Friday, May 25, 2012

How to Send/Receive Mail in Oman

   
How to Send/Receive Mail in Oman

If you need to receive mail or packages in Oman, here is a list of options. Oman does not use a postal system that delivers to home addresses. Instead individuals, families and businesses maintain PO Boxes at a Post Office branch. The box rent costs 10 OMR per year plus 5 OMR key deposit which seems reasonable. That being said expedited mail services will deliver to the physical address of a business or your residence (if they can find it).

In order to rent a PO Box, one can get an application at the Post Office branch where they wish to rent a box. Normally, one needs an ID to get a box. Most postal workers speak some English and are very helpful. One staff told me he graduated from graphic design school in the UK. The system works pretty well, but there is no guarantee the mail will reach you a timely way. Oman Post offers registered mail service for a fee of 400 bz. And, for express mail, EMS worldwide service is offered.

For Oman Post's website see: http://www.omanpost.om

Oman has recently launched a virtual post office, www.Epost.om, which seems an interesting addition to the postal service. I hope it catches on.

'Oman Posts’ ePost features the world’s most advanced digital postal processes, ensuring exact location of mail through ePost account. Digital or printed mail can be received/redirected,whenever and wherever, without fear of losing mail.'

Mailing to the USA
Due to the security protocols of the US, one may not mail a package over 500 gms by regular mail at the post office to the USA. One must use the DHL or Aramex service (with whom the Oman Post has some sort of agreement) from the Oman post office.

The rate is about 27 USD for the first kg. However, one does get a cheaper rate with DHL/Aramex at the Oman Post Office than at the local DHL/Aramex offices. No liquids are allowed. If you have larger packages to mail internationally, it's better to go to the Seeb office or Ruwi office as they have more experience in dealing with such.

Oman Post Offices
I have put a list of post offices in the Muscat area at the bottom of this 'post'. Note the addresses of the post offices are listed by landmarks (the system here). Each post office's hours vary, but all are closed on Fridays (holy day). The Ruwi post office has extended hours. Ruwi is open until 7pm on most days but not at the weekend (it does have limited hours on Saturdays). Other post offices close early; some by 1pm, others at 5pm. The general public service hours are 7:30 - 2:30 in Oman on weekdays. The best bet is to arrive at the local post office branches before 1 pm on weekdays (except holidays) to ensure it's open  until you figure out the hours of the particular post you use There is no listings of post office timings anywhere (not even posted on the door on most branches) . The weekend in Oman is now Friday & Saturday.

Alternate services which provide mail forwarding or expedient service are as follows:


1. Aramex Shop and Ship: http://www.shopandship.com or www.aramex.com
Aramex provides a service which acts as a mail forwarder. After paying the life membership fee of $45 dollars, customers are assigned three address: US, UK and China. One can use the address to have packages/letters shipped to them from around the world by just giving the shipper the appropriate address. It takes about 3-7 days from the US and 2-5 from Europe to reach Oman. All the mail is tracked and Aramex sends an SMS or an email to update the customers on the status of their mail.

Update: I had excellent service from Aramex in 2010-11; however, more recently and after a few bad experiences with them I cannot recommend them anymore. A few months ago they damaged some items and left me with no recourse and more recently have been overcharging me. The biggest issues is their customer service; not only do they not know how to deal with problems, they were rude to me on several occasions. Instead, I have switched to Borderlinx which has been great so far and much more customer oriented.

2. Borderlinx is a shop and ship service which provides US & UK addresses to customers. They have partnered with DHL. www.borderlinx.com/  is run by a Belgian company.

Comparison of Borderlinx vs Aramex. Borderlinx comes out on top in almost all categories except for price where Aramex is significantly cheaper.

Set up Fee:  
  • Borderlinx - Free 
  • Aramex $45
Cost:   
  • Borderlinx - By volumetric weight but they will repack and/or consolidate

  • Aramex - A bit cheaper but I believe they have been upping weights and custom duties in the last year. The same product I ordered several times last year was twice as expensive to ship with Aramex recently.

Website: 
  • Borderlinx -  User friendly and easy to navigate. Cost calculator.
  • Aramex -  Complicated; difficult to calculate rates
Address:     
  • Borderlinx -  UK and USA. US address in Ohio.
  • Aramex -  UK, USA and China. US address in New York (highest sales tax rate)
Delivery: 
  • Borderlinx -  Partnered with DHL. Delivers to the house or pick up at DHL office. The office is in Seeb across from Bank Muscat.
  • Aramex -  Pick-up only at their office in Al Khwair near the Park Inn hotel and LuLu's. Hard to get to in traffic and limited parking. Long waits to pick up your package even in there is only 2-3 people ahead in the queue.  
 Customer Service:  
  • Borderlinx -  Polite, helpful. Have online chat. European run.
  • Aramex -  Not equipped to deal with customer issues or complaints- lacking proper channels and procedures (Muscat office).  Dearth of customer service skills; the staff give the impression they are doing you a favour by doing their job. They rarely say thank you or any other pleasantry.
3. FedEx
FedEx offers their worldwide service as expected. The main drawback is the cost. FedEx delivers, as well as, holds the package at a location. If you live in smaller city, usually there is a FedEx shop which will hold the package for the customer.

4. DHL
DHL also offers global shipping service and is a  bit cheaper than FedEx. Their on-line retail system quoted me a rate of $95.72 where as the FedEx calculated a rate of $109 to ship a letter between Washington, DC and Muscat. There is a DHL office located in the Qurm CentreCity Mall.

DHL also offers a service called DHL Easy Shop, http://www.dhleasyshop.com/. I have not been able to set-up an account online hence cannot recommend it.

Mail Between Omani Cities
A. OmanPost:  For rates and options, see omanpost.om.
B. Bus Station: If one needs to ship something between Omani cities, one can use the bus station and have the package put on the bus to the city one is shipping to, and then at the receiving bus station someone will pick it up. This is normally the fastest way to transport packages between cities. Be aware that some buses only leave once a day to certain destinations. Small stationary stores near the bus station sometimes will hold the packages for you. The first time, you may need to employ the help of an Omani.
The bus schedule in English: http://www.ontcoman.com/english.pdf
C. FedEx, DHL: Service as usual.    


Post Offices in Muscat - Omanpost.om



S Name of Post OfficeState/City Office location / region / district Postal Code Tel. No.
1 Central Post OfficeNext to the Muscat International Airport111 24510343
2 MuscatMuscatNear the British Bank - Muscat branch110 24738547
3Muttrah Ruwi Ruwi / Ruwi Commercial area near the Telecommunications Company11224700922
4Al-Wadi Al-KabirBehind Golden Oasis Hotel – Al Wadi Al Kabir117 24816275
5Muttrah On the campus of the hospital125 24711707
6Khaula HospitalNear the Oman Oil Company127 24560455
7Mina Al-FahalSeih Al-Malih area / near PDO116 24565465
8Al-HamriyahAl Hamriyah / near to Al-Hamreya roundabout, next to Al-Maha Petrol Pump 24789311
9Al-Harthy ComplexAl-Harthy Complex building118 24563534
10Madinat QaboosMadinat Al Sultan Qaboos / near the British Council – Oman, next to Oman Petrol Pump 115 24697803
11Bousher Al-Udhayabah Azaiba / near Al-Watan newspaper - Azaiba 13024492658
12Al-KhuwairAl-Khuwair / behind Said bin Taimur mosque, Al-Khuwair133 24480805
13Jawharat AshatiAl-Qurum Beach / Jawharat Al Shati building – AL-Qurum134 24692181
14QuryatQurayatAl-Shbari Area / near Wally’s office120 24845007
15Al AmaratAl AmaratArea No. 6 - Al Amarat119 24878011
16Al-Seeb Al-SeebMarket area / behind public prosecution – Seeb1212442003
17Al-RusaylIndustrial area / Al Rusayl Industrial Area124 24446226
18Sultan Qaboos UniversitySultan Qaboos University Campus123 24141111
19Al-KhudAl-Khoudh / near Sultan Qaboos Mosque - Al-Khoudh132 24544197
20Al-MaabelaAl Ma'abela North / Commercial Area122 24451687
21Al-Murtafa'a129 24333410

6 comments:

  1. I really like your post and I appreciate your great work. As we also working with mail forwarding in UK.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello,

    Thank you for the post.

    I have a question - I left my phone in Salalah - what is the easiest way for it to be sent to me here in the UK?

    Kind regards.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I really like your post and I appreciate your great work. As we also working with
    mail forwarding company | personal mailbox rental

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi friends
    Can anybody help me. Actually i was expecting one item from UK through Royal Mail but i didn't get it till now. online Tracking no shows that it reached muscat and in the process of delivery but nobody delivered till now. I could not find their muscat address or or other company dealing with this Royal mail. Can anybody tell me how to follow the item so as to get it or any contact in muscat to whom Royal mail is dealing with....
    Regards
    Masood

    ReplyDelete
  5. Same experience with me as well here....It says the item has arrived in MUSCAT OMAN and is being processed for delivery. Whom to contact for the item is the qtn.

    ReplyDelete