in the fictitious transition to capitalism is that when Russia privatized many of its state owned enterprises, they did so by a process which often involved bureaucrats giving favors to well-connected aspiring industrialists in exchange for bribes. This process is more plunder than it is privatization.
Organized crime in Russia is in part an offshoot of the old communist government. The mafia is heavily composed of ex-KGB types as well as factory manager-bureaucrat-politician types who used to be in charge of production and distribution in the communist days. The communist kleptocracy lives on, it just no longer bothers to put a veneer of justice on its activities.
It may be true that many Russians are honest, hardworking, and intelligent. It's not clear whether that will matter, given that the bad guys are the ones with all the guns and the political power. In the meantime the average Russian must tolerate the pilfering behavior of the customs officials who decide what is allowed to go into the country.
The American media do not cast a sufficienty ugly pall over our view of Russia, as evidenced by your impression that the country is flourishing and experimenting with capitalism. Again, Russia is going downhill in so many ways (and they still can't keep peace with their neighbor states). Russia is still nothing but a dirty, backwards corrupt third world kleptocracy, distinguished from other such countries only by its wasteful space program and its gigantic stockpiles of nukes.
--
Ikaruga scoreboard (supports netranking)
They must be a subsidiary of Airborne Express. Those idiots once left a $460.00 package addressed to me in front of an unoccupied house accross the street during the busiest rain spell we've had in years.
As one might guess, it sat there for days before the neighbors came home from their trip and told me about it. The box was so water damaged it fell apart in my hands. The company had to send me a new unit.
Most people in the consumer newsgroups told me this is a common problem with Airborne Express deliveries, though I don't know how accurate a statement that is. I surely was accurate in my case.
I suppose things could be worse- I could be a Russian. :)
Regarding picking up UPS shipments:
I always have things sent to the local UPS customer counter in my name and marked 'HOLD FOR WILL-CALL'. I stroll in and pick it up when the web site tracking indicates it has arrived.
xjosh
1) First of all, is this hardware something you couldn't buy in Russia? It may be better to just wire your friend money (Western Union is one good way.... another is getting a one time bank account and just send them an ATM card to fish out the money) to get it rather than go through the hassle of sending heavy packages to Russia. If the hardware requires any sort of electrical power (as in external hardware) they would have to get an electrical adaptor to use it anyway so they're better off getting money to buy it themselves.
2) Did you try FedEx? I've used it on occasion and everything made it through intact. Of course, I wasn't shipping anything of high value, but everything made it through just fine. The box was opened by customs (as everything is), but since the person I was sending it to was in St. Pete, they just had to go to a local FedEx office and it was there waiting for them. If you send it through regular mail there is no guarantee there would be anything IN the box once they got it - I'd say FedEx is more trustworthy than their local postmen and with FedEx it never enters the wretched local post office system. Only thing is I'm not sure if they have a location in Khabarovsk. But does UPS actually have a LOCAL office there????
3) I don't know if there is any large Russian population in Louisville, but if there is, you might be able to network a deal with some people if you feel you can trust them to act as couriers in an 'underground railway' sort of delivery method. This is something I've used on occasion as well if I knew someone actually going to Russia. Khabarovsk is probably not the most likely destination but you never know...
4) Perhaps you can find some way to get it through to Khabarovsk from someplace in the Far East like Japan - they have much more direct traffic to Khabarovsk than most European countries and the US and there might even be a service that does that.
Whatever you do, don't send it through USPS. Anything heavier than a letter gets opened - especially around the time of any type of holidays when the postal people can expect relatives from abroad to be sending gifts via mail...
Just my two kopecks...
HTTP header ad space for rent! Advertise to thousands of server log readers - only $50 a week per header! 1-800-SURFALOT
You might try routing it through another country a little closer to the action, like England. Se if they'll let you mail it to them for shipment. Sounds like you're willing to pay an amount on shipping equal to the value, so you might also try sending it USPS as "no value". Sending your friend the cash is a better option. Or find an ecommerce site in Russia that will deliver it to him, but pretty dodgy giving them your credit card.
