Apparently a guy in British Columbia has filed a class-action lawsuit against UPS, for the ridiculous “brokerage” charges they demand from the recipient of any US->Canada shipment. Frequently the brokerage fees will be more than the shipment is worth.
Unfortunately, the case is in BC only at this time, but if one starts up in Ontario, I’ll be there. Those bastards have fucked me one time too often.
FedEx used to be better, but they started doing it too (I guess they could smell the money too). The only viable option remaining is the regular postal service (which charges a flat $5 for the same service). That is cool, I’ve had good luck with simple US Postal Service shipments of CDs ordered from the US. But some stores refuse to ship that way.
I want to buy a Technivorm coffee maker, only available from the US, but haven’t been able to figure out a good way to do it without paying off those gangsters. I think there may be an option whereby I drive to a customs office and clear the package myself. That would likely cost me more in gas than I save in brokerage fees, but it would be worth it.
Update: Man, close to 200 comments so far, almost all of them from very angry people. I’ve have since learned more about doing your own customs clearance, including some relevant information straight from Canada Border Services Agency.
400 responses to “UPS “Brokerage fee” class-action”
Indeed. I am constantly bitching about these services. UPS is especially bad. The following site (http://www.myus.com/) and others like it try to offer alternatives, but they end up shipping via the shippers we want to avoid.
When we had our wedding rings shipped, I chose USPS (which converted to Purolator here). Purolator sucks for many reasons, but the prices were reasonable especially for the requested insurance. What really angered me was the duty, tariffs and taxes applied to our purchase. We ended up spending an additional 25% to get the rings across the border. Those fees are nothing but punishment for not buying in Canada. If I could have bought the damn rings in Canada, I would have. No one made exactly what I was looking for…
Greed makes the Western economies move forward.
“Play or be played”
One of the taxes you probably paid is the “excise tax”, charged on luxury items like jewellery. It’s actually being phased out.
Universities have their own brokerage firms to avoid the excessive charges. Carleton uses Livingston Brokerage… I wonder if there is a way you can contract your own brokerage firm to handle the border crossing segment of your purchase? I know when I track a package from UPS or FedEx that I get a line that says “package awaiting clearance from private brokerage firm” or something to that effect.
If we’re talking about shipping whores, I’m in.
(unsubscribe)
There actually is an Quebec/Ontario class action concerning the Brockerage fee issue. Check out http://www.merchantlaw.com/courier.html to sign up.
Well, that is interesting. But it doesn’t much Googling to find some rather unflattering commentary about that particular law-firm. Harsh words like “conduct unbecoming a lawyer.” That sort of thing.
The top result (after Merchant Law Group’s own site) seems to be a “Merchant Law Group Sucks” kind of site. Some woman with a serious axe to grind. The site seems kinda scatterbrained, and it takes a while to figure out what it’s actually about. If it was that site alone, then I wouldn’t necessarily put much stock in it. But her links are real. CBC, MacLeans, sites like that.
My impression is that this is the sort of class action suit in which, even if you win a settlement of $10M, the lawyer will get $9M and the clients will get a few bucks each.
Is it worthwhile to allow your name to be part of something like that? Maybe… it would punish UPS and maybe bring about some change. But when the lawyers take the lion’s share of the money, justice is not really being served.
“The site seems kinda scatterbrained, and it takes a while to figure out what it’s actually about.”
http://www.law.avva.ca
If you find it is scatterbrained then you haven’t spent enough time reading it. “The serious axe to grind” is coming from more than one woman as the documentation and comments that are posted on that site prove corruption, and manipulation by lawyers in the Courts. Merchant Law Group is also mentioned several times and it’s not a few lines like a BLOG.
Matthew Merchant is up on 33 violations which they call a “sanction” with the Alberta Law Society. It’s conduct unbecoming and even that is a joke. Anyone else would be charged under the criminal code.
Frank Quennell Justice Minister of Saskatchewan is also pasted all over the site for obvious reasons. There are problems with this lawyer.
There is nothing scatterbrained about the “certified” court orders on that website, unless you have a problem understanding basic Orders and Judgments.
Even a retired Supreme Court Judge says there is a problem with Merchant Law Group, so I guess you don’t get it.
Lastly … that website is not a BLOG where it takes zero effort to throw around opinions like some kind self serving expert.
It is Merchant Law Group who is short several thousand clients on some of his “class action” lawsuits.
We do know that much and more …
Cheers
I purchased an item on ebay in Sept of 2006. At that time, the company shipping the product valued the shipment incorrectly, and when it arrived, I refused to accept the shipment from UPS. I called the company, and had them send a new dated invoice directly to UPS/RMS, and UPS promptly rejected it, stating that they didn’t believe the second invoice (though it had been shipped by the manufacturer) and were still going to charge me $62.50 in associated brokerage/disbursement fees. I again refused the shipment. The shipper told me to refuse it, and promptly send a replacement item, with the attached invoice with the corrected amount, and the item showed up a couple of days later.
November 2006 a bill arrives from UPS/RMS stating that I still owed $62.50 and that I’d better pay it promptly. I phoned, got a confirmation from the CSR that all was well, got a confirmation # that all was well, and forgot about the matter.
Today, Jan 18/2007 I get a letter from UPS/RMS stating that I’d better pay within 10 days, or it was going to a collection agency. I had to phone these assh*les again, explain again what had happened, stating that I’d refused the shipment, it should have been sent back to the shipper, that I’m not paying any brokerage fee, and that they should seek whatever fees they feel they’re owed from the shipper. Not me.
The CSR stated I can only write this down, pass it along, and I should check back in 10 days to see what’s happening (he also demanded my tel number, and I told him not farking likely, as it’s unlisted and I’m not about to give it him or anyone else). I also told him I’d prefer to settle this in small claims court if they’re going to continue to harrass me.
Perhaps I’ll give the above law firm a call, and explain what’s going on, or if I’m taken to SMCC, I’d rather hire a lawyer, and counter sue UPS. Not sure for what, but I’d prefer to let the attorney handle that end.
F*ck you UPS. Your company sucks.
In response to John R, have you received any more mail from RMS? I’m in a similar situation where RMS has threatened to take legal action. I owe UPS about $170 in brokerage fees for a shipped item from the US.
Do you think they would really take legal action for this amount?
Chris I
I wasn’t home this evening when UPS tried to deliver a package, but I was shocked when the notice they left on my door said that I would have to pay $37.28CAN in brokerage fees in order to receive the package. Considering the package is valued at $36US and I already paid $9US for shipping, I found this ridiculous. I promptly called UPS & told them to return the package and to shove their fee up their ass!
After searching around online, I’m amazed at how many sites there are like this one against UPS. I smiled when I read about the lawsuit filed against them on this site (and another lawsuit originating in B.C. that I read about on another site). I hope UPS gets screwed royally, to make up for all of the customer that they’ve screwed!
I’ve also filed a complain with the FTC (as advised by another website). While they do not respond to individual cases, each complaint adds to those already filed, and when enough complaints are received, they’ll take action.
I’m interested to see how all of this will turn out.
Awhile ago I ordered a couple of shirts online form the states. When i received the package I also received a bill from UPS for 43.50. Which seemed ridiculous considering I have never received an additional bill for any other order I’ve made from the states. I’m a student, so I didn’t have the money to spare at the time. I meant to pay the bill, but I ended up losing it.
I expected UPS to simply send me another one. But NO! Instead I receive a letter from RMS demanding I settle the amount. At the bottom of the letter they ask me to fax them my credit card info. Nuts to that. They must be insane to expect me to fax my credit card info to some company I’ve never heard of. So after receiving the second letter, I sent a check. Now I’ve received a third letter and not my check back. So eff them. I’ll pay them just to have them eff off. But I want my check back first.
I am writing to tell anyone and everyone to never ever use the services of Merchant Law Group unless you want to get ripped off. As a former employee I can tell you that the things that happen there are terrible and very unethical.
And as for Matthew Merchant, well his being disbarred is probably the best thing that could have happened, but in a sense you can’t blame him, it is all learned from his father. Tony Merchant should be the one to be disbarred.
Maybe someone needs to look into the accounting procedures for Merchant Law Group, could find some very interesting things there!
Many people have complained to the Saskatchewan Law Society and Saskatchewan Justice over the years, and one can only assume that Tony Merchant has been protected by friend in high places, and that he did not work alone.
UPS Expedited service or better includes brokerage. Of course, it’s about US$40 but you get your package within a day or two as well. Obviously not worth it for a CD but perhaps for your coffee maker…
-john.
i have been ripped of by UPS once too many and i fully back anyone up who files a class action suit against UPS to end this ridicuolous non-sense once and for all. I bought things from other countries because it was cheaper than buying it from local stores but i was wrong. when i was looking at products and the shippign cost it was always cheaper but when i ordered it they shipped through UPS and i did not know of the Brokerage fee. It caught me by complete surprise and with the calculation i was paying way more than just buying it in stores. UPS and the company did not warn me of such a tariff i was going to be charged additional fees and UPS did not mention the hidden charges on website and when contacted about it they would have “no comment” or just ignore it so i back anyone 120% if they are going to try and stop this scam!
I just received a note from UPS regarding supplements I had ordered from the U.S.
They cost $80 US in the beginning. UPS charged me $25.13 brokerage fees. Now the
$80 supplements are going to cost me approx. $150 total including exchange, shipping and the fees. I was not informed ahead of time about these fees.
I guess I will pay it but think twice before I order from the US again, especially
through UPS.
A couple days ago I had the same problem. I wasn’t home so my sis took the package and naive as she is, paid the fee! I was stunned! I bought something for $52 and the fee was $30, almost as double! First I thought it was the customs, but then I found out it’s this crazy Brokerage fee that nobody mentions.They should go down, and I will think twice before I choose the shipping method from US again.
Good Luck
I too, received a surprise at my door upon receipt of a pair of boots I purchased online for $60 USD. The surprise, was $48.00 CDN for duty and import taxes – NOTHING anywhere said anything about a “brokerage” fee, which this actually was, since the boots were made in the USA – therefore no duty was due whatsoever. I wasn’t as knowledgeable then as I am now, so I took the credit card out and handed it to the driver – a bit hesitantly however, since I knew my card was well over the limit, and the charge would not go through. UPS just swipes your card old school style, making a carbon copy that you sign – they don’t have, or at least didn’t have, any way to verify your card’s approval on your doorstep. About 10 days later, I received a LETTER, not an invoice, that let me know my card hadn’t been authorized so they would therefore be mailing me an invoice, which would be due the moment I received it.. which, how they could prove it ever got mailed out and received by me, and when the date was I had received it don’t know – doesn’t matter, because it never came. Odd too, that a company would mail an invoice to an individual or even a registered company, that does not have an Account set up with them containing banking information they could actually use to force payment. Oh, right…. maybe it’s because what I owed was NOT law, otherwise the card would have not been accepted at all by the driver, it would have been cash only like everybody else, and I wouldn’t be standing here wearing my my boots – they’d be in holding pattern somewhere else! Anyway, I got the letter from RMS services about 3 weeks or so later, demanding payment within 10 days of the letter date – which turned out to be 5 days earlier than the date I received the letter!!.. but what made me suspicious was they wanted me to FAX my CREDIT CARD info to them, or EMAIL it!! F*ck that! I’m sure others weren’t so smart.. but I didn’t fall for that – as I was also NOT offered any other method of payment! Not by cheque, or bank machine bill payment..nothing. I called the number on the letter, the other end of the line had no voice menu set up, nothing professional at all. The guy that answered barely knew the name of the company, sounded stoned, and had no idea what to do when I said I refused to pass on my credit card information in the two manners in which they demanded to acquire it from me. After a big DUH, UM…. HANG, UM, ON A MINUTE.. he put me on hold, and after 3 minutes I hung up with a disgusted YEAH, RIGHT.. I never paid the invoice, I haven’t heard from UPS or “RMS” since – it’s been almost 6 months, and there has been no ill-effect on my credit rating. My advice is? If you get into this situation where you HAVE the product, they didn’t keep it as ransom, but then try to charge you later… Ignore it. Others I know in the same situation have also heard no more from these guys when they simply ignored the two letters received. Our country is great isn’t it? I love that you can be a major company that everybody knows is ripping people off… yet still get away with it – and still have support from even those that have been burned once or twice, all because of apathy, brainwashing, brown is my favorite color.. gawd.
An over $50 dollar brokerage fee (taxes where extra) on a $300 dollar order – that’s a 17% charge – and for what? That is robbery. Can anyone find any example of any other non-organized crime outfit that skims that much – don’t forget, that’s on top of their shipping charge. They’ve got to be sued.
My girlfriend got charged $72 brokerage fees on a package worth $10 from the US shipped via our good friends at UPS. She didn’t even accept the package because she couldn’t imagine what she could’ve ordered that was worth so much money. We only found out in the past few days that it was $10 worth of used Atari games she bought on eBay. How does this company stay in business I wonder?
Same thing happened to me today. Ordered some coloring books and a backpack for my son from the US for $40. I received a notification letter by UPS stating that I needed to leave a cheque for $35.82 for brokerage fees. There is no way that I am paying that!!! I called the 1-800 on the card and the agent on the line said it was for duty, tax and brokerage fees. When I asked why wasn’t I notified about the charges ahead of time, she said that it is standard procedure to charge these fees. I said that the items are made in the US and that I should not have to pay duty. She said that UPS has to charge this first and that I would have to file a claim with the Government of Canada to get the duty refunded. What kind of horsesh*t is that? I told her that I want to refuse shipment and have the items returned to the sender so I could get a refund for them. She said that I would still have to pay for the fees and that an invoice would be sent to me. When I told here that I would not pay them, she said that UPS then would file the amount through a collections agency. I would like to see that happen. I would sue their as*es. UPS should be shut down for their unfair business practices. They are charging absolutely rediculous amounts of money just to put a couple of checkmarks on a customs clearance card. I would now refuse to buy anything shipped via UPS. USPS/Canada Post is definately the best way to go.
“I said that the items are made in the US and that I should not have to pay duty. She said that UPS has to charge this first and that I would have to file a claim with the Government of Canada to get the duty refunded.”
They charge you for “duty, tax and brokerage”, lumping it all together like it’s all the same thing. They want you to think it’s all the government’s fault and there’s nothing they can do about it.
And then she tells you that you can apply to the government for a refund of the duty. Now that is just plain deceptive, and she knows it.
The government won’t refund a penny, because they didn’t charge you anything. As you said, the duty on these items would be zero. The entire charge here is brokerage, not duty. It’s going straight into UPS’ pocket.
I learned the UPS brokerage rip off lesson years ago while managing a photo lab. I had to order repair parts for a piece of equipment manufactured in Wisconsin. UPS essentially held us hostage for the fees- (equipment down time = lost revenues and cranky clients), so I couldn’t send them back. My boss ripped me a new one when he found out how much UPS charged!
Since then, I’ve asked Ebay vendors to ship via USPS, and haven’t been screwed over. I also ship to a US address and have a relative drive things across for me.
I recently ordered some tires off ebay. Unfortunately UPS was the only way the seller would ship them. As I’ve heard so much about UPS’ stupid brokerage fees, I asked the driver if there were any extra fees that I would have to pay when he showed up at my door, and he assured me there wasn’t. Low and behold, I’ve now received a bill from UPS saying I owe $82.69! ($49.02 of this are brokerage charges). UPS is definitely not upfront about these and disguise them as customs related fees. I’m sure a lot of people dont bother to look into it based on that (as its already enough of a hassle to deal with the government) and just end up paying those fees not knowing its originating from UPS, whom was already paid in the first place! It’s interesting to see how many others have been duped by these manipulative practices, as numerous co-workers have also had bad experiences with UPS. Unfortunately the sellers in the South aren’t aware of UPS’ shady tactics up north, but it looks like word is getting out. Fromw now on, I will always be asking if sellers can ship through USPS or FedEx. @#%$ UPS!!
52.23$ on brokerage fees on an 80$ package…What is going on here? That’s ridiculous. I’m gonna do some serious complaining.
Best thing to do is keep an eye out for UPS, and ask the seller to ship via USPS.
I bought some stickers that were made in Texas (lot of 500), cost me $80, and the brokerage fee was $30. I bitched at the driver about NAFTA, and he didn’t even know what that was. Then he gave me the invoice, walked off, and by the time he got in his truck I looked at the invoice and it wasn’t even for my product!!! It was for some hat bought from San Jose, cleared by a broker in Calgary!!(I live in Vancouver).
So I called up UPS, told them I was probably overcharged for my ‘fee’, and demanded a refund. They told me they’d send my invoice through the mail, and although I gave them my email addy to send it to, still haven’t gotten it either way.
UPS is a pile of sh!t, and I’m up for a class-action suit.
Daniel T, who is the “FTC” ?
YOU SHOULD ALL BE FILING COMPLAINTS WITH THE COMPETITION BUREAU OF CANADA EVEN THOUGH THIS MAY NOT SOUND LIKE A COMPETITION ISSUE. IT’S MANDATE ALSO COVERS CONSUMER FRAUD. I CALLED THEM TODAY AND THEY CONFIRMED THAT THESE TYPES OF COMPLAINTS ARE WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTION.
YOU WILL FIND THE ONLINE COMPLAINTS FORM AT:
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?lg=e
Keep us informed on this website as to their response as they will not release any info to the public.
PS Ups official name and corporate address is:
UPS Canada LTD
6285 Northam Drive, Suite 400
Mississauga , ON L4V 1X5
Canada
Everyone,
I’ve bought many items on Ebay, and have learned the hard way, like some others that UPS is NOT the way to ship from the US. Same goes for Fedex.
USPS (US post office) is the best way to ship from the US to Canada.
Every shipping option results in no duty or brokerage. You pay GST, PST (if applicable, or whatever provincial tax as required), and a
5.00 fee, which i think is the brokerage.
HOWEVER, there is one exception that i encountered, and someone else
posted the same thing in an earlier message here. If you use the EMS option, at the border, Purolator takes over, NOT Canada Post. They charge one of the fees: either duty or brokerage, i don’t remember which.
So, use any USPS shipping option EXCEPT EMS when shipping an item from the US to Canada.
UPS’ ridiculous fees will eventually catch up with them…..they will “reap what they sow”, or “what goes around comes around”….
God bless you all,
Andrew
I wish I came across this website earlier. I bought an item from the US on ebay, for which I paid US$50 + US$19 for shipping. Unfortunately, the seller used UPS to ship it, and put the value at US$100. UPS wants to charge me 62.50 in brokerage fees. I refused the item. They said I’d still have to pay. If returned to the seller, she would have to pay. Neither I nor the seller knew about these hidden fees or consented to them. Can anyone tell me how a company like that can still be in business? Anyone knows how to join the class-action suit launched by the BC guy? What can the small guy do to protect themselves from the repulsive business practices of this giant fraudster?
I too am not impressed at all with UPS. I have ordered products several times from a company in Australia. Up until now I only paid GST and duty. However, my last package had a wack of new charges and a laughable, unreasonable fee attached to it. My sister also orders from this same company …. and she did not have any extra fees. SO why are these fees so random. These fees are unfair on many levels. What is UPS doing… just deciding by the roll of the dice who gets extra charges and does not. This is discrimative and an unfair charge of unexplained fees.
I never got my item but i would be pissed if there’s a fee attached.. I hope UPS goes down in ashes..
===============================================================
UPS, USA is by far the worst ever shiping company there ever existed. I ordered things online that had been shipped by US Postal Services, DHL etc. and they all NEVER gave me any problems before.
UPS left and infonotice on a 1st attempt, so i called them to say that the next day i won’t be around so don’t attempt and i resheduled it to 2 days later. On the day of delivery, i found another infonotice that says it’s the final attempt. So i called a 2nd time and asked why is it a final attempt when it’s only a 2nd one.
Lady named Wanda says, “Oh, because the package is in the truck, the driver would attempt anyway..”
WTF???? SO what’s the bloody point of resheduling??
AND the driver didn’t leave an infonotice.
So Wanda says, “I’m sorry, maam do you want me to reschedule another shipping for tomorrow?”
I said ok.
The next day i made sure i’m at home & UPS send me an e-mail to say that the package is sent back to the shipper at MY request. I called for a 3rd time, make life hell for the 2 stupid women at the end of the line.
If UPS is in drug trafficking, people would be cured by the time they deliver…
These people are just full of lies and cheats… I’m asking all my vendors to change to other services than U-P-SUX-ASS. Another thing, they’re supposed to hold the package for 5 days, if 3 attempts to deliver are not sucessful, which they didn’t do.
There should be a class action suit against UPS.
~reposted from http://www.customersarealways.com/2006/08/women_sues_upss_ceo_mike_eskew.html
Just to let you know that there is a class action suit against UPS in Canada. I too have called UPS here in Canada and have spoken to the most educationally challenged people in my life. I usually have to hang up on them because they give me a headache. For what it is worth … I am currently filing formal complaints againts UPS and am adding my name to the lengthy law suit here in Canada…..
Just added my name to the law suit.
Bought $42. us of merchandise and payed $25 us to ship it to me.
Had to pay $41.94 COD when it come to the door.
$29.55 plus $1.98 gst were brokerage fees.
This is more like rape than being screwed!
Hope UPS gets taken to the cleaners with this law suit.
Hard to believe UPS is still in business!! Anonymous, can you tell me how to proceed to add your name to the class-action law suit against UPS? Who do I contact? Where do I start?
received items ups today, cost was 79.15 USD, UPS charged me 29.55 plus tax for brokerage fees??, thats absolutely crazy, didnt hear a peep about their “surprise I just shoved it in your ass” charges when i payed the shipping fees. They obviously knew it was being shipped from the US to Canada when the shipping order was placed, so why wasnt that fee rolled into the shipping charges ahead of time so I could see it, because if it was they know nobody would pay it and ship some other way. UPS can rot in hell, I will NEVER ship with them again
Paid $21.50 US for a JVC TV remote plus $17 for shipping and handling. UPS comes to my door and wants $21 plus gst. So they want me to give them $24 for brokerage fees. Fuck that, the TV remote was worth $21.50 so I refused the package.
Aaarg. I got hosed too, and it’s my own damn fault. I KNEW UPS charged outrageous brokerage fees. I only deal with companies that ship USPS.
But I clicked the wrong fraggin’ button, and by the time I realized my mistake (the next day) that package was already picked up. Damn the excellent customer service at Dharma Trading (NAYY)
And I couldn’t refuse it, because it was a non-returnable item (cut fabric)
$48 brokerage, plus duty I wouldn’t have paid via Canada Post (some of the goods made in China and India).
Total bill for taxes, duty and brokerage? $72.06 – for a package that was less than $100 USD before the $20+ I paid for shipping.
*sigh*
What I don’t understand is why anyone uses UPS at all. They’re no faster or more reliable than the post office.
What’s the point of a courier if it takes as long as snail mail?
I bought a nework card for 20.65$ canadian from a US merchand, was unfortunately shipped via UPS for 11 $ US. At my Door UPS charged me an extra 22,45$ for brokerage fees. UPS is a criminal compagny.
God damned UPS and their money-grabbing ways! The delivery guy shows up at my place with the package in one hand and demanding $81 with the other! No way in hell am I gonna pay a cent extra when I’ve already paid everything that I had to pay!
brokerage is a completely different service you are paying for..your shipper has the option to send it a service where you don’t have to pay any of these charges. maybe you should lay blame on the cheap ass ppl your buying from:) you CAN sue all you want but don’t expect to get anything…have fun wasting your time:) oh and by the way…UPS has been in business for 100 years…so apparently they are doing something wrong…and the REASON the postal service only charges you 5 dollars is because they are the government…duh…the reason why fed ex and UPS and DHL are having to pay these prices to have packages to clear is because of the government…you gonna sue them too? lol
I meant doing something right…thats why they have 100 years under there belt..i don’t work for UPS but I have a VERY large company and I ship with them all the time..they are a company with great employees that are top notch and have always been willing to help.
