Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jangsalgida]

FedEx wanted $63 to send an 11 page contract with 3 additional papers/CRC and Apostille to Seoul from Texas. I said "forget that" and went to the U.S. Post Office where they have a global service("FedEx Express") which costed me $38.

The U.S. Post Office just throws the stuff on a FedEx plane and FedEx flies/delivers it to it's destination.

FedEx is ripping folks off who go to them directly and send things to Seoul/Korea. If I remember correctly it cost me about $40 to send my diploma to Seoul about 5 years ago with Fed Ex and they said it would take about 7 days. Obviously, prices have gone up!

[Note to newbies: although nothing happened to my diploma you shouldn't send your diploma to any recruiter/employer, things can and do go wrong when you do].

This time the U.S. Post Office "FedEx Express" promised me delivery within 3 days/tracking number included. If you can help it, don't go to/use FedEx directly. I saved 25 dollars!

[jadarite]

The post office worked for me too. I don't know what you can do besides sending your diploma to the school, but if you send it to the recruiter and they don't give it to the school then you will have to find a way to get it back from them if they choose to keep it.

You can at least bug the school until they give it back to you. Another idea is to send only a copy first to the recruiter, and if they complain say you will bring the real thing when you arrive.

[Funny story and true (I do not lie). I brought my diploma into the school hiring me since there was no recruiter and instead of copying it, they put it under a mouse and used it as a mousepad. After they copied the rest of my documents and I was about to leave, I pointed to it and I guess they got a little embarrassed and quickly scanned it and gave it back to me. ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR DIPLOMA]

[TBirdMG]

Here's the trick, but iyou didn't hear it from me.

FedEx has a reciprocal agreement with most of the national and regional airlines for employee discounts. FedEx staff can get discounted airfares, and airline employees can get discount cargo and small package shipping. For international, it's pretty steep savings, usually 50%+.

So the strategy goes like this: "Hey, I have to expedite this packet to S. Korea. My supervisor at FILL IN THE BLANK air said we get discounts here. How much is it?

Most of the time, and especially if you go during peak hours (9am, 12 noon to 1pm, and 4-6pm), they're too busy to actually verify your employment by asking for a business card or name badge. Give it a try. You can just say it's your day off, and you don't have any cards in your wallet.

The worst they can say is no.

[agoodmouse]

Social engineer!

[RufusW]

My mum posted my transcripts to me in Bangladesh. DHL wanted to charge $140 for 3 days, Royal Mail cost $22 for 6 days.

[losing_touch]

That is insane. It was $27 to have my documents (CBC and TESOL Certificate w/ binder) sent to Korea from Washington DC. It took 3 days. The cost was far lower.

[yoja]

Re: the OP

The US Post Office does NOT offer FedEx services.

They have two options for shipping of international documents: global express mail international and global priority mail international. Global express is the expedited service but it is not necessarily more expensive than global priority mail.

Of course the post office costs less than FedEx. FedEx is a private, for-profit company. The US postal service is a subsidized government agency and by law must continue to exist whether or not they are profitable.

FedEx planes are not the only airplanes which carry mail, although I'm sure it's possible that they would contract out any extra available space. I don't know of a way to verify the statement that "(t)he U.S. Post Office just throws the stuff on a FedEx plane and FedEx flies/delivers it to it's destination." However, it's unlikely as the USPS and FedEx have entirely separate transportation, processing, and routing hubs in separate locations throughout different parts of the country. All mail must pass through the same points as it passes through customs, however.

I appreciate that you were just trying to be helpful and alert people to the better value in document shipping. However, keep in mind that FedEx also charges more because of their method of scanning documents so frequently and thoroughly throughout the delivery process. The USPS can also scan packages and shipments, but only while on US soil. Your documents are less likely to be lost (and more likely to be recovered in the event that they are lost) when using FedEx, and the value of that service is what would have "costed" you so much extra.

[Areut]

[jangsalgida]

[Huh Kyung-young]

[dsmoore]

Just thought I'd add my input here. I used to work for FedEx at their second largest hub in Indianapolis. The US Postal service is FedEx's #1 customer. It was pretty funny when I started working there realizing a majority of the stuff we moved was US mail and other USPS packages.

[EricaSmile84]

The OP may be right, however once you get to Korea, Fed Ex is better than the Korean Post Office. I just had a war with them regarding my laptop... Fed Ex didn't give me any problems and they spoke English.