I know a lot of Russians. Not a single one of them ever bothers trying to send packages to Russia.
Instead, they use personal connections to find someone going to the same destination to hand deliver the package. That seems to be the only reliable way.
I am not surprised about the weight restrictions - transportation in Russia can be quite trecherous.
-knowbodyA firm I work with has recently used Transera International Logistics out of Houston, Texas, to ship a rather large, expensive industrial unit to Kazakstan. They thought it was pretty reasonable cost-wise, plus they're bonded and insured. The item is still in transit, so no word yet on the success of this method . . .
sulli
sulli
RTFJ.
Seriously, this is a good question. Many of us are, have been, or will be in a position to work with people overseas. So this is good knowledge to acquire - exactly what Ask Slashdot is about.
sulli
sulli
RTFJ.
Anyway, I would not declare high value, because your friend will have to pay customs based on your declared value (may be this is the reason it failed with UPS) - this will make upgrade too costly for him.
But even better solution would be to send your friend money with Western Union, and he can buy upgrade himself - computer hardware is cheaper in Russia (except notebooks, maybe).
MSDOS: 20+ years without remote hole in the default install
US mail? US has embasies in russia, they have to get mail... --
Why didn't you like the DHL option? I worked at an internation company a few years back, and everything we shipped to "less developed" countries (I guess this kinda includes far eastern parts of Russia) went DHL. Have you looked into using Airborne Express, or going with a freight forwarder, and paying a little more? Don't assume you can just "mail" something to Russia - or most places in the world - email, yes - but not _mail_ mail.
Be careful with Mailboxes Etc. They are *very* expensive! Get a price before handing them anything to be packaged or shipped. If they package something for you, then tell you their exhorbitant fee, you're stuck -- you have to pay 'cause they've got your stuff (as my brother-in-law learned recently).
-----
D. Fischer
ShoutingMan.com
Just a thought: go to an outfit like Postal Express or Mailboxes Etc. They do shipping thru businesses like DHL and Fedex, and might have a relationship that would allow it through. Another thought: there is a 'general info' number for queries to the U.S. gov't in the phone book. Call it and ask what office could handle a question on how to ship goods to Russia. They should be able to refer you to someone. I once had a question on what power standards were used in Lituania and I got through to someone who could tell me using this method. Thought 3: check with an airline that flys to Russia. It's just possible that they might be able to handle shipping some items for pickup at the freight office of a local airport. I've never tried this overseas, but it's worked for me within the U.S.
"If I have seen further than other men, it is by stepping on their glasses." - Michael Swaine
List the value as $1. Flat. Then indicate that the item(s) you are shipping are "Scrap/Salvage". Done. THEN, insure the whole mess for the actual value. The CUSTOMS value will reflect that this is a scrap item, worth a standard amount. The INSURED amount will indicate the replacement cost for a WORKING unit? Cabish?
DHL is the only delivery company that has a good business model in eastern europe.
UPS and FedEx are too busy with sucking money out of western countries to care about deliveries to countries they don't even know how to spell.
WARNING: DHL Can get very very costly!
Just looked around on Yahoo, and you should be able to use Asiana, who claims that they can ticket you from Boston to Khabarovsk (probably connecting flights, but...). Call 'em and check it out.
To do this, your friend needs to find out what airlines service the local airport. Once you've got that list of airlines, contact them, and see how they would like to handle shipping a small package (that you're willing to have opened/inspected in your presence) to that city. You may have to arrange to have it shipped to the US/EU offices of that airline before they can get it on a plane, but it is doable. Once it arrives there, your friend just needs to go down to the airport and claim the package.
I don't know what the charges would be for something like this - the last time I did it was in 92, and that was just to San Diego. But I know it (generally) can be done.
I too have been burnt with sending packages.
People of the US, Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are spoiled when it comes to their postal system. I have found that every other postal system in the world, excepting the above, is staffed by extremely low paid civil service workers who make a living off of their mail. The horror story of trying to ship a 5 pound package to Vladimir-Suzdael I will not repeat.