Got hosed by UPS also. Left a complaint at the Competition Bureau, through the link provided above. Also added my name to the law suit. I would advise everybody here to at least lodge a complaint!
Just out of curiosity, I’ve got an outstanding bill with Fed Ex for about $60, and another one with UPS for about $50, both for their so-called brokerage services. They left their packages on my doorstep, without collecting at the times of delivery. This was two separate purchases from the U.S. a month or two ago.
Now they’re sending me letters demanding payment, which I fully intend to ignore. Have they got any real way of collecting from me? Or can I laugh in their faces?
Hi,
why there are a lot of spam?
Where is admin?
When using UPS to ship FROM Canada TO the US, the US recipient does not have to pay brokerage fees unless it’s over $200. WHY is that? How come only Canadians are getting ripped off like this? May be guns are good for something afterall…….
By the way, I found out about all of this brokerage fee nonsense after I had already became a UPS rape victim as well. $57 brokerage for an item declared as $108, with an additional $21 already paid in postage. Urgh.
I think that the Canadian government is also at fault for not looking out for its citizens.
No one likes brokerage fees if you get shipments from the USA for example if possible have it shipped express or express saver and avoid the brokerage or expedited. I hate collecting brokerage most of the time I have had people yell at me and flip out. But when people don t complain I ask them if they are really saving anything despite the brokerage and have been relieved when people say yes. When I collect brokerage I also give people the option that they can also refuse the package and it gets sent back the next day. I don t believe UPS persues any collections on a package refused in our hand held computer you just select refused package and thats it. In a perfect world there would be no brokerage from UPS or Fed X but we are not subsidized by the government of Canada like the post office is regarding brokerage fees. Some fees I collect is only GST which is minimal. As a UPS driver I wish our brokerage fees were covered by the government but unfortunatley they are not.
Can someone explain exactly what Brokerage Fees are. I had UPS tell me they’re charging me $60.06 Brokerage, Dispersement, GST and some other fee for a $132 package. When I check their website 100.01-200.00 should only be $29…but they have a way of tacking on a number of other fees…Crazy. I will never use UPS myself, nor will I purchase from someone who uses UPS to ship. I’m sorry if you’re not Govt subsidized, but be upfront with your charges and people won’t be as upset. My feeling they’re ripping me off.
I sold a couple of shirts to some guys in Canada. I sent it via UPS because they provided a tracking number from the USA to Canada. When the shirts arrived in Canada they tried to charge one guy $56 and the other $49. One guy refused, and one paid. The one package that was refused will be sent back to me, and according to UPS, I will be charged a fee for it when it returns. Or, I can refuse to pay the fees since they are more than what the package is worth and they will still charge me for abandoning the package. I will never use UPS again. I wouldn’t use them at gunpoint.
Like Graham said, do not use UPS. I order product through eBay, and the first thing I ask every seller now is:
“Do you ship using USPS? I do not purchase merchandise from sellers that ship using UPS or Fedex.”
Maybe once buyers refuse to purchase from sellers that use these companies, things will change.
I recently bought a windshiled from Meancycles in Miami, Florida. It was shipped by UPS, I wasn’t asked. I paid shipping fees.
When the windshield showed up I was informed I had to pay a brokerage fee of $36.23, which I was not aware of (total cost of windshiled was around 85$ US).
I refused to pay it, and they shipped it back. Meancycles called me, they were upset. I told them about the brokerage fee, the woman said she had never heard of it. She was going to call UPS back. She did, they said that if I didn’t accept package, there was going to be a total of 50$ US. Or Meancycles had the option of UPS losing the item, in that case they would owe nothing. The 50$ would have been charged to me.
So I decided to take the item, the lady from Meancycles called UPS and arranged for it to be reshipped. She said Meancycles would split the reshipping fee.
I picked up the package at UPS – as they only deliver during work hours, when I am at work. I paid no fee.
Today, 09JUL2007 I received a bill for $36.23 for the product shipped 06JUN2007. This is a Brokerage Charge.
I called and spoke with a UPS agent. I found out about a lot of rights that I had that were violated. i.e. I had the right to another broker. The windshield was made in USA as is clearly indicated on the package. She also told me if I picked overnight or one of the other UPS methods of shipping, the brokerage fee was included. This I was not made aware of. I asked how come I find out my options 30 + days after I received the goods.
She gave me the company line saying I have the option about this and that….
She could not explain how CanadaPost, USPS and other shipments make it across the border with out a broker. I said I thought that was what the customs declaration sticker was for. Customs then has the discretion to check it. She said because USPS and Canada Post are federal they can bypass this.
Anyway I am not happy. I told her I will not use UPS anymore – for anything. And I will make sure my friends know until they drop their user fee.
I am not sure if there is a class action suit in Alberta, if there is, count me in.
Gregg you are lucky the windshield was not broken as UPS does not insure glass shipments.
You all have me terrified. I had my wife call customs to see if I would have to pay duty on a Sony digital SLR camera, if I ordered it on Ebay. The custom’s lady said there is no duty on digital cameras. Now I wait to see what UPS does. I remembered too late about brokerage fees as it has been 5 or 6 years since I used UPS…DANG!!!
Years ago, UPS made me their enemy for life. It wasn’t just these outrageous charges, but their deceipt in how they represented them. I don’t know how much of my experience then is still applicable since the rules and my recollection could have changed. But it sounds a lot like what I experienced.
When I challenged being charged a disproportionately high fee by UPS, they claimed the charges were government based and they were simply carrying out the government’s bidding.
So I contacted the government agencies and found that was false. The only ‘government’ involved was some nominal GST amount which it turns out should have been exempt anyway.
While there is a requirement to clear items for duty, the receiver had the right to use whatever broker agent they liked, or even do it themselves. You have to know the different import rules and look up the item to see its category to see what % of duty is applicable. Usually it’s zero.
The work of looking this up would take about 10 seconds manually in the book or less than that with a digital system. It is the looking up of this info that UPS is actually charging for. But once you’ve shipped one T-shirt, you know the category and rate. So UPS has no valid reason to be charging for this. It’s like if they charged you $50 just to figure out what province your postal code is in.
When I contacted the UPS management with this, they responded with further false information. This continued for a bit and I swore never to use their services and made sure my own business and anyone else I talked to would stop using UPS. UPS didn’t help themselves any by having shoddy service and terrible delivery performance.
Over the years, word spread, and UPS has continued to suffer. Purulator flourished during this same time, and was eventually bought by Canada Post.
It bothers me to see the same false information is still being dispensed by UPS leadership and they still continue to turn their workers into unknowing liars.
Bob – that idea that your management tells you about Purolator being ‘subsidized’ by the government is a cover up to hide UPS management failings. If anything, the government helps UPS by making these brokerage filings mandatory and giving you the opportunity to service charge for doing them.
Now you could be realistic and charge $5 for the millisecond of computer time it takes, but instead you charge $30, 40, 50 or more. You could present clear and honest information about the charges showing exactly how much is GST and how much are UPS add-on charges. But you don’t, you lump it in one and hope that customers will be fooled by your deceipt and assume the whole charge is another government grab. UPS then puts their rank and file employees in the position of having to lie to customers and defend that charge.
Just because UPS is greedy and dishonest isn’t the government’s fault or Purolator’s fault.
The UPS practice of turning collectors on to people who decline your charges is nothing short of extortion. You threaten to destroy someone’s credit rating just because they stood up to you? That’s sick, and I won’t be fully satisfied until I see charges brought, civil penalties, or a complete expulsion of UPS from the country.
John, be afraid, be VERY afraid. If the item is being shipped from the United States by UPS ground (or FedEx) 99% of the time you will have to pay a fee. These shipping companies charge you because they pay the taxes (not necessarily duty) on the item you bought in another country. You can find out the UPS fees on their website:
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
Not that you will be able to understand what fees they are charging you. I paid approx. $41 in fees to UPS for an item that was worth $66 CDN. After many calculations using the different fees on the UPS site I was able to break down the costs into 5 parts:
– $9.25 (approx. GST charge on the $66 item)
– $19.45 “Entry Preparation Charges” (item value of $40.01 to $100.00)
– $5.85 “Bond Fees”
– $4.25 “C.O.D. Fee for Collecting Brokerage Charges”
– $1.78 (GST charged on the “Entry Preparation Charges” and “Bond Fees”)
Still the UPS site is a little more clear on what they charge. I wasn’t able to find a detailed breakdown of charges on the FedEx site. I did find a link to a PDF file that lists FedEx’s rates (as of March 2004) here:
http://www.stokecity.ca/FTN-FXG%20Brokerage%20Schedule%2003-01-04%20English%20Version.pdf
There is also a good discussion going on the eBay forums:
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=600012557&start=0
and The Canadian Border Services Agency site has some good information as well:
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/courier/postal/ind_duty_free-e.html
But the best solution is to request that your purchase be shipped through the United States Postal Service (USPS) or refuse to purchase from sellers that don’t offer alternative modes of shipping.
I bought coffee on Ebay and worth $45 and plus shipping cost of $35 which already paid to the seller, and it shipped by UPS. Soon the item arrived, UPS people give me the invoice and charge me addition $50 more to cover for the brokerage fee which is cost more than what I had paid for the item. what kind the rates is this, should I report this to the BBB? UPS IS SUCK, I HATE THEM…
SOME SUGGESTION;
DON’T ITEMS ONLINE IF IT SHIPS BY UPS, BECAUSE YOU END UP PAY THEM MORE MONEY AT THE DOOR
I got really screwed through ebay. I agreed to pay 24 $ to ship 170$ speakers cross-border US to Canada. I even agreed to pay taxes and duties which is 25$. I was charged a brokerage fee of 44$ on top of that and shipping cost me close to 100$ in total. I am challenging eBay and sellers on eBay to do somthing about it and switch to USPS.
UPS is a real joke. Not so funny thoug whne you have to pay the bill or refuse delivery. fuckers.
Plastered this on 2 other forums..people need to know!
Don’t pay the fee at the door..tell them you’ll pick it up yourself!
..unless you live a zillion miles from a UPS distribution center & CBSA office..then you’re still f*cked.
Todays orgasmic fun;
The UPS delivery guy stopped by yesterday & wanted $38.50 COD brokerage fee,
I told him I would stop by the distribution center (today) & pay Canada customs & pick it up myself.
Went to the UPS distribution center on the north side of the airport at 9:30AM this morning , there was a slow lineup,
& at 9:45 I told them I would like to clear customs processing myself.
They said they would have the paperwork to me in 10 minutes.
At 10:40AM I asked how much longer the paperwork would take..they said “wait”.
At 10:45 I finally got the paperwork & had to drive to the south side of the Vancouver airport to CBSA (Canada Border Services).
Paid a $2.00 parking fee & got a number off the wall (to wait in line) at CBSA – waited ~10 minutes.
The guy was friendly & I asked if I should pay the GST/PST, ( ~$8.00) he said “Nahhh!” & stamped my paperwork & told me to bring it back to UPS.
Went back to UPS & waited in line another 15 minutes & got my package..no charge!
Total time & money spent – 2 hours and15 minutes, plus$2.00 parking at CBSA.
LOTS of people there for commercial orders challenging the UPS Brokerage fee..I guess it’s worth it for $$ of stuff.
We went to FedEx to send a package prior to going to UPS.
( was $22.00 to send a box to Terrace via Fedex, as opposed to $115.00 to send via UPS)
Fedex had 4 staff on the counters, we were the only customers – uniformed, fast , large neatly kept service area & efficient.
UPS customer service was a tiny little rat-hole( dirty, old tape stuck all over, broken posters, scruffy clothing, etc.) with ZERO in the way of customer service- 1-1/2 service persons that peered out of the broken “personnel only”door every 10 minutes or so.
Day & night difference.
/end b*tch
I ordered a package from a company in NC.
I specifically said no UPS. I told him (via email) to use USPS or Fedex. He never replied to this and then yesterday I received notification that my package was shipped UPS. What is wrong with vendors that ignore a customer’s explicit requirement???
I need the package so I can’t refuse it. Plus, when UPS delivers, they are really dumb with payment. Basically cash is the simplest.
Similar experience to above. Bought three t-shirts and a pair of camo shorts (total $78.74 CAD) from http://www.soldiercity.com, and they use UPS to ship. Called UPS and inquired about shipment, and was told that duty and GST would be COD. They said NOTHING about any “broker’s fee.”
Package arrived with a COD amount of $49.46, $29.55 of which was the aforementioned “broker’s fee.” Refused delivery and complained to competition bureau, for all the good it will do.
How in the world is this kind of extortion LEGAL???
It is interesting to see that there are others who see that the likes of UPS and Fedex are trying to scam us with bogus charges for unneccessary services.
I have had issues with both UPS and Fedex trying to charge me “brokerage fees”, even on items that have no duty. They send me the item then try to bill me after the fact. I ignore the bill and never hear from them again.
I view their practices as a negative billing scam. I did not ask for the brokerage service so I’m not going to pay.
I do not have any kind of agreement with them to clear shipments through customs for me. I am capable of clearing items for myself, and do. With UPS, if you have a company name in the address, then UPS will call and ask if you would like to use your own broker. That is when I tell them that I will self-clear the shipment. However, if the shipment is going to a private citizen they automatically clear the shipment and then bill you (or try).
I have had Fedex try to collect before handing over the delivery. I refused to pay the fees and sent the shipment back. A couple weeks later the shipment showed up again, NO FEES.
JUST REFUSE TO PAY THE FEES! SEND ITEMS BACK! LET THEM KNOW YOU WON’T PAY FOR BOGUS SERVICES!
I am an American who sold personal property on ebay – little pendant and ring – total of $35.00 (and change) to a person in Canada. I just found out from her that she was charged $30.00 upon the arrival of the UPS delivery person. She contacted me wanting to know why she was charged thirty dollars S&H fees when I had already said I would pay the S&H fees listed in the information at ebay. (I did pay the S&H fees!)So I contacted the UPS Store here in the USA where I had sent her items from.. They tell me that Canada charged her “Duty and Taxes” fees. I knew nothing at all about this! I am furious! I went online looking to research what the deal is with Canada charging their citizens such outrageous fees! And I found this site and have been reading your comments.. This is highway robbery and insane! I thought it was the Canadian Government behind these outrageous fees – but what I am reading here is that it is UPS doing the robbing.. I hope that UPS gets shut down for robbing people.. m.e
Fedex is just as bad as UPS.
A month after I received a package for something I bought from an US merchant on ebay (I live in Canada) I received the following invoice:
Duties: None
GST: $10.69
Fedex Brokerage Fees: $33.85
The fee they are charging me is 3 times the amount of GST I have to pay. (With NO duties) Yes…THREE TIMES!!!
Tell me that is not criminal…
This is extortion, period. The invoice was sent a month after I received my shipment, and I never gave them my consent to act as my broker. Also, there was no mention of this fee upon delivery.
I feel Fedex is charging the consumer this fee (without advanced warning) because they *can*. 99.99% of people will pay it just to avoid dealing with a collection agency and they know it. After all, with their efficiency, there is NO REASON for them to send an invoice a month *after* I’ve received the package.
This is criminal!
-Marty
i just received a package today from the states via UPS and the bastards want another 36 bucks from me and i only paid 20 bucks for the item itself!! i hate UPS with a passion! they are rip off artists indeed!!
Same thing happened to me just now, hence I am here.
Here’s what I’ve learnt;
Next time you order something online, explicitly warn the sender that if they use UPS or Fedex you will refuse delivery and chargeback your credit card. That way they’ll use USPS and you wont get ripped off.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/061024/K102418U.html
Go here https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/internet/index.cfm?itemID=1260&lg=e&CFID=10511346&CFTOKEN=45493145 and quickly fill out an official complaint. Takes 5 minutes. Let UPS know they cant get away with it!
UPS are a bunch of thieves. Several times I have been ripped off with absurd brokerage fees. I was going to trade one of my paintball markers for a different paintball marker with someone in the states, the marker was worth about $250, when it arrived UPS told me I had to cough up $130, I refused the package.
Another time I bought a video card on ebay for $70, when it arrived UPS wanted $40.
The government should really step in and set these thieves straight.
On another note, I received a bill from UPS regarding some fees that I owe, I have not paid them yet (I plan to pay them) , but I have two packages via UPS on the way. Would the amount owed affect the other two packages in any way? Would they hold the packages or something until they received the payment?
Yes. These people are thieves and should be wearing a gun and a mask, but why are you still dealing with them? The government isn’t going to do bugger all as they are benefiting from this scam. Wake up people! Our government is somewhat less than honest and ethical to say the least.
UPS is doing this because they can. Because you let them.
Canadians will bitch like hell, but the next thing you know they are right back doing business with these theives. Stop dealing with them and make sure you tell every US seller that you will not deal with UPS and why. THEY DO NOT KNOW!!
Make damn sure that they do know. We should not be paying taxes on something that was purchased outside of whatever province you live in. You should also be writing your MP and MPP about this. Some actually do care. If they start to get enough complaints then they will have to address the problem. Keep at them until you get a proper answer. Not the usual yes sir, yes sir, three bags full! They are supposed to be accountable. Make it so!
Well, I’m the latest victim of this hidden fee garbage and wasn’t too pleased when I was told I owed $40 on a $60 Ebay item today. Plus of course the $25 shipping charge they already took from me!
Within that $40 was about $9 in taxes which I don’t mind paying, but to pay over $30 money for essentially nothing is just plain stupid. I love the fact too they have the gull to charge an extra $4.25 for a COD charge I didn’t have a choice of using or not. As soon as I got my package I called the UPS customer service and got their rep to walk me through everyone of their charges…conclusion…it’s complete crap and I told her I will never use UPS again (like she cares, but it made me feel a little better).
Unfortunately, I think they’re pretty much covered legally because the fee system is listed on their website and all their fine print seems to get them off. They do say we can be charged brokerage fees, it’s just not advertised. The whole ransom thing on your package is brutal too…”It looks good huh? Do you want it? $40.08 fee!!”
I believe that companies should have the right to charge whatever they want for their services, but should always make these charges crystal clear beforehand. I’m usually really good about doing my homework before buying anything, but this time I got lazy and didn’t look into it as much as I should have. This is my fault and I’ve learned my lesson well…I WILL NEVER USE UPS AGAIN. It’s as simple as that. I think all we can do is keep spreading the word and hopefully this company will die.
On a side note, I used USPS for a package a couple of weeks ago and wasn’t charged anything beyond the initial shipping charge. And it only took a day longer to get here than UPS.
UPS is carrying on criminal business practices with protection coming via intimidation from the collection agencies. I hope everyone of thos pricks dies of ass cancer that hangs out of their pants and drags painfully on the ground.
I’ve been bit 3 times – the last two times I requested the seller use USPS – they said they would but sent UPS instead – I should join – don’t care if I ever get ten cents back – just make them forfeit some of the money they have stolen from me and others.
i am scared, i am getting an iphone via ups
UPS is crap! Their brokerage fees are criminal and rediculous. They are only in business to deliver drugs for criminals. We all pay rediculous fees and until EVERYONE tells EBAY to drop them as an oficial carrier they will continue to charge us at the criminal rates. I am cancelling my EBAY account and telling EBAY the reason. We should all do the same. Craigslist has better deals anyway. UPS can GO TO HELL> I called UPS and got some pubescent snot nose rookie that read me a response from a card. Thanks for this site.
I also go ripped off by UPS and FEDEX in the past. I purchased a set of headlights H4 bulbs for $34 and got charged $40 in addition to shipping charges. Right now I purchased an item from US and it could only be sent via UPS so i had no choice. I was aware that i will pay A**rape charge but after finding this forum, i called the store and asked for express shipping which cost me extra $50 for the total of $85, but i think i can save that way since item cost is $1400 and they charge $65.46 + cod and other crap. I guess i’ll have to wait and see.
It’s time to get this practice stopped. FYI different class action lawsuits are taking place..
For people leaving in Canada who fill screwed, you can contact:
in BC, Poyner Baxter LLP
in ON, Merchant Law Group
in QC, Cholette Savard Avocats
What some people don’t know is the taxation laws regarding imported goods. Canada Customs has a list of items that fall under the FTA and are only taxed the pst and gst on eligable items.
If your item is under $20.00 UPS and the customs cannot charge you taxes or brokerage fees, if they do and you can prove your purchase did not exceed that value then you are entitled to a refund.
If your purchase is $60.00 or less then talk to the person shipping the item to mark it as a gift this way you will avoid taxes and brokerage fees.
I had an auto part shipped to me from NY state (I live in SW Ontario) for $70.00. I had the seller mark it as a gift and the value declared at $60.00. UPS arrived at my door and wanted $24.00 in fees. I did not take it out on the driver (not their fault) but I did complain to them about the gift factor. I paid the fee and went straight to the phone and called UPS. I asked them to explain to me why a fee was charged when the item was clearly marked and they confirmed it was marked as a gift. About 2 weeks later I recieved a refund of the full amout of fees.
When you deal with these companies you need to educate yourself or you will get ripped off.
If you morons don’t want to use UPS as a broker then you don’t have to……hire another fu**ing brokerage firm out of the phonebook…..ANY packageentering Canada through any courier company MUST be brokered through customs, that’s the law…..the reason Canada Post do not charge is that they are a government subsidised entity.
Get off your high horses open your effin eyes and take some responsibilty for finding out what is the law and what isn’t……hire another brokerage firm……
Quote from Stevde;”If you morons don’t want to use UPS as a broker then you don’t have to……hire another fu**ing brokerage firm out of the phonebook…..”
Yea ok the next time I buy something off ebay from the US I’ll open my phonebook and call purolator!!!!
Jerk
“Hi, this is UPS we’re just confirming that there will be custom and GST on your purchase.”
“Sure no problem”
..
..
“Hi UPS? What is the charge now?”
“$77”
“Uh… ok?”
I research, found this, call them back
“Why is it $77?”
“It’s not, it’s $85”
FUCKing hell, I purchased $300 worth of things online from US and I thought it was shipping through damn USP’S’ because all my other things I purchased before are shipped by USPS and they are great. Man, how can you avoid being fucked by USP. I am afraid they will fuck me up with a $200 brokerfee. even a fucking $100 is gonna be painful. FUcking online US retailer fags, not stating anything regarding this gay ass matter.
Yup corn holed here as well. And I knew better than to deal with these fucking leaches that is USP. $120.00 item cost me another $50.00 at the door. As soon as saw that ahole pull up in his in his turd brown truck I knew I better get the vasoline ready.
I would have told him to shove it up his ass but I needed that dam thing asap. Yea I really hate that fucking company!
I just spent an over an hour on the phone with UPS over a $40 fee on $10 tax collection for a shipment of $160 CDN.
According to my tracking information it took less than one minute to clear the shipment since both the entries for being registered with the clearing agency and for being released by the clearing agency were listed for the same minute. By the way, the brokerage agency operates at 3:16 AM according to this. Eight hours later, the following is stated. “A hold has been requested. Payment must be made prior to release/ The receiver (I assume this to be me) has agreed to accept the delivery charges. Being as how I was never consulted on this and never had any contact with UPS prior to my call to THEM (10 days later), I don’t quite understand how they seem to be able to make pretty generous statements regarding my willingness to pay charges about which I knew nothing.
Then, when it did arrive at depot they discovered that only a box number was listed. It was then held for 7 days while they supposedly kept “trying to determine the correct information” ie. street address. I am going to be checking with the shipper since I don’t believe that they were ever contacted to determine further information, which they could have given within 24 hours, or let me know that it was being held at a depot, waiting for me to pick it up.
