Help! ugly UPS Customs Brokerage Fees

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Neeper

You have the option of clearing it yourself at no cost. Call Customs and ask them how.

Or you could use who I sometimes use: Calgary Customs Brokers

I dont know about that. The one time I ordered on line and got stuck with brokerage fees was with a transaction from the United Kingdom. Now here is the stupid process I had to go thru, and it was not free.

First, I had to get a custom broker, think it was the guys you mention, not sure. Then they tell me, I have to set up a GST account, specifically to clear this parcel. It made no sense to me but that is what I had to do and they told me how, so did that. BUT all of this had to be expedient, cause I only had a certain time frame they would hold my parcel in Toronto before they charged me storage fees on top of the brokerage fees. It was not cheap by the time I was finished, I paid something like $70 over and above what I paid for my parcel.

If you know someone who has used a custom broker and has all that stuff set up, then have the parcel shipped via your friend.

[Burninator]

Originally Posted by jam26

I wish I took the time to read this thread when it was originally posted. I ordered a DVD and was appalled to find out the brokerage fee is $40. That's more expensive than the DVD. Man....

Not sure if this is the same thing. But I ordered some cds from the states and it was "inspected" by someone at the boarder. And it costed me like 15 dollars. I've had the same people open my packages before, and it had a sticker that said "this package was inspected by blah blah." This sticker, however, said "This package was not opened by blah blah." So I had pay them money to not inspect the package? WDF a $15 dollar sticker?!

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by jam26

I wish I took the time to read this thread when it was originally posted. I ordered a DVD and was appalled to find out the brokerage fee is $40. That's more expensive than the DVD. Man....

I have a very similar story (don't we all?! ) I ordered a guitar pedal when I use to live in small town BC...well...since UPS (or whatever their affiliate was) only did drop-offs on certain days cause they just drove up once a week and delivered..anyways...for my $140 guitar pedal, the brokerage + custom fees were $120...this was a kick in the balls when I had saved 200 in highschool to buy this pedal...needless to say I was pretty choked.

[ken0042]

For those of you quoting, keep in mind this is a 1 year old thread that got bumped.

[algernon]

Sorry if I caused confusion.I didn't want to commit fata. Next time, should I open a new thread if the existing ones are older than a couple of months?

[ken0042]

In my mind it's a coin toss as to which is better.

Myself; I've never used Purrolator for international; after they mis quoted me on their website for a domestic shipping charge.

[krazycanuck]

the only brokerage-like fee Ive seen Fedex collect is a $7 fee for them to collect the duty/GST money. I refuse to ship UPS because of their BS brokerage.

[Ironhorse]

With some couriers (Fedex is one, I believe), there are some levels of delivery which includes customs brokerage, so the only thing you have to pay is GST/PST.

[DementedReality]

i am a senior manager in the industry, so here is my take and some clarifications

1) USPS/Canada Post is clearly the cheapest way, if you have the time. The brokerage fee is subsidized by your taxes so its cheaper than the commerically operated carriers.

2) Anything over $20.00 requires reporting to Canada Customs. UPS does this on your behalf and since they are providing a service to you at an expense to them, they are entitled to charge you for it. If you want to argue about how much of a cost it is, we could be here all day. They have invested in people on staff and technology infrastructure to provide the clearance and automate the reporting.

3) It is illegal for commercial carriers to charge the same price as the Post Office. As in point 1, the Post Office is subsidized by the taxpayers, nothing wrong with using them since you are already paying for it.

4) Purolator mostly uses DHL for their International shipments. DHL has a great network but lousy customer service which means if your parcel is lost, dont hold your breath.

5) While you arent obligated to use their clearance service, some companies will charge you to transfer the paperwork to another commercial broker. Not sure if you save any money this way.

6) I do not work for UPS or any of the other branded carriers, just an insider.

7) Express service with UPS includes the clearance, Standard and Expedited does not. Duty and taxes will almost always incur an advance fee as well.

8) There is a cost to transport the parcel back to the shipper. Wy shouldnt they charge for the return? Again, commercial operators are not subsidized by tax payers so they shouldnt be expected to compete with the post office.

9) Canada Post is a majority shareholder of Purolator.

10) UPS does not use its own aircraft in Canada. In Canada, most couriers use Cargojet for their overnight air transport. http://www.cargojet.com/. I realize this has nothing to do with imports from the USA, but most people will have never heard of Cargojet. UPS and DHL are major clients, basically meaning in Canada with the exception of Puro and FDX, almost all parcels are on the same aircraft to Toronto no matter who you pay (as an example).

11) Unless the shipper checks off "adult signature required" (at an additional cost), UPS is authorized to leave your parcel in a safe place without an signature. They claim it is for the customers convienience, but I think it is crap. A signature should be part of the service and the leaving it at the door should be at the clients request, not the other way around.

12) Did I forgot to cover any points? Feel free to ask me how the Canadian transportation business works.

[Hack&Lube]

Wow, it was almost exactly more than 1 year ago that I started this thread. Where does the time go?

And yes, again, I must state the economy of using Canada Post. I shipped a guitar to Hong Kong a month ago. The UPS store quoted me $250 in shipping for standard service.

Canada Post delivered it within 6 days to Hong Kong from Calgary using Xpresspost for only $110.

Anyway, the difficulty with UPS usually arises from American sellers not knowing how to ship to Canada and simply lumping in your parcels with their other items and everything gets shipped the same way (standard or expedited) and you get charged brokerage fees that may cost as much or more than the actual item's value. I really cannot stand those sellers who can't seem to understand this fact and simply give you "I always and only use UPS". Sorry then, you are not getting my business.

IIRC, there was a class action lawsuit in the works to fight against the kind of grossly unadvertised brokerage fees treatment many Canadians have been recieving.

The only other option is to find somebody like my mother who called UPS and complained for days on end that she was never warned about these fees and it was UPS's duty (a duty they almost always fall short on, intentionally or unintentionally which I think should be criminal negligence to the consumer) and UPS ended up refunding her brokerage fee after awhile for this miracle chopper she bought off an infomercial. It was $19.95 + S&H. She was charged an additional $25 in brokerage fees at our doorstep by the UPS guy! (Again, the case of a large US seller which you cannot communicate with and has no idea about shipping to Canada).

[Bean]

Bumping a really old thread but thought I'd ask the CP braintrust.

I bought some articles of clothing from the UK that arrived by Fedex (paid customs at the door during the dropoff). Some of these items were then shipped back to the UK and were exchanged for other items (again, paid customs at the door during the dropoff).

Question - Since I was charged customs/duties on items that were sent back to the UK, is it possible to have these fees refunded for the items that were returned?

[wooohooo]

I would highly doubt it. They still have to provide the service regardless.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I've helped several people have items shipped by the US Postal Service guys. I work for the USPS. I have some good references here on calgarypuck. If you are ordering something from the US and the company won't ship USPS contact me. You can send it to me and I will send it to you. We can work something out to cover the cost.

It's a win-win. You get your item without having to pay outrageous customs fees, I get my company some much needed business.

More benefits..I know for a fact we are cheaper and faster than UPS in most cases to Canada.

Just PM me if you need help or have questions. No nail polish though!

UPS sucks!

[killer_carlson]

thanks Dis. I may take you up on that.

[Kelekin]

Funny that this has come up again, because I've been dealing with it so heavily lately.

I have quite a good relationship with my UPS guy, I receive so many packages he knows me and I know him. He absolutely hates accepting brokerage fees, but of course is required to. He did inform me that UPS has been sued over this.

The main issue I've had lately was I ordered some old magazines from the U.S. The seller was great, and I paid $40 for about 30 of these magazines. He declared the value at $40, and what does the UPS guy do? He writes it at $40 per box. But it gets better. The boxes show up and I'm told the COD charge is $67. I'm of course a bit livid, because that's 1.7x what the product is worth. When I open the commercial invoice, it says that the value was declared at $225. So I talk to the seller - nope, he did it correctly and sent the photographs of the receipt as proof. The UPS guy in the States screwed up filling the commercial invoice.

So I call up UPS and explain this to them. I tell them I have the invoice and I have the evidence of the receipts, and they say there is nothing they can do because the error was on the U.S. side, even though the Canadian side charged me. I ask her if there is -anyone- I can talk to, she says no, sorry. She tells me the seller has the ability to re-rate the package - for a fee of $50.

So long story short, UPS screwed the pooch on this one and they're screwing me for it. How is that fair? The guy in the U.S. is currently waiting to hear back from them on this.

[Ducay]

My Rating for getting stuff delivered from US:

1. Fedex: Fast, good brokerage rates, but they're pricey overall

2. Canada Post (USPS): Good rates, cheap brokerage, and my package goes to post office if I miss delivery. Can be a bit slow clearing customs though.

3. UPS Air/Express: Expensive, but includes brokerage in the cost. Almost always is cheaper than other express methods when brokerage is factored in. They'll redeliver a billion times if you ask them to.

4. Purolator (USPS): Again, good rates (USPS express goes to purolator when it hits the border). Good brokerage.....but oh god they try delivering once and then send it to one of their sparsely located shipping locations with terrible hours.

5. UPS Ground: Cheap, slow, and will basically rape you on brokerage (per discussed). The worst of the worst for US shipping. You're better off hiring a courier from Calgary to personally drive down to the states, pick up the package, drive to a USPS location, pay for USPS, and then fly back first class.

[fundmark19]

I agree with that I have been doing air express from mono price recently and have only had to pay a buck or two for brokerage which has been great!

[fundmark19]

Ok guys I need some help. I really want to buy this screen from monoprice http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...#specification

only problem is they wont ship to canada because it is so huge. I am going down there next week and can pick it up but my car and everyones trucks who are going down are to small for the 10ft 130 pound package. What would be the best and cheapest way to ship it to calgary?

Stupid ford f 150 short boxes!!!

[algernon]

Buy a 10 ft 2x10 and some rachet straps.
Hang the 2x10 out of the end of the box, with the package (plastic wrapped, duh) strapped to the lumber. If you have a flag on the board, you'll be fine.

[Starfishy]

Originally Posted by algernon

Buy a 10 ft 2x10 and some rachet straps.
Hang the 2x10 out of the end of the box, with the package (plastic wrapped, duh) strapped to the lumber. If you have a flag on the board, you'll be fine.

I am certainly not an expert on this at all, but I would think you might have trouble crossing the border like that. I know that it might prevent you from being pulled over driving around town, I just don't see them being alright with that at border patrol when they have you pulled over already.