For a solution, can your friend get to a port? You can try to have a shipping (as in wet) company carry the package. Sometimes the crew or captain will carry something for a small renumeration (bribe). You may even get lucky if you friend can get to a port served by Maersk or SeaLand. (Actually, I think they merged now. Talk about a Trust/Monoply!)
You may also be running afoul of archaic importation laws. The value of the Ruble compared to the US Dollar is pretty severe, and with a new nationalistic government they may have strict import quotas.
Matthew
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men w
If you're in Kansas or something, maybe somebody living near Brighton Beach or West Hollywood could look out the window and give you a phone number to try?
Cliff, I can't find my car keys. Could you post an Ask Slashdot about it?
---------
Look for the Washington address at the bottom
TCL
Search some of these other things Google locates
The key is not that you are shipping a parcel, but that you need Logistical support, which is the business of moving goods from point to point and handling customs issues for you. This is what Logistics companies do best, hopefully you can find one which will help you with Small-Pack (a single parcel.)
Good luck.
Vote Naked 2000
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The problem is that you and too many other people don't understand Russia. This is a country which never even flited with capitalism until now and is actually flourishing with the most fundamental, unregulated, unfettered capitalism at in its purist form. Only after Putin, or his successor, puts an enforced system of law in place will it resemble the west, then they can winge on about IP, monopolies, etc.
Fortunately, there are lots of good, honest, hardworking and intelligent people in Russian and something good will arise from the ashes. The signs are there if you can pierce the ugly pall american media casts over lands in central asia.
Vote Naked 2000
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Have you thought about sending it through the governmental postal service? They may be slow, but they will deliver to anywhere (so they say). It seems to me you could just waltz into a post office and send it to Russia. I've emailed electronics to Eastern Europe with no problems except really high fees. The problem with private carriers, who are usually more efficient than government agencies, is that they are private businesses and so can make any lame rule they feel like. (not like the Postal Service isn't lame...)
The poor Russian can get his Linux! The agony the pain! Oh lord. Top Story on SlashDot! Come on! This Ask Slash Dot would have never seen light of day but for the mention of Linux in the 3rd sentance. This post wouldn't have ran if he was tryen to send a Win95 CD and the story is not even about Linux or the OS. I am very suprised that Packages can't been sent to Russia. It is a sad description of the problems Russia faces these days. I think I'm fixen for some SPAM mentioning the "Say Linux = get on Slashdot" thing but it is kinda funny! Light the fires and Kick the tires! ...its on!
-- Disclaimer: I can't really back up anything I post on
Use either the regular mail, or DHL, or send it via airline counter service (assuming there is an airport nearby). Don't expect anything good to get there intact.
*whup* "Get along, little electrons. Heeyah!"
Me thinks you doth protest too much...
I use to work for a university department that bought Gateway Computers and everyone of the computers were shipped by UPS and none of them ever showed up damaged. Now concerning leaving packages on doorsteps, all carriers do that. I always have items shipped to my wife's place of work.
Mojo
How are they going to get it serviced? IBM repair people KNOW their big iron and who bought it. The moment they have a chip pop it becomes a huge freakin' paperweight. It's not like those things are field-servicable by mere mortals.
"Uh, hello? IBM? Would you come out and service our stolen PC?"
--
When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
Okay, it looks like UPS shot itself in the foot on this one. I would try FedEx, and hey, you never know, "Mailboxes, Etc." might be able to help as well.
Personally, I think this $100 limit including the shipping costs outside of those five cities is a load. It makes no sense that you can only ship, via UPS, packages of an amount up to $2.50. Heck, I have a friend who's done just that. (He shipped about 10 pairs of American jeans to his cousin in the 'wilds' of Russia.) If I can find out how he did it (assuming I can find him), I'll let the list know how it was done.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
The mail situation in Russia is worse than you think. Basically, the post office/customs office is equivalent to a large, self-regulating gang. If there is anything breakable in your package, it will be broken. If there is anything valuable in it, your package will be opened and all the valuables stolen, after which the package may or may not be thrown away. The post office treats the mail as their personal stash of goodies, not as a set of items to be delivered.