HERE IS WHAT I LEARNED!!!!!
First of all, you never contract with them so they have no right to charge a brokerage fee. However, they will repeatedly state that this is their policy.
Secondly, you can argue with them for extended periods and just run around with them.
Third, if you are persistent and stick to your guns you might be surprised that they may agree to waive the fees “just this once”, take your name and phone number, and allow the shipment through with just taxes and/or duties. Being as how I have been through this with them about six years ago, either their records only go so far back, or this is just a bluff.
Fourth, AND MOST IMPORTANT.
I was told that you can clear it yourself. They will ship the item back to the port of entry and hold it for clearing. You then go to your local Canada Customs (or whatever they are called this year), fill out the appropriate forms, pay the required taxes and/or duties, let Customs forward the payment and clearing information to UPS, and then wait for UPS to deliver it to you again (at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE)
You can also arrange in advance to clear it yourself or pay a private brokerage firm to handle it. However, unless you notify UPS at shipping time, they will try to clear it for you and you will go through the entire process described above.
I couldn’t believe that they would be willing to ship this item across two and a half provinces, both directions, rather than waive the fee and let me pick the item up immediately. They did capitulate once they realized that I was willing to call their bluff.
Summing it all up – CALL THEIR BLUFF!
I have avoided using UPS for the above reasons but now that I know how to work around them I will allow people to ship via them but clear my own stuff through.
Bought a $49 piece of software from usa and had to pay UPS $46.50 at the door. I emailed their corprate office to complain but received a dear John note, with a have a nice day salutation. I’m some steamed about this too. RRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrr.
AAAAAH HERE IS HOW WE FIGHT THESE GUYS. JOIN THE CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT AGAINST THEM……. Here is the link for the lawyer that is handling it. Just add your name to the list.
http://www.poynerbaxter.com/UPS.htm
a few years ago I had the misfortune of having something shipped to me via UPS. What a nightmare. A$40 package that they wanted an additional $65 for.called them and went up to the supervisor who offered to cut the fee in half. I was not happy with that so i filed a complaint with the BBB. The very next day a rep from the UPS office called me to say they will waive the fee. told them to fuck off as i wanted to let the complaint stand. never again
I live in Winnipeg. UPS shipments come here “In Bond” as Winnipeg is a “Port of Entry”.
You can refuse shipment and tell them you will clear Customs yourself. The next day you go to the UPS office and pick up the paperwork, then go to Canada Customs and clear it yourself. If you are an individual, not a business, the Custom Officers will help you fill the papers out. You then pay any duty owing (no brokerage) and return to UPS with the paperwork. They release the goods to you.
This won’t work everywhere. Only where UPS bring the goods in directly from the USA “in bond”. You also must live in a city that is designated as a “Port of Entry”.
The UPS office is only a few blocks from Canada Customs, so it doesn’t take a lot of running around. And it saves BIG BUCKS!
I’m a writer for The Toronto Star. We’re planning to run some stories on the UPS problem. I would like to use some of the material I see here. If anyone would like to contact me directly and is willing to be quoted, could they send me an email to dflavel@thestar.ca. Thanks, Dana.
I recently bought some computer software from the US. The software company assured me that the amount I paid covered all costs including shipping and handling fees. When the shipment arrived, a I had to pay an additional cost of about 9% of the orgiinal “total”.
I phoned UPS to ask why I was charged this fee, and they gave a convaluted answer saying it was taxes. But I had already paid the taxes.
Next time I am giong to buy something online I will contact the shiper and if UPS is the only option, I will not buy the product.
UPS is a fucking scourge. Immoral practices. They thrive and prey on the surpise factor. Ding dong,”SURPRISE” sucker you owe us $60.00 more.
All UPS drivers should come with a jar of vasoline or lubricated rubbers at least. This way when they bend you over it won’t hurt as much.
They have to be stopped, SOMEONE please stop these cock suckers!!
Have a nice day (-:
PS: fuck you UPS
I bought something from ebay and it arrived November 15th. To my surprise UPS charged me $29.55 brokerage fee when the package was worth $65.74. I also read on the website that the actual brokerage fee that was suppose to be charged was $19.45 as it was an item within the $40.01-$100. THEY OVERCHARGED ME!! I mean yeah its $10 but still its just ripping you off and its quite unethical. Also from what I’ve read on this website if the product was made in the US so I shouldn’t be charged the fee either.
Well the post made by “Beating UPS charges” is legit. I called UPS today and told them to ship back to the port of entry and that I would clear the papers myself. I was charged $38.80CAD on a $53USD order. It turns out that the brokerage fee was $31.33 plus some garbage of $7.53 in taxes that I still cant figure out ( 31.33 x 14% = 4.39 not 7.53). So to sum that up for you in layman’s terms, they are charging me $31.33 to fill out some papers and pay the taxes of $7.53.
Dont let this happen to anyone else, sign on the class action lawsuits and call UPS. Tell them to ship back to the port of entry and clear the papers for yourself.
Just got off the phone with UPS and they “decided” to waive my so called brokerage fee. I called them to request a waybill so I could head to my local customs office and pay the taxes on my order myself. She gave me some run around about having to drive a few hours to where my package had entered into Canada (Fort Erie). I firmly but politely stated to her that what I needed was a waybill from UPS and I would be paying the taxes (there were no duties on my order) and Canada customs would forward my payment to UPS. She asked me to kindly hold while she looked into this matter and 2 minutes later returned and said they would do a goodwill brokerage fee and waive the brokerage just this one time.
CALL THEIR BLUFF!!
Its ridiculous to think that they wanted me to pay them $30 in brokerage fee for essentially just paying $7.50 at the border for my package.
I am just looking around the net researching this brokerage fee crap because I was recently just slapped with a $270 fee for a purchase from the states. Im not really sure on how this works because its been one of my first purchases over the net but is this really right? I mean there was no duty on my purchase but i got a 75$ brokerage fee and this gst import charge of 188$… someone please explain this too me because its f**ckin rediculous that i spend all this money and have to bay an extra sh*tload on top of it.
Not much you can do about the taxes owing but you can definitely get rid of your brokerage fee by doing the customs on your own like I suggested in my previous post. Good luck.
I thought FedEx was OK, got one package, no charge at the door. Ordered again, same thing. Now, a month later, I get two bills for taxes and brokerage fees! Not quite as outrageous as UPS, but still pisses me off.
Do I have to pay these? If they send it to a collections agency, can I sue them in small claims court? Grrrr.
Good day folks!
I’ve been tracking an order thats been shipped via UPS from the US and noticed that the status states “A HOLD HAS BEEN REQUESTED. PAYMENT MUST BE MADE PRIOR TO RELEASE” The status has remained the same since yesterday with no further updates! So becoming increasingly curious and worrisome, I decided to do some research online and find out what is meant by “payment must be made prior to release”, I’m thinking oh gosh, we are in for some duty charges now!!! Anyhoo, I came upon this website while searching in google and to say the least, is very informative and satisfied my curiousity and my suspicions!!!!!!!!!! EXRTA FEES!!!!!! ARGGH! We purchased a gps for a total of $180 so I can just imagine that cost that UPS will incure by the time it gets to my door!! ARGGGGGGH!
So my question today is this, while the parcel appears to be in customs still, is it possible to contact UPS and request a waybill? I’m all new to this extra billing crap and don’t know where to turn from here.
Life is all about experiences and learning! Gotta love it!
I’ve just sent the following email to a US-based company that I would love to purchase products from, but won’t be doing so until they offer Canadian customers the option of shipping via USPS (rather than UPS).
I recommend you send the same email to US-based companies that you like as well.
—
Hello,
I’m a Canadian, and I love your products.
Unfortunately, I won’t be buying anything from your company until you give Canadian customers the option of having goods shipped by the United States Postal Service (USPS), rather than by UPS (United Parcel Service).
If you’re not familiar, UPS charges exhorbitant “brokerage fees” on items sent to Canada from the US, despite the existence of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Your website (http://www.threadless.com/help#Why_did_I_get_charged_tax), rather misleadingly, makes it sound as if such brokerage fees are rarely charged, and are “unlawful”. The grim reality is that UPS always charges such ridiculous fees on products sent to Canada from the US.
There are currently two class-action lawsuits against UPS taking place here in Canada. You can learn more at these three websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Parcel_Service#Fees_for_Canadians
http://www.poynerbaxter.com/UPS.htm
https://www.thegatesofdawn.ca/wordpress/posts/2006/12/10/ups-brokerage-fee-class-action/
Once again, I would love to purchase products from your company, but am unwilling to do so until you give Canadian customers the option of using USPS rather than UPS. I know I am certainly not alone is making this decision, as I have other friends here in Canada who are also holding off on making purchases from your company.
Sincerely,
X
I bought a juicer for $350.00 paid shipping of $49.00. The package had been delayed as I tracked and I get another bill for $106.93..
I said this is a scam, he says well it’s not us. I say “well who’s this broker fee going to?” ahhhh that’s us. So I guess no only do you pay these clowns to ship your merchandise they decide to milk you twice because they can. He says it doesn’t happen if you’re a business. I say hey they milk you even harder. I order a body form from New York. They packed it in two boxes and filled the paper work out correctly and they charged me shipping and brokerage fees twice because it was in two boxes. This is ridiculous, If this is how they do business it should be outline before purchase. You’ll see how business will drop. Strange when I order from ebay it’s shipped with UPS but I never get these weird fee’s out of left field.
Peace,
I tell customers all the time..if you want to avoid brokerage charges,ship via USPS. Or,ship via Air,not ground(standard)..so expedited or better,you pay more for shipping,get it there faster,and no brokerage fees…
Or what you really could do,in this age of ‘Green”…SHOP LOCALLY. Support your local merchants(who probably had some of their stuff arrive via UPS)…
Or even better still,do you really need all that stuff??
Drivers just drive and deliver,they have nothing to do with brokerage fees etc…don’t blame them…it’s a job,with long hours…
We are all just human beings..
“A Fed-Ups household”
Bought a pair of golf shoes on ebay for $50, shipped via UPS standard.
I get a notice saying I owe $38.88.
Called UPS.
Me: What is this brokerage fee exactly?
UPS Girl: here’s the breakdown: clearing customs fee + gst,pst on (clearing customs fee) + gst,pst on item + collection fee.
Me: if it was USPS, I would’ve been only charged gst,pst and $5 handling fee.
UPS Girl: yeah well…
Me: $38.88 that’s more then 70% of the item value. And I’ve already paid $18 for shippinig (to UPS!)
UPS Girl: …
Me: Isn’t that ridiculous?
UPS Girl: …
Me: would I or the sender get charged anything if I refuse the package and send it back.
UPS Girl: no.
Me: But I’ve been thru this ‘scam’ before and I was told that UPS wouldn’t charge anything for returning the package, but you guys did and I got burned.
UPS Girl: oh yes, there’s a freight fee for returning.
Me: and what did I just ask you?
UPS Girl: I didn’t say it would be free.
Me: …
I was seriously thinking about suing these brown bastards..
Hope the BC case goes well.
Yea I want to file a class action law suit against them in ontario too. It is a joke how much they purposely rip you off. These kinds of sneaky tactics are unethical.
All other companies seem 2 have brokerage fees but UPS is by far the worst of them all charging pretty much the same price that I got my item for.
I just want to announce that there IS a class action law suit against UPS which includes Ontario.
Go here for more info:
http://www.classaction.ca/content/actions/ups.asp
UPS gives a breakdown of all brokerage fees here:
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
UPS brokerage fees are not based on size or weight, but value.
Just a side point- if you are going to sue UPS for fees you already know about, you are not going to win- if you know that you are going to be charged fees to use a service, and you don’t want to pay them, you should not use the service.
You may state that you do not have the opportunity to select not to accept the UPS brokerage fees, as you package is delivered to you already cleared. This is, however, not the case. If you do not want to accept the brokerage fees, and want to clear the package yourself, simply refuse the package at the door, and then call UPS asking to clear it through customs yourself. They will be more than happy to let you do this, and you won’t incurr any nasty brokerage fees, however you will have to go to the port and do the paperwork yourself. Alternatively you could check with another brokerage firm, although I’ve done this before, and those firms charge more than UPS!
These fees are clearly published online, and will be explained to you if you call and ask about them. The postal services do not charge brokerage fees as they do not have to interface with the government the same way that courier companies do. The postal services are the government. They don’t use brokers- they don’t have to. No matter how you cut it, brokering packages into a country is not cheap. It never has been, and it never will be. Using courier companies is not cheap either, but we still all use them as they have certain distinct advantages. We pay for these advantages. If we don’t want to pay the service fees to use a courier, then we should not use them- but its not realistic to expect everything to be done for free. Its not how the world works, no matter how much we whine and cry about it.
I successfully avoided UPS for years after a $40 fee for a $10 item. Today I was not so lucky 🙁 just got dinged $48 brokerage and duty for a
If they ever have a class action against them in Ontario I am all for it!
If they know what the fees are ahead of time, then they should be collected before shipment proceeds. I have no problem with them charging the fees, it is just the sneaky underhanded way they do it.. oh yeah here’s your package .. by the way ..
I hate UPS as well. I don’t understand why so many companies decide to do business with UPS when there are a lot better shipping companies out there, including the post office.
Not only is UPS very expensive for us Canadians, but I find that they are very slow. I ordered an item on Nov 30, 07 from North Carolina. I went online to track the shipment. It was UPS ground, so I knew it would be a little slow. It started off in NC, then made it to Winnipeg, then back down to Minnesota, then back up to Winnipeg, then finally out to Edmonton. It went across the US/Canadian border 2 times. Then on the delivery date, they lied and said that no one was home to accept the package and pay the charges. Someone is at home here 24/7 and they never heard the doorbell. UPS just stuck a note to the door. On the note, they said that they will attempt another drop off the next day between 10:30am – 2:30pm. Those idiots finally came at 7:00pm! The only thing that I was happy with, was that they charged me $5.96 on a $99.99 item. I was actually shocked.
Then today, I received a different order from UPS. It was a $30 iPod case. That too took a while, also coming from North Carolina. They just dropped it off at my door 1/2 an hour ago. I had to pay $23.48 in charges from UPS ($17.10 for brokerage fees, $3.33 duty, $2.02 GST and $1.03 brok GST). $23.48 for a $30 item!!! I seriously HATE UPS with a passion! Never again from those crooks.
I wish I would’ve read this page before… I just picked up my package (they had problems delivering) from UPS. Had to call 3 times to arrange that pick up! They kept trying to deliver while I wasn’t home even though I told them not to cause I’ll pick up.
Anyhow, long story short. $16 taxes – that’s fine of course but $40 brokerage on $120 package that I paid $50 s&h on with ebay seller already… What a deal! 30% surcharge!
Never again! Canadians – stay away from UPS when importing from the States.
Oh dear God… found out way too late about UPS. I have a package that’s worth a bit over $300 on the way… now I have the feeling I’ll have to pay nearly $200 in fees, GUH. How is this even legal? How are they allowed to make so much off our backs! I NEVER thought they could charge so much. I expected maybe $50 at the most but now I’m afraid that they’ll slap me with a $200 fee or something. It seems like there’s no way of knowing how much you’ll end up paying, sigh. Staying WELL away from them in the future.
And is it even normal for your package to reach it’s destination (ie: my city) and then cross the border to the USA? It was originally from HK. What is it doing in the US now if it used to be HERE? Seriously, what the fuck UPS?
How do I get my name on the class action lawsuit?
Two years ago I shipped 12 large boxes which contained my whole graphic design business to northern B.C. where I was supposed to start a new job. To make a long story short, my new boss failed to pick me up in Calgary and the job turned out to be a scam. I contacted UPS to put a stop shipment on my boxes and at the advise of the head supervisor arranged to have the shipment sent back to Nova Scotia where the shipment originated from. She informed me that it would not be delivered in B.C. and even arranged the return shipment to arrive one week after my return to the east coast. I only recieved one small box back which contained a handfull of lego, a heavy machinery ball bearing, and someones prescription medicine from Edmonton. ( None of which was mine.) After a year of fighting with them regarding the whereabouts of my boxes and finally threatening them with a law suit they finally admitted ( and I have the signed delivery notices to prove it) Delivered some boxes to an address in Cochrane, Alberta, left some at a campground in Fort Nelson, BC and one in Edmonton. The RCMP admitted that this was a case of theft by the people who accepted the boxes, but that I would have to file theft charges by going to the RCMP in each of those cities, and other than that it was a UPS problem. The only compensation I was able to get from UPS was a rebuilt computer, an E-Machine, which they had lost on someone else, and a used lexmark printer with no ink which they had in their overflow warehouse. The value of my business I shipped through UPS was $14,700. They refused to replace my software, fax machine, cell phone, Graphic design books, cameras or any of the other items in the boxes, nor the actual replacement value of my brand new computer system.
Last year I bought a violin on E-Bay for $19.99 plus $29.00 shipping. When it arrived UPS just dropped it off and 3 weeks later I recieved a bill from them for an additional $39.00 plus $4.10 late fee, along with a very threatening letter saying they had already placed the account in collections. UPS cahrged me a total of $43.10 on an item worth $19.99. I ended up paying it but will never buy anything shipped by UPS again..
A customer of ours in Canada has stated that they get acceptable service from DHL for shipments originating within the US. If DHL is an option for your purchases choose it. Otherwise use the postal service. I prefer UPS here in the states. There is no competition and I don’t mean they are a monopoly, they just have the best service bar none. FedEx air is alright, but ground is very poor so far.
Regards,
I just got a customs brokerage invoice from UPS. $39.10 total brokerage charges + $2.09 GST on top. This is for an item that cost $140. The site I purchased from ships UPS and I foolishly forgot to verify who they ship with. I learned my lesson a couple of years ago when UPS charged me $25 brokerage on a $65 pair of motorcycle gloves. I always insist on USPS but I forgot this time.
The difference this time is UPS just dumped the package on my doorstep three weeks before sending me this invoice. I don’t even know how long it was there as I hardly ever use that door. I’m going to fight this brokerage fee on the basis that I never signed for the package and never had any warning about the fee so I couldn’t make an informed choice to refuse it.
As for Hans’ comment, I agree that we shouldn’t expect the service for free. I don’t think anyone here has said that. What bothers me (us) is they are charging an exorbitant fee for a service I was not aware of and did not consent to. I can clear my own packages, thank-you. It’s ridiculous to expect people to scan UPS’ entire web-site in an effort to locate all their hidden fees. Why doesn’t UPS just come clean right from the start and show all the charges up front so there’s no harsh surprises? I think the answer is clear; people would tell them to go to hell. I will never knowingly give my business to UPS or any other business that uses underhanded tricks to screw over their customers. They should be ashamed of themselves.
i recently got ripped off as well. ordered a laptop that was worth $940 and had to pay 173 at the door. i hope UPS goes down for good someday
Just got the same situation days ago.
Purchased a item from eBay, $24+$30 shipping. UPS charged brokerage fee $17.1+ GST $0.85.
UPS should be ashamed!
You guys need to blame Canada Customs…. EVERY brokerage company charges fees to clear shipments.
Ship United States Postal Service (USPS) for the best deal on brokerage fees as Canada Post only charges a small fee for this service.
That being said, most of UPS, FEDEX etc… clearances are automatic due to the sheer volume of freight that they ship. I am sure most of it never gets touched – except by the administrative BILLING person.
Huge profit for UPS…
BTW….don’t forget the GST/PST we complacently pay to our awesome governments.
http://www.classaction.ca/content/actions/ups.asp
STOP posting until you’ve joined the Class Action
http://www.classaction.ca/pdf/UPS_Statement_of_Claim.pdf
Statement of Claim from Supreme Court scanned.
Have fun UPS!
UPS is the wrost by far. To the previous idiot who thinks the government is to blame … I’m no gevernment defender but its UPS who makes up the outrageos fees not our government.
Canadapost $8 …. UPS $50.
UPS will say the government subsidizes Canadapost but that is a bold faced lie.
Look up UPS’s financials. YOu will see how profitable their brokerge fees are. In fact the CEO of UPS was on ROBTV (now BNN) fall 2007 and he himself stated on camera their brokergae services are extremely profitable.
UPS charges brokerage fees for items that require so close to zero effort. Canadapost makes money of it at $8. Thats right, the MAKE as in GAIN charging the $8 fee.
I tell all my UPS shippers if they ship UPS I will refuse shipment and chargeback for a refund if I have to. THats the only way anyone will see change. Right now a bunch of whinners are just complaining. Tell your merchants that you ban UPS. Thats it, that would be the end of it.
and join the class action, they are bending us over, lets bend them over.
I found this blog by Googling for “United Parcel Service class action lawsuit”. I am a small US manufacturer and have had a shipping contract with UPS for 24 years. For most of those years it has been a running battle with them over what I *thought* were erroneous billings of extra tariffs for “one side longer than 60 inches” which I never ship, and “not encased in cardboard container” which I never ship. When I got these in the past, I would always call their 800 number and get them taken off, but I finally realized that each time I called to remove a $6.00 tariff, it was costing me double or triple that to wait through their ridiculous and arrogant telephone system that is designed to make me go away.
So finally when my 12/8/07 bill came with two parcels dinged for the “not encased in cardboard container” tariff, I said screw the wasted phone time and just wrote a note on the invoice why I was deducting $12.00 from the check. The next time I saw my driver I asked how such a charge ended up on the bill, and he told me that the shipping label has to have its bar code scanned and the appropriate button pushed to denote the reason for the tariff. So there it is, in my face — it isn’t an error, because the UPS employee who did it had to have the parcel right in front of him/her to do it, and the scanned label is firmly pasted and taped to a cardboard container…….. This is not an error, it’s FRAUD.
So I wondered what would happen to the bill with the $12.00 deducted without going through the phone system, and today I found out. I got a nasty call this morning from a rough-sounding Mexican threatening to cut off my UPS service for an unpaid bill. Since there was no caller ID identifying the call as coming from UPS (it just said “out of area”) and I KNEW all of my bills were paid, I assumed it was a con artist out phishing for my bank information and I got rid of him. But then I started to wonder, and called UPS myself to find out what was going on. They claim that they never got the check, and that the entire bill for $547.15 is owed. I checked my bank records and sure enough, that check was never cashed. So at first I was prepared to believe their claim that it “must have been lost in the mail”. Well, I thought about that all day and it finally struck me: 24 years of weekly billings is almost 1,200 checks, and never ONE late or lost. Now I’m supposed to believe that the FIRST time I deduct a fraudulent charge without submitting to their telephone torture, THAT check gets lost in the mail…..
Here’s what I think really happened: Some cubicle jockey saw the deducted $12.00 and said something like, “Screw this guy — we make the bills, shut up and pay up.” Then he threw the check in his round file, knowing that I would think it was paid, and when their computer showed it not paid, it automatically hit me with a $27 “service charge” for being late. When that charge appeared on a bill a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was for a UPS bill that sat on my desk a couple of days too long over Christmas. Only today did I learn it was for the 12/8/07 bill which I definitely paid on time.
So UPS is systematically, as a matter of policy, applying fraudulent charges to their client’s bills, and then screwing them again when they try to fight it. A UPS employee who refused to go along with the fraud and was fired for it won a wrongful termination suit. As was claimed in that suit, this adds up to tens of millions of dollars of fraud.
I paid UPS $32,000 to ship my products last year. If I averaged one fraudulent charge every two weeks, that would only be $156 extra if I didn’t fight it, which costs them employee time as well as mine. I suggest that it isn’t worth it for any business to risk their reputation and good will for such a measly amount. This is pure corporate stupidity in action.
