UPS Tariff

[fsaviator]

Has anyone else been hit with a bill from UPS for some kind of tariff?

I ordered a VFD2041 LCD screen from solarbotics in Canada. I live in the US.

I paid the $115 plus the shipping and the items was delivered.

A few days later I get an invoice from UPS, telling me I owe them $24.75. For what?

I have done 99% of my shopping online, from all over the world, since about 1990, and I have NEVER seen this before. Does anyone know what this is about, and what legal precedence UPS has to charge me anything beyond what I paid the company that shipped my product?

Is this a customs tariff? The funny thing is, I look at the UPS invoice and it says that the item I ordered is worth $1,150.... but the tariff rate is FREE, with an amount of 0.00.

The charge is for an Entry prep Fee.... why am I paying that?

Thanks,

[my737sim]

You are not alone, here's my story as well

http://www.my737sim.com/?p=238

Best,

Matt

[Matt Olieman]

Warren,

As far as I know, there are NO tariff/custom or duty fees of buying products from Canada (that I'm aware of). Now the other way around, going to Canada, those poor folks pay up the ying yang with fees. :(

[my737sim]

Warren,

As far as I know, there are NO tariff/custom or duty fees of buying products from Canada (that I'm aware of). Now the other way around, going to Canada, those poor folks pay up the ying yang with fees. :(


Yeah this is just UPS looking for a way to snake oil money out of us. They did this to me on my first Canadian order from FDS. (see URL above)

I called them. They said it was the us government who charges them this fee and they have to pass it on. Later someone said something else, that it was a brokerage fee charged for them "carrying a parcel across the us boarder" in all politeness. I called BS on them but still did not get a refund. Unlike getting a bill later, I had to pay at the door or else my mip was going back to ups.

Extortion if you ask me.

Funny enough... I've ordered lots more from fds over the last year and not once have I been charged this fee. I've never been charged this fee from receiving things from fly engravity, or revolution-simproducts. And they all (unfortunately) use ups.

Which tells me, ups is full of it and simply wanted to get a fee out of me. Because (and many have posted about this if you google it) there is no rhyme or reason as to why this fee gets charged.

Best,

Matt Riggins

[No Longer Active]

Hence why I always go with DHL, always deliver much earlier than promised and never had any problems with ordering internationally.

"UPS....Consider 'your' done!"

[Matt Olieman]

DHL stopped delivering to residences in the U.S. :(

[No Longer Active]

Sorry to hear that Matt, saying that, DHL do have a larger presence in the EU.

[fsaviator]

You are not alone, here's my story as well

http://www.my737sim.com/?p=238

Best,

Matt

That's right Matt, now I remember reading about youer trials with this.

[fsaviator]

I spent a good hour beating up on some some poor girl at UPS that had the unfortunate experience of answering the phone last night (Friday night). Did some research on the net too. Here's what I have been able to find:

1. UPS Supply chain Solutions is NOT UPS. They are a third party broker. UPS hires them to move packages across the Canadian border. It is NOT a tariff but a "handling fee disguised as a "setup fee".

2. The fee is not charged if you select one of the more expensive UPS handling methods. It is automatically included in that fee. If you select "Standard UPS" you run the risk of being charged. Lesson learned... never select standard UPS from/to Canada... Or, don't use UPS again.

3. We as a community need to push for our Canadian based businesses to inform us of the possibility of these charges when we order.

I'm going to fight this but I don't see me winning.

-My biggest issue is that I am unable to return the package because it has been opened. I was never given the opportunity to refuse the package and received this invoice after a week.

-I never contracted for this company to do anything. Why am I responsible for a fee? If it was a customs fee then I could understand. It's not... it's a handling fee above and beyond what I agreed to pay for shipping and handling (during the checkout process). As far as I'm concerned, the seller should be responsible for it, or should inform me of it when I check out.

I did see that a class action suit against UPS in Canada went nowhere on a similar issue.

MY lesson learned... I've been a loyal UPS'er since my wife worked for them in the 1990's. I buy everything online. I know the UPS guy so well we could invite him for holidays with the family... UPS just got their last dime from me. I will do without before I give UPS another red cent worth of business.

Rant complete... thanks for listening, everyone.

[fsaviator]

Warren,

As far as I know, there are NO tariff/custom or duty fees of buying products from Canada (that I'm aware of). Now the other way around, going to Canada, those poor folks pay up the ying yang with fees. :(

That is what I'm finding out too Matt... that is the strange part. The invoice says that the item (LCD screen) is worth $1,150 but the tariff is free ($0). I do not believe that solarbotics/HVW put that value on the item. Then again, this was not a tariff so it doesn't matter.

[fsaviator]

I just did a little more research into this. As I had said, I order everything...

I just looked at my receipt with HVWTech closely.... I selected FREE USPS (United States Postal Service) shipping when I checked out. I went back to their site and made a new shopping cart to see what options are available for shipping to the US...

USPS = Free
UPS Ground = $3.45
UPS Expedited = $32.19

I had selected FREE. It would appear that they mailed my product with UPS and that is why I got hit with the charge. I was only charged the $114.50 the item cost.

As much as I hate to say this, I am going to have to take this up with HVWTech/Solarbotics. It's a shame, I was going to order another one of these too. I'll see how they handle this issue.

[fsaviator]

UPDATE!! Well, this turns out to be a good news story.

I contacted HVW tech/Solarbotics about the UPS tariff I was hit with, explaining what happened, and my thoughts on it. They asked me to send them the invoice, which I did. A day later they emailed me with the following (excerpt):

"Hi Warren,

We have paid the bill with UPS on your behalf. We apologize again for the error."

I cannot praise the service, actions, and attitude of this company, enough!

I encourage all to check out their websites http://www.hvwtech.com and http://www.solarbotics.com/ for items you may need for your builds.

I'm promptly ordering another VFD-2041 or similar LCD for a later project, just to support them.

Warren

[cornleader]

I am in Canada and as Matt has said, our government makes it extremely hard and very expensive to buy outside of Canada. I am sourcing parts from Europe and before I make a purchase I must spend countless hours researching. We have a whole section of the government dedicated to stealing our... sorry I mean encouraging it's citizens to purchase products made in Canada.

Before I buy internationally I first contact the seller and ask what the country of manufacturing is. Our government charges different tariffs depending on this. Next I have to make sure the seller clearly states on the box or packing slip that the products are not aviation parts, this will incur more tariffs, and that they are hobby components. Hobby supplies are free from duties and tariffs. Unfortunately my government does not feel that hobby parts for a "replica" should be a 1:1 ratio, that is why it must be stated they are for hobby use.

I had to call border services today and ask about buying from simworld. The just did not understand that I want to buy realistic full sized replica parts for a home cockpit. They tried everything to convince me they were real aviation replacement parts. So that is why I must get the seller to put on the box or packing slip that they are not aviation parts.

Always ask questions before buying internationally.