Basically, if you want anything shipped to Russia, use the old-fashioned method: ask a friend who is flying into Russia to carry it with him.
Of course I should clarify that the above is only my perception, based on my attempts to send packages to and from Moscow (even though it is on the UPS "Approved Cities" list, or whatever), and on various anectodes told by my friends. I do not know how the situation is in other cities.
>|<*:=
Yes officially you need to be a buisiness but all you have to do is tell them that your a home based buisiness. I literally was just on the phone with DHL and they just made me an account for an item from Hong Kong. Theres nothing like the idea of being the only one in the country with a red Lenoxx MP3/CD player!
aucun potage pour vous!
a.) I'm not certain where this is, but certainly could he not get a train into one of the major metropolitan areas to pick it up at a UPS Distribution Center?
b.) Perhaps someone here is from one of these places and could perhaps volunteer to keep the package for him (e.g., a drop location).
c.) Is there an internal mail system/infrastructure in Russia that can handle going to the outskirts? Perhaps the package can be routed from UPS to the Russian mail system.
d.) What are the policies of other American or International carriers that do business with America? Anyone know?
e.) Perhaps the packages can be routed through a different country that has better access to that area.
These come to mind; this is an interesting problem if Russia is going to be a global player: distribution infrastructure issues.
--
Spindletop Blackbird, the GNU/Linux Cube.
well, i've lived in the system ... actaully it is not about UPS or sending packages in some value ... its the thing that everything you send there will be opened and searched throug and all valuable (and sometimes even not so very valuable) things disappear. It's the system. You cant beat the russain system, it has more than 50 yeas of history and practice :) Really, everything that comes from foreign countries goes throug many many hands. Just to let you know, all you /.ers.
Why don't you just shut up and not respond and read the article if you don't care. An irrelevant reply to an equally irrelevant post.
I can understand his frustration, but shipping to Russia isn't a problem at all if you understand the system. I used to work for a forwarder and we sent a container full of crap to the Radisson Hotel Moscow almost every other month. The reason most people have trouble shipping to Russia is that basically anything of value is likely to disappear enroute. Shipments of liquor and other high-value commodities are typically escorted by bonded thugs riding shotgun to prevent theft - which is only marginally better, since most of the bonded firms are mob-run anyway and if they like what you're shipping they'll take it themselves. UPS can get a 1 lb package to Khaborovsk for about $85, excluding duties and taxes. The key thing is that you can't INSURE it. That's the limit he was hitting - when she said "the insurance includes the freight" that's normal in the shipping business. I mean, if you ship your goods to somewhere and the ship sinks, you want the insurance to pay not only to replace what's gone, but ALSO to pay the shipping charges you'd be assessed, wouldn't you? That's typical. So if you refuse insurance - i.e. don't declare a value for your goods and put "value for customs purposes only" on the proforma invoice, they won't charge you insurance. Of course, you're screwed if the stuff disappears, but that's shipping in Russia. Note that Russia does NOT have a personal goods/gift exemption so you will be hit for duty charges equal to the legal duty plus whatever bribe the UPS office had to pay for that package to go through unstolen (by the customs officials, at least). You need more help, just email me. -Styopa
-Styopa
While I have the utmost respect for cartoons, I absolutely hate scooby doo. Something about calling a dog a commonly used euhpism for shit that just bothers me.
But at least this moron said something other than first post.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
Don't tell me, let me guess:
You're one of those people that thinks anyone that likes Linux is a commie too right? Or is it just the bitterness talking?
Loser
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
Benji rocks!
I still remember going to the theater and loving every second of the Benji movies as a kid. That was one k3wl little dog let me tell you.
Scooby Doo is the most idiotic cartoon of all time (if you don't count Pokemon, and I don't, as cartoons have to have some sort of dialog). And I've noticed Cartoon Network's obsession with them and it makes me sick. Every time I turn on the tube it's either Scooby or Flintstones. Either one is enough to make a crown man WANT to put on diapers just so he can shit himself to take his mind off of the cartoon.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
Man, you need some serious help.
