by rkosiorek » Sat May 26, 2012 4:27 pm
it is UPS. USPS uses the Canadian Government or more actually our post office as the broker and the fees are very reasonable. $7 flat rate plus the GST (Tax) and any applicable duties. and for stuff like this there are no duties.
UPS on the other hand charges #1 -a handling fee based on the article value to forward it to a broker. this is charged even if they are the broker. under a certain value it is one amount. over that value it is a higher amount. there is also an additional charge of overweight items. #2 -a brokerage fee as a percentage of article value, and #3 -interest on the money they are lending you to cover the tax and customs.
on top of these it is also not usual to find other fees added because there is some "Special" or "Exception" found because there is a claim of incomplete statements or valuation by the shipper, receiver or both. and once they have your stuff, you are more or less forced to accept their version and pay it, or you plain don't get your stuff. i'd call it extortion, but....
UPS has faced several class action law suits over this. but so far they have come out on top. the excuse being "Due Diligence" ie. that the receiver should have been aware of the charges before accepting as the shipper. truth is that UPS hides these charges from both the shipper and the receiver until the bill is presented. even if you call most customer service reps cannot or will not detail all charges tha you could face. they only seem to know what they are unless they are explaining to you why you have to pay them before you get your stuff.
UPS is very dishonorable when they are dealing with shipping beyond the US border. they blame UPS Canada, who of course blame UPS USA. never mind that both are part of the same UPS.
not unusual to pay $60 UPS fees on an article that is $20.01. even though a $20.00 item would not be charged any duty or tax by the Canadian government. that $20 does include shipping in the total.
rick
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