I have used UPS on two occassions to deliver packages from the US into Canada. The first time was about four years ago when I purchased a $60.00 item and got charged $58.00 in duties and taxes. Apparently, the shipper insured the package for $80.00US or $105.00 Canadian at the time and UPS computed taxes and broker fee on the insured value rather than the purchase price. When I offered to provide UPS with my copy of my invoice they would not accept it, as they claimed that it had to be provided by the shipper. When the shipper attempted to clarify the purchase price, UPS wouldn’t adjust the price for him either. When I requested an explanation for the brokage fees, UPS claimed that it was duties on the package for Customs Canada. But when I contacted Customs Canada I was informed that this was a fee charged by UPS and the government did’t get a cent other than the GST/HST on the purchase price.
I challenged UPS that I wasn’t aware of the extra fees and that they should of contacted me prior to acting on my behalf. They were adamant that I had to pay for it but I was determined that they could not charge me for a service that I did not request nor I was aware of. After making three telephone calls to UPS I insisted that I speak with a manager and that was when UPS dropped all the brokage fees other than the taxes which I had no problem paying.
The second time I dealt with UPS was about a month ago. I made another purchase in the US. When the item was shipped I immediately emailed UPS and informed them that I did not want UPS to act on my behalf to clear my package through customs and that I would do it myself. I did not get a reply.
A couple of days ago, I contacted them again reminding them that I did not want UPS to act on my behalf to clear customs. This time I did get a reply. I was informed that the package had cleared customs and UPS had done it for me and I was expected to pay brokage fees. I made it clear to UPS that they had no right to act on my behalf without consulting with me first. They claimed that if I didn’t want to pay UPS brokage fees I could direct them to ship the package back to the point of entry and have another broker of my choice clear the package. I reminded UPS that I had already paid for shipping and that they had a obligation to deliver the package. If they wanted to return the package they could do so but I wasn’t prepared to pay any additional shipping. My point to UPS was that I had a contract with them to deliver the package but I had no obligation to pay any brokage fees since I had made it clear that I didn’t want their service. I was prepared to clear the item myself if they had contacted me. Again, UPS dropped the brokage fees and I was left to only pay the taxes.
The bottom line if you do not want to pay the fees, have the shipper clearly write on the package that you will clear customs yourself, that is if you are near a Canada Customs office. Have UPS call you when the package enters Canada and fax a waybill to you. Go to Canada Customs office and pay the taxes. Canada Customs will fax the clearance back and UPS can proceed to deliver the package (no brokage fees). UPS will try and convince that they are the only ones that can clear the package since they are the carrier, but this is not the case.
On a another note, UPS claims that for those who have an account with them there are no COD charges to collect their brokage fees or to collect the taxes. I was informed by UPS that only businesses can open an account not individuals. They give us no choice but to pay the COD charges. If UPS is so adamant on charging the brokage fees they should include it in the shipping fees up front.
This stuff is ridiculous! i just got my package yesterday i bought a hat online for $22.00 and the brokerage fee + taxes came up to $20.86! Thats like buying the hat twice that is pure bullshit. Fucking thieves i’m going to call the authorities and report a theft!
We need to find a clear cut way around this, and I do not mean only using USPS.
oh noes… is Fedex still charging these fees?
If every one that has been screwed here would take the time to just disable one UPS truck the next time they see one, I think they may get the message.
Don’t get mad at a corporation. They are not alive. Get even instead.
Well they got me today…I got home and there was a slip that I had a package. The item I bought cost $58.00…their scam fee is $38.02. Tomorrow I will go get the package with a check…Go straight to my bank and put a stop payment on that check. 2 can play at this game. I will NOT pay for a ghost service that I did NOT enter into contract to do.
what a bunch of complainers. Do you realize you are ordering from another country? did you even do any research before you ordered? there are charges to process shipments through customs.
I just received a gift from my parents in the States for my daughter’s birthday valued at $60 with a $39.07 C.O.D. brokerage charge.I have never heard of this before and paid the fee at the door since they threatened to send the package back to the vendor. I would love to clear my packages myself in Toronto however the UPS woman on the phone said that I would have to go to the port of entry (if sent ground either windsor or fort erie) pick up the package myself and that I could not pay the taxes and clear it from Toronto and have them deliver it to my home. Is this correct?
I have also had many problems with UPS. We ship paintball guns and paintball markers to Canada. There are complications because of the rules that say “paintball guns” are prohibited. However, in researching, paintball guns are not prohibited if they are under 500 feet per second. Then there is another rule that says if they are replica firearms they cannot be brought in to the country. So given working through these regulations, UPS tacks on crazy brokerage fees on top. With NAFTA being such a boon to our economies (USA and Canada) you would think the governments would figure out a way to let our economies flurish and buy the products we want without worrying about needless confiscations, delays and gouging brokerage fees.
I tried the cheque method today. I handed him the cheque, then cancelled the cheque. They can send all the threatening letters they want, they won’t get a cent from me.
Mike,
You’re an idiot! You have no clue whatsoever about what comes out of
your mouth. Please take me God…
So Mike.. tell me this.
If UPS decided to charge 80% of what the cost of the item is, is this justified? If Joe Blow is told there are “Brokerage Fees”, I believe he will assume $10-15 MAX (like I did). If people are told what the brokerage fees are going to be up front (or charged up front), NOBODY will use UPS. They’re hidden fees and UPS are crooks
UPS is aware of all the commotion they’ve caused because of their brokerage charges.
One of their brokers confided in me that there is a reason their point of entry for Southern Ontario is Windsor.
Now you are thinking, that is normal Windsor is next to the USA border. However, UPS knows that a large percentage of their customers are located in the GTA area. Since Customs needs to be cleared through point of entry,being Windsor, their strategy is most customers would rather pay UPS brokerage charges at the door rather than driving to Windsor.
Point of entry used to Toronto Pearson Terminal. Why then, it is now Windsor? You guessed it, more money for UPS. Think for a minute. If they have over 1000 coming in daily from the USA and they charge an average of $18 brokerage for package, then they are making additional $18000 daily just on brokerage fees. That is in addition to the shipping fee they’ve already charged the USA shipper. Multiply that by 365 days and they’ve made over 6 million dollars in a span of 1 year.
Yes, that is over 6 million dollars in unreasonable fees when you think that it is FREE to fill up your own custom paperwork. It is not that difficult.
If you cannot be bothered with filling up the 1 sheet of paperwork, then it is reasonable to pay a minimal fee but not their outrageous fee since everything they do is electronic.
I clear custom paperwork daily but too often UPS makes lames excuses to get your money.
Their brokers are idiots. Couple of days ago, I had another UPS broker tell me “are you willing to drive to Windsor from Toronto to clear the customs paperwork?” Just goes to show you they not only like ripping you off but are also smug when they know you know of their scam.
Is that true? You really have to go the specific port of entry to clear it yourself, not just the nearest customs office? I find that surprising.
What’s really irritating about having Fed Ex or UPS do it, and paying their unconscionable rates, is that they don’t even do it right. I looked back at the customs paperwork Fed Ex filled out for some X-10 home-automation switches I ordered a few years ago (before I knew about the scam.) They classified an X-10 switch (which is just like a regular household light switch, except that it can be remotely controlled) as 85.25.20.00.99, a classification that meant (at the time) cell-phone base-station equipment and TV transmitters and stuff like that. Off by miles.
And another shipment, which came by postal service, was a Barley Crusher malt-mill for homebrewing. Canada Post assigned it 39.24.10.00.99, which means “Tableware, kitchenware, etc, of plastics.” Doesn’t seem very accurate either, but at least that one only cost me $5.
It just goes to show that it’s not even really all that important what classification number you use. Just, for your own convenience, try to avoid the classification numbers for nuclear reactor parts and firearms and stuff like that.
This whole idea of trying assign numbers to every product ever devised by human ingenuity is pretty loopy to begin with. It can be pretty difficult to find a close match.
Hello, you have on your [b]search[/b]?
A very uncomfortable all the time to search for information manually.
I had an experience with this way back when I first started buying items off the internet, 7 years ago. I had purchased an R/C airplane on Ebay for about $150 including UPS shipping.
I was really excited to receive it. When it arrived the UPS guy said I owed $45 in tax and brokerage fees. 1/3rd the cost of the item! I asked him what exactly the brokerage fees were and he said that he didn’t know. I really wanted the item so I just paid the fees.
Later on I researched this and there were a ton of angry people confronted with this same situation, even back then.
I have not used UPS since; I refuse to. Which is too bad for them, since I buy a lot of stuff online. For that extra $40 bucks they made off of me that one time they lost a customer for life. If a US seller only ships by UPS I do not buy from them, period.
It is quite the scam for sure. If they were to include these charges up front in the shipping fees their prices would be far above anyone else and no one would ship with them. Instead they wait until they are dangling your item in front of your nose after you waited two weeks for it to arrive, and your only other option is to send the item back and fight with the seller to get your money back. I guess it’s fitting that their company color is shit brown.
Anyone still checking this post – when you have a shipment through UPS call (800) 742-5877 and give them the tracking number and ask to self-clear. This is the UPS line to change the brokerage. The system for Canada customs: once you have received anything imported to your address, customs has the broker you used on file for next time, so if it was UPS, then they have they are on file as YOUR broker for other shipments even if it’s Fedex, etc.
got ripped off as well.
bought a nokia phone from ebay for $117 (that includes a $12 shipping fee), received the package today, and the UPS dude was like “yeah, there’s a brokerage fee…… for $46”
WTF. i bought that phone for my dad, so i couldnt refuse the package.
but yeah, no more UPS for me!!
Anybody know if the class action suit is going through? I’ve just been charged brokerage on a FREE item! $30 for an item I didn’t have to pay dime one for! That’s robbery! I’m going to dispute the charge through Visa. Maybe the 2 corporations can battle for $30?
OK…
What happened? I’ve experienced most of the horror stories that I see published here in past (go back a year or so), but the suddenly SEEMED to get their act in order and become competitive.
Today, it was like a blast from the past. I had to pay $58 on an item that was only worth (and declared) at $129US. Wot up with that? Has someone thrown a switch because some court ruling has been made that exonerates them from their earlier (evil) ways?
I was blown away – I’ve been routinely receiving UPS shipments from the US for the last several months which were actually reasonable.
Grrrrr…
Business will be either better or worse.
— Calvin Coolidge
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http://bradfordbaldwinya.easyjournal.com
I just received my first UPS “screw you”. A $60 item and $33.01 brokerage fee. The worst part is I have 2 more packages coming in from UPS Ground that will get dinged at least that much, likely more. I officially and completely boycott UPS. USPS/Canada Post is the way to go from now on.
I bought item off ebay for $51 dollars.
Charged 20 some dollars by seller UPS.
after reading ups write up, I decided to call them and
see what was brokage fee. They said it would cost me $42 dollars. Then I read post where they said you could do your own brokage. So I call UPS saying I want to do my own brokage. They said they will fax me papers. Arrived at my house few days later with ups notice that I need to pay $42 to get my package. Phone them up and tried to keep cool. They said they did the brokage cause package arrived at the port of Montreal and am in New Brunswick. They said I would of had to gone to Montreal (12 hours drive) to release package so they did it for me. I said I don’t want to pay the $42 dollars cause I was told I could of done this and that I would of drove to Montreal for that price (wich I wouldn’t am not that crazy). UPS told me they would give me a “one time good will” exact quote from UPS. So I ended up paying 11 dollars for the Canadian tax. I am going to avoid UPS like the plague.
I just recently got burned with a notice on my door when I got home from school saying that I owed $208.34 to UPS in brokerage c.o.d.! I f#(%ing flipped. I was thinking of using the cheque method that was previously stated where you give them a cheque then go to your bank and cancel it. But I told my dad about it and he said I can’t do it because he doesn’t want me or himself to get into any legal trouble–which I’m not sure of (if someone could make that clear to me as to what would happen if I cancelled the cheque, let me know).
There was also a post about beating the UPS brokerage fees by calling their bluff. I think this would be the best way for me to try and fight these fees. Could someone explain to me the manner in which I should talk to them and what exactly I should say to get my way?
I ordered a pair of boots online from the US for $100 bucks and surprise surprise, they came with a $45 brokerage fee from who else but UPS. Now RMS has been harassing me for months and today, mysteriously my credit card no longer works – this is fucking bullshit. If anyone knows someone who works for RMS please punch them in the face for me – tell them it’s from Colleen Hartwick – another person they fucking ripped off.
What kills me is that it’s taken three months to settle an outstanding brokerage fee of $12. When I first received a letter from RMS in March indicating I owed an unpaid brokerage fee, I called in immediately. Of course the letter informed me that I had to pay the fee by a certain date (which was the day before). I called in to settle the claim, gave them my CC info, and went on. I received a call a month later in April informing me the claim was still not settled. I told them that I had called in, and the agent admitted that they knew that I had, and that the cc number was invalid. I use this card daily. I gave them the number again.
Today, reviewing my credit card account balance, I noticed that they still had not charged me. I called them today, and all the agent could say was “we know you’ve been trying to settle this, but I don’t know why the amount wasn’t charged on the second call.” I’m getting really frustrated with this company, and I don’t want my credit being affected. If I am ordering from the US in the future, I will demand USPS or not order from the vendor at all.
Just called Canada Border Information Service (1 800 461-9999). They told me that self clearing does NOT have to be at the point of entry (in my case Winnipeg while I’m in Calgary). Just let UPS know you are self clearing and they will ship your package to your town’s warehouse. Once it arrives, you go to the warehouse and get the documents, bring the documents to a Canada customs office in your town, pay taxes & duties, get it stamped (agent may have to look over the documents), bring documents back to warehouse and UPS will release the package to you. Done.
After ordering a few items over the past couple of years from the US, I’ve encountered my first hitch – ‘taxes’ and such charged at the border… My order was placed in November 07, received December 07… a few weeks ago I get a call from RMS saying I owe $16.72 to UPS. After a hurried explanation of why/to whom I owe money, I say – well wtf would UPS leave a package without asking for money? It had been delivered when no one was home, with no mention of money being owed. First I thought, SCAM! But, alas, RMS is a real company, and after talking to UPS, I found I did indeed owe the money – and I asked the UPS guy again, WTF would someone leave the package without asking for money? So I’ve paid my $16.72, as it’s not a staggering amount. I called RMS back to let them know I had paid the amount using online banking – and they asked for the reference number for the transaction (sure, have my bank number and password too), so that they could confirm with UPS I had actually made the payment and thus could close the account. What still gets me is I NEVER received a bill/notice in the mail. Five months of nothing, and then this. It all smells fishy, but hopefully now it will be settled.
Hey guys i recently got an order the shipper used UPS and got raped 355.38 for a 2034.56 order. There was 261.95 taxes ,89.29 brokerage Fee ,4.14 of Brokerage GST. One of the items in the order was wrong so i shipped it back with an RMA#. The shipper again shipped UPS I got a tracking number so i called ups to ask if there will be any brokerage fee and taxes on the returned item they said there will be taxes and brokerage charge. My question is wasn’t i already charged for the taxes and brokerage fees in the first order the item is same value nothing changed. It’s like i buy an item at the store its the wrong item i exchange it for something of the same or less value and the store charges me again.
WOW !!! I just called UPS again and they are charging me 82.00 for taxes and brokerage fees on an item thats worth 179.00 U.S these people are nuts we have to get to the bottom of this it’s robbery.Where do i start?
I just had to search this type of page out this very afternoon. Vhecked my UPS tracking status online. It had the being held until payment thing. I called to find out what that meant. I leanred what it meant – 500 dollar fee on a 610 USD used video camera.
Im afraif to deny the package in case the ebay seller wont refund my credit card, even if they say they will. Better to pay this time and have my camera, then send it back and possible be out 610 with nothing to show for it.
Beware….Very very serious stuff…beware.
For posterity, as of yet I do not know what percentage of that cost
is actual government imposed, but I do know even with pst/gst etc tallied they would not come anywher near 500 dollars.
GOOD NEWS IN MY CASE!! THE UPS CUSTOMER SERVICE IDIOT WAS WAAAAY WRONG OF HIS QUOTED PRICE OF 500 DOLLARS..HE COULD HARDLY SPEAK ENGLISH..I BET HE WAS JUST GUESSING AT THE NUMBER HE WAS READING….BUT UPS STILL NEEDS TO CURB THEIR FREQUENTLY EXCESSIVE BROKER FEES!!
hi folks,
my package is on hold atm and after reading all this im getting pretty worried about the damn fees!
anyway just did a quick google search
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
seems like that is the fee they are charging us, since its on their website, i think they are protected from any lawsuits against them
however i dont think it was shown to the customers clearly
I shipped a $57 rope from the states last week. $31 brokerage fee! this on top of the $33 I paid for shipping in the first place. Why is it more then the cost of the item to get things shipped?
Received a package from US in Canada with FEDEX. value about 299 US$. FEDEX dropped it without any charges. 3 Months later (!) an invoice “Brokerage Fee & PST/GST” was 98$. oops.
contacted FEDEX and asked for the 60$ brokerage fee. Standard “excuses”, told them that I would do my own clearance.
Went to the nearby international airport and viola… ended up paying 15$ GST after 5 minutes behind a computer with an old DOS program on it that I have had never seen before the business was done and busted. And I have no clue about tariffs and that kind of stuff. Canada Customs needed only once to answer me a question.
“Brokerage Fees?” for a simple 5 minutes fill in action at an old computer?
so yes, you can do any clearance yourself. and save yourself a LOT of money.
EBAY.CA warned me for this comment. Is ebay related with ups from ripping of canadians? Is this forum run by ups employees?
———————————————
I THINK UPS (THE BASTERDS) SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY
BANNED FROM DOING BUSINESS ON CANADIAN SOIL.”CANADA: THE
LARGEST COUNTRY ON PLANET EARTH
———————————————
Hello *****,
Recently we became aware that your eBay registered account was involved in the
following activity:
Including profanity, vulgarity, hate speech, disruptive or hostile comments,
interpersonal disputes or threats of violence in a post.
which is not permitted at eBay.
This is a copy of your post:
****** (9 ) View Listings | Report 25-06-08 20:31 EDT 645
of 647
I THINK UPS (THE BASTERDS) SHOULD BE PERMANENTLY
BANNED FROM DOING BUSINESS ON CANADIAN SOIL.”CANADA: THE
LARGEST COUNTRY ON PLANET EARTH”
We realize that you may not have been aware there was a rule against this
activity. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to
review our site policies, which can be found at:
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Please understand our goal is to help you understand our policies to ensure
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eBay Moderation Team
http://forums.ebay.ca/thread.jspa?threadID=600012557&start=0
I just had someone send me a piece of used electronics from the US, shipping cost $17.89 US. Received it a couple of weeks ago.
Got a bill in the mail yesterday for….
$83.58 !!!!!!!
NEVER ship ANYTHING by UPS
You do know that this is nation-wide? I contacted the lawyer in charge of the class action suit and had my name included in the list of complainants. Thes bastards have been extorting money from us for way too long with their bs “brokerage fees”. I mean seriously, if I walked next door, shoveled the drive-way or mowed their lawn, and then knocked on their door demanding $100 for “providing a service” which they never asked for, I’d be laughed at or punched in the face. UPS needs to start reimbusing the people whom the’ve robbed. >.<
Crossing fingers….I hope my 400 dollar purchase doesn’t turn out to be 800 in total…*fingering ups*
I bought something off ebay for 30bucks with 16shipping, 21.55 brokerage fee….
I’ve found it very helpful to advise US vendors about the class actions underway against UPS and Fedex in Canada. Recently I had dealings with Blurb.com (a US company that publishes ‘books on demand’). At the time they only offered UPS as a shipping option. After one bad experience I bombarded their customer service department with e-mails referencing the various class actions… I told them they were likely to lose a lot of business from Canada if they didn’t change their practices. Lo and behold, they have now started shipping to Canadian addresses via US Postal Service!
Sometimes complaining actually gets results.
This is a new one! I ordered hand tools from the U.S. at $96.00 plus $25.00 H&S fee. arrives today, I live in a condo, gate security called informed me UPS’s here, I said to send him up. Waited for 20minutes no knock on the door so I call security, security said saw UPS truck left. I called UPS, was told they’ll send a message to the driver and I would get a call back. That’s all.
I track the package with the tracking Number and I got this exact quote “THE RECEIVER DID NOT HAVE FUNDS AVAILABLE ON THE 1ST DELIVERY ATTEMPT. A 2ND DELIVERY ATTEMPT WILL BE MADE”
too funny, I never mentioned anything about the money, didnt even know about their shit fees etc..
I guess their delivery drivers can say anything they like?!
what bunch of assholes.
I purchased a cd car stereo from eBay a few weeks ago, it was $96, $19 to ship and shipped via UPS standard. It got here and UPS wanted $46.24 in fees for it so I ended up paying it, because it was still a good price. The stereo came from California and the packages weighted 2.5 lbs.
Two days later I received a lower pulley/harmonic balancer from UPS Standard. It too came from California, cost me $109 + $32 shipping, weighted 13 lbs. but I got no fees.
Three days later I got a clutch kit from California through UPS Standard. It cost me $140.00 + $39 shipping though UPS again, weighted 23 lbs. but I got no fees.
So UPS takes the smallest, lightest and cheapest item and tacks on a huge fee, and leaves the more expensive and heavier items alone. WTF?
I am another unhappy customer. I live in US, but vacation in Canada in the last couple of weeks. My glasses were broken, so I ordered from bestbuyeyeglasses.com. I asked them specifically about their experience of shipping to Canada. They said they had no problem in the past and hinted me they knew how to do it.
It took 14 days to get the glasses here. I was asked by UPS to pay $33.56 (duty, $2.53, brokerage $29.55, gst on brokerage fee $1.48). I was told that I could refuse the package, but having waited for 14 days without proper glasses, I was desperate. I paid the fee and got the glasses.
I checked ups website, the brokerage fee is $19 for goods btw $40-100. So I called UPS and they told me, there is other some fee, which was not on the receipt they gave me.
I don’t have time to fuck with them for $33, but I am extremely unhappy. I knew they infamous fees, but the shipper fucked up too.
I hate UPS. They ripped people off for no reason. We should boycott them.
Fuck UPS.
If you have a laptop that is worth $2000 and have to send it out for repair under warranty. If it is shipped back using UPS you will be charged $71.45 for brokerage fees (based on the value of the item) even if there is no duty to be paid on a repaired product. This is totally unfair! Why charge a fee when there is no duty to be paid?
I feel for all of you and i KNOW how this goes. I recently purchased something from the United States last week. The package was valued at $400.USD and my brokerage fee was $150.19 How can they legally do this? I already paid UPS $50. for shipping… So does it cost $200.19 to send a 7 pound box from the USA to Canada these days? The Government needs to kick UPS out of Canada… Its too bad theyre more interested in the GST theyre collecting than the illegal practices of UPS as a whole!!!
I’ll never use UPS Again. DHL has brokerage fees but I only paid $40. on a $1200. shipment. I’ll stick with DHL
we purchased some headlights from ebay which cost $69 US. we paid $65 dollars shipping charge on the purchase itself while we paid for the item. A few weeks later when the package arrived, we had to pay $38 in brokerage fees. what i wonder is what the $65 dollars was to ship it. we ended up spending more on the shipment than on the product itself.
I ordered a course book for grad school from a publisher in the US who had advertised the retail price as $ 99.50 . A discount of 49.75% was offered to students so I was to pay only $ 50 which included all handling, shipping and courier charges. When it was delivered by UPS the driver showed me his invoice which required a payment of $ 46.33 in brokerage fees. I needed the book and paid the amount to take delivery , but later phoned ups customer service to check on this practice and found that I was one of the , maybe, thousands who have been suckered into their scam. Please include me in the class action suit. The Canadian government should take action against unscrupulous businesses that take us Canadians for a ride – sue the pants off them and shut them out of our country.
