Matanzas/The Correos de Cuba company in Matanzas announced this week the arrival of the first international shipment resulting from an alliance with the MSME Transiret, based in the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. Cooperation with this private entity seeks to reverse the loss of land that the state service has suffered in recent years against the competition of non -state companies that have conquered a good part of the clientele.
“This union responds to the constant complaints of users and the loss of confidence in the international shipping service of Cuba,” he admitted to 14ymedio An employee of the Matanzas 1 office, located in the central street of the Middle. “The reality is that we have had problems of rigor, distribution and customer service. Now they expect this alliance to improve the situation,” added the state worker.
A citizen can import through postal shipments, package or express messaging, goods with a value of up to 500 dollars and a maximum weight of 20 kilograms, according to the norms of the General Customs of the Republic, which prove each kilogram in 10 dollars. A tariff in national currency is applied to the value of shipments, although products such as medicines, cleaning items, food and medical supplies are exempt from said tax until September 30.
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However, the attempt of Cuba Correos to recover control of the shipments clashes with a scenario that has changed radically. In Matanzas, several private companies have gained popularity among users for offering faster, transparent and personalized services.
One of the best known is We Ship Youwhich three years ago opened its base of operations in the Altas Peñas area. “They have an excellent service,” says Arnaldo, a regular customer. “With its mobile application I can monitor the package since it reaches its deposit until they deliver it in my house. The first time I used the service the package arrived on a Sunday and since the deliveries began on Monday, I went to the base and they gave it to me in 10 minutes. In addition, the more the shipment weigh, the lower the price. It costs 4 dollars per pound if it passes from 10 pounds. In less than 21 days the package is already Cuba Correos ”.
The service includes additional facilities, such as the possibility of retaining products in the Miami warehouse for a month to group them in a single shipment and lower the cost by weight. “They even give you a jaba with the company’s logo as a souvenir,” says Arnaldo between laughs. “It’s one of the few things that make you feel as if you live in the first world.”
We Ship Youbased in Homestead, Florida, belongs to the corporation of the same name. According to his co -founder, the Colombian Carlos Badel, the idea was born from his experience in logistics and the ability of his partner Johan Rodríguez to develop software. The products that send to the island range from electronic equipment, motorcycles and food, to articles by Shein and Temu. Currently, the company operates in several Latin American countries, including Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Mexico.
“The client chooses online what we want and we buy it, we even provide advice”
In Peñas Altas, the presence of the company has generated employment and income in a community that is usually forgotten by state investments. “I am custodian of the transport base and win 50 dollars a month, with an option to increase if I do overtime,” says Eduardo, neighbor of the neighborhood. “To the current change, that is more than 20,000 pesos. It is more than triple than any state entity would pay. And if inflation rises, my salary remains because it is in dollars. Here I feel respected and the treatment is excellent.”
Another example of the private sector boom is your Latin shipment, a shopping agency on-line Created by two young Matanceros who took advantage of the void left by the State. “We saw the opportunity and we started working on the subject. Our family in Miami helps us, the purchases arrive at them and then they are sent to Cuba. Little by little we have grown and we already move more than $ 10,000 in the fortnight in merchandise,” says one of the founders. “It does not scare us that Correos de Cuba do us competition, because whenever state companies do something moderately new, individuals won them, since we adapt faster. With us the products arrive in less than 20 days, even from China. Once a customer received their purchase from the Nike store in just 24 hours.”
The agency guarantees total refund if the product does not arrive or presents problems. “The client chooses on-line What you want and we buy it, we even provide advice. If there is a problem on our part, the purchase is made again or the money is returned at 100%. I would like to see when articles begin to be lost in Correos de Cuba if they are going to respond for them, or they will be justified as they did, without giving value to the client’s property, ”he concludes.
Correos de Cuba tries to reactivate your business in the midst of the disappearance of traditional agencies such as Cubamax –Heculated to Hugo Cancio–, Tuambia and Sendity. Although the state now relies on alliances with MSMEs to operate outside the country, it has not implemented attractive incentives for its workers or competitive offers for customers.
“Without lowering prices or shortening delivery deadlines, it will be very difficult for them to regain people’s confidence,” says a worker in the sector who requested anonymity. “Private competition has shown that things can be done in another way. Postcores of Cuba will have to change a lot if you want to live up to its own triumphalism.”
