[Nexus 4 General] wessonster:
For Those Considering PPOBox - Think Again.

I wanted to write a small piece on my experience with PPOBox, a service that me and my friend used 4 times as of today to procure Nexus 4s for ourselves and our family members. With each subsequent time the experience has become worse.

1. PPOBox has recently been on an expansion spree opening new offices in New Jersey and China delivery options but this seems to be at the cost of the quality of service it offers, I used PPOBox twice when they didn't have these new offices and my experience was much better.

2. PPOBox is on a cost saving spree, so they are handling last mile delivery within Mumbai through their own agents. They have stopped using BlueDart and other more reliable courier service to ship in Urban and Suburban areas within Mumbai.

3. The agents who deliver from the Mumbai Hub to the final delivery addresses are not accountable and extremely irresponsible. Last two shipments that came to me had visible signs of damage due to bad handling.

4. PPOBox has started making arbitrary cost breakups, they are in essence using templates to decide the amount owed by the customer. There is no transparency in how the break up is calculated. In fact 3 out of the 4 times I received a cost break up that did not add up to the final amount and upon writing to them they would send an apology email and add the missing amount as insurance. On 3 occasions I paid different insurance amounts for the exact same contents. I ordered a Nexus 4 with SGP screen guard and Ballistic case 3 times and 2 Nexus 4s only in one shipment.

5. There is no facility to consolidate your package into one shipment (unless you upgrade to Pro which you can't because you have to meet their minimum shipment requirement to avail that facility). So in my case I had my relatives in the US consolidate the shipment into 1 pack and send it to PPOBox but for other people, you will have to pay for each shipment separately, therefore multiplying your cost.

6. Not only are the cost calculations and break ups incorrect and different each and every time for the same contents, the cost has also doubled. I know that the recent hike in customs duty for mobile phones plays a big role here (2% increased to 7%). But even then a 5% increase in duty does not and should not result in doubling of your total cost. There is simple math involved here. Also to make matters worse when the customs duty was hiked to 7%, PPOBox sent an email saying that they had lowered their volumetric charges by 30%. (I will post the email at the end of the post)

7. For those of you who think that there may be variation in exchange rate, let me tell you that I spoke to 4 customer representatives at PPOBox and they all said that they use a blanket $1=Rs. 55 conversion rate.

8. The customer service which was excellent during my first two shipments has degraded a lot ever since. Divyank who used to answer all question is now assisted by another fellow who doesn't even know how to speak, let alone understand what you are saying. He actually sounds drunk half the time (I am not exaggerating here!)

9. My 4th package that arrived in the Mumbai hub and has cleared customs shows a status of Out for delivery on 26/03/13 and is still sitting there even today. Today 30/03/13 I was told by a customer representative that I will definitely get it by end of day but that turned out to be a huge lie. Furthermore, I received a package from Blue Dart on 29th which was a good Friday and a holiday but when I called up PPOBox they just told me to wait until 30/03/13

PPOBox was a promising service in the beginning and I asked 3 of my friends to join and avail its facilities, they further told 2-3 friends each but unfortunately out of all the cases that I have recommend and out of my personal experience 60-70% of the times there were major issues in getting the packages. On an average there is a 2-4 day delay (not counting holidays) on every shipment and this doesn't get solved unless you write multiple emails to support@ppobox.com and all of us have been charged weird amounts for the exact same package contents. Sometimes there is a difference of Rs. 600 and more!

In their pursuit to expand and maximise profits they have seriously compromised on quality, speed and ease of service. Even the customer service has taken a huge hit. What a terrible end to a beautiful journey, a service that I thought would finally help us get stuff from the US in a hassle free and fast manner has become a non reliable mess of a service.

Here is the email they sent me after which the service has gone to the dogs -

Lower Volumetric charges - 30% lower!

Earlier this year PPObox revised rates on volumetric charges for all shipments. If you haven't shipped with us in a while, check-out our calculator for new volumetric that re up to 30% lower!!

Revision of Customs Duty on Mobiles - 7%

As of March 1, 2013 the Government of India has revised rates for the import of Mobile phones. The new rate is 7%. This rate will be applied to all mobile shipments imported into India.

Coming soon PPO China!

In the coming weeks, PPOBox will be introducing a new China address! The address will be in Hong Kong or Shanghai. Now you will be able to order products from China with the same great service you enjoy from the US and UK. Please help us with your feedback on what you would like to have in the China service by clicking HERE. Stay tuned for information...........

Shop from the UK with PPO UK!

Haven't logged into your account in a while? You may want to have a look. We have added UK service for you to shop from all of your favorite UK stores. Rates are the same as shipping from the US.

Shop from the US with a New York or New Jersey address!

To help you save on NY state tax with certain retailers and sellers, we have added a New Jersey address to your PPO service. Please log into your PPO account for the mailbox address. In some cases you can save about 9% on New York state tax by shipping to New Jersey. * please note however, NY is our major hub and packages shipped to New York will be processed faster.