Job Discussion Forums

[Elicit]

I have a query concerning the postal system in Indonesia. Does anybody have experience in using it to receive mail from the Europe or the US? Is it reliable, time consuming, and is mail prone to being lost? Would you advise using a specialized carrier such as DHL for important deliveries?

Is it advisable to send mail to the language school you are employed at rather than a home address? The motivation behind this being that as a known business the mail is more likely to find its way there.

Any specific personal experience would be highly valued. The good and bad please.

Thanks

[father Mackenzie]

The postal system has a lot of flaws in this country and between them and customs in my experience, most packages are unwrapped and inspected, then things are either stolen or damaged. I have had a few experiences where parcels sent from England have arrived intact on the outside but the contents are broken or missing. Once the wrapped christmas gifts I was sent had all been unwrapped. Photos have been taken from sealed envelopes and some things just dont arrive.
It is best to have your post delivered to your place of work as it is likely to get there and there is someone to recieve it. Parcels have to be paid for (around 3000 rupiah) and if you are receiving a large package then you may just receive a note informing you to go to a post office to pick up a parcel or maybe from the airport for the same thing. If a westerner goes to collect their parcels and packages then the cost goes up. If you send someone else they pay the local price.
DHL, FED EX TNT will pick up and deliver but it is very expensive to courier things to and from this country.
Sending is again complicated. There is fast post and slow post. On average post takes 10 days from Jakarta to England and slightly less from Bali. A stamp is 9,000 or 18,000 for fast post.
Better you have the school post it for you and you pay the charge rather than go to the post office and spend lots of time there. Parcels can be sent with relative ease but you need to ensure that it is clearly labelled and there is an inventory of what is inside.

I hope that helps

[Gajah Oling]

Like father Mackenzie, I too had my packages opened and rifled through prior to my receiving (I would always receive my packages in plastic bags), but I was lucky and never had anything stolen.
What's strange is that none of my co-teachers (all of them from the UK, myself from the US) had this happen to packages they received. Go figure.
While I'm currently living back in the US, a friend of mine is back in Indonesia on a Fulbright and I've sent several care packages to her c/o a Javanese friend's address. While the packages have taken anywhere between 2 weeks and a month to arrive, none have been opened, which makes me wonder if foreigners get special treatment when receiving packages directly from the US.
One tip I would give when having things sent from the US: on the customs slip mark contents as a "gift" and the value as 0.00 (of course you won't be able to insure). This way you'll have to pay less when receiving your package and I think it dissuades nefarious postal workers from snooping into the box as they would with something marked with a high dollar value.
And if you for some reason decide you want to send something back to the states, be forewarned that the cost of mailing an equivalent package to the US is more than sending to Indonesia from the US. Strange, but true.

[aeh]

I had some stuff sent to me while I was in Indonesia. Some things were really quich and I got them in less than 2 weeks but one parcel I was sent took about 5 months to be delivered. Most had been opened before I received them but nothing was ever stolen.

[scooby doo]

I agree with what people are saying about the national Postal Service. The private carriers are far more reliable. However, their packages from abroad are almost always inspected by customs officials and a duty tax is added. I have had to pay quite a bit of extra to get the packages released. And these were items like CDs, books and other valueless personal things. The stuff sent through the post sometimes arrived opened, sometimes missing, and damaged but I was never asked to pay more than Rp5000.

[Chris Patton]

In five years I've never had anything actually go missing, but I have had a few packages take months to arrive. I've just checked with a bunch of our teachers and they report similar experiences. No one has actually lost anything.

Like others I have noticed inner wrappings being undone from time to time, but have also received Christmas parcels with the wrapping intact.

Maybe the Tangerang P.O. employs a gift re-wrapper?

I agree with everyone else about keeping values off the shipping slips and that sort of thing, there's no need to tempt them is there?

I think the bottom line is that pretty much everything arrives eventually, but if it's really important go with a courier and pay the price.

[tanyakenapa]

I'll add onto this as well....


Have had birthday cards sent from family in either London, Singapore and Australia n they have never arrived to me in Jakarta.

My sister sent a package once for Xmas and I only received it in July, I found a "sorry we missed you card" under my door, saying it was their 3rd and final attempt to deliver the package to me. I had never received any of those cards previously.

We have sent domestic mail using TIKI courier service, from Jakarta to Jogja or Jakarta Jayapura and they have all arrived safely.

My fathers company on Jalan Sudirman used to use DHL but their prices increased, So they switched to TNT,but they kept getting satchels delivered empty without the documents inside. TNT did not admit to any wrong doing. After some investigation, they found out that DHL were paying someone at TNT to tamper with their mail...in the end they switched back to DHL and the problems stopped.

[Elicit]

Thank you all for the useful insight.

I will only be receiving (hopefully) mail from the UK consisting of books and coursewook forwarded to me from my family in relation to my Open University degree. Assignments and ECA's I can send by email.

From the previous posts I think using a private carrier such as TNT or DHL is the best way forward despite the costs involved.

I have been considering working freelance for several schools in Cambodia and made the relevant enquires about the postal system there. Would you believe a 10 day arrival and parcels always intact. I find this incredible considering Indonesia's much faster growing economy. A case of strange but true I guess.

[Zorobabel]

I've had quite a few things sent to me from the US. I think all together 4 packages never arrived. Naturally those were the ones with the most valuable contents.

[PelemPelem]

A long time ago now - 1996 to 1997 - I taught in village in Sulawesi where all my received mail appeared to have been opened and resealed. Things were often missing. My mother, in Australia, decided to send me things in rolled up newspapers and covered in clear plastic. Items which could be sent this way were limited, of course; but these packages never appeared to have been opened, and all contents remained in the package. Perhaps newpapers appeared too boring to be checked over.

[Ozindo]

My brother sent me a Christmas card, which arrived in June.
My sister a parcel in March which arrived - torn and with the contents broken - in September.
I received a third and final notice of a certified package, only to later discover that the other two cards had been placed under my neighbour's door.
Indonesia? No. My home country - a supposedly developed and modern one.
Here in Indonesia I usually find evidence of customs inspection, but have never had anything lost or stolen.
And I had one letter that managed to find me in a quite remote location while I was on the road some years ago. It was a bank statement!
Personally, I don't think the Indonesian postal service is any worse - or better - than many others.