Canadian EF Users... Is there any way to avoid custom charges. They are a B!

Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I've been selling and buying online for years. This is just part of living in Canada, folks.

Taxes are the buyers responsibility, unless the seller chooses to pay them.

What Fed Ex says is that the shipper is liable, not ... more
I've been buying online for years too (over 20). Lived in Canada all my life, and 95% of the stuff I buy online comes from the States. And this is the very first time I've been hit with customs charges. If it's just "part of living in Canada", then I would think I would have experienced them by now.

I know customs charges are part of life (or can be) when you're buying stuff from out of the country, but it almost seems like they're applied selectively. Like, why in the hell have I never been charged before, and now all of a sudden I am? Now, in the meantime, I watched the tracking information on UPS.com and I noticed a couple of pieces of information that I've never seen before:

November 22: Registered with clearing agency / Shipment submitted to clearing agency

November 23: Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance / Receiver's customs broker has been assigned The shipment is now released to move in transit


Like I said, I've been ordering stuff from the US online for years, and have never seen that piece of information in the tracking data. So maybe I was just unlucky this time and my package got picked for further investigation? I have no idea.

All I know is that I'm slightly less than thrilled with UPS right now, and I definitely hope that EF finds some way to clear this up for everyone.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
I've been buying online for years too (over 20). Lived in Canada all my life, and 95% of the stuff I buy online comes from the States. And this is the very first time I've been hit with customs charges. If it's just "part of living ... more
Just because you have not experienced it does not mean it is not true. This is from the Canadian Border Services Agency webpage (link):

Importing by Mail

Duty, Taxes and Handling Fees on Items Mailed to You

Duty and tax exemptions

The CBSA can examine almost any item that comes to Canada by mail.

You may have to pay duty, the goods and services tax (GST) or the harmonized sales tax (HST) and the provincial sales tax (PST) on items mailed to you. If you owe duty and tax, it will be indicated on Form E14, CBSA Postal Import Form, which will be attached to your mail item when it is delivered.

The amount of duty or taxes you may owe on an item depends upon the following:

the item’s value in Canadian dollars;
whether or not the item is a gift; and
any exemptions specified in related legislation.

The item’s value in Canadian dollars

Under the provisions of the Postal Imports Remission Order, if someone mails you an item worth CAN$20 or less, you don’t have to pay duty or taxes on the item. If the item is worth more than CAN$20, you must pay the applicable duty, the GST or HST, and any PST on the item’s full value.

Items that do not qualify for the CAN$20 exemption include the following:

tobacco;
books;
periodicals;
magazines;
alcoholic beverages; and
goods ordered through a Canadian post office box or a Canadian intermediary.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
Just because you have not experienced it does not mean it is not true. This is from the Canadian Border Services Agency webpage (link):

Importing by Mail

Duty, Taxes and Handling Fees on Items Mailed to You

Duty and tax ... more
I don't recall saying it wasn't true just because I haven't experienced it. I just said it was odd. And it is, I think. When I said "If it was just part of living in Canada, I think I would have experienced it by now", I didn't mean to imply that I didn't *believe* the previous poster. I just don't think that customs charges are applied consistently (and judging by some of the posts here, I don't think I'm wrong on that score.)

I don't want to be rude, but please don't put words in my mouth. Maybe what I said came off as me not believing the previous poster, but I assure you that isn't the case. I'm just a bit bamboozled by this because it was completely unexpected, that's all.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Eucaly Eucaly
It seems like using an American friend you trust to "gift" it to you is the only way.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Eucaly
It seems like using an American friend you trust to "gift" it to you is the only way.
Yeah, and I have a feeling that's how I'll be doing it from now on. Luckily I have a friend in NY who I think will be willing to help me out. You'd think there'd be a better way to take care of it, but at least it's a stop-gap solution for the time being.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by Eucaly
It seems like using an American friend you trust to "gift" it to you is the only way.
Having a friend gift an item may help avoid the situation but gifts are not exempt from the tax.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
Having a friend gift an item may help avoid the situation but gifts are not exempt from the tax.
Well, unless it's marked as less than $20. *L* But let's face it, who orders less than $20 worth of stuff from EF?
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by astrohoney
Not cool. FedEx says taxes and duty is the responsibility of the shipper, on the receiver, as it should be. I'm not sure if UPS is the same, but if they're a competing company then it may be. Are customs charges NOT duty or taxes? If ... more
According to what I can find on the UPS website, duty and taxes are the responsibility of the customer. :/ I really wish I could figure out why, when I have been ordering stuff from the US for years (and EF specifically for three years) this is the first time I've ever been expected to cover duty and taxes on delivery. It's pretty confusing.

