UPS Import Tax Hassle

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Hello all,

I just purchased some supplies from Canada, and ran into a huge hassle with UPS. Since there was a pair of 99 cent cotton gloves in the package, they considered them "textiles" which are subject to import fees. Two weeks after I ordered the supplies, and they still weren't in, I get an e-mail from UPS telling me to call them. I called several times, and after being put on hold and transferred for about 45 minutes, finally got someone who new nothing about it. Finally, a few days later, I get a call from UPS telling me that they need my social security number to clear the shipment. They took my $300 package hostage, and told me that it would be destroyed in three days if I didn't give it to them. After much paranoid contemplation, I decided to give it to them. So much for customer service. The package finally showed up two weeks later.

Fast forward two weeks, and yesterday I get a bill form UPS for "import fees". On the 99 cent pair of cotton gloves, they are charginging me a $2.01 "import duty". No big deal. But here's the real kicker- they also tacked on an additional $56.00 worth of trumped up "processing fees".

So much for NAFTA. Has anyone else had this happen, and do you have any advice on how to deal with it? It's not that I really care about the $58.01; it's more the fact that I being charged for something that is clearly a scam on the part of UPS! (for those of you who may point it out, I know it's not an illegal e-bay/phishing/Nigerian e-mail/counterfeit Viagra/penis enlargement type scam, but it doesn't seem very ethical, nonetheless). Any thoughts, or should I go whine to someone else?

Happy photography, and watch out for those big brown trucks!

[Claude Sapp]

Brian, I just posted a note in the "German customs - I was taxed ..." thread about Fedex sticking it to me in a transacion to Canada. $60 in fees and duties on a $300 sale, the bulk of which was Fedex fees that the buyer refused to pay, then Fedex stuck me with the bill.

Should we be using the USPS to send internationally? Are their broker fees as outrageous as Fedex and UPS? Most important, will the USPS deliver the package without collecting the fees from the recipient, then turn around and stick the sender with the bill???

After my nightmare with Fedex, I just refuse to ship anything internationally.

[Dave Parker]

This is a reason I use USPS for all of my shipments! Yes, they loose shipments, but I have never had anyone say they have been hit with extra charges on their end...and we have now shipped to 75 different countries.

Dave

[Claude Sapp]

Then maybe as international buyers we should request the sender use their local postal service instead of Fedex or UPS.

[Dave Parker]

Then maybe as international buyers we should request the sender use their local postal service instead of Fedex or UPS.

For the brokerage charges and surprises that you get on your end, I would re think on how you have the product you purchase shipped to you, UPS is nothing but a plain rip off, period...I would rather replace a shipment than ship UPS, and I have had to replace a bunch of shipments this last year and my customers as well as me are well a head of the game.

Dave

[MIke Sherck]

Only use US Postal Service for international shipments. If the seller won't use them (or their local postal service, same thing,) then don't buy. UPS, Fedex, and all the rest are simply holding your goods hostage and charging you exhorbitant rates to "process" the paperwork. If it were me, I'd tell UPS that I dispute a $2.01 customs charge on a $0.99 item and tell them that I need documentation before I pay. And unless they can show me where I agreed to pay their processing fees, they can eat them.

Mike

[Nick_3536]

UPS ground ?

Use UPS or Fedex next day etc. Ground charges an extra brokerage fee. All the other more expensive services provide free brokerage services. You'll notice companies like B&H won't ship UPS ground to Canada.

You would still have paid the $2.01 duty but the rest wouldn't have been an issue.

OTOH if you want a really scary thought. UPS charges Canadians even higher fees.

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/advisor/customs/fees.html

Thats the US fee chart.

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html

Thats the Canadian chart.

Just avoid ground for anything of value.

[Dominique Labrosse]

At work we ship back and forth between Vancouver and the US using UPS, however, we use a 3rd party customs broker so that we don't get soaked by UPS. Personally I no longer have any personal items shipped UPS.

[Capocheny]

Brian,

Sorry to hear about your experiences with Big Brown. And, all along, I thought WE (Canucks) were the ONLY ones to have all the fun with UPS!

Best thing you can do is NOT to use them as your shippers.

USPS Global is the best.

Personally speaking... I've STOPPED using UPS!

Period.

Cheers

[davidb]

I only ship using the mail service. UPS and Fedex are just silly and abuse the packages.

[PViapiano]

This is why all my eBay auctions are US only...of course, I don't sell items as my business, so I'm able to restrict my auctions. I don't like doing it, but who needs the extra hassle...

[Ole Tjugen]

Then maybe as international buyers we should request the sender use their local postal service instead of Fedex or UPS.

Seems like a good idea to me - based on far too many international deals! It also saves me the hassle of getting to the local warehouse (only 35km away) in office hours to clear the shipment. Instead I can pick it up at my local post office / grocery store by 21:00...

[B.S.Kumar]

In the last one year, I've bought quite a few things from the US (I'm in Japan), and every time, USPS cost me far less, and I've never got stuck with outrageous fees. Don't stop selling outside the US. Just use USPS Global, cheap and efficient. I've also sent stuff to the US and India using Japan Post without hassles.

Cheers,
Kumar

[buze]

I beg to differ. To ship from the US to the UK, you get the same problem at reception, even using USPS.
Packet gets taken hostage for "customs" and you get to pay the customs (ok) and an outrageous "handling fee" to parcelforce to recover it. I think UPS might just have given ideas to other transporters.
So all in all what you pay for "international" transport is just to the border, then the other destination gets to pay more to get it to him.
So I no longer buy anything from the US, unless the custom slip is marked with a small amount, like $50.

[Miguel Curbelo]

I live in Spain. I regularly buy stuff from the US and from other European countries. In my experience USPS Global is not only cheaper and more hassle free (no need to chase the delivery man to actually deliver the parcel) but also faster (!) than UPS. To those of you reluctant to sell outside the US, and thus depriving yourselves of a Euro-strong market: USPS Global Express is cheap, trackable and reliable and, from a seller's point of view, easy to use.

[B.S.Kumar]

Well, the Japanese are very polite. Japan Post charges a small "administration fee", and that's it. A couple of times when I've got things by Fedex, I got a note from them asking me to pay the fee within 10 days at any ATM or bank, or through a credit card. No hostages!

Cheers,
Kumar

[Jerzy Pawlowski]

If a seller insists on UPS I am not buying anything from him.
Never had any problems with USPS from US to Canada.

[Scott Davis]

I always make a major point of telling sellers NOT to use UPS when I buy something on Fleabay. I have had enough horror stories happen to me using UPS that I will refuse to buy something if the seller only offers UPS, even if it is a domestic item. Every once in a while, some genius decides he's going to "save me money" and ships UPS anyway, so I don't have a choice. I would rather be drawn, quartered and have my intestines burned on a hot grill in front of me while I'm still alive than voluntarily use UPS again. UPS stands for in my book, variously, "United Parcel Smashers", "Unbelievably Poor Service", "Uniformed Pot Smokers", "Useless, Painful and Slow", "U Purcased Something??" and more.

[bobc]

Add my name to the huge list of people that have had problems with UPS with international shipments. I've been jammed by them everytime I had stuff shipped to me when I was in Nw Zealand.

USPS was the way to go,

[Simon Benton]

I buy and sell many items all over the globe. I will never use UPS - they are despicable. Canada Post and USPS have always been great.

[Jack Brauer]

UPS is a bunch of morons. They lost a new lens that I had bought... long story short - it took me five months and countless angry phone calls to get them to process the claim. In the midst of this I had the regional office telling me that the corporate office was wrong, and vice versa... they both said that their office had the final say! I got an first-hand look into the shabby inner workings of their bureaucracy , and needless to say, I will NEVER USE UPS again, either for sending or buying. Btw, this is the second lens they've lost for me.

[r.e.]

Has anyone else had this happen, and do you have any advice on how to deal with it?

I have some adivice. Don't pay the bill, or at least not more than the $2.01 in import duty. On a trip to the UK, I bought a photograph and had it shipped to Canada. The vendor sent it UPS, which after delivering the package sent me a bill for so-called brokerage/processing fees for about $80. I ignored the bill. UPS sent me a couple of letters, one threatening to refer the bill to a collection agency, and that was the end of it. They aren't going to sue you for that kind of money.

Since then, I have asked vendors to send stuff to me via their national postal service. End of problem.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

I have some adivice. Don't pay the bill, or at least not more than the $2.01 in import duty. On a trip to the UK, I bought a photograph and had it shipped to Canada. The vendor sent it UPS, which after delivering the package sent me a bill for so-called brokerage/processing fees for about $80. I ignored the bill. UPS sent me a couple of letters, one threatening to refer the bill to a collection agency, and that was the end of it. They aren't going to sue you for that kind of money.

Since then, I have asked vendors to send stuff to me via their national postal service. End of problem.

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't planning on paying, being that it won't keep me up at night and I will never do business with the brown truck driving/ package kidnapping fiends again. I'm a bit worried that they may try to mess up my credit rating. Did anything like that happen to you, r.e., and how long ago did the last threatening letter arrive?

[roteague]

I will never do business with the brown truck driving/ package kidnapping fiends again.

I've pretty well come to that myself, although for different reasons. Their customer service is poor.

[r.e.]

Brian,

I'm quite sure that my bank and Visa couldn't care less. In any event, no effect at all. I got two letters after the bill, a couple of months apart. Can't recall for sure whether the second letter was UPS threatening to send the bill to a collection agent, or whether it was actually from a collection agent. I ignored both and that was it. If they had pursued it further, such as via a phone call, I would have told them to stuff it. Nobody is going to sue you over $58, and it is highly unlikely that refusing to accede to this scam is going to impact your credit.

[Ron Bose]

After my nightmare with Fedex, I just refuse to ship anything internationally.

I buy stuff from the US and have it shipped to Canada all the time. USPS Global services are usually excellent.

UPS Ground is pure thievery.

Please don't make us suffer (overseas buyers) for the bad practices of some major US based courier companies.

[Marco Annaratone]

I stopped buying anything from the US if it has to be shipped via UPS (to Europe). If the seller or vendor can't deal with USPS EMS I walk. UPS costs and "fees" of various nature are out of this world. My experience with USPS EMS has been just fine so far.

I am planning to sell some photographic equipment soon on Ebay in the US market. The two European postal systems (I live near the border of two Countries, I can use either one) want 70 euros for a 3 day guaranteed delivery, UPS 150 euros. I am not saying the level of service is the same (albeit it may just be --- same level of insurance, for instance), but how on earth can I ask a buyer in the US to pay 200 dollars for shipping something that is less than a cubic foot and weighs 6 pounds??????????