Amid reports of lost parcels, missing letters and slow-moving mail, the Compass launched an investigation into the challenges of getting packages to Cayman. The results were astonishing.

When I received a birthday card from my aunt in September 2021, it came as a surprise, and not only because my birthday is in July. My aunt, from Scotland, had died in May of that year and it was a pleasant shock to see her distinctive spidery handwriting wishing me well. She never forgot a birthday and it was comforting to know that she had been thinking of her family, no matter how far away, in her last days.

For me, it was a nice thing, to receive a letter from beyond the grave. But the startling inefficiency of the global postal system stuck with me.

I asked friends and colleagues in Cayman about their experiences with the postal service and many had similar stories.

Some said they had given up on sending or receiving packages through the post – Christmas presents, birthday cards and milestones went unacknowledged or depended on more expensive parcel services or less-personal Amazon Prime.

That was the context for the Compass to launch a mini-investigation into the efficiency of sending mail to Cayman.

Tracking AirTags around the world

Over the course of the past year, I asked friends and colleagues to send me a small parcel or package with an Apple AirTag tracker from wherever they were travelling or in some cases, where they live. The results were astounding and provide a window into the incredible inefficiency of the global postal system.

The longest delays were not, in fact, on the Cayman side. Though there were two occasions in which the post office took a significant period to alert us that a parcel had arrived at the airport branch, the biggest hiccups occurred overseas.

One package from Texas took six months to get here – taking a 20,000-mile detour and sitting in a warehouse in Cyprus for much of that time.

The contents of the parcel – a gift for a 2-year-old – no longer fit by the time it arrived.

A Euro 2024 scarf sent from France arrived long after the tournament finished – after taking an odd route through Iceland, Germany and the UK – before heading across the Atlantic.

The AirTags ping every stop along the way – telling us where the parcels got held up in their journeys. We encountered detour and delay at every stage.

So near and yet so far

Adding to the frustration was an exhausting negotiation process in Cayman. Clearing the final hurdle of getting the package out of the Airport Post Office was a challenge that often took longer and cost more than it should.

On several occasions, we were told we could not have the package without an invoice. Even when the parcel was opened up and receipts were discovered, we were told we must return and negotiate with a Customs officer over the duty fee during a small window when there is an officer on duty at the location.

In many cases, the end result was that receipts or price tags were ignored in favour of a seemingly arbitrary duty charge. For a football shirt sent from Vietnam, we were charged duty at a higher price than the product itself. 

Beyond the cost, the process often took two or more trips to the post office, adding to the delay.

Receiving a gift or a package from family and friends should elicit a warm, pleasant feeling. But the post office and Customs staff require an invoice to be presented before calculating duty. In lieu of that, one must tear through the gift wrap and rely on the internet research of Customs staff to guesstimate a cost and a charge. No surprises to be saved for the day.

One small solace, as Christmas approaches, is that the route from Lapland, the home of Santa Claus, to Cayman was the most efficient of those we tried, taking less than a month.

Collectively our four parcels – from Vietnam via the UK, from Lapland, from France and from Texas – provided a stress-test of the global postal system and found it wanting every step of the way.

A spokesperson for the Cayman Islands Postal Service and Customs and Border Control insisted that the challenges and delays highlighted in our enquiry do not mean that people cannot rely on the mail.

She said choosing the right type of delivery method was key to ensuring parcels arrive in a timely manner, suggesting that parcels sent through the ‘letter mail stream’ were more likely to experience delays. Making an advance declaration by submitting an invoice online can also reduce wait times once goods reach Cayman, she added.

“The international mail system is still a cost-effective, and reliable option to send mail; however, it’s important to ensure that the right type of delivery method is chosen and that the items are properly declared,” she said. 

Here are the results from our AirTag experiment:

Tag 1: Vietnam to Cayman, via the UK – 51 days

The product: Hanoi FC shirt and shorts

Cost: 449,000 Vietnamese dong (CI$14.75)

1 Feb.: The package begins its journey from Vietnam. We can’t post direct so it must go to the UK first.

16 Feb.: The parcel arrives at Heathrow Airport in London.

20 Feb.: The package reaches its first destination in Yorkshire, England.

8 March: The parcel is back in motion. Sent from Yorkshire (CI$15.50 post).

9 March: The tag is logged at Heathrow. On its way to Cayman.

20 March: Tag logged at Cayman Airport Post Office.

5 April: Letter stamped at West Bay Post Office for issue.

8 April: Letter in PO Box for collection in West Bay.

17 April: Collect from Airport Post Office. Customs officer indicates they have opened the package and assessed the cost at CI$92 and charged a 22% tax on this and the postage, meaning we will need to pay $28 to take the package home. A receipt included in the package indicating a price of 449,000 Vietnamese dong – around CI$15 – appears to have been overlooked. We’re told the price would have been calculated by looking up the product online and if we wish to dispute it, we must return when a Customs officer is on duty. In the interests of efficiency, we pay the inflated price.

