I have done business with Mail Boxes, Etc. in several countries over a period of many years.  I highly recommended them until I tried them out here in Costa Rica.

Several thousand dollars of scams later, I finally tried their competition here… Aerocasillas.  Aerocasillas has never charged me more than $15 in taxes or weight on any item.  They have never had anything held up in customs.  Every charge has been fully documented with receipts.  They are extremely professional and have an excellent web-site where you can track progress of your shipments.

Mail Boxes, Etc. in Escazu never provides documentation and constantly has bills for several hundred dollars for “taxes”, “weight” and other miscellaneous items they make up on the spot.  One charge was actually $1,200 and they couldn’t explain nor document why I was being charged $1,200.  The next month with only one package, they charged another $800.

During my final visit with them, they wanted to charge various amounts from $150-$2200.  They couldn’t even decide what to charge and why.  They kept saying that I had cancelled my payment for the prior month and I kept reminding them that I paid in cash and it was not possible to cancel a payment made in cash.

I finally cancelled my account and told them to never accept another package for me.  I highly recommend staying far, far away from the Mail Boxes, Etc. in Escazu.  Even though they are run by gringos, they are the biggest scam operation I have ever dealt with in Costa Rica.

Try Aerocasillas instead.  They are an excellent company that has impressed me very much for about three months now.

-James D. Brausch