The jumping across the border issue -- that seems to have happened with my latest order, too, and it's something I have never seen happen with any of my other EF orders. This one went from Doraville, GA to Lachine, QC (which...really doesn't make sense because Georgia isn't anywhere *close* to Quebec) and then, after travelling through Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY, it went back and forth between East Syracuse, NY and Lachine, QC *three times* before it continued the rest of the way east. WTF? I've *never* seen that happen before. Usually (and I'm looking at the UPS tracking info for the previous three packages now), once the package reached East Syracuse, NY, it crossed over the border to Lachine, QC, and pretty much immediately headed east. In none of the previous three orders (which are the only ones I can access) was there any mention whatsoever of customs or brokerage agencies or anything like that. Which is why I was so confused when I saw that show up in my tracking information. o_O

The only difference between this order and the previous ones was that this latest one was sent via UPS Worldwide Expedited, and the others were sent via UPS Standard. To be honest, I'd be willing to wait longer for my orders if it meant I wouldn't be slapped with duty and tax charges at my door.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Eva Schwaltz Eva Schwaltz
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
According to what I can find on the UPS website, duty and taxes are the responsibility of the customer. :/ I really wish I could figure out why, when I have been ordering stuff from the US for years (and EF specifically for three years) this is the ... more
It doesn't matter how it's shipped because you can still get slapped with fees with "Standard" shipping. At least with express you don't have to pay brokerage fees. The COD charges I have gotten with express shipping have been less than half as compared to fees I have gotten with UPS Standard.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Eva Schwaltz Eva Schwaltz
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Actually, I just got off the phone with Megan from EF. She had talked to UPS to see if she could get the customs charges billed to EF's account.

But UPS won't do it. They say that the customs fee I was charged is too small to bill ... more
That doesn't make sense. I've had charges billed to EF smaller than $16. I placed a fairly big order from this most recent sale, and I'm prepared to pay any taxes, so here's hoping my package doesn't get flagged.
11/25/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Eva Schwaltz
That doesn't make sense. I've had charges billed to EF smaller than $16. I placed a fairly big order from this most recent sale, and I'm prepared to pay any taxes, so here's hoping my package doesn't get flagged.
Yeah, I know. The bit about the charges being too small to be billed directly to EF didn't make any sense to me, either, but...then again, this IS UPS we're talking about, and at this point I have *zero* faith in them.

My order was sent via UPS Worldwide Expedited, which according to what Megan told me was supposed to *avoid* the customs fee issue, but for whatever reason, it didn't work. Honest to god, I'd rather have EF strap my order to the back of a donkey and walk it up here than put up with this crap again.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Well, be prepared to be charged at some point. I'm in Canada too, and I've *never* been charged any customs for EF purchases either...but lo and behold, this morning UPS made a delivery attempt and informed me that there was a $20 COD charge ... more
Well if the $20 fee is from customs, that is not a bad thing. Some of us were getting packages of $60+ fees, because UPS was charging huge brokerage fees on top of the customs fees.

Paying custom charges is not something we are too worried about because being Canadian, it happens, and that is something we all know could happen when ordering outside of Canada. But paying UPS for brokerage? No thank you lol
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
As far as I know, UPS would be the same. Every package I've ever received from EF has been by UPS, and I've never been charged customs fees until today. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the fact that this particular order ... more
I do agree with you about paying $20 shipping upfront when you order, and then paying more at the door seems a bit much. Typically my orders end up costing around $22-23 in shipping when checking out.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Actually, I just got off the phone with Megan from EF. She had talked to UPS to see if she could get the customs charges billed to EF's account.

But UPS won't do it. They say that the customs fee I was charged is too small to bill ... more
I wish I had packages coming in at only $16.50, I had about four packages that I had to pay 50something dollars on (each) and my boyfriend had about 2 packages. That was around the time I started this thread. I don't mean to make your situation seem less important, as I understand custom charges are a B (like the title says) but when I've paid over $200bucks to UPS for 4 packgages, %16.50 would have been a blessing. By the way, I was NEVER reimbursed for any of the brokerage fees, and my fees were MUCH larger than $16.50
11/28/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Breas
I wish I had packages coming in at only $16.50, I had about four packages that I had to pay 50something dollars on (each) and my boyfriend had about 2 packages. That was around the time I started this thread. I don't mean to make your situation ... more
I understand that in the grand scheme of things, $16.50 is not a large amount of money for most people. However (and I'm not looking for pity or anything) I've been unemployed for 16 months and that $16.50 was a completely unexpected expense, no matter how small, you know? The only reason I'm even able to order stuff from EF in the first place is because of my gift cards from EdenCafe posts.

So no, $16.50 isn't an OMGBIGDEAL, or ordinarily wouldn't be...but to me, the amount is not even the point. The point, for me, is that I already paid $17.00 in shipping and I did not expect to be hit with another $17.00 at my door that I was completely unprepared to pay, you know?

Everyone has different financial circumstances, and while $16.50 wouldn't be worth talking about for some people...I mean, that $16.50 could have been much better spent than handing it over to UPS. I only *wish* I were in a situation right now that would mean that a "small" amount of money like the one we're talking about here wasn't an issue for me, but as it stands right now, yes, that's a huge amount of money to me, because I simply don't have it. I haven't even been able to get my package yet, because I haven't been able to come up with that extra money yet.

So...yeah. There you have it.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Breas
Well if the $20 fee is from customs, that is not a bad thing. Some of us were getting packages of $60+ fees, because UPS was charging huge brokerage fees on top of the customs fees.

Paying custom charges is not something we are too worried ... more
Well, and that's another, separate issue, too. UPS (or, I should say, Purolator, because we don't even *have* UPS out here in the sticks and Purolator handles all the UPS shipments around here) can't (or won't) tell me what the fees are -- if they're customs fees, or brokerage, or what. And I just feel like, why should I hand over money to a company whose representatives can't even tell me WHY I'm handing over the money? I mean, I know it's one or the other, and if I had the money I'd pay it, but...that just seems so shady to me.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Jobthingy Jobthingy
Quote:
Originally posted by Breas
I wish I had packages coming in at only $16.50, I had about four packages that I had to pay 50something dollars on (each) and my boyfriend had about 2 packages. That was around the time I started this thread. I don't mean to make your situation ... more
If you contact the folks at Customer Service, they will reimburse you. I sent them scanned copied of my UPS receipts and had no problems.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Jobthingy Jobthingy
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Yeah, I know. The bit about the charges being too small to be billed directly to EF didn't make any sense to me, either, but...then again, this IS UPS we're talking about, and at this point I have *zero* faith in them.

My order was ... more
In what I have noticed, the only orders that have been flagged are marked as Worldwide Expedited. The ones marked standard have not been.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Jobthingy
In what I have noticed, the only orders that have been flagged are marked as Worldwide Expedited. The ones marked standard have not been.
Yeah, every other package I've ever gotten from EF has been sent Standard. This is the only package they've ever sent Expedited. I know that customs fees can be charged at any time, blah blah blah....but it just seems odd to me that the only time the customs/brokerage fees were charged was when the package was sent via a method that was supposed to keep that from happening. Damn UPS.

So I guess my hope is that EF never uses UPS Worldwide Expedited to send out packages to me again. I'll certainly not ever be *requesting* it (I didn't this time, either, but apparently there was some other issue that caused them to choose that method for me.)
11/28/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Jobthingy
If you contact the folks at Customer Service, they will reimburse you. I sent them scanned copied of my UPS receipts and had no problems.
I've already been contacted by phone by Megan, a Customer Service agent from EF. She offered me reimbursement either by cheque or by gift card, if, that is, I chose not to simply return the package to them.

