I am refusing to pay UPS brokerage fees! any tips?

[bcteagirl]

Hey welcome back!! We missed you around here!

[0wl]

Im sorry but my mother just recd a shipment from the states via ups. It cost her 24 dollars for 50 dollars worth of goods.
The value was declared at 50.

A lot of retailers dont offer express ups, its just standard ups. But express is so much more money your basically paying the fees inadverntantly kwim?

I totally agree not to use dh from usa to canada.

Yup some goods don't apply to those rules. Even if they cost 1$. I once ordered a 50$ polo with 45 $ fees . Lot of things affect the fees. For example you can buy a a good from a store in Arizona . If the item was made in the US the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) = no fees. However if it was manufactured in china...then it's another story. It's impossible to not pay any fees but you can prevent most of em if you respect the 100$ gift exemption. But remember even if the declared value is 40$ the shipper has to declare it's a gift. In case of a greater value , the shipper can put more recipient. For example: ship 4 goods at 99$ each for 4 differents persons has a gift ( in the same box ), no feels will occur. However if i ship 1 item of a 400$ value has a gift : get that credit card ready .

[Beast Master]

I agree COMPLETELY, standard USPS, NEVER use OOPS (oops, we lost another one).

[1764]

I contacted UPS by email after paying $31.xx in brokerage fees & brokerage GST + (regular import taxes). I was astonished because the value of the item was only around $78.

I received a response the next day and the UPS representative explained in detail the purpose of the fee, the way to avoid this fee (to report the personal import yourself, ahead of time -- otherwise they have to report it for you), and agreed to reimburse the brokerage fees this time as a gesture of good will.

She did not mention how/when they will refund me... possibly by mail since they only have my name and address, but I can say the customer service is not as bad as the others make of it, and if this is your first experience with brokerage fees from UPS, there's a good chance you can get it back.

[Kristin]

Glad to hear you were able to get a refund (hope it was the full amount!)

Welcome to the site!

[jack57tin]

As a note, they make a habit of charging an arm and a leg, so for others ordering from the states it would be good always keep in mind to tell people 'NO UPS'.. they are really horrible
http://www.vcao.net

[btrottie]

Here's a tip:

The UPS brokerage fees you're referring to are applicable if you use UPS "Standard" which is their ground service. I remember buying a $20 dollar item on EBAY and the guy shipped it UPS "Standard" and put a value of $30 on the customs form. I ended up paying $40 in "brokerage" fees and that was before any Canadian customs charges!...you can imagine how peed off I was...

If you use any of the other UPS shipping methods (other than STANDARD) the brokerage fees are supposedly included and you don't pay anything additional.

If you're going to use UPS "Standard", just ask the Sender to put a value under $20 on the customs from (I always ask them to put $15). A lot of sellers will do this for you and you don't pay any brokerage or customs fees...

Blair

[lennea]

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I recently had a battle with UPS and though I did not pay them it ended up costing me a day off work to deal with it, so I would have been better off to pay them, though I probably would do it again because the way they charge for brokerage without being authorized to is disgusting.<o:p></o:p>
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Okay 1st i had to refuse the package - three times as this is their policy.<o:p></o:p>
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I had to call them with my tracking number and tell them I was going to pick up at there distribution office.<o:p></o:p>
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I went into their office and got the Customs paperwork from them, this was t the airport, about an hours drive away for me.<o:p></o:p>
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Then bring that paperwork into the Customs office. I also brought a print out of what i actually paid for the product. The eBay page, not the Paypal page as I did not want to pay duty on the shipping cost.<o:p></o:p>
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I had to take a number and wait to be called at Customs and fill out my paperwork, pay my duty and the good old GST. Still a much smaller number then UPS was trying to charge.<o:p></o:p>
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Then I took the paperwork back to UPS to prove that I had indeed cleared the package myself.<o:p></o:p>
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Then the surly Neanderthal of an employee made me wait for half an hour while they found the package.<o:p></o:p>
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Yes it was all very annoying and time consuming but I did get to tell UPS to shove their brokerage fees.<o:p></o:p>
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Now I ask when I buy goods that they ship USPS ONLY.<o:p></o:p>
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Also according to UPS the sender can check a box and fill out a little slip to avoid UPS using their brokerage but when I asked my sender about it he said they never mentioned it to him when he was sending it and in fact they told him to put the value as higher then I paid so it would be insured. That is why I had to prove to Canada Customs that I paid what I had for it to not pay duties on the insured value. <o:p></o:p>
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Canada Customs may want to know the country the product was manufactured in to calculate duties, so you may want to bring in some proof of that as well.<o:p></o:p>
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UPS SUCKS and Good luck!<o:p></o:p>

[haxxai]

Good summary of the fees. Problem is the biggest fees seem to be fixed and they go to the government. I would encourage everyone to complain not just to canada post but also to government (revenue and customs).

We want FREE trade.

Well UPS tries to convince us that a lot of the fees are customs fees but in fact alot of the time they aren't doing the claims correctly. We are not required to pay taxes and duties on gifts under a certain value ($60 I think it is) and they charged me for it anyways along with their bogus fees. My package was clearly marked as a gift and it was under the value allowed. I was lucky enough that they actually delivered the package when I wasn't home and left it (which is very unusual) so I didn't have to fight with the guy. Later I received an invoice in the mail to pay the $30+ in bogus fees and I just ignored it.

There is a class action lawsuit against them in BC and Ontario right now for their practices. I posted about it on the forum here some time ago but I can't find the post. Just google "UPS brokerage fees" or "UPS class action lawsuit" and you will see thousands of the same stories.

[haxxai]

I found my previous story about UPS shady practices

Beware when ordering products from Mario Badescu! They ship via UPS which is known for charging outrageous brokerage fees even for personal shipments.

There is a class action lawsuit against them right now in BC and Ontario for this practice. http://www.poynerbaxter.com/UPS.htm

For instance I recently made an order with Mario Badescu for $111. UPS left the package on my doorstep which was a surprise because I was told the package would not be given to me until I paid the customs fees either in advance or COD.

So anyways I was relieved thinking I dodged a bullet. Well today I got a bill in the mail from UPS for approx $38. Only $7.60 of this bill was fees from Customs (GST and PST). The remaining $30+ dollars was UPS bogus fees.

The interesting part is that Mario Badescu marked the shipment as a gift worth $60 so it should have been exempt from any duties from Customs and exempt from the UPS fees.

UPS is just scamming people hoping they will pay up without doing their research. Once I received the tracking # I called UPS and specifically asked if there would be any charges besides possible duties/taxes and they didn't mention anything. They had their chance to be up front about it and they chose to be deceitful.

There are plenty of horror stories on various websites about UPS shipments to Canada. Google it and check it out if you wish

I found a store in Vancouver (somewhat close to where I live) that sells MB products. It's still cheaper to order online and pay the brokerage fees. The seaweed night cream sells for $20 on the website and this store in Vancouver was selling it for $30! Huge mark up. I think I'm just going to ignore the invoice from UPS like many others have. I already have my package so I dont care.
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[mootinator]

It's also worth mentioning that when talking to someone at UPS they've probably heard the same complaint hundreds of times, and are more willing to help you out if you're polite and respectable with your complaint.

I received a bill from UPS today, which in addition to brokerage charges included a $4.50 COD fee. I mentioned I thought it was odd to charge me a COD fee when I clearly didn't get that service, and they waived all of the charges but the GST. (The order was for < $100, I do suspect that is a reason there was no trouble doing that based on earlier comments.)

[Philosykos]

Been a lurker here for a while, I'm a slickdealer (slickdeals.net) here in the US and am so glad to find this site! I'd be moving up there in a few months and I'm doing my homework trying to read all the forum threads to give me an idea on how things work out there.

My question is: Say I do online shopping and mail it to my sister's address here and she then would mail it to me when I'm already there, what liabilities does she have to pay in my behalf? TIA!

[travelgeek]

My question is: Say I do online shopping and mail it to my sister's address here and she then would mail it to me when I'm already there, what liabilities does she have to pay in my behalf? TIA!

Providing the vendor is located in the US, you would be responsible for sales taxes in the state of your sister's residence, however this would be paid at the time of ordering. Other than that, the costs would only be postage.

You are responsible for GST and PST (total 13%), plus the $5 handling fee on packages that are greater than $20CAD (or $60CAD if it's a gift). This is paid before Canada Post releases the goods to you.

[roseofblack25]

ya well just had UPS here with one of the prizes from bzzagent...they wanted more for fees than what the actual value of it was...so mom turned it away no way we are paying more for fees than what it is worth

[newf53]

A couple of years ago I purchased a digital camera for a US company and I paid shipping costs and then UPS tried to get me to pay duty. They billed me later but I have never paid to this day. I called them and told them that I was not obliged to pay these fees and never heard a thing afterwards. The fees were about $50.00 on a camera that I paid about $100.00 for. It was ridiculous!