Why I hope you will all avoid UPS, by Jim Wallace:
(This applies primarily to goods crossing the border into Canada.)
I have ordered many parts over the last few years from various individuals and
parts vendors for the restoration of my TR3a, and more recently for my Ferguson
TEA20. On a few occasions when they have used UPS, it cost a bit more, so I
have generally asked people to use someone else if they can.
Today I got a major shock that others should beware of:
I agreed to buy $300 US worth of parts from a person who lived in an area that
was only served by UPS (or the post office I guess), so we agreed he'd use UPS
and I was prepared to pay a bit extra. He emailed me telling me that they had
charged him $34.38, and I will be reimbursing him for that. He also mentioned
that they had made him itemize everything in the box (a long list).
Yesterday I called UPS to see what they would charge me for getting the goods
across the border, and they told me $45 brokerage fees (a very high amount, for
what you get), but it's $Cdn at least.
Today the package was delivered, and the charge was $171. As this is a little
different than $45, I called to get a breakdown. Here's what they told me:
$33.85 GST
$38.39 PST
$33.93 import freight
$ .34 fuel surcharge
$36.95 entry preparation fee
$ 5.50 disbursement fee
$14.00 additional tariff lines
$ 4.00 COD charges
$ 3.95 GST on the brokerage fees
$ .28 GST on the COD
------
$171.19
GST = goods and services tax
PST = provincial sales tax
Import freight = shipping from the border to my house. (The initial $34.38 US
was only to get the goods to the border, they tell me now.)
Entry preparation fee = covers the "very difficult" paperwork that gets filled
out. I will check but do believe that other couriers do not charge for this.
Additional tariff lines = extra fee because there were so many items listed.
COD = because the extra shipping was not paid in advance.
So first I was told that it would be $34.38 US. Then I was told that it would
be an extra $45 CDN. Then I was charged $171.19 CDN. And I still owe the seller
over $55 Cdn!
The biggest problem here is that I and the seller were both given bad
information. If UPS had been up front about all these charges we could have
decided to do something else, like use the post office, but they weren't. And
after my conversation with a very friendly and reasonable agent at UPS, I now
know that they will do absolutely nothing about it.
So beware! Things are not what they seem!
Thanks for your time, had to get it off my chest,
Jim
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