I chose the gift card, and while I definitely appreciate the fact that they did that (because I realized that the root of this issue is with UPS and not EF) that doesn't do anything to solve the problem of how I'm going to be able to get my package. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with it in the next five days. Even if I had chosen reimbursement by cheque, it wouldn't have gotten here in time to help me pay the fees to get my package from UPS/Purolator.

It's just been a pretty frustrating situation. I can imagine it must be frustrating for EF too. I certainly hope they can find a way to solve it on a more permanent basis.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Jobthingy
If you contact the folks at Customer Service, they will reimburse you. I sent them scanned copied of my UPS receipts and had no problems.
I've already been contacted by phone by Megan, a Customer Service agent from EF. She offered me reimbursement either by cheque or by gift card, if, that is, I chose not to simply return the package to them.

I chose the gift card, and while I definitely appreciate the fact that they did that (because I realized that the root of this issue is with UPS and not EF) that doesn't do anything to solve the problem of how I'm going to be able to get my package. Hopefully I'll be able to come up with it in the next five days. Even if I had chosen reimbursement by cheque, it wouldn't have gotten here in time to help me pay the fees to get my package from UPS/Purolator.

It's just been a pretty frustrating situation. I can imagine it must be frustrating for EF too. I certainly hope they can find a way to solve it on a more permanent basis.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Jobthingy
In what I have noticed, the only orders that have been flagged are marked as Worldwide Expedited. The ones marked standard have not been.
The standard packages were flagged too, which is why they started using the Expedited.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Yeah, every other package I've ever gotten from EF has been sent Standard. This is the only package they've ever sent Expedited. I know that customs fees can be charged at any time, blah blah blah....but it just seems odd to me that the ... more
Expedited eliminates the brokerage fees, not the taxes.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Jobthingy Jobthingy
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
The standard packages were flagged too, which is why they started using the Expedited.
That is in my experience. I know if I see it Expedited, it is flagged. Standard has not been.

Looking at my receipts right now from UPS and there are brokerage fees on the 3 I have here that were Expedited.
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
I understand that in the grand scheme of things, $16.50 is not a large amount of money for most people. However (and I'm not looking for pity or anything) I've been unemployed for 16 months and that $16.50 was a completely unexpected ... more
Oh no, like I said, I wasn't trying to say that that fee is insignificant, I totally understand where you are coming from. We weren't receiving any custom fees either for the longest time, so even if it was $16.50, we probably would have been like WTF lol but since we experienced the 50dollar fees (then of course, add the $20 shipping paid when ordering), for us it is more of a relief to see the smaller charges. We'd prefer no charges at all if we were able to choose though
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
Expedited eliminates the brokerage fees, not the taxes.
Yep, that is why a recent package I got was less than $20. Those brokerage fees are a B!
11/28/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
I paid $109.74 for my package today, because UPS decided it was worth $827. Only $10 was actual brokerage fee, the rest was taxes. Eden reimbursed this to me in full, though.

They said I could have got the taxes adjusted by getting Eden to fax a proper invoice to customs, and by going down to the customs office and paying $15 for them to re-asses it... which I might have done but have had so much going on that I just didn't want to wait anymore (I ordered this package on Nov 4th).
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I paid $109.74 for my package today, because UPS decided it was worth $827. Only $10 was actual brokerage fee, the rest was taxes. Eden reimbursed this to me in full, though.

They said I could have got the taxes adjusted by getting Eden to fax ... more
Oh wow, that is crazy! I'm wondering why your brokerage fee was only $10, when we were having this problem, the brokerage fees was min. $30... Glad things were cleared up for you though
11/28/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I paid $109.74 for my package today, because UPS decided it was worth $827. Only $10 was actual brokerage fee, the rest was taxes. Eden reimbursed this to me in full, though.

They said I could have got the taxes adjusted by getting Eden to fax ... more
Oh, also, how much was your order actually worth? lol
11/28/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Breas
Oh, also, how much was your order actually worth? lol
$134 or something like that, but two items were backordered so this package would have been a little less.

The brokerage fees are based on the package value... I think they have a chart with the breakdown on their website, but don't feel like looking for it right now
11/28/2011