Which country has the WORST postal system in the world?

[Mismatch]

So, I hate the Canadian postage system.  It's absolutely stupid.  It would (theoretically) cost me more to ship from Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, Michigan (a distance of one km, since the cities are joined by a bridge), than to ship all the way to England.

I think I have it bad.

So I'm looking for all you international pony folks to cheer me up by telling me all your postage horror stories 

*slight edit* Thanks~PonyLady

[FantasticFirefly]

I don't care about the prices I pay with Canada Post, mail arrives! 


Italy bans the import of plastic toys, so being a pony collector that would be pretty bad. Many don't ship there (I can't blame the sellers). Oh, I'm so, so happy I don't live in a country who's customs will go through parcels and slice open ponies looking for drugs! 

[suppi]

Italy, hands down Italy.

They once lost a doll of mine that was shipped Express for a month. They only mysteriously found it because the seller pestered them a lot and kindly reminded them it was insured for 500 Euro.

[Glacia471]

From a buyer's perspective, I don't care for the Netherlands' prices There are a couple other countries near there too that cost $20+ to ship a single pony to the US too if I remember right

Italy is notoriously horrible too though, and many sellers just flat-out refuse to ship there.

[Mismatch]

S**t.  They seriously slice open poor, innocent little ponies looking for contraband???  That's just scary!

[Glacia471]

Oh, I forgot about Venezuela! Their customs are notorious for opening ponies too (in search of drugs), and some MIP Venezuelans have had their boxes ripped open by them. Somewhere along the line (I'm not sure if it was Venezuela, or Colombia which this package went through) also lost the label for an expensive pony I had bought from a seller there, and it took months to arrive. It went MIA for a while, and when it finally made its way into the US, it was declared 'dead mail' and was nearly tossed Not a fun experience, but my seller was great about the whole thing.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Not to mention the poor person who bought an Argentinean pony, only to literally have customs CUT OFF her head!  and throw it in the bottom of the shredded, ripped open box.  The poorbuyer nearly missed it in the trauma. 

Ummmmm I would say countries like Zimbabwe have it pretty bad for mail services. 

I LOVE Canada Post!  LOVE THEM!  So fast, so efficient!  Tracking with everything...  Cheaper than a plane ticket or a trip across the border. 

[Vintergatan]

Well, Iceland is one of those countries where packages get opened :S Every single package I received has been opened by the customs, though they haven't destroyed anything (yet) and they put insane taxes on everything, unless it is declared a gift, and even then I have to convince them that it is indeed a gift most of the time - NOT FUN!
That said, as sellers, we have it pretty good, out shipping rates are good and post seems to be reliable (never had a package not reach its destination).

But compared to Italy and Venezuela, I think I should be happy

[FantasticFirefly]

Canada customs will also inspect packages from time to time, only occasionally. Any time a seller has used a package from electronics to ship in I usually see the opened by customs tape across the box when it arrives. We also pay customs, they've been nice to me recently though. The best was a large lot of MOC's I bought from Chile years and years ago, the guy shipped in a VCR box and marked value I paid. Customs opened it and decided crappy kids toys weren't worth what he marked and valued them at $5 each, so I paid customs on that amount instead.  THAT hasn't happened again though! I do love my countries postal system. It's been great to me and years and years of packages arrived safely so long as the seller packed well- but that's another rant!

[Sarahlacewing]

I've never successfully sent something to Spain but it could be usps or it could be them.

[Stormness_1]

I'm amazed by our postage service here in australia. I can buy ponies from the UK for cheaper shipping than buying here. I honestly can't fault Royal Mail. German and Belgian packages always come with a sticker from aussie customs saying "parcel damaged before arriving in australia" and mended with aussie customs tape. Thankfully I've never had anything lost or damaged, although it did come rather close!

[Ringlets]

I'd say venezuela - although personally I didnt have any issues when I bough a pony from there I've read a lot of other horror stories 
I've never had any real problems with Italy  TBH (which is a good thing since I'd like to go live there- should I buy all the ponies I want first though if everyone will be too worried to ship to me?!   )

[svleonard]

Okay, I'm never shipping anything to Venezuela or Italy after reading this.