>Notifyed yesterday that my unit had cleared
>customs, was ready for pick-up and that there was a customs charge,
>documentation, duty, cartage and terminal fee, adding up to $168.22
Note that there are 4 distinct charges above. I had an occasion to
ship an item frm myself in the USA to myself in Canada, and the
"Gotcha!" was not the Duty (which goes to the government) but what
they called the "brokerage fee".
In this case, as the shipper I myself had inquired about TOTAL cost
of shipping for delivery to my door in Canada. When the shipment
arrived with an extra charge, I did not accept delivery until
I worked out what was what. This was simple, because I had a very
good relationship with the person who had contracted the shipping
(i.e.: myself). In the end the simplest course of action was to
pay the brokerage fee, accept the shipment, and then claim the
brokerage fee back from the shipping company, who had clearly
given me incorrect information about the cost of shipping.
Although this is a "buyer beware" issue, the buyer who should
beware is the buyer of the shipping. One should inquire about
charges at the destination end. If the shipping "salesperson"
(agent) is unwilling or unable to provide this information, then
how can anyone make an informed choice about which service to
purchase??
In short, signing a contract which effectively states "and we
can charge you whatever we please for the privilidge of submitting
the customs forms you have already filled out, for storing your box
between landing and customs clearance, and for a (probably)
incorrect determination of the appropriate duty for its contents."
is really asking for abuse.
Douglas McKinnie
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