Package stats:

Shirt/shorts cost: CI$14.75

Vietnam to UK address: 20 days, CI$3 postage

UK to Cayman Islands Airport Post Office: 12 days, CI$15 postage

Airport Post Office to West Bay: 16 days

Pick up from George Town: 3 days, $28 taxes

Total transit time: 51 days, $61 ($15 product cost, $18 postage, $28 taxes)

• Does not include delays caused by our staff

Tag 2: France to Cayman – 66 days

The product: France Euro 2024 scarf

Cost: EUR4.99 (CI$4.38)

31 May: Posted from Jarnac, near Bordeaux.

1 June: The scarf is on the move, arriving at Charles De Galle Airport in Paris.

6 June: Zut alors! The scarf is in Iceland.

20 June: Mon Dieu! The scarf is now at Heathrow Airport, London.

3 July: Sacré bleu! The scarf is in Slough – presumably at Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre.

8 July: Sur la mer! The scarf is over the Atlantic.

8 July: Aux États-Unis! Our first ping on the right side of the Atlantic.

9 July: Les îles Caïmans: The scarf pings in Cayman.

15 July: Package arrives in West Bay confirming arrival of package.

16 July: The Compass representative arrives at the Airport Post Office, eagerly clutching his form, only to be told he can’t have the package as “it has not been assessed by Customs”. He leaves his number.

19 July: A helpful post office staff member calls to say the duty has been assessed and the package can be picked up.

25 July: The package is collected. Duty has been charged at CI$10.43 (including $7.43 duty and $3 postal and packaging fees) – double the price of the scarf itself. When we ask for an explanation, we are told this is based on the Customs assessment of the price. When we point to the EUR9.99 price tag, the 50% off sticker and the receipt that says the total price, including the envelope, was EUR9.99 – we are told they didn’t see the receipt and they don’t use price tags as a guide. They offer to recalculate but, in the interests of expediency, we pay the fee.

Package stats:

Scarf cost: EUR4.99 (CI$4.50)

France to Cayman: 40 days, EUR12 postage (CI$10.53)

Cayman Islands Airport Post Office to West Bay: 16 days

Pick up from George Town, including bartering with Customs and procrastination on our side – 10 days, CI$10.43 in taxes

Total transit time: 66 days, CI$30 ($4.50 product cost, $14.91 postage and packaging, $10.43 taxes)

Tag 3: Texas to Cayman – 150 days

The product: Baby shirt for 2-year-old

Cost: US$14.99 (CI$12.50)

23 April: Posted first class from Houston, Texas.

1 May: A hopeful ping from the tag … but wait. It is in Northampton, England, just off the M1.

8 May: Another ping. Now the shirt is in Cyprus!?

10 June: No action from the AirTag which remains, bizarrely, in Cyprus. Postal service reps have since explained that Cayman mail is sometimes sent by accident to Cyprus because of similarities in the postal code abbreviation for the two countries.

July: All quiet on the Texas front. The tag remains in Cyprus.

23 Aug.: After months of inaction, the parcel is on the move. It pings in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

30 Aug.: The parcel is back on the right side of the Atlantic, but still farther away than where it started in April – in Philadelphia.

2 Sept.: Getting closer … the parcel is in Miami.

9 Sept.: The saga is over. After four and a half months and 20,000 miles, the parcel pings at the Airport Post Office in Grand Cayman.

14 Sept.: A notice of item for collection arrives in the Compass PO Box.

22 Sept.: The saga is not over. Compass efforts to retrieve the package are thwarted by post office staff who won’t give it up without an invoice. 

5 Oct.: After several efforts, our visit to the post office aligns with the timing of a Customs officer being on duty – he tells us the same thing: “No invoice, no package.”

25 Oct.: We return cap in hand and agree to pay whatever tax the Customs officer deems appropriate. It is set at CI$10.78 plus a package and postal tax, just a couple of dollars less than the shirt itself. Even with the first class post fee of around $14, the rate seems high – but we grin and bear it. The shirt has arrived in time for Christmas … if it still fits.

