Gettin mail
I have had all my cards stolen and am looking for advice about the safest way to get a friend to send the replacements out to me in Hanoi.Would it be better to use DHL or UPS or is good old Royal Mail safe enough? Is there somewheer I can have them posted to where I can collect them?
These are the issues I'm grappling with. Any advice or suggestions gratefully received.
3
Unless you know someone in Hanoi, a safe way to go (but by far not the cheapest) would be to use DHL and have them deliver it to you at an upscale, business hotel. Make a reservation at that hotel for the date (or perhaps day after) the package is due to arrive. Upscale hotels with a regular clientele of business traveler's routinely accept DHL and FedEx packages for their guests. Check in, get the package, enjoy the other side of the travel experience for one day and check out. Not cheap, but if you can afford it, it has worked for me.4
Oh, and another thing that would be far cheaper if they would cooperate is to go to the DHL or FedEx office in Hanoi and ask them if they would accept delivery of the package for you. Then just go the the office and pick it up. I have also tried this (not in Vietnam) and they would not do it for seemingly (to me anyway) nonsensical reasons. So it was back to the upscale hotel plan for me which worked.6
Your credit card company should replace then and forward them to you within 24 hrs to a location you nominate in Hanoi.8
If you have/had an American Express card or sometimes even a few American Express Traveler's checks, they will at times also act as your delivery agent. But this too varies by country and office. If they have an office in Hanoi, it It wouldn't hurt to go there and ask.9
Well, I am sure your bank wouldn't take responsibility for any fraudulent use of your cards which were travelling round the world unsigned which means it would all be at your own risk...Unless you can find someone who knows someone ... who knows someone you know who is travelling toVietnam to bring new cards out to you, why not get someone back home to send you a prepaid card. e.g. as from http://www.money.co.uk/prepaid-cards.htm
Once it is safely in your hands, get someone back home to load cash on to it or do it yourself online if you can find a safe place to access the internet.
That way the card is worthless until it is in your hands, so delivery is less risky and you could just send it to :
POSTE RESTANTE HANOI
HANOI GPO
INTERNATIONAL POST OFFICE
No 6 DINH LE STREET
HOAN KIEM
HA NOI 10,000
VIETNAM
(Check address).
Cheers,
William.
10
I had this same problem in Thailand, I had my family at home post the card hidden in a pocket of a jacket that was sent with some other clothes to Bangkok. I used poste restante with regular mail to a post office in Nana and it worked out fine. I did not activate the card until I had it, that is an option I have with my bank. So it would be useless if someone stole it.That said I had a another package sent a week later, but without any credit card this time that went missing after it entered thai customs, it reappeared 3 months later at the Nana post office, but much to late if you are waiting for cards. Right now I am in Nha Trang waiting from post from Europe again and this time my package has been stuck in Ho Chi Minh customs for over a week, when I call them about it they just tell me to keep waiting.
So if I were you I would use Dhl or any other quick option and just adress it to you hotel or wherever you are staying. This should take only a few days. Or you can use poste restante but I would say it is less safe.
11
Hi, thanks to all who responded and for the sympathy. Posting this as reference for anyone who suffers a similar misfortune. My bank, HSBC, transferred funds to me via Western Union. The money was available for collection 10 minutes after I spoke to them. The British Embassy agreed to my request to have my new bank cards sent to them for me to collect. In fact they have an established procedure for British nationals to receive mail via the Embassy. I'm using DHL to send the cards from London. They guarantee 2 working day delivery.12
Wow. Don't think think the US embassy is so kind...