Hey All,
Just stumbled on this blog , so i thought I would put in my 2 cents($40.02 after brokerage fees).
I started importing in the 90’s US to Canada. Needed some stuff quick , so got screwed by UPS on brokerage about a dozen times ( read…. slow learner).
I tried to reason with them … but they are deaf.
I have not used UPS in over 10 years … for ANYTHING !
If the seller ships UPS …. I shop elsewhere.
When I Ship Out , UPS is NOT in my shipping contacts.
Their phone number is NON existant to me.
I’s called Boycotting.
I just ordered $110 shoes from eBay and I got a slip in the mail today saying I need to pay $47.01 for brokerage fees in order to keep my shoes… fuck you UPS
Hello…
when you get the stupid dam notice saying you own any brokerage fees..
Don’t pay it…They will send you three letters.All in hopes that you will pay it..If you don’t they go right to the seller,to get the money from them..It’s all because who ever is sending you the stuff from the USA…..should put your package as a gift.and say it was under $20.00
No matter what it is.
Isn’t it funny how they hand you the package at the door ,Then bill you later …
I just got a ‘we are going to screw you’ notice from UPS today. Bought a 970 CND guitar on ebay from someone in Michigan. I paid approximately 70 CND shipping to bring it to Toronto. An infonotice was stuck to my house front door and said that I will owe UPS 195.51 CND for a C.O.D. brokerage fee when the item is dropped off at my hosue tomorrow. That is damn ridiculous and defeats the purpose of my deal. It would have been cheaper to take a road trip to Michigan with gas, coffee and bag of chips to chomp on while I drove there. This fee is an absolutely atrocious surprise and I do not want to pay. Regular fees I can understand but this just makes me want to vomit.
FILL OUT A COMPLAINT FORM ONLINE WITH THE COMPETITION BUREAU AGAINST UPS. TAKES 2 MINUTES!!!
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/epic/site/cb-bc.nsf/frm-eng/PJSH-6X9KQY
The Competition Bureau is an independent agency that contributes to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.
Headed by the Commissioner of Competition, the Bureau is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.
I purchased some car parts for a value of $500 from a company in the U.S. to be sent to Canada. They used UPS Ground and when i got the package they asked for get this…. $182 for border fees. I called UPS and the lady said “this includes all taxes, duties, and brokerage”. I was like NO SHIT! How do they justify charging that much money and stealing peoples money? They are crooks and as far as im concerned and ill NEVER buy from anywhere that ships with those bastards. I hope they get what they deserve and then some!
I cannot believe it, I have shipped many times via UPS to my daughter in Edmonton, but now an $85 item, requires a $45 fee paid by my daughter? What???????? This is rediculous.
anyone one know anybody cheaper?
I purchased an item from a company in the US. I got it shipped to Canada and paid $54 import fees. I paid these fees because I knew about them and counted into the cost of my product. It turned out I had to return the product for a refund because it didn’t fit! This was the company’s fault as their advertisment was false. I called UPS and told them I got a refund for this product and wanted a refund for my brokerage fee. They said that brokerage fees are non-refundable and you would have to call Canada customs to refund your GST tax you received! What! So basically they sucked $42 from my wallet providing I do all the work to try to get my $12 GST tax refunded from Canada Customs!! This is so fuck’n unfair that I will never use their service as long as live!! These UPS assholes probably party on this money after work…what a fuck’n joke! UPS GO TO HELL!
I purchased an item with a huge discount from a company at USA. They shipped it via UPS and this driver showed up at my door step asking for $246.16. I asked him what the charges were and he said that they are $132.90 in duties and $113.26 in taxes. I took the copy of my invoice and did some calculations. Now according to my calculations, I should be charged $95.98 in taxes (13%) and no duty as the item was actually manufactured in Canada. I called up CBSA just to confirm this and they said that I only had to pay taxes on this item. I then called UPS and the guy is telling me that I am wrong an that the item in actually made in China? Arguing with him made me so angry that I wanted to reach out through the phone and punch him! He told me that the only way I wouldn’t be charged duty and the extra taxes on it was if I got the shipper to send them the NAFTA certificate? Well, I contacted the shipper and they said that they are going to do their own research and that they’ll get back to me by tomorrow.
I bumped into your page here as I was researching how to ship my Ebay sales items to Canada. Being in the Chicago area, I amb uying hockey equipment at a bankrupcy auction (since our economy is in the crapper) and thought Canada would be a great market. Sounds like UPS is useless to me now. Thank you all for your comments; keep up the fight. Seems ridiculus that you have to pay so much to this company, and it just closes the door to those of us who want to ship you simple sale packages. I will start using USPS for now on.
OK, one more thing. This is from UPS website. Does any of this garbage make sense. Someone call me an accountant!
Entry Preparation Charges
Value for Duty
CAD UPS Standard Service and All Other Couriers/Transportation Companies* UPS Worldwide Express Plus, UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Worldwide Express Saver, and UPS Worldwide Expedited Services
$0.00 to $20.00 $ – Free+
$ 20.01 to $40.00 $7.00 Free+
$40.01 to $100.00 $19.45 Free+
$100.01 to $200.00 $29.00 Free+1
$200.01 to $350.00 $40.30 Free+
$350.01 to $500.00 $45.25 Free+
$500.01 to $750.00 $51.45 Free+
$750.01 to $1,000.00 $57.55 Free+
$1,000.01 to $1,250.00 $63.75 Free+
$1,250.01 to $1,600.00 $67.75 Free+
$1,600.01 to $5,000.00 $71.45 Free+
Each additional $1,000 $5.55 Free+
Bond Fees
Customers are responsible for payment of duties and taxes. When funds are not provided in advance by the customer, and UPS must post a bond to allow UPS shipments to be released in advance of payment to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), a fee of 2.7 percent (minimum $5.85) of the amount advanced by UPS will be charged. To avoid bond fees call 1-800-PICK-UPS and ask about our EFT plans.
Additional Services
Service Charge
Duty and Tax Amendment $50.00
Import Permits (each) $23.00 each
Other Government Departments (O.G.D.) Processing Fee** $16.00 each
Outport Entry Fee (for non-UPS carried shipments only) $10.00 each
Low-Value Shipment Amendment $5.00
Each additional classification line after first 5 lines* $4.50/line
Collect On Delivery (C.O.D.) Fee for collecting import charges on delivery to avoid C.O.D. Fees and expedite the customs clearance of your shipments, call 1-800-PICK-UPS and ask about setting up a UPS Customs Brokerage/Importer Account. $4.25
Invoice Integrity Fee*** $4.00
bought somthing for $18.00 paid $17.10 for brokerage fee and $17.31 for frt col. this is bull shit
Hey all,
I work for UPS Brokerage. I’ve read a lot of your comments and I’m ashamed to be a part of such a greedy corporation. If you wanna ask me any questions I be happy try and answer them. Keep in mind I only deal with shipments that are carried by other carriers. Like Roadway or Yellow Transport. I still know a few things from the other departments.
I just made a $500 purchase and paid $155 to the vendor for shipping from Boston to Toronto. Now, to get my package from UPS, I must pay an additional $125 “Brokerage”. I have no agreement with UPS for them to charge me this. My only agreement was with the vendor to arrange shipping for $155.
This is not in any way a “government fee” or “duty”, it is extortion. Now they have my goods, and won’t release them until I pay a fee I never agreed to in the first place.
I’m really steamed about this. I’m not sure if I’d prefer paying the brokerage fee and then stopping payment on my credit card, or stopping payment on the item, not picking it up, and sending it back to the vendor.
I’m very sorry but Customs is the one responsible for duty, tax or brokerage fees. You guys are barking at the wrong tree. If your package is just inside your own country you don’t pay duty, tax or brokerage but if you ship outside your country that’s when you pay because when customs hold it no one can stop them putting duty on your package.
I was greatly surprised to see a bill handed to me for $37.10CAN handed to me when I was about to sign for my 36$US package! I paid the fee because they are essentially holding the item in ransom (right in front of you too, which increases the emotional pressure to just pay the fee). Why would I want any more trouble, I need it now? I had looked at the UPS website before to figure out shipping costs from the shipper and did not see “brokerage fees” anywhere. Only after being charged this outragous amount of money did I specifically search for “brokerage fees” on their website. “Wow”, it is neatly nestled in beside all of the other information for shipping info. I am perfectly fine with paying the duties and GST/PST (as that will be charged no matter the carrier). I understand completely that they have a right to charge me brokerage fees, but they do not have the right to make these charges deceptivly in my opinion and for that ammount. In part, it is the exporters as well as the importers fault for not really paying attention to the shipping carrier implications, but UPS definetly takes advantage of the situation in an UNETHICAL manner. I have used UPS many, many times for national shipments (about $35,000 in business per year), but now I refuse to use them for this specific reason.
There is no reason for them to charge this amount, I know myself that it takes about 1 or 2 minutes of work to process a package like this and the price for the service does not matter in relation to the price of the package, not at all! There is no reason for them to have a price scale! It takes the same 1 or 2 minutes!
Canada post charges 5$ flat (on top of the duties and PST/GST). AND NO CANADA POST IS NOT SUBSIDIZED BY THE GOVERNMENT AS MOST BELIEVE. They are a crown corporation that operates separate of the government in every way; It is essentially its own separate corporation.
Look for…
“Did you know that the Canadian postal administration ceased to be subsidized by Canadian taxpayers in 1989?”
on this page…
http://www.canadapost.ca/textonly/personal/corporate/about/newsroom/filler/default-e.asp
I truely hope UPS gets what it deserves.
JohnyBoyCustomsOfficial… I know people who submit shipments to customs just like yours and it takes them less the a minute. They can put over 100 shipments per hour using MACROs and other technology.
I bought some Christmas gifts(sweaters and shirts) online from the UK, I paid $38.00 for express shipment. When UPS tried to deliver it, they said I owe them $86.00 more for “extra brokerage fee”, I was like, What!?! are you kidding me?, I had no knowledge of the hidden extra fee because I’d ordered many times from that store without having to deal with hidden “extra brokerage fee” I was so extremely upset about the extra fee that I decline to recieve the package.
Because of this some of my love ones did not recieve gifts from me for Christmas. What is the status of the Class Action Suit against UPS. This issue should be reported to local congressman,news reporters, and consumer action groups. Even the clerks at the UPS station here was shocked at the scam after I told them the story and called it a “Jack move” by UPS broker fee agents, meaning they’re trying to screw you. Let the word out about this hidden “Jackmove” fees by UPS.
Last December I ordered a fishing rod blank from the States – First time I have ever ordered anything online or outside of Canada for that matter. Before ordering I asked the shipper if I would have to pay any additional fees. He said I didn’t…I ordered with at least some thought I might have to pay taxes on the shipment. He first shipped it FedEx but they lost the package in transit. 2nd time with UPS.
Value of rod blank = $200.00
Shipping via UPS from West Virginia to Toronto = $26.00
Surprise Customs/Brokerage charges + additional hidden fees stated on the bill = $94 + change
Grudgingly paid the $94 and now refuse to use anything but USPS for my purchases from the States.
Beware UPS hidden fees. I used the UPS store on Cambie near 18th in Vancouver, Canada, yesterday. I asked whether they did regular postage. The man said yes, put my large envelop on a non-metered scale and charged me $3.52. After paying, he then said, ‘everything’s fine. we’ll put in the mailbox for you.’ I said “I can put it in the mailbox.” That’s when things turned funny. The man very hesitantly took my envelop to another scale, one that is metered. It was at this point that I noticed that the first scale was not a metered one. He stood there a spell and finally, pressed the button and a postage sticker came out. He handed me back my stamped letter and I proceeded to walk out the store. Then, I noticed that the postage read just over 2 dollars! I went back and asked about this and the man said ‘we’re not canada post so we charge a service fee for putting postage on letters.’
i got angry and replied that nowhere was this mentioned. 2ndly, i was paying close to double just to have ups put on a postage. thirdly, I was angered by the theatre of it all, done to conceal that they can’t be upfront or honest about the hidden charges–I would have been none the wiser if I had just let them put it in the mailbox. I demanded to know what the service rate is and the man then offered to give me back nearly a dollar and a half. I persisted and he offered that they have no system. He then said: ‘we have a right to charge a fee for a service.’ I yelled back that “that’s not the point here.’ There were others in the room and he then apologized. Don’t use UPS, at least not the outlet on Cambie and 18th. Ask what hidden charge there is for a letter if you do use them.
Well, i will share what i have learned after being burned time after time by these sons of bitches at UPS. I purchase a fair amount of personal stuff from the US (i live in Montreal, Quebec) and have most goods shipped to my office, because thats where i am most of the time. I always ask shipper to use anyone other than UPS, but when i have no choice, this is what i do to avoid their rediculous brokerage fees…i dont even know how its legal for them to keep this scheme going, but, i guess the government gets some extra $ along the way, so what do they care. As soon as i get the tracking # from my shipper, i call the UPS toll free # and speak to a Customer service rep. Yes, it will probably be an 18 year old moron, but, if you are very clear, they can probably do what you need. Have them put a note in their system, that you want to ‘Clear the package yourself’ and they should call you when the package arrived. You are not obligated to have them act as your broker for any shipment, they just make you think that is the way. And if they dont follow the note in the system, when they show up at your door demanding money, DO NOT ACCEPT IT. They will just take it back to the warehouse. Call them back and tell them again you will be clearing the package yourself. They will prepare the paperwok and tell you where to pick it up and where the nearest Canada Customs office is. You take the papers to the customs office, pay the taxes, leave the papers with customs, then UPS delivers the next day to you…with NO BROKERAGE FEES! Just know your rights, these M-F’s are the worst, but know you can avoid these fees if you stay one step ahead.
Good luck to all, and to all NO MORE BROKERAGE FEES!
Someone asked how this company stays in business. The way they do it is by offering a really cheap rate to the merchant (Let’s take Eddie Bauer for example) so EB will only use UPS, then screwing the customer who ordered the item. Eddie Bauer profits, UPS profits, and the customer gets screwed. Whenever I buy anything from the U.S. I ask the merchant to us US Postal Service. If they refuse (for example Eddie Bauer) I decline to order from them and explain why. I explain that UPS rips off their Canadian customers, and I will shop elsewhere rather than be ripped off. In the end, unless merchants in the U.S. get this message, we will continue to get ripped off. I still don’t order anything from Eddie Bauer, as they refuse to use any shipper but UPS. Obviously, this is because it is more profitable for Eddie Bauer. The same goes for ebay purchases: no US Post option, no sale. Just keep sending this message; maybe it will get through to American sellers.
Use this site to help you calculate brokerage fees from UPS, USPS and others:
http://www.thefinalcost.com/shipments/calculate/
I wish I had this calculator earlier. I had purchased $43 (all USD) of product, $19 for shipping, UPS brokerage fee of $34, broker GST $1.70, Duty was only $2.16, GST $6.94; all said and done I paid $107 for $34 of product! It’s just plain doorway robbery! I am going to make sure to specify for USPS next time!
I bought a 5 bottles of shaving preparation and the cost of the merchandise was 23.75(+7.95 S&H)=31.70. Because the item was being shipped from the US to Canada I was told that there would be an additional 23.00 postage. I thought that was lot but I paid it on my credit card anyway. That was bad enough, because now we are at 31.00 postage.
Then the parcel arrives and they want me to pay 21.50 in “brokeage Charges’. What kind of crap is that.
So do the math, a parcel with a 24.00 value is now costing me 76.00…..that’s just stealing no matter what you call it.
How are these people getting away with this?
I just purchased a couple of small items; seat back release buttons from Year One in Georgia USA. Weight 16 ounces! Total price $42.85. UPS ground shipping was $37.79! On top of that I got dinged $33.66 in BROKERAGE fees. When I called UPS they seemed to think I got a real deal. I called my supplier and they said they only use UPS! How is this still allowed?
I had a video card replaced under warranty, and the company sent me a new one from the states when I sent them the old one, and UPS charged me $35 for brokerage fees! It was ridiculous! I raised hell, but I couldn’t get anywhere.
What happened to the class action suit that was under way?
I have had many issues with irregular brokerage fees..sometimes none,sometimes a bit more and then just rediculous amounts for the shipment.. Recently I had ordered a car part that maybe weighed 10-15lbs which cost 400 and UPS once deleivered said I had to pay 140 dollars for the brokerage fee…how in the world did that package require this much to be paid?
I also noticed tracking my items when sent via upas and fedex that they will come from the US into canada and then go back out to the US 2 sometimes 3 more times before finally being delivered to me..Am I being charged brokerage fees everytime that package leaves and re-enters Canada?
I had a similar issue with an x10 plug/adapter bought from the US. The part was $17.00 (over 20 with conversion), and got the invoice for brokerage fees in the mail for $14 (inc disbursement fee). I called the broker to complain and they told me that I can use my own broker to avoid the fees, however it was too late because they had already cleared it.
I decided to ignore it. They sent a collection agency after me, which send 3 notices that they would take legal action. I ignored all of it, and haven’t hear a thing since (this was a couple years ago).
The broker fees have nothing to do with the canadian gov’t. It is just a surcharge that add on to do 2 minutes of paperwor. It is no different than the $5.00 through USPS/Canada Post. The gov’t does not get one cent of it, all the gov’t collects is taxes and duties.
To avoid getting raped by the broker fees:
1. Have the sender send using USPS.
or
2. If they can offer UPS as the delivery method, pick anything but the ‘standard’ or ‘ground’ option. Any of the other options (i.e. expedited or air) include the broker fees. You will get the package sooner, it will cost marginally more, but it will definately be a whole lot less than what you would end up paying the broker.
or
3. Clear it yourself (too much hassle for most people)
thanks for your info Curtis…It’s good to know all the little things that in the end seem to make a good deal seem not so good after all the fees and taxes.
Add me to the list of screwed customers.
I was waiting for a replacment GPS Unit,
because my original one failed under warranty.
Well, I got a sticker on my door yesterday
with a whopping 99,39 $ so called Brokerage COD due on it.
I will pay that amount when they come back,
but I have told Garmin support I will no longer be
able to afford purchasing other products from them.
I was a good customer, with many purchases of their product,
and so was my father, and many friends from the
Quebec Association of GeoCachers, who I will let know
of my sour experience with Garmin’s choice of shipment method,
though our online forums.
One of my first UPS experiences:
I purchased $194.83 USD of goodies from Kidrobot in the States ($16.78 USD of that was shipping cost) for my son for Christmas. UPS lands on my doorstep and charges me an additional $118.89 CAD. I just about unloaded the contents on my backside on the doorstep. Kidrobot does not accept returns as all toy purchases are final and all discounted apparel are final… so I had to fork the cash. I did call UPS and gave them hell. Weeks later I receive an invoice stating they had not received payment. Then I got a phone call threatening a collection agency. I had already paid the driver by cheque teh day they delivered – gave them all my info. When they realised they were the dumb asses… no apology, nothing.
My most recent experience was today. My husband purchased a watch for me from the States. He could not find this in Canada (was a Christmas present). Watch costs $176. Receive it before Christmas… pay the duties on it etc. Watch doesn’t work, so we return the watch. Send it back to the US, gets repaired and returned. UPS show up on my doorstep today wanting $95.00 CAD. I put my WTF face on and explained this was a return and that the duty had already been paid teh first time around and there is no way in hell I am paying additional fees again. Not to mention but it was quite clearly marked as a gift to prevent further money having to be paid out. UPS Dude (very nice guy) called the brokerage place and now the company we purchased it from and told me to refuse it, the company has to send them a commercial invoice stating GIFT in bold caps and the cost of the watch has to state < $60.00 CAD with taxes included. I mean…come on, give me my damn watch. I have already paid my damn fees upon fees upon fees.
I have imported many items from the US. To do the proper classifications and paperwork takes mere minutes… Especially with computerized systems. We have been getting screwed by excessive brokerage fees for far too long. One not to remember, is that when you import an item from the US, Canada Customs charges GST on the value of the Item in Canadian Dollars, They get the transport to collect this. So, subtract 5% of what the bill you get from the shipping company. Even still I have seen pretty outrageous brokerage fees. Its time for people to start complaining to Government Officals in Ottawa. Its due time for some regulation of these criminal practices of gouging.
I hate UPS, I bought a lift kit for my jeep. Cost me $500, when it comes to my door, I get a brokerage C.O.D of $100!!! Bastards.
I just got some diesel parts from across the line. $600 dollars brokerage fees.This is retarded. Why is this so outragous!!!
I have been bitching about UPS for a couple of years now. I have never been hit with any fees from Purolator, or Fed Ex. ONLY UPS.
I make it clear to any manufacutres who use UPS. I will NOT ORDER any product from any company that uses UPS. They started this scam
to steal from us and they are the one s who need to pay. I know about brokerage fees and believe me, it IS A SCAM to screw us.
If we all refuse ANY AND ALL UPS orders maybe they will get the message. EVEN IF THEY DO.. I NEVER will use UPS now or in the
future because of their greed.
Basturds is a very mild word for the name they really deserve.
for those of you who know of hautelook, do NOT order from their sample sale site unless you are prepared to pay a hefty fee at the door (because they refuse to ship with no other company than UPS alone). and by hefty, i mean $35 on a $60 pair of jeans shipped to Canada.
NEVER AGAIN WILL I ORDER FROM ANY COMPANY THAT SHIPS BY UPS. stay away from UPS, don’t think that you will somehow get lucky and slip by the radar, because you won’t! i was a bit skeptical reading everybody’s outrageous stories, but i believe them now!
My DH located a ups store just over the border he buys a lot from a company in the states that wont ship to Canada he pays $10 a pkg for pick up he makes sure all item are shipped in one box but even if they ship separately its still cheaper than brokerage fees. On an other note he only had to add the address of the ups store to his charge card…..
You can always appoint your own broker and any of these carriers will have to forward the documents to your broker by either fax or paperless system. In this case the clearance is done without your presence. Just find a broker that has fair charges. I am a Customs broker myself. We charge CAD 20.00 for a shipment valued less than CAD 1600.00. Customs duty (if any) & GST extra. It is just not worth it to do the work for less than that. For this amount we create a B3 Customs form for you, pay duty & tax and send you all the docs by e-mail. Have a look at the charges here: http://www.dilas.ca/html/brokerage_fees.html
Just ordered $15 for two scraps of rubber from the states.
UPS delivery charge to Canada: $18 (doubles the price)
UPS brokerage fee: $17 (triples the price)
This is rifuckindiculous.
people buying from U.S. need to know ALL parcels/packages need to clear customs and UPS and other brokers are providing a customs clearance service so charging for it is not out of line. if you cannot drive or walk to the border customs office with proper paperwork then don’t buy from U.S. or complain about being charged for a service. why do we buy from U.S.? because the things we buy are cheaper. we can always buy in Canada paying more for the markups. importers have to pay customs clearance fees, duties and taxes (and then the markup in order to make a tidy profit.) Now, like some said, you can request your shipper to ship AIR as i understand brokerage fee is included; guess why it costs more to ship AIR. Shippers use a courier for the convenience as a call get a driver to come to their office and pick up the package for shhipping/delvery to you. don;t expect them not to charge your more if they are asked to drive to a P.O. to get your package mailed if they choose to oblige. Really, you need to do the work to see if it’s worth it to buy from U.S. as often it’s not. besides, many things you buy don;t expect to get warranty service in Canada if something goes wrong as you would need to spend to mail it back! so for new things that carry a warranty, better buy it in Canada simply for warranty alone especially a big screen TV or a computer. you may in many cases come out ahead by buying in CA. so DO YOU HOMEWORK BEFORE SHOPPING ONLINE AT A U.S. WEBSITE (found it: http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html) i am sure UPS website would have a fee guide for brokerage service. the rest like duties (if any for the goods you buy) and taxes would be same as goods you buy here as those are gov’t charges. they only charge for brokerage service. why would one expect to recive a purchase without any charges like duties and taxes? it’s not service for nothing and chicks for free? don’t be naive.