Package stats

Shirt cost: US$14.99 (CI$12.40)

Texas to Cayman: 136 days, US$17.80 (CI$14.80) postage

Cayman Islands Airport Post Office to George Town PO Box: 5 days

Pick up from Airport Post Office (three visits, bartering with Customs and delays on our side): 40 days, CI$13.78 taxes

Total transit time and cost: 150 days, $41 

• Excludes delays on our side in picking up the parcel from post office.

Tag 4: Lapland to Cayman – 14 days

The product: Just a card

Cost: EUR2.99 plus postage of EUR2

5 Aug.: Card sent from Rovaniemi, Finland, capital of Lapland and home of Santa Claus

12 Aug.: The parcel is on the move, arriving in the Hague, Netherlands.

14 Aug.: A short trip across the Netherlands to Amsterdam.

15 Aug.: Card pings on the right side of the Atlantic in Philadelphia and later the same day in New York.

16 Aug.: Onward to Miami.

19 Aug.: The app lets us know the parcel is in Cayman.

22 Aug.: The card arrives at the Compass office.

Package stats

Card cost: EUR2.99 (CI$2.62)

Lapland to Cayman: 14 days

Cayman Islands Airport Post Office to George Town PO Box: 3 days

Total transit time and cost: 17 days, CI$4 (including packaging)

Post and Customs chiefs respond

Presented with the gist of our findings, Cayman Islands Postal Service and Customs and Border Control representatives provided the following answers to our questions through a spokesperson.

How can we trust this service – globally or locally – with important documents or information?

“The international mail system is still a cost-effective, and reliable option to send mail; however, it’s important to ensure that the right type of delivery method is chosen and that the items are properly declared.”

Christmas is approaching. What would you say to anyone – in light of these findings – who is considering using the mail to send or receive gifts?

“The CIPS has different options for mailing documents or goods and it’s important to know the various features and transit times for the mail class you opt to use. Our mail services offers multiple products and not all are designed for the importation of goods. However, persons can submit invoices in advance to the Post Office via email to [email protected].”

Can you explain the process for calculating duty and any policies around that regarding gifts?

“Gifts are treated like other imported goods which are likely to be opened, searched and applicable to duty charges. There are no provisions within the Customs and Border Control Act (2023 Revision) to allow for duty-free admission of gifts.

“Cost, freight and insurance (CIF), as specified in section 45 (1) (2) (b) (c) of the Customs and Border Control Act (2023 Revision), serves as the foundation for the calculation of customs duties.

“According to Section 45 of the Customs and Border Control Act (2023 Revision), the value of imported goods shall be determined be the normal price, at the time of importation on a sale in the open market between buyer and seller who are independent of each other. The calculation of customs duties is calculated on cost, insurance and freight, and all other costs, charges and expenses incidental to the sale and delivery of the goods.

“When CBC officers open postal packages, it is to check for invoices and for prohibited and restricted goods, as securing our borders is of national importance as some persons use the mail to commit illegal acts. If there are invoices, or items with price tags, officers will use those values to determine the customs duties, that value is entered into Customs Declaration System (Postal) and the owner can then collect and pay for their packages at Airport Post Office (APO).

“In absence of invoices or any other source document to calculate customs duties, the package is set for TBA (To Be Assessed). For packages labeled TBA, a parcel notice is put in the recipient postal box, notifying them their package is held by CBC at the APO and requires collection. The customer will present the invoices for their package and customs duties is calculated and paid. CBC is consistent in this process, as their officers do not assess the goods to determine the customs duties.”

Additional comments

“It is possible that the item from Lapland, Finland was not sent via Posti Group (Finland Post), as there are multiple operators in Finland who handle and export mail, often remailing it through other jurisdictions. This situation is akin to entrusting a friend to mail an item and then attributing delays to the postal service, despite the friend’s delay in sending it.

“As previously mentioned, the letter mail stream is not designed for items containing merchandise. Customers opting for this service due to its lower cost often experience delays.

“In relation to the case where your package was sent to Cyprus, we do have experiences when mail is mis-sent to Cyprus due to the country’s code abbreviation being very similar. Cyprus’ 2 letter country code is CY which is unfortunately often confused with “CYM” as an abbreviation for Cayman.”

• Interactive map by Stephanie Ditta