Check out Johnny Bravo. For someone as obviously sexually frustrated as you are, it ought to be a real 'turn on'.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
Yes!
Quality off-topic posts rule!
Keep the dream alive.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
I am assuming by your statement that you think this person is karm whoring. And I personally feel that it is better to not log in when making such a statement. WHen you log in, you can be accused of karma whoring, when you don't all the karma whore screamers in the slashdot universe just have to sit there on their lips. (Well, except for you. I assume the sexual frustration you've built up from watching your parents through the hole in your bedroom wall has finally gotten to you.)
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
I am not chinese, nor am I communist.
As to your other comment, if the only people in heaven are Christians, than I sure as shit don't want to spend eternity there. Shit, I can't imagine having to put up with the lectures and bullshit on a daily basis that form Christian lifestyles.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
You my friend, rule!
Finally someone tells it like it is about Scooby Doo. Yes!
And who was the author of that book you mentioned?
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
It's only punishable by a month? Shit, sitting in front of TV watching Flintstones for that length of time might be punishment enough for me.
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
You sir show your lack of intelligence with every pro-Scooby Doo post you make. Yes, I know the dog's last name was Doo, but I still don't like it. How would you like your last name to be feces?
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
I believe that is supposed to be:
Shit, fuck, satan, death, sex, drugs, rape
These seven words they are trying to take!
Ah, for the days when real men played guitars (actually played them, not just banged out three cord shitty radio music).
Behold the Open Source Sloth...
Slow moving marsupials and the women that love them
Next time, on Geraldo...
Chechnya mate. that's what he's on about. But you wouldn't know cuz you yanks don't get international news do you?
The war still rages on but both Clinton and Allbright are now right up Putin's ass. Conclusions are left to the reader. Homework Reading for today: qoqaz.net and kavkaz.org
I roomed with a Russian in college and back then he would tell me stories of how bad it was ship things over there. It would be better to just go visit him yourself or the next time he is in the states give it to him.
Unfortunately, this is a very common story. The company I work for, From2 http://www.from2.com/ has developed a solution that's currently only available to e-merchants, but if you were to go to one of our Powered by From2 clients, such as http://www.tigerexport.com/ you could purchase items and have them delivered to virtually anywhere - sorry Pavel, not Russia yet, and we haven't covered every square inch of the rest of the globe yet, but we're working on it. Shipping anything internationally can be very difficult, and one of the most difficult aspects is knowing what it will cost, ahead of time, in taxes, duties, customs charges and the like -- this is even more difficult because some countries tax the freight charges as well. We make it possible by maintaining a global network of experts, and a web-based application we call the Global Delivered Cost Calculator that lets us quote door-to- door delivered costs anywhere in the world. We have to know quite a bit about the merchandise to do this, where it was made, what materials, etc, so there is overhead involved, but very soon merchants using our system will be able to conduct business anywhere in the world. For Pavel's specific difficulty, try tigerexport - they might just be able to help you, or contact a local freight forwarder, who should be able to get the goods there for you, but for small quantities of merchandise, it won't be cheap.
There is a private mail service in St.Petersburg you could try. The guy who runs it is an ex-pat from the States, and I was quite impressed with him when I was there several years ago.
http://www.westpost.ru
It will be expensive, but this is likely one of the only ways to get your package through.
For everyone who needs to get his/her own shipment to Russia I can tell - I've been doing that for years! I've got alot problems, but - surprise! - within the USA, not within Russia. We are helping people in Russia and in some former USSR countries buy goods in US internet-stores. We've divided the whole process into several stages. Shipments from US are being gathered in one place in US, then they are being sent to Russia, where we make the Customs clearance and then send by different ways to our clients. We've never lost any shipment. Russian mail, railroad and air services are getting better, more robust and flexible. And, most important part, we charge less than any international delivery service. For example, to send one software package will cost not more than $15-20, comparing with $75, at least, by DHL. Price is including delivery from US to Russia, delivery within Russia, our service fee and insurance. And it's working. Don't take this message as a promo. If you would like to know more about this, go to http://www.mediator.ru/english.cgi The full English version of our site will be available soon.