“FedEx used to be better, but they started doing it too (I guess they could smell the money too).”
I wonder how profitable doing this actually is in the long term. As a result of their “brokerage fees,” I have refused to use UPS or any other courier service for cross-border transactions for the last 10 years. If a business refuses to ship an item by regular mail, then I order elsewhere (making sure to let them know why I didn’t order from them — it’s important for retailers to know they’re losing business by not offering the option of delivery by regular mail). To tell the truth, I dislike UPS so much because of this (and because of their lawsuit against Canada Post under NAFTA) that they are my last choice for domestic deliveries as well.
UPS can only hit people with this scam once before a person gets wise to it and takes his business elsewhere; my guess is that UPS are *losing* way more money than they are making from this due to customer dissatisfaction.
David wrote: “people buying from U.S. need to know ALL parcels/packages need to clear customs and UPS and other brokers are providing a customs clearance service so charging for it is not out of line. … importers have to pay customs clearance fees, duties and taxes (and then the markup in order to make a tidy profit.)”
You’re missing the point, David. If UPS were only charging a flat $5 (or is it now $8?) brokerage fee like Canada Post does, plus applicable taxes/duties (the duties *are* the taxes for items coming in from the U.S.), then few people would object to it. The probem is that their fees are grossly excessive and they do everything to hide those fees from their customers; most people never hear of these brokerage fees until UPS hits them up at the door while holding their parcel hostage. I posit that the *honest* thing to do would be for UPS to calculate the brokerage fees up-front in their shipping fee; but if they were to do that, no one would use UPS because no one would be willing to pay such an outrageous fee for using their service.
If you think UPS are not deliberately being dishonest in the way they’re doing business, then you are a fool.
While Canada Post now charges a flat $8 brokerage fee for parcels whose contents exceed $20 in value, I distinctly remember a time (maybe 7 or 8 years ago) when parcels coming into Canada by regular mail weren’t charged *any* brokerage fee at all. Anyone know why Canada Post started charging a brokerage fee?
David wrote: “why do we buy from U.S.? because the things we buy are cheaper.”
Wrong. I buy from the U.S. because the things I need simply aren’t available in Canada. This is true, for example, of electronic parts such as ICs.
Here’s an online calculator to “help you estimate the final cost of purchasing items from the USA and having your order shipped to Canada”:
http://www.thefinalcost.com/
I don’t think this calculator gives results that are 100% accurate, but they’re in the right ballpark.
Just for the hell of it, I typed in a hypothetical purchase of $20 with a shipping fee of $20. UPS and FedEx charge a brokerage fee of over $20, which comes to a *fourth* of the total cost (the rest of the cost is in the currency conversion). In other words, UPS and FedEx charge more in brokerage fees than they do for shipping.
I’d rather pay a little more than USPS rates and go with an efficient company like http://www.BongoUS.com where I can track my shipments online and estimate all charges and everything before hand. If you want to check out transit times or need other country resources there’s links also here: http://www.bongous.com/country-information/us-to-canada.php
Davis is right, just always do your homework when shopping online, some items make sense to ship and some don’t.
Thank you Kadeja for stressing the same: DO YOUR HOMEWORK before ordering especially if have been shocked once at the door and should make it as a lesson learned. some time it’s worth buying form U.S. other times, it’s not. one has to know that shipping via a courier, all packages are trackable and insurance for loss and damages are included/covered BUT this is not true with USPS regular parcels! you have to think many shippers prefer to ship via a courier company as an insurance for them to know that their packages have been delivered/received in good order to/by their customers abroad; with USPS regular parcels (IF ADDITONAL INSURANCE IS NOT PURCHASED), they don’t have this insurance, nor do you. without proofs people can always say they did not receive their package and the time spent trying to argue your face blue is not worth their headaches. also, you have to know Canada Post is a crown corp and they are not in business to make profit and largely is subsidized by taxpayers thus is able to merely scrap by simply to provide a duty-bound service to its citizens; just check for USPS (Canada Post counterpart in U.S.) for headlines to see that they don’t make but lost money big time. we all have the tools to check it out before ordering from U.S. especially if you have been shocked once at the door when your package arrives. so do your homework before ordering and ask your shipper to send USPS and buy an insurance for trackability of your package if your shipper would oblige. often they would not for reasons stated above. lastly, CP generally does not deliver your parcels and you have to go somewhere to pick them up and a courier does and that obviously is a cost associated with that either by you to have to drive to pick your parcel up or by a courier company to get it to you so charging for a larger fee than CP is not out of question. there are just so many points to consider before arguing that higher fee is wrong. it’s not that straight forward. if that’s the case, then the same item should be of same price be it at wal-mart or zellers, but are they? food for thought.
UPS has this trick to up the value depending on the fluctuation of the dollar I bought an i8tem value 197 cnd thats what I payed for it SuddenlyUPS makes its value at 204.00cnd to the next level of brokerage fee thieft.Yes it is stealing..from 26 to 51. All of the charges that they add on and call fees is thieft you UPS should be ashamed of the dirty tactics that you do. and the fact that your drivers put up with the anger from the customers. UPS no wounder your color is BROWN.. your full of SHIT.
Just stumbled on this site after getting dinged for $49 for an item MADE IN THE USA.
Called UPS, they of course played dumb and refused to give me a deal. I’m just not going to pay this bullshit “FINE”.
And since these comments started 3 years ago, WHY HAS NOTHING BEEN DONE TO STOP THIS!?
Hi, I used to work at UPS.
I will tell you how to avoid brokerage fee and duty.
1> Mark as personal gift, value under CAD60 for each item(you can mail 100 items for gift, but each item must under $60). You should know, if the shipper use his company account or address to ship, ups will NOT accept it as a gift shipment. Only shipment is person to person.
2> Mark as “Made in Canada, send for repair”. UPS will Not charge any tax and duty for items come back to Canada for repair.
3> Don’t ship UPS standard or UPS saver, the price for these two don’t cover the brokerage fee on it.
omg… i live in BC and i just got a package from UPS with a $133 fee….wtf my order was only 230 dollars. thats over half.
Hi everyone, I’m not sure if someone already mentioned this BUT, if you ask your american shipper to send the item via UPS Worldwide Express, or UPS worldwide Express saver, or UPS Worldwide Expedited, UPS brokerage fees are waived. I received some clothing from the USA and asked for Worldwide Express. It was a little more money ($45 USA shipping) on $1000 worth of clothes. I just had to pay the GST when I received the package. If you go to the UPS website and type “brokerage fees” you’ll see they abosrb the brokerage cost…I think it has something to do with the fact they have 2 brokers, one for land shipment (expensive) and one for air shipments. Hope this helps:)
I also was surprised, today i received a package from the us with some barbs and bolts, plugs and hose for water cooling. Anyway, UPS made me pay a $30 brokerage fee for something that cost me $50 usd and is not available in Canada. BS.. Thinking of a lawsuit but wondering if other people would join me in the fight against this scam if something like this began. Email me at prorec@hotmail.com
Also, i called ups with a complaint, they tried to justify there hidden fees with very dumb replies, felt like my head would melt. Anyway, I recommend everyone do the following:
Call UPS, complain about this (remember persons name that you speak too)
Fill out the Better Business Bureau Complaint form at:
https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/getstarted.aspx?siteID=162
Also if your in ontario:
Support the Lawsuit at http://www.merchantlaw.com/courier.html
This is 100% theft, we already pay for shipping and these hidden fees we get slapped with are outrageous.
I bought magnets from a US company. It cost me $36. UPS charged me $25 for shipping fee. Then they asked me to pay $33 brokerage. So far I have paid $58. I called them and they promised to give back $10 refund. Then what happened is they sent me a new bill for another $23. They are absolutely theft and worse than terrorism.
Some real ingelligent comments here
GST and duty are Revenue Canada’s fees, not your courier’s. UPS, Fedex, and DHL all operate customs brokerage operations to clear Canada-bound packages through customs and their rates are similar to those of other customs brokers such as Livingston and A&A. While people that are inexperienced and unfamiliar with importing and exporting might not believe that a customs broker should charge for their services, I doubt greatly that they would consider not charging for the services they provide in their profession. Yes, Canada Post can do it cheaper, being a subsidized crown corporation that is not required by CBSA to follow the same guidelines as couriers. So, by all means, use Canada Post. You’re paying for it with your tax dollars anyways, might as well take advantage of it. Or, if using a courier, have it sent air; service upgrades usually gets brokerage fees thrown in for free. “Worse than terrorism”…way to keep a 33 dollar fee in perspective, Wen.
And, for those following Adam’s advice above, be prepared to answer to customs for defrauding the crown. They love this kind of advice. Try running it by a customs officer before putting it into practice.
I don’t think many of the commenters here would argue against UPS’ right to be paid for their services. But I think there are two problems:
1: They were already paid.
2: They’re charging too much, and charging it at the back end of the deal, when they show up at your door, not at the front.
Point 1… the shipper pays UPS to deliver a specific package to a specific address by a specified time. If UPS cannot perform the agreed upon service for the agreed upon price, then they should change their price. Right up front. Changing the terms of deal after the fact is dirty.
Point 2… the work UPS has to do to provide the customs brokerage service for us is really very trivial. All the people commenting here are casual importers, importing casual goods of very low value. We’re not importing weird crap like human organs or nuclear reactor components. We’re importing baseball caps, performance car parts, little plastic gears. Really boring shit. No surprises.
All UPS has to do is look at the waybill, type a few keywords into a computer, and pick whatever Harmonized Code pops up that seems like the closest match. It’s not hard. And, in my experience, they’re as likely as not to get it wrong anyway. They don’t really care, because it doesn’t even matter for casual goods, and they know it.
The point is, for 99.9% of the casual imports people here are doing, this is all predictable. There’s no reason why UPS can’t figure out what it costs them to do this and build it into the original price. And there’s no reason why they can’t do it for $8 like Canada Post (subsidized or not). I think $8 is being generous. It doesn’t cost your corner grocery store an extra $8 to send your $2 of GST to the government.
Rarely there may arise exceptional situations where UPS runs into unforeseen problems. I think few customers would find it unacceptable if UPS ended up charging extra money for the hassles involved in importing an extremely realistic replica M-16. That’s fair.
But that’s not what we’re complaining about. We’re complaining about being charged $20 brokerage, on top of the $10 shipping we already paid, to import a $30 Pittsburgh Penguins jersey.
If it looks like a rip-off, smells like a rip-off, tastes like a rip-off… odds are it’s a rip-off. And we’re sick of being bent-over by these bastards.
A few problems with the preceding:
No, the fee was not already paid. What was paid was transportation, not customs brokerage. If customs brokerage was not required for importing, then brokerage houses like Livingston and A&A would not be in existence. But, as stated, most couriers write off the fee if you choose a higher service level (ie air).
They are charging what customs brokers charge. Go check out the rates.
The terms are not changed after the fact. Shippers are made very aware that shpping fees do not include duties/taxes/brokerage.
The work a customs broker does is not trivial, no more than the work an accountant does. If you prefer to do your own taxes, fine, don’t pay for an accountant. If you want to process your own entries with customs, fine, don’t pay for a broker. You have this ability. Take your tracking number, call the courier, say you want to clear it themselves. From my experience, though, people do not want to do this. They just don’t want to pay someone else to do it, either.
Couriers are forced to employ many people to process entries through not just customs but CFIA, DFAIT, Transport Canada, etc. No, they cannot look at a waybill and enter a harmonized code. If that were the case UPS would not be employing close to 600 people in Fredericton to process entries through customs. Yes, there’s some effort involved. But, if you don’t want to pay the clearance fee, clear it yourself already! Or, better yet, buy it in Canada! Or you could continue whining about how you’ve been victimized by a 20 dollar fee.
The brokerage fees are not clearly disclosed. If you go looking for them on UPS’ web-site, they’re buried deep. Really deep. If you didn’t already know about them, you’d never find them.
The fees they charge are appropriate for tractor-trailer loads of M-16 parts. Or for parts that will be assembled into products and then shipped back to the US for sale. NAFTA requires all sorts of ludicrous paperwork, tracking the country-of-origin of every atom. “Free trade” my ass. That’s the kind of crap that requires knowledgeable customs brokers.
But they’re charging the same kinds of rates for people importing a pair of socks for their aunt. It’s excessive. That they’re the same fees charged by brokerage houses that specialize in M-16 parts is irrelevant. They’re still excessive for a pair of socks.
I recognize that moving the socks 500m across the border takes a little bit more effort than moving them any other arbitrary 500m distance, and don’t object to paying more for this. I just object to the excessive fees (considering to the nature and value of the item in question), and to the fees not being charged or at least clearly disclosed up front.
I’d be willing to do my own clearance, now that I know about the brokerage fees. Canada Customs certainly has no problem with me doing it. But UPS throws up arbitrary obstacles, making it effectively impossible. They insist that you must show up in person at their facility, three hours drive away. There’s no good reason for this. We could fax the papers, we could email them. If we can put robots on Mars, we can certainly figure out a way for me to do customs clearance from my home PC. But they won’t let that happen. They’d rather force me to pay them handsomely to do it.
Apparently some people have managed to pay their own GST at a local customs office, and somehow got UPS to accept that. But, officially, they don’t allow it. So, officially, they don’t get my business.
I’d love to buy in Canada, and often do when I have the option, sometimes paying a little more for the privilege. But for whatever reason, Canada has not been able to sustain any really good homebrewing supply business. I just can’t get the stuff I need in Canada.
Which, unfortunately, leaves me in a bind. I can’t get it here. The US-based supplier will only use UPS. I won’t use UPS, out of principle. So, I’m stuck. I have lots of ambitious plans for new homebrewing gear and home-automation systems that have ground to a halt because of this.
You have ambitious plans for homebrewing and home automation systems…but these ambitious plans have ground to a halt because of customs fees…ok, that seems rather like the opposite of ambitious plans, but ok. So to get these lofty dreams into action all you would need to do is clear your imports yourself or appoint a customs broker. This is what has stopped your plans? Just to make sure we are all on the same page, everyone’s aware that ALL couriers charge brokeage fees for their customs brokerage, right? That is, those couriers that import into Canada? Nobody’s under the delusion that it’s only UPS that charges for this service, right?
I only have experience with UPS and FedEx. Had the pleasure of being ripped off by both of them. They’re both running the same scam. I assume the other couriers are in it too.
Unfortunately, most retailers don’t give you a choice of courier, only what service level you want to pay for.
For the record, here is UPS’s rate chart. No, not that difficult to find.
http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
Apparently the B.C. class action suit has been dismissed:
http://www.financialpost.com/news-sectors/story.html?id=1680679
Class-action bid against UPS over duties dismissed by B.C. judge
United Parcel Service Inc. won dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Canadian customers who complained they were improperly charged duties on parcels coming from abroad. B. C. Supreme Court Judge Richard Goegel threw out the plaintiffs’ request to certify the suit as a class-action, saying the claim is “doomed to fail” because the issues had been settled in an earlier, unsuccessful, suit against FedEx Corp., known as the Blackman case. U. S.-based UPS was sued over duties and fees it charges for bringing items across the border after Robert MacFarlane was charged a total of $41.09, after having paid on the Internet for an amplification device from an Arizona-based firm. The charges included $28.30 in customs fees, a $5.85 disbursement fee and a $4.25 cash-on-delivery fee.
UPS informed me the first time that the brokerage fee’s were customs…..lies. For a 260 dollar package I had to pay 75 dollars….outrageous. Plus as usual UPS (U pick up your own s&it) I had to retrive the package myself. UPS is the only service I have seen sellers use to ship me products that charge so much freekin mmoney. I feel like punching them in the mouth everytime I see them. You find good deals online then you get raped by customs and brokerage fee’s. I hate UPS and only for they held my package hostage I wouod not have paid that bulls&it fee. Remember folks Brown is the color of Poo and thats the “service” you get from UPS.
UPS does not state that brokerage fees are a customs fee. They state that the duties and taxes are customs fees. And again, every courier charges this fee on ground shipments. Clear it yourself, buy it in Canada, or stop whining.
@checkit Bummer… What are we going to do now?
I ordered a couple things from a store in the US (I am in Canada). I shipped with UPS and should have known better. UPS was (what I THOUGHT was) my only option.
I received my items. I had purchased $250 worth of items. UPS was demanding $250 for these items, telling me I had actually spent $1000. For some reason, UPS had multiplied my order amount by 4. I told the guy that, no, I didn’t spend that kind of money. He was very rude and argued with me for about ten minutes… finally, he agreed to open the box to see the invoice. And on the invoice, yep.. a total of $250.
So, it was UPS’s error. The guy would not give me my item, had to return it so they could fix their mistake. No apology or anything. He told me I had to contact the store and have them send a new invoice (even though the old invoice.. the one in the box… was correct). I let the company know, a new invoice was sent out. For some reason, UPS was STILL refusing to drop the excessive fees, so the package was sent back.
The company then resent the package USPS.. with NO PROBLEMS.
UPS is, without a doubt, one of the worst companies there is out there.
To be fair, the problem is not only on the UPS side. The government is the ultimate culprit. Why the broker fee in other countries on low, for the same company? I believe that UPS charges $20 to import a $600 item into US, and 0.5% to China. Obviously the people in power do not want you to purchase from other countries.
A few months ago, I received a letter from RMS North American Receivable Management Services Company, indicating that they were acting on behalf of UPS Brokerage to collect moneys that I owed.
1. I had never heard of this company before
2. The letter contained spelling mistakes
3. The letter asked me for my credit card information
4. I had not received anything from UPS indicating that I owed them money
5. Every time I’ve had a UPS delivery, I have paid the brokerage fee at the door – so I knew that I had no outstanding debts
I just assumed the letter was junk mail – much like the letters you’d receive from overseas, asking you for your banking information so that millions of dollars could be deposited to your bank.
I received another letter from them this week – so I decided to call UPS. Apparently, I received a delivery in November 2008. I paid the brokerage fee by credit card upon delivery. Case closed – I thought. Well, apparently, UPS sometimes gets too ‘backed up’ to process credit card payments. So they didn’t process it until late December 2008. By that time, my credit card had expired and I’d received a new one – and so the credit card payment didn’t go through. Rather than let me know about this, UPS sent their collection agency after me – and they, in turn started sending ridiculous letters that reeked of scam letter…
When I spoke to UPS on the phone today, I told them it just smelled of pathetic altogether. I will never ever buy from a company that uses UPS again. I, personally, will never use UPS again.
And, yes, on top of that… the delivery was for some chocolate bars from a US candy company. The chocolate bars were about $40US. The brokerage fee was over $40.
What an incredibly poor excuse for an upstanding company UPS is. Just completely pathetic.
I agree with this completely. I just made an order not knowing about this “brokerage fee” and I’m now being told I owe $40 for a $90 order. I’m expected to pay 50% extra just to go across the border. Fuck that.
Purchased item from the states on Ebay that I paid $23 for.
Total fees cost $21.05.
Bond fee 5.45, brokerage 7.05, COD surcharge 4.85 + taxes on all these fees.
The bond fee is because UPS must advance the government the cash to clear the package at the border. The percentage comes out to around 25% to loan the money for 2 days. Based on 1 year that would equate to paying almost $1000 interest on a $21 loan. How does the government allow them to do this?
Bastards is an understatement.
My neice sent me a gift from minnesota to edmonton the item in it was worth less than $200 dollars and nobody told her I was going to slammed with a god damn brokerage fee for 62.02 and when i contacted UPS after 2 attempts to deliver it I come home to a sticker stuck to my door. she made it sound like she did not know why there is a fee tacked on. On top of that the first time she inquired how much it was going to cost she was quoted 64 dollars but when she went down to ship it off guess what the price of the 84 dolllars gee how inflation can go up in one day 20 dollars. UPS you a scam and I will make sure nobody and I know a lot of people and make damn sure nobody ships with you crooks.
I am very upset with UPS, I will NEVER use them again.
For a $100 pair of shoes, I paid a $30 brokerage fee! Plus I was dinged with $11 GST.
I get revenge, buy ordering things I send back…along with those I want. I know it sounds petty, but it ties them up costs money etc., etc., I promise you anything they get in brokerage once a year from me, is made up for in “Send backs” which are about 8 a year!
Don’t get mad…GET EVEN.
Next time you order something, order something else…then send it back automatically. WASTING UPS’s time and money…and you get refund.:)
Also, order very large objects too! They can’t refuse your refuse. If you really want to stick it to them, order a soft spa, have htem bring it to the door…and refuse it!
Man, never will I used these crooks for anything again.
Eagerly awaiting my order from Summit and today it shows up and I find out I owe nearly another $145!!!
Not only did they pinch me with a $63.10 charger for the brokerage fee (which is ludicrous) but on top of that, they nailed me another $3.15 for GST on it!?!?!
From here on out, when I want something from the US, its going to be USPS all the way. The Canadian Government wonders what possesses people risk getting caught to smuggle items across the border? This is exactly the reason why!!!
I’m in Ontario, BTW.
I have had quite a few (normal) annoyances this past month (unrelated to UPS), but nothing made me so mad as to find out I have to fork over 20$ for a wee paperback book (for which I already paid $15 shipping!!!!)
It seems my meager $20 fee is nothing compared to many of the people’s experiences here. I feel like hurling this is so disgusting.
The only other time I ever dealt with UPS in my life was about 10 years ago, where I ordered a $500 gold pen (a gift) and they left it hanging on the door knob outside OF THE WRONG HOUSE! (it was a Canadian order, so they didn’t have to chase me down for more money, I guess). The owners opened the package, and realizing this was not theirs, found my contact info in the phone book, called me and brought it to me. I was lucky. Anyway, both that time, and just now, I have called UPS and just bitched until I couldn’t bitch any more. I know it changes nothing, as I am sure they hear this all the time and don’t care. But what else could I do.
And thanks for letting me bitch some more. But really…I don’t normally bitch like this. There’s normal life problems and then there’s UPS!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to get in on an Ontario class action suit against UPS. Most recent offense: Ordered $75 hiking boots shipped from Utah (plus extra for international shipping), got nailed with a $80 brokerage fee. Does anyone know if Canada’s Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) can address this? How is this not a NAFTA violation (or at least a violation of the spirit of NAFTA)? I might write OCA anyhow; UPS is the worst. They regularly screwed up my deliveries when I lived in the US too and I was constantly hauling ass to their package depot on the edge of town.
I would love to get in on an Ontario class action suit against UPS. I purchased some snap caps from the US. Was told if the order was over $50.us, no shipping charges. Ordered $55.00 worth.
Next thing I know, UPS calls for COD charge for Brokerage at over $40.00. Was told it was a random fee and not charged all the time. Also, the amount was random as well. Am staying clear of UPS from now on.
UPS what a bunch of crooks…I will never use this company again to order anything from the states…My total order came to just over $100.00 and the shit company UPS tried to Brokerage fee me another $51.33….well needless to say I will never use this company again and warn others of the same bullshit greed that is going on. I could understand a small fee, but over 50% of the cost of the entire package including shipping for a Brokerage cost is nothing but UPS being greedy.
Make enquiries of the law firms handling them. The one in BC got thrown out!!! They are looking for more stories – more people who have been shafted… I have made my enquiry but have not received a reply. UPS gets around it by making you sign a Power of Attorney in which you agree to have them act as your attorney at the border and to pay all fees and charges as set up on the page. Before signing, I wrote that I was signing under DURESS…that I did not agree to the charges or fees and that I did not agree to have UPS act as the broker at the border. Even the signing date was wrong and I change and initialled it. What does that sa;y about UPS? They don’t care. The employees – it’s only a job and the company is making money!! The original contract is between UPS and the Export. I don’t mind paying the GST – that is part of life in Canada – but the brokerage fee plus GST which was not agreed to nor did I contract for therefore I’d like to know how UPS can even consider that to be a legal binding contract?? UPSer answer that please? I’m sure that there are many who would like to know….
Found the contact email and telephone number for the class action suit if anyone is interested…..vicky.theodos@siskinds.com telephone number is for London, Ontario 519-672-2251 ext 2385. Good Luck – We’re going to need it!!!
Welcome me to the club. I’m buying a motorcycle seat from a guy in the states,used,and he shipped it ups. 60$ US for the shipping,the seat is being offered at 100$ and UPSYTE is nailing me for 92$ that’s just blatant robbery.
Correction. Class action contact is ruth.noble@siskinds.com. Phone number remains the same.
What happens if you are not paying? I already received their collection agency note. Still planning NOT paying it, as I was not importing anything, just had my sails repaired in the States and shipped back. Anyone?
$101 for brokerage fee’s for a lens from the use the cost me $120 with shipping. This is fucking ridiculus. UPS IS GARBAGE!!
Way do not pay UPS duty and fee
http://www.epinions.com/review/bsrv-Office_Services-Shipping-All-UPS_Standard_to_Canada/content_209592422020
YES YES YES. I completely agree and have for years told everyone in te US ***not*** to ship using UPS. And yet they keep doing it.
Yup: Ordered a $75 TV antenna to get free Hi-Def off CN Tower and UPS wanted that much for brokerage fees. Told them they could keep the antenna that I wouldn’t accept the charge. After several calls settled for a $20 delivery fee. Now always ask US suppliers to send by US Post. Gets hand-delivered here by Canada Post special delivery with no additional fees.
Count me in.. what a bunch of BS. After buying something for $149 US, paying $17 s&h, UPS has the freakin nerve to whack on a $60 COD charge for GST, PST, brokerage fees, then GST & PST on those. Nice you ass hats.. that’s half what the bloody thing’s worth!!
I ordered a Halloween costume for my little girl, it was $23.00, I then paid $7.95 for shipping and a $7 shipping surcharge. It said that I would be responsible for any taxes, duty, or brokerage fees when it arrived. I ordered it anyways figuring it wouldn’t be too much, tax would be $3 and duty would be very little. When it arrived I owed them another $25 for the brokerage fees. I was disgusted. I called the store I placed the order through and told them that I would never be ordering through them again and delete my account with them, unless they change their shipping method to Canada (BC).
I paid a 37.22 brokerage fee in Ontario on a sweater that cost 3 dollars more then the fee. What is the logic to this fee, im sick of scams and someone always finding ways to fuck us over. Im beginning to think there are no honest people left out there to deal with. this is fucking ridiculous. i paid $110 USD bascally for a sweater that was listed for $40 on a website. I knew there would be shipping and handling which was $17, which is accpetable but then another $37.22 what the fuck for?!? where does the money go? why so much money? holy shit i could go on but i think i might kill myself.
PLEASE CHECK PREVIOUS POSTS….IF YOU ARE FROM ONTARIO CHECK THE CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST UPS …THAT WILL SEND THEM (AND OTHERS0 THAT WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!!!
I just paid ups over 80 bucks for a pair of uggs worth 160USD today. It broke my heart……..The brokerage fee is 40 bucks. I definitely want to sue them for this. Who’s with me??
Just today I received a used stereo receiver I purchased for $160 from the US and after paying $60 for UPS standard shipping, I forked out another $61 at the door for UPS brokerage fees, PST and GST. Brokerage fee alone was $40, 25% of the cost of the item being shipped.
Had to change my shorts after I closed the door. Wonder what their real costs are for brokerage?
Hey guys i always had problems with these crooks.Now when i order i make sure to tell the shipper not to ship via UPS but most of the time they don’t listen.I got a parcel due in next week. What happens if i refuse this package or i say return to sender?
UPS brokage fee charage list
=================================
I ordered two water filter package for frig – total: 131.94
seller charge me economy shipping: 14.95
===============
total: 146.89
UPS charge me: 84.45, (EXTRA COD)
=================================
Domestic appliance part: HS Code/8516909090/TT/10, Co/US $11.64
PST: 999908 $18.63
BROK FEE: 51.60 (************<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<)
BROK GST: 2.58
=====================================
NEVER use UPS, rip off!!!!!!!!!
I ordered water filter from US, and living in Canada toronto.
I called UPS (US), they said it is UPS Canada. and they are same company. really hate UPS.
UPS = SCAM
I won an ebay auction for $185.00 US (PLUS $55.15 US Shipping)
UPS shipping from Chelmsford Massachusetts to Calgary, it was shipped “standard service” according to online tracking. When it arrived, I got hammered with an additional –>$50.66 CAD<– brokerage fee. More than Mildly Miffed, I will avoid them like the plague forever after this.
Telling friends, family, anyone I do business with and all the on-line forums I can post to … better business bureau perhaps?
Refusing the package and doing your own customs clearing works!
BUT I think UPS is getting wise because the last parcel I got they left in the door (nobody was home to receive it), then sent me a bill for duties & brokerage 2 weeks later.
I called UPS, it took about 30 minutes (including one dropped transfer) but with enough argument they dropped the brokerage fee. I had to remind them many times that drivers are NEVER supposed to deliver a C.O.D. package without actually collecting payment.
If you have to call and do the same thing, insist on paying the taxes and duties you really owe (usually a sum much smaller than the brokerage fee) BEFORE letting them transfer you to the brokerage department to dispute the brokerage part of the bill. Remember, the brokerage fee is bogus but you really do owe taxes and duties.
Very shady business practices at UPS. I hope they get nailed with a wicked class-action suit. I’m holding on to all my paperwork..
I thought that this may be of intrest regarding ” Customs Brokerage agents ” :
When you make a purchase over a border ,ie: In the USA , and it is to be delivered to you , ie: In Canada , you are considered to be an ” Importer ” .
The courier company is charging you for providing customs service: being your ¨¨agent¨¨ when “clearing” your parcel across the border.
Now I would like to quote a small paragraph from the Canada Border Service Agency’s website :
” Agents are required to obtain written authorization from their clients in order to transact business on behalf of their clients. ”
Therefore in my opinion if UPS(Agent) has not obtained written authorization from you the client(Importer) to transact on your behalf , then they are acting illegally (without authorization) on your behalf (representing you ) .
In my opinion , to represent someone without their authorization is considered to be fraudulent and to charge them for it is extortion (misuse of authority ) .
This way of acting seems to be deceitful by using trickery at its finest in my opinion (fraud) .
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/cb-cd/menu-eng.html
Now that you had a little time to digest my last comment , here is the kicker !
You may not have known that when you place an order and accept the shipping method , you are automatically entered into a binding contract with the chosen shipping company , too act as your customs brokerage agent .
However this is not mentioned when you confirm your purchase order and shipping method . You are simply told that the company selling you the item will not be respondsible for any custom , duty and brokerage fees (whatever that means , right ?) .
Not quite . There is no pardon for ignorance ………..
Anyways , in my opinion it’s still a little deceitful . However , UPS is in the clear and is acting legally according to what you are ” suppose ” to know .
Therefore the lawsuit has no merit ……..
Good Luck
Here’s what I did to avoid the ‘brokerage fee’:
I gave the UPS driver a dud cheque. Give him any old cheque, misspell your name on it, sign it with a signature that isn’t yours. Then, just to be sure, call your bank to cancel the cheque.
The driver is happy. As far as he’s concerned he has done his job and received payment. They won’t bother coming after you, it’s not worth the cost to UPS
I am thinking of doing this as well. I was not home to receive my package, and the they left a notice on my door. They’re going to make a second attempt for delivery on the next business day. My plan is to cancel the cheque before hand, and then just hand the driver a canceled cheque. Will it work?
i too have had miserable experiences with ups in the past where buying used stuff on ebay ie:$80 for a used stock stereo for my camaro and getting nailed $65 brokerage fee. after adding the duty/shipping and tax the bill was like $105.wtf.
This past week i found a really nice set of drums in the US for my son at $1000. I phoned ups to try and get some accurate figures from them and it was like pulling teeth. all they ended up giving me was an address for canada customs. checked out that site and it was so convoluted with information that it was useless too. i am actually going to buy the kids drums here in canada for $2000+ just so those crooks at ups dont get a dime from me
Just bought a jacket from the US for $140 + $20 shipping. THOUGHT I was saving money cause it cost $220 in Canada. WRONG. After paying $60 extra for a brokerage fee with UPS, I feel cheated and scammed. I’m definitely on the bandwagon to boycott UPS. NEVER AGAIN!!
Just got a package today. UPS tried to clip me $70+ for “brokerage” + legitimate duties on a CPU.
Now here’s the thing – it was a private sale so I never actually entered into any contractual agreement for UPS to act as my broker. I did NOT purchase this item off eBay.
I refuaed the package and told the driver I would clear it myself. Called UPS 10 minutes later to confirm that I refused the package and would be clearing it myself. Even then the person who spoke to me lied and said the tracking code was assigned by the Canadian government – ahem, no! I was GIVEN that very tracking number from the seller of the item.
Called CBSA, they gave me clear and concise directions. Said if it’s a personal import I need just the shipping manifests and to take them to the nearest Customs office to pay the appropriate duty and tax. Return to UPS and claim my package. I will try to keep copies of all documents in the event a collection agency mysteriously starts showing up.
I don’t think I can join the class action as I didn’t lose any money, but I will provide all particulars to any lawyers interested.
PS: UPS has been doing this for over ten years. I first got burned this way back in 1997. I have since strenuously told all people I know to never ship via UPS. Unfortunately this seller did so before I had the chance to warn him.
UPS those crooks Shit wish I read this post first those bastards got me for 83 bucks for a used pair of boots I bought on E-Bay for 100 bucks
Guess now I’ve paid full price for a new pair now instead
I’ll never use UPS ever again
Not only did they charge me 46$ brokerage ontop of the 35$ shipping costs to the seller for a box of books that took 18 days to be delivered by UPS priority from NY to BC but they had the nerve to leave a yellow slip inked with the words 46.50$ ‘No Cash Please’ – so not only do I have to pay them for delaying my package delivery over their paranoic customs checks (fearing that New Yorkers want to send anthrax up to Canada to kill Santa Clause) but they won’t even take my hard cash; just fathom the irony of that!
I am one of the lucky ones. I ordered car parts worth $100 and total fees from UPS was $82. I phoned their number on the shipping invoice and talked to someone very politely and said i know it is not their fault (the person i was talking to) and i am not mad at them but the fee is not worth me accepting the package and i have already refused delivery once and will continue to do so unless the fees are removed, until they ship it back and i receive a refund. They removed all fees with the exception of the duty in exchange for me accepting the package. This i think would only work when buying from a store where you can get a refund. If it was private sale with no way for refund it might have been a little different.
I payed $31.00 shipped for an item, and those UPS criminals tried to charge me $39.00 brokerage fees….I refused to pay and didnt accept the package.
I’m being charged $42 for a $10 item I won on Ebay. Luckily I wasn’t home. I intend to refuse the item or just ignore the knocks on my door and have the parcel shipped back to the seller than pay the criminal fee. That is sooooooo evil. Any class action in Ontario, count me in.
Bought a car parts (intake, and other stuff) for 220 CAD shipped from missouri. I get charged $94.54 from UPS. i paid $25 in shipping already. My sister paid the charges while i was at work, so i couldn’t refuse. A week before, i ordered brake rotors, paid $400 and only got charged $9. WTF inconsistent. Rotors weight was 62 lbs and intake was 3 lbs. I didn’t even pay customs for it either. I searched around and saw a class action lawsuit in ontario and quebec. Not sure if anyone else has seen it. here is the link. It’s from 2006 btw, so i dunno if it’s on-going.
http://www.merchantlaw.com/classactions/courier.php
i would rather pay 94.54 to ups and have them loose 38 million like they did with their insurance scandal. i don’t care if i don’t get a dime back
I bought a mirror for US$34.29 on ebay and paid US$31.11 shipping. UPS charged me CDN$39.76 on delivery! The brokerage fee is even more expensive than the mirror itself! If anyone knows how I can get my money back, please post here.
Just ordered some parts (200$ US)from a Minnesota company,shipping was UPS, only ten bucks.
Until the truck showed up and I owed a total of $82.40 with over 50 bucks of that “brokerage fee”
UPS is a bunch of crooks
I had a gift sent to me, but unfortunately the shipper sent it via UPS standard service and declared the value as $125 US. Subsequently, when it arrived it had a $56 COD attached to it (brokerage fee’s + duty). That’s a $40 brokerage fee + $16 duty fee.
I too was never told by UPS how much the brokerage charges would be, nor was I given the option to broker the package myself. These brokerage fee’s were forced upon me, and UPS would not released the package until I paid the brokerage COD. Effectively, holding the package “hostage” until I paid. This is simply extortion!
If you are getting a package shipped from the US to Canada, DO NOT USE UPS period!
I have just been ripped off by UPS. Much to my surprise – didn’t know this was going on. Was charged $31.03 brokerage for a $40.29 item. Contact me if anyone stsrts a class action in Ontario.
What idiots UPS management are – to create so much ill will and bad publicity by not simply prorating brokerage fees to something with better optics.
Ross McKeown
Toronto
Use DHL, we charge a FLAT RATE of 7$ for brokerage (2$-20m$ its 7$). GST/PST and Duty are charged the same as those rates are set by the Canadian gov’t.
You have options other than the great brown evil empire.
I’m a Canadian living in Philly. Last time I went to my mom’s in Montreal, she told me her computer wasn’t working so I took it with me to repair it. Sent it back thru UPS, and in addition to the 63$ shipping charge, they tacked on their 98$ brokerage fee. WTF???Heavily cursing myself for not having researched and seen this website before..especially with the USPS office right across the street. Now I know why UPS uses the brown color.
I am part of this club too but not by real choice. My package ( A Roland V-Synth that i paid 830 dollars for) was 6 inches too long for USPS. So i knew i was gonna get shafted. When it arrived, My bill was 250.69 with a 80 dollars brokerage fee included to it. I don’t mind the taxes and duty but that brokerage fee is an abuse of the good people!
I was recently forced to ship a package using UPS that was a few inches too long for USPS. I resent that my customer had to pay additional fees just because they are in Canada.
Seriously, UPS – you pause at the boarder then keep on driving! It’s not a major effort!
I just got my first package ever from UPS its worth 50$ and had to pay 37.66$ in borkerage fees. I hope this piece of shit company goes out of business and all their planes crash(without any passengers of course). I am SO ANGRY right now for literally being ripped off by these assholes. I pledge to never ever use UPS ever again in business or in personal.
Hi,
I’m a producer at CBC TV’s Marketplace, researching a possible story on UPS brokerage fees. If you have a complaint about these fees, please get in touch: jennifer.fowler@cbc.ca or 416 205 3698.
Regards,
Jennifer Fowler
stung too…… Import value $248
Entry Perp fee: $42.95 UPS clicks a box on their ‘puter
Bond Fee: $5.85 as guarantor I can sorta understand this….but $6….pffft
Freight: $80.60 Fair enough.
Declared value: $3.60. who know WTF this is for.
Intl extended Dest Charge: $30.00 who knows WTF this is for either.. probably 2 clicks on a ‘puter.
Fuel Surcharge. $7.19…..Scam
Total Scam value: Almost $90 dbl pffft.
I ordered two soccer jerseys last week from Columbia, MO to be delivered UPS standard to London, Ontario. Delivery charge was to be $12.98 but delivery is free if you spend over $50.00! What a great deal I said! So my order for the soccer jerseys was $192.98. I expected to pay taxes and may be a small brokerage fee, however, when my roommate received the delivery today, there was a brokerage fee of $108.00!!! My roommate called me at work and told me and I pretty much lost it. I soon looked online and it seems this has been going on for sometime. Live and learn I say – stay away from UPS. I will not be doing any more business with UPS nor with any company that ships using UPS.
I ordered a 55$ prop replica from the US and even paid extra for UPS shipping and they nailed me with a 35$ brokerage fee. I couldn’t believe it! I’ve never had this issue with anything I’ve ever bought online from the US, Hong Kong etc. Then again I don’t believe it was sent through UPS. I will never use UPS or do business with anyone who uses it again!
So True!!
they are ripping off Canadians and it should be illegal.
I purchased some electronics equipment that even by the goverments documents are duty free, yet i still got nailed for a rediculous amount of “brokerage” fees. Complete and utter rip off – if there is NO DUTY, there should be NO BROKERAGE fees.a terrible way to do business. The purchaser is always “surprized” with these fees.
All shippers should give the purchaser the option of how they would like to have their items cleared.
The goverment (or someone) should step in here and pass some legislation to stop these crooks.
i will NEVER use UPS ordering anything from the states. Fed Ex seems fair with everything i’ve experienced.
If anyone wants to form a petition to pass on to someone who cares, i’ll sign it. No doubt. Glad to hear i’m not the only one who is completely pissed off.
i bought a 29.00 switch for the boat and ups charged me 17.60 brokerage fee on top of the freight charges that was prepaid. i will never deal with a company in the us that ships with ups again
I bought $65 worth of accessories for my wedding and got hit with $42.15 in fees at the door. I Will never have anything shipped via UPS again.
Yes I just learned the hard way too. Wish I had done more research before ordering from the USA. I live in a small town and the ups blokes of course sees that on my parcel and tells me that I have to go and pick it up in Vancouver if I want to do my own Taxes etc..(CAD 40-00 on a 150-00 parcel) They also refuse to send(fax) me any documentation so I can visit a customs office on my own. Then naturally they would not send the parcel to me via any other means. How can this not be criminal ?????
I just imported a used mouse from the us that cost me 50$. I payed for the 20$ extra shipping and, lo and behold, when the ups shows up at my door, he asks me for 40.15$. It has cost me 60$ to ship a 50$ item.
I won’t do business with any company that ships with UPS do to their thieving brokerage fees.
One of their idiot drivers hit and ran my truck too.
Neither would I deal with Unfair Parcel Service.
I’ve also been on the wrong end of the UPS brokerage holdup, far too many times. After being held up for another $35 last year i called the UPS customer service office and inquired how they could charge more than the item cost to ship for the brokerage on it. They said it was a flat fee, regardless of the cost of the item, fair enough, but then i asked why US/Canada post doesn’t charge that fee? Their response was that they must eat the cost because everyone has to clear customs at the border. My response to that was their answer was rediculous because the shipping costs through us/canada post was a mere $15, and if they ate the $35 brokerage costs they’d be obviously losing $20 on each package of that size and weight they delivered. Their only response was to reiterate that all shippers had to pay the brokerage fee, and that UPS themselves don’t actually collect that fee, its a separate company. Yeah right, i’m sure its legally a separate corporate entity, but its owners and operators wear that same Shit brown uniform.
I’ve ordered some Gorilla lugnuts.
38$ Made in the USA.UPS shipping was something around 18$.
Everything was fine till the moment I had to pay a 23$ BROKERAGE FEE !!!!!!
Almost half price pf everything.
It’s Made in USA. Hellloooooo Morons.
Thief company.Next time if the company ships with UPS…good bye and have a nice day.No deal.
Good luck everyone.
I ordered labels for my home office from Florida. They are valued at $129.95. The Import charges were $51.04. Horrific, I wish this had been predictable beforehand – I would have gone with a local label guy. NEVER AGAIN!
This applies FROM Canada TO the US too.
I ordered something that’s coming from Calgary and I had to pay a $36 brokerage fee! I’ve never heard of such a thing.
Kind of like the airlines charging for baggage.
I ordered from New York to British Columbia package value $55.00. I paid $27.00 for shipping and then at my door another $36.00 brokerage fees ($63.00 total) I’m so angry at being ripped off.
What a bunch of losers you are. Mark says he ordered labels from a company in the USA. Why would you order from the USA when there is a guy right in town that does the same thing? You get upset when UPS screws you for brokerage. What about the poor guy you scored over and bought from another country. Losers!
I’ve paid $40 for an eBay harddrive.
Brokerage fee: $40.
Way to go UPS!
P.S. Waiting for class-action.
How about $54.18 for an item I didn’t even get…
They even sent it to collection.
I too,have just been ripped off by UPS,& our Govt. On an 8 day trip to the U.S.I purchased a piece of Giftware for $170.00 U.S.and paid the Store $30.00 to have it shipped to me in Toronto,as I have done many times before without incident, from all parts of the world.Imagine my shock when my box was delivered,but held for ransome to the tune of $67.52 for Brokerage Fees. What’s more, I do not owe any Duty, as the article was fully declared in my Customs Allowance. If I am to recover the Duty paid, I now have to incur further expense (parking,gas etc.)and the time consuming trouble of going in person to the nearest Customs Office .
I have also had a very hard time dealing with UPS – they have taken cash-on-delivery to cover taxes and duties a half-dozen times – and then sent me duplicate invoices EVERY SINGLE TIME. I get harrassing recording messages to my cell, threats of debt collection agencies – BUT I PAID, and have explained it all to them many times, along with invoice numbers and faxed receipts!
Just unbelievable!
Ordered item from new company online:
$79.95 item
No tax
$80.63 with shipping charges
$44.10 UPS BROKERAGE FEE!!!!!
Researched same item to order Canadian version – cost $115.00 + Shipping + HST = almost $150!!!
What’s wrong with this picture?????!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Have ordered from amazon.com before – shipped by UPS – no brokerage fee…
Listen to this, I bought a used laptop from Ontario coming into the US , the laptop was not as the seller advertised,so I send it back, same laptop returning to Canada, Now UPS wants Brokerage fees over $50. This has to be stopped, I will contact UPS corporate office in the US. I am waiting to sign into class action against these thieves.
I bought a fishing sonar in Toronto, made in US. I sent it back to company for repair. A week later got the same unit back to Canada by UPS. UPS wants $68.07 for import charges. I don’t want to pay. But what can I do?
could only find halloween costume for son from this place in China called lightinthebox. Paid $104.99 for costume including shipping and handling. When UPS delivered they said I owed another $21.00 for a brokers fee. I had never heard of this. Also this was our second package from this company within about 5-6 days and that package had no extra fee. I always thought shipping and handling fees covered it. This has turned out to be a expensive Halloween. I am really disappointed the costume was also missing items and it is very difficult dealing with these people so beware of this company (lightinthebox).
UPS is as bad as the Mafia. I order about $100.00 worth of vitamin supplements from Florida and I paid the company $17.85 for international shipping to Canada. UPS shows up at my door and demands another $30.00 ‘brokerage fee’.
We really need to start a lawsuit against them here in Ontario. What they’re doing is nothing short of extortion.
My Uncle sent a watch for my son’s birthday from US.The value of the watch was $101.00. When the parcel arrived at my home the UPS driver told me that it was C.O.D for 49.56. I asked him what that was for and he replied custom charges. Any way I paid the amount and went to custom office to find out why they charged me that amount. Custom officer told me that only $5.51 was taxes and the rest is brokerage fee. I phoned the UPS C.O.D line and all I heard was nothing worth listening too. This is robbery. to pay $50.00 in order to receive your gift. I hope some one start the lawsuit. I would never use UPS and will tell every one not to either.
I’m wondering why lawsuits have been filed against “ridiculous brokerage fees”… It should be filed for violating the law by UPS…
I’ve also been ripped off by UPS. But it seems these posts go back 3 years. Has anything been done about this rip-off?
Currently in the middle of an ebay nightmare because of this. Shipped a package over a week ago to a buyer in Canada. Thought UPS was safest most reliable. Knew nothing about this “brokerage fee” Of course the recipient does not want to pay it! They are trying to charge her $30 plus the $10 in canadian taxes for a $60 item that she ALREADY paid $20 in shipping for! Outrageous. Now UPS is saying they might charge me shipping Back to me!!
I am outraged.
To top it off the buyer put a hold on my paypal account for non-receipt of item-
I have asked her to remove this since this is all out of my control- we will see.
Be happy to sign
Yes, what a SCAM!!! Ordered an item worth $19.99 and the brokerage fees are $18.97, on top of the $18.69 shipping fee. WTF!!! UPS is a total ripoff and I will never use them again. The worst of it is I make the purchase online and only the shipping and product cost are totalled. Then UPS gets to your house and they want another $18.69 for brokerage! FUCH THEM!
Similar issue here – I’m now having a fight with UPS and Samstores. $83 item, $63 shipment. Shipment was split in two, don’t know why. Half was received, no problem. Remaining half worth $50 was tagged with $41 in fees. Not happening. Refused it.
Same story for me… Used video game valued at $50 (which was mislabeled by the seller, I actually paid $25 for it). $0 duty, $2.52 of GST and $29.55 of “Broker Fees”. When I complained to UPS about it, they had the nerve to tell me this was considered “competitive pricing”.
I was sent a book from New York City as a review copy from the publisher (i.e. a gift), sender put a declared value of $60 on the customs label. UPS shows up at my door and wants $100 brokerage fee. WTF? No way am I paying UPS $100 for a $60 book I was being sent for free! I refused delivery and told the sender by email if he wants me to review his book he had better send it USPS. He did, right away, and go figure, Canada Post didn’t charge any taxes or fees on it, it just arrived in my mailbox.
Similar story with a $30 framed painting my wife ordered, UPS wanted $100 brokerage. What’s wrong with this picture?
I refuse to buy from any American online retailer or eBay seller that only uses UPS. If USPS isn’t an option at checkout they lost my business.
I bought a coouple nail clipplers from US, to quebec for about $ 60 but UPS charge for broke fee $30, what thief company, I will never do again any deal with this F..Ck company.
I bought a few replacement cables for a charging device because I lost the original. The item was $5 and shipping $15, but I added some extra accessories for a total of $44 + $15, since the shipping charge was the same.
When the parcel arrived there was a $40.28 COD charge for brokerage fees.
I complained on the UPS website and got a break down of the charges – there’s a total of 7:
– Duty $1.05
– CA Customs HST $5.84
– Brokerage HST $3.29
– COD HST $0.55
– Entry Prep Fee $19.45
– Bond Fee $5.85
– CA COD Surcharge $4.25
Its crazy they can make up so many bogus charges to justify the outrageous fee.
One thing I got from their customer service rep was any parcel under $20 CND will go through without the brokerage charges.
Well, here’s my story that just unfolded two hours ago. I swapped some WW2 collectibles with a friend in the US (I’m in Canada). No money was exchanged. It was a straight swap. I sent his items via registered air mail which arrived at his end in four days. He shipped my items via UPS. The package took 16 days to get here. I was shocked that a $343.89 brokerage fee was applied !!! There is no bloody way I am paying that. This is ta otally absurd surcharge. How can UPS be getting away with this highway robbery? I am going to raise a stink over this that they will smell for some time. I never suspected that UPS would engage in such extortion, and will now refuse to do busines with anyone who uses UPS. Furthermore, I will go out of my way to dissuade anyone from using this gang of thieves. Through my company connections (which deals internationally) this will cost them considerable business.
Two weeks time, four packages received. $152 total demanded by UPS. These were all Christmas gifts, only one package was something we’d ordered ourselves. Latest demand? Tonight: $38 on a $40 gift my husband ordered. The seller didn’t mark it as a gift like they were supposed to, and my hub had no idea it would be shipped UPS. We asked the driver what would happen if we refused delivery, and he said they’d charge us double for shipping it back across the border. Um, WHAT?
We’re ready to dispute any cc charges via our bank if we need to, but what a hassle.
Apparently most UPS agents automatically state on the CN22 Customs declaration form a default value for a shipment as $100US(or about $106CDN), which means that the poor sap in Canada has to pay a DOUBLE brokerage fee and higer taxes on an item valued less than $100US. This is UPS’ dirty little secret. See link: http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shipping/cost/zones/customs_clearance.html
Well, might as well share my ludicrous situation. Just received a box of Christmas presents for my fam from my mother in the States. The UPS delivery guy made me pay $172 taxes/brokerage fees for a GIFT! I hate to admit, but I never knew the gift exemption limit was only $60/person.
UPS is just wrong to be charging such high brokerage fees, plus they add on a c.o.d. fee and another lame fee. I will NEVER receive a UPS shipment demanding brokerage fees again. I called the Lachine UPS to try to rectify it, but once you accept it, there’s nothing else to be done. I’ll stick with good ‘ol Canada Post.
Just so everyone knows that the gift allowance for gifts coming to canada is set by the canadian government. It is $60.00/person per item and it can not be from a business to a person or from a business to business or person to business. Therefore if your paperwork is filled out correctly and the gifts are from person to person and do not exceed more then $60.00 each item then receiver will not be charged and also the items must be itemized on the commercial invoice and must have for each person they are for.
and another thing is that it must state clearly “GIFTS” on the paperwork
Me again, don’t know if this is old news, but thought I’d share. There IS a class action suit against UPS Canada for Ontario and Quebec:
http://www.classaction.ca/actions/Consumer-Protection/Current-Actions/United-Parcel-Service-Canada-Ltd-(-UPS-).aspx
Guess we weren’t the only ones to get bamboozled.
I just bought a racquet for 48 dollars. A retard shows up at my door wearing the UPS uniform and wants to collect another 40 for brokerage fee and tax though the racquet was duty-free. Thats almost 100% of the price of the racquet! im boiling angry now as i have told the seller to ship as GIFT now i do not know what to do.
I ordered some Nudie Jeans off of their website for $250, and to ship to canada was another $30, fair enough, tax would have been $32 at a retailer if i had found them. so 280 were spent on the jeans. then behold the ups driver, comes to my door, drops off the package, and asks for FUCKING $144.31. MORE than half the price for ONE pair of jeans. goddamn fucking ridiculous. never again will i ever EVER use ups.
this was my first time with them too.
We should all start a (or another, since the one launched in 07 has not been successful yet) class action lawsuit against these outlaw thieves.
I ordered one a set of 20″ rims from the U.S via ebay and paided over $300 in shipping. When the rims arrived UPS tried to charge me a extra $80 bucks.. what a rip after i paided $300 so i refused the shipment.
I also ordered a set of rotors and brake pads from Ontario which was shipped to me in Calgary. I paided the shipping fees and UPS tried to charge me a brokerage fee COD of $96??? whats wrong with this picture as well?? I didnt know that Ontario is a different country and we have to clear customs? lol what a scam.. UPS is a scam! there should be regulations on how this company can do their crooked business.. almost like the payday loans business charging ridiculous rates.
Please someone start a lawsuit in Calgary
I don’t think anyone has paid as much of a “brokerage fee” as I have, I live in Canada
This is my story: Bid for a used iPhone and won it cost me 350$ about and shipping was 30$, I go track my item on their website everything is great until I see it get stopped for a few days while it was getting cleared ok fine I don’t mind, but when it cleared and they delivered it to my house they demanded another 112$ to pay for the brokerage fee which I have no clue what it is.
But I mean come on that’s a little bit freaking excessive if you ask me.
Just bought an aqua vu great deal on ebay $265 additional shipping and handling charges $46 delivery a house an extra $93.
feel totally ripped off. bastards
I’ve had it with UPS. I received an item from the US, shipped via UPS despite my efforts to have it shipped via regular mail.
I was hit with a $50.00 brokerage fee, DESPITE THE FACT THE SHIPPER STATED THE ITEM’S COUNTRY OF ORIGIN WAS CANADA!!!!!!!!!!
I called UPS to find out why there would be such a BS charge, there response was “Well, we represent you at the customs service and need to charge you.” After arguing the fact that there was no work to clear my item, I gave up and hung up.
I think UPS has their hands on the most online shipping. I just order labelonline.com and got charge over $55.00 US for there brokerage fee! Can we do something about it here in Calgary?
I just ordered a gas tank for a new motorcycle the tank cost $600.00 I paid $44.00 to UPS for shipping and when it arrived I was hit with an extra $100.02!!! I could have used normal U.S. Postal and it would have been a flat $36.00 but I wanted to get it here faster.
Seriously WTF why should shipping cost 24% of my order it’s disgusting I’ve looked multiple times and there is no mention of any extra fees involved in the ordering process on this specific site.
UPS are dirty thieves plain and simple every Canadian screwed by UPS should write the Better Business Bureau and send some hate mail UPS’s way. I know I will.
Heads-up to everyone:
The reason you did not expect a brokerage fee is because you have no idea what international shipping entails. This is why you retain a customs broker. You have the option to travel to the border to clear your own goods if you prefer.
The brokerage fee (which is based on the value for duty of the goods in your shipment) pays the folks who secure release of your shipment and pay the duty/taxes (in advance) on your behalf.
Amount of duty/tax? Irrelevant. Even duty-free and GST exempt shipments require customs clearance.
Origin of goods? Irrelevant. Even Canadian goods re-entering the country require clearance.
You can avoid COD and disbursement (or bond) fees by pre-paying customs charges over the telephone prior to delivery of your shipment.
Canada Post is able to clear shipments at a fraction of the cost because they do not have the same business model as any brokerage which is not run by the government.
TL;DR version: UPS didn’t screw you, they got your shipment into Canada despite your ignorance.
who does broker work for ups. if you are right then every one is right f. ups and ship usps
If you don’t mind waiting the extra 6 weeks.
I’m 100% with you on that. If you don’t want/need or can’t afford a certain level of service there is no reason not to go with another option. Huzzah for capitalism.
im 18 years old ordered stuff for $161 and 30 dollars for shit then at the door 90 dollars for duty fees i told them to go f them selfs what should i do from here my shipper did not tell me of these fees
They did it to me twice. The third time I fought by refusing to accept the item and asked them to fax/mail me the waybill. I said I will take it to the custom to pay for duties. They give me a run around for a few days. Finally, they told me they will not charge the brokerage fee and I pay a duty and taxes for just $5 instead of $35.
I will never buy anything from seller who don’t ship with USPS. I rather pay $15 or $20 more on shipping but I will not pay a $35-$50 brokerage on top of shipping charge. Also, one must also consider that USPS is usually ship faster than UPS.
I know all business want to make a profit and I don’t mind it but UPS just went too far. Let send UPS a message by class-action law suit or not using them as the courier.
i recently ordered something that’s 99.99 that already includes shipping. UPS is asking for a brokerage c.o.d. due of $808!! THAT IS F*CKING BULLSH*T.
The writer who wrote my brokerage c.o.d. due made the mistake of not putting a period between the #s it’s actually $8.08 and not $808
I bought a used item (a wedding dress actually) in a private sale online from someone in the US. The item itself cost $1200 USD. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that the seller was sending the parcel via UPS and I also didn’t know that UPS charged obscene fees to bring parcels into the country. When the Purolator guy (yes, UPS in my Ontario city is run through Purolator) showed up at my door asking for $230 in UPS brokerage and duty fees, I was shocked!….. $230!!!! What is worse is that I ended up returning the item and didn’t receive a duty/taxes refund for it. I tried contacting UPS Canada but it is closed on the weekend so I called the US UPS hotline and the woman didn’t know much at all about brokerage fees or how I would recover the associated fees (such as duty/taxes) that made up the $230. I reframed my question as though the item I had bought was a shirt from a local store: if I returned the shirt to the store, the store would refund the cost of the shirt (like the seller of my item) as well as the taxes I paid on the item (like the duty/taxes)…. well then the UPS woman understood what I was getting at but STILL didn’t know if I could get my money back and said I would have to talk to Canada customs about that. USELESS! I ended up sending the parcel back using Canada Post and didn’t get any money back for the duty or taxes that UPS forced me to pay. Worst experience ever. I hate UPS. UPS completely takes advantage of their position as a cross-border courier and it’s disgusting!
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/forms-formulaires/b2g.pdf
The place to mail the form is at the bottom.
You will also need the UPS invoice to prove you paid the money, and proof that you sent the gods back to the shipper (the southbound commercial invoice).
Not the broker’s fault. They don’t set the duty/tax rates and they don’t decide the casual shipment refund legislation. Nor did they force you to RTS the goods.
We had our cell phone (bought in U.S.) repaired in the U.S.and when it came back we had to pay $60. We did not buy it at this time it was only being repaired. Why should we pay customs? I also previously ordered some vitamins from the U.S. and paid $30 brokerage fees over and above the cost. The whole thing is ridiculous and now I don’t buy anything from the states.
The cost of a repair is still taxable. If you had taken it to a local repair-shop you would have paid GST on their fee.
That said, if it was a warranty repair it should enter GST free–assuming the commercial invoice was completed correctly by the US shipper. Check the invoice that came on the box and I bet it’s marked “sale”.
If you don’t want to pay the fees of the courier’s broker you have the option of appointing your own broker or clearing it yourself.
I recently purchased some brewing-related equipment from a company in the states. UPS stuck me with a brokerage fee almost half the cost of the item in question. There was also significant difficulty in getting the shipment delivered.
The solution is simple.
I was planning on purchasing a quantity of other equipment from this particular company, and I intend to send them a list of those items, and to let them know that due to the shipper they chose to use, I will be obtaining those items elsewhere, as soon as I find a seller willing to ship USPS. I live in a rural area, VERY far from the nearest UPS/Purolator depots. People need to refuse to use UPS, if enough customers demand USPS shipping as an option, retailers will provide it.
UPS wanted me to pay $60 in brokerage fees on a shipment worth $200! I refused to continue to get gouged by this company so I refused it at the door. I called UPS about this and they told me I had no choice or find my own broker. I looked around and found another broker by the name of Bay City Brokers from another blog site that a user has used.
Anyways long story short they cleared my shipment for a brokerage fee of $16.00, I don’t know how UPS justifies such a huge fee. Just so everyone knows we do have other choices. They have a chart on their website at baycitybrokers.com you can look at which compares fees. Hope this helps!
The best solution:
As UPS/FedEx are looking for any corner to rub people and they know complete cost of shipping for all of packages to Canada or U.S but they prefer to hide this from the sender to encourage sellers with a competitive shipping rate after shipping they know how to rip the recipient off at destination with brokerage or advance bull crap fee! This is absolutely their responsibilities like to deliver your item to your door free of any extra and hidden cost like any other shipping company.
I personally refuse to pay this fee and I contact the seller immediately in order to resolve the problem and get it paid by seller as I paid the shipping cost when I purchased my item. If seller doesn’t pay I would dispute my transaction through PayPal or my credit company! Why? Coz I am being rip off with a hidden cost of shipping, believe me it works 100%.
I think if everybody does the same, very soon nobody uses UPS or FedEx service because of this issue.
Guess what happens next, they have to cut the B.S off and deliver your package free of ridiculous brokerage or advance fee or else they would be out of the business.
Let me get this straight – UPS/Fedex rips you off, so you decide to do the same to an innocent seller instead, forcing them to make up for your “brokerage fee” by threatening them with loss of payment for the goods you bought (via a credit card chargeback).
You’re as bad as UPS. Shame on you.
Actually, the seller used a very bad shipper, so he deserves it.
I agree! This is a major SCAM and I got robbed of $114.00 a few mos ago too! I forgot to contact shipper to let them know about UPS Canada, but they probably don’t care anyhow! One thing for CERTAIN. I’ll NEVER use UPS again!
The best solution:
As UPS/FedEx are looking for any corner to rub people and they know complete cost of shipping for all of packages to Canada or U.S but they prefer to hide this from the sender to encourage sellers with a competitive shipping rate after shipping they know how to rip the recipient off at destination with brokerage or advance bull crap fee! This is absolutely their responsibilities to deliver your item to your door free of any extra and hidden cost like any other shipping company.
I personally refuse to pay this fee and I contact the seller immediately in order to resolve the problem and get it paid by seller as I paid the shipping cost when I purchased my item. If seller doesn’t pay I would dispute my transaction through PayPal or my credit company! Why? Coz I am being rip off with a hidden cost of shipping, believe me it works 100%.
I think if everybody does the same, very soon nobody uses UPS or FedEx service because of this issue.
Guess what happens next, they have to cut the B.S off and deliver your package free of ridiculous brokerage or advance fee or else they would be out of the business.
As soon as I came over to UPS “Brokerage fee” class-action Ronblog I can only see part of it, is this my net internet browser or the web web site? Should I reboot? Cheers Macey Lindsay
[…] […]
I was charged $78 brokerage fee for a $600 package. Called customer support, told them I’ll cancel my next 10 shipments with UPS (BS!) if they don’t refund my brokerage fee. Got the full amount back.
a few years back my father and i ordered a set of ford replica mirrors for his pick up as we were rebuilding it. the total was about 150$ us and then the ups dude comes to the door and asks for 78$ i nearly shit my pants it was so obscene. I called my father as i did not have the money at the time and he sadly paid it but not until after i gave the ups douche a piece of my mind on how they just raped us. I am not waiting for a package and see that the brokerage data was processed and i am not please to see that cause i know the dude will be asking for something. i am prepared to refuse the package and call my credit card company and inform them of the undisclosed added fees.
if someone is starting another class action i am in with fucking bells on email kinkydrummergirl@hotmail.com
Paid $50 shipping and just got a $100 brokerage charge for $200 worth of used rc equipment. Totally bummed, could have bought it all new locally with that money.
Just was told that I have to pay $69 when my non taxable $200 safety glasses show up. Brokerage fee plus taxes that should not have been paid? Haven’t received item yet. $50 is a nice round figure, ridiculous amount however for a service that wasn’t even done properly. This is definitely a money grab on UPS’s part that all Canadian’s should be aware of when ordering items online from the U.S. A nice little hidden charge. I have no objection to paying taxes but have no desire to do business with companies with unscrupulous business practices and hence will be cancelling my UPS account. Be aware of who your item is being shipped with when ordering online.
Shipper,
After carefull review of the situation regarding UPS and their policy of adding an extra charge for their “standard delivery” I wanted to pass this information for your benefit. There was a class action lawsuit filed against them and won, however, is currently being appealed by UPS in the courts of Ontario, Canada. I read online the judgement against them, a lenghty 119 document, citing reasons why brokerage fees are not lawful, etc. It appears that UPS only charges the hefty brokerage fee for their base service, attempting to recover competitive low costs against other courier services. Thousands of complaints are aimed at them constantly, attested to by the blogs people have spoken through . Its seems to be a common story. The unsuspecting customer is always shocked when the already paid item arrives at their door COD, requesting exhorbatant levies, often near 100% of the price paid for item. My policy now is to never order anything online whereby the shipper uses UPS for the delivery.
andrew
I’m too a victim of UPS brokerage fees; but what makes even worse is that the merchandise came damage and I had to return it. It was an expensive technivorm coffee maker. It was very well packaged for impact but I think ups put weight on top of the box and broke the hard plastic coffee reservoir. I asked them for the refund for the damaged goods and they told me they will be investigating since the seller in Canada told me to return it via usps, not ups. The seller has refunded me for the damage package since I insured it the package – thank god -but ups refuses to refund me those illegal fees and first and foremost for something I didn’t get since it was damaged! Now everytime I called ups international they give different answers and one of them is that is the government fees and they won’t refund it! Wow, where in the world you get paid for bad or no service!
Hello everyone
I myself just received a package today, declared $50.00 in goods in the package, approximately $30.00 was paid to ship it from California to Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. So it comes to the door and with me not home my wife paid not knowing, $40.00 in ‘brokerage fees’…needless to say I called UPS and demanded to know how they can claim that amount on a package of goods listed at 50 bucks when the shipping was already paid. Wasn’t hanging up until I spoke with a supervisor but of course they were all ‘busy’…anyways, by the time I was done ripping a side off of the guy on the phone he refunded all of it back to my wife’s credit card except taxes due at the border, so 33 bucks and change back. You have to stand up to these jerks or they will have their hand in your pocket at every turn. Funny how the North American Free Trade Agreement doesn’t apply to UPS, with goods made in America they still try to play ‘we had to pay duty’ card on ya…doesn’t fly…the government doesn’t ask for duty on US goods coming into Canada, why the hell should UPS be entitled to it. Hope they are sued into the stone age.
Tyler Caron DO NOT USE UPS FOR ANYTHING!! THE BROKERAGE FEES ARE INSANE AND THEY DO NOT ACTUALLY NEED TO CHARGE THEM! One item I ordered from the states was worth $300 but it did not fit so I had to return and reorder. The first time the brokerage fee was $59 dollars. OUCH. The second time (by this point I am really hoping the pants fit) they are saying the brokerage fees are going to be $90. That is $31 more for the same item 3 days later!!! WTF!? I will blast UPS at every turn I can until they pull back the outrageous fee. Just google “UPS brokerage fee class-action” to see how they are actually in the process of a lawsuit over this. Just look at the comments and see how many people are LIVID about this. The comments also show other options and how to get around this like using the post office. BOYCOTT UPS FOLKS!!!
http://shiptotheborder.com/
check it out, haven’t used it yet but might.
Got charged a $22.34 brokerage fee on a $24.99 item. WTF? Instantly rejected shipment. AVOID UPS LIKE THE PLAGUE!!
It is now time to initiate class actions in Ontario.
Grounds : Fedex and UPS charge undisclosed fees at the point of shipping. They hold goods at ransom for payment of this fee.
Any advise for a law firm in Ontario that will take this???
I have extensive paralegal experience including SCC Charter experience.
Will be prepared to issue documents for legal support.
I recently bought a $60 item, I pay $15 for international shipping, then it gets delivered to me through UPS, they didn’t ask for a signature (not that I remember anyway), and now they mailed me an invoice saying I need to pay an extra $30. $10 for the bond fee (WTF IS A BOND FEE AND WHY THE FUCK WOULD I NEED TO PAY IT?), $9 for Duty, $8 for CA Customs HST, and $1.30 for Brokerage GST/HST.
I would like to know if anyone else has just ignored the invoice and what they would do. I read that they’ll just send you more demanding you to pay it, but if you keep refusing, what the hell can they do right?
If anyone knows if this is a smart move, let me know! I’ll hold onto this bullshit invoice for a bit before I decide what to do.
A long time ago I got ripped off by UPS and their insane brokerage fee when I purchased from Ebay. For two years they stopped charging a brokerage fee and then today I got nailed again. Now however they don’t send in invoice they collect it at your door- I fought with the driver and threatened to call the police on him, he was very aggressive. I called UPS and got 100 lame excuses. Paying GST- and/or customs fees isn’t my beef- I am OK with that- paying $125 for shipping of an item and then being charged $50 at my door for a brokerage fee because UPS brought my package through customs for me! Ya that’s what the seller paid you $125 to do- and bring it to my freaking door! It’s extortion- they hold your package hostage and today they told me if I refused it they would charge the seller to have it returned to her! It was also glass and the box had two huge puncture holes and they said “we don’t insure glass” WTF? they charged the seller for insurance! They charged me brokerage fees based on the declared value- used glass from an old car! I hate UPS- they are running a very profitable scam by double charging people- it’s time they were stopped. There have been many sellers on Ebay that list “No hidden brokerage fees” as this was hurting their sales- I am not sure if they have a contract of sorts with UPS so that there are no hidden fees- but for the rest UPS is still causing problems- my seller had no idea this would happen and even UPS had the gall to say to me “we can’t tell you ahead of time or the seller- what the fees will be”! They further told me that the postal service doesn’t charge brokerage fees because we pay taxes and our taxes are paