Phillip Gittens,
Director of Post & Maurice Howland
Last year we discovered the Grenada Postal Corporation’s
(GPC) Global service for importing items into Grenada. This year when I attempted to pick up our
first order, there was a “hiccup.” I was
advised that I would need an agent for future shipments. When discussions with postal and customs
staff proved fruitless, I wrote a rather strongly worded letter to the Chairman
of GPC’s Board of Directors. Shortly
thereafter, I received a call from the Chairman assuring me that my issue was
being addressed, and then I received an email from Mr. Gittens’s office
requesting a meeting.
We met at Merry Baker
for a Friday build-a-burger and then continued the discussions on Motivator. Mr. Gittens assured me that customer service
was his priority and that he wished to expand the service to other
cruisers. I offered several suggestions
for outreach to cruisers that were well received. In situations like this, what always amazes
me is not our difference, but rather the commonalities you soon find. Mr. Gittens was educated in the US and we took
some of the same management courses. We were
both familiar with the same cities and restaurants in the US. He used to be an active hasher, and has “on,
on” stickers on his car (we have one on our dinghy). We even enjoy the same brand of beer.
Today I picked up four packages from GPC Global without a
hiccup.
For those of you not familiar with GPC Global, here is a
quick rundown:
Grenada offers Grenada Postal
Corporation (GPC) Global service as an alternative UPS, DHL, and FedEx
(see: http://www.grenadapostal.com/GPCGlobal.html ).
To initiate the service::
·
Complete the 3
page GPC Global agreement downloaded from this address: http://www.grenadapostal.com/images/GPC%20Global%20Agreement.pdf
·
Take the
completed form to the main GPC office behind customs on the Carenage along with
2 forms of ID.
·
You will be
charged a 50 EC setup charge and a 25 EC yearly fee.
·
They will email
to you the link for the Pak YA site (tracking site), your user name, password
and account number.
·
When you order
items, use the following address:
Your full name
7582
NW 74th Avenue
GND<your account number>
Medley,
FL 33166-2423
To ensure you do not pay
excessive duty:
·
Print two (2)
copies of your receipt(s) for the item(s) ordered.
·
Complete the form
and take it with a 1 copy of the receipt to a customs office, i.e., Port Louis,
Grenada Yacht Club, etc.
·
Customs officials
will sign and stamp the form
When your package arrives in
Medley, FL, you will receive an email asking if you want the package held to be
combined with other shipments, or processed for shipment. There is also an opportunity to request or
decline insurance.
Shipment to Grenada by air
transport is on Thursday night/Friday morning.
Friday morning you will receive an email requesting copies of your
invoices and a completed C14 form. You
can fax, email, or drop the forms and receipts off at GPC Global window at the
post office. Packages are then
available for pickup after 2:00 PM on Friday.
I suggest waiting until Monday so as to miss the Friday afternoon crush.
The information about the
service states that there is a minimum charge of 35 EC per package up to 4 Lb,
5 to 50 Lb is 8.60 EC per Lb, and 8 EC per Lb above 50 Lb. I found however that the shipping charges
were less than advertised. For two small
packages weighing less than 4 Lb I paid $25.80 EC for shipping.
Bottom line: GPC Global is
much cheaper than FedEx, UPS or DHL. It
is faster and more secure than USPS and it provides you with a U.S. address for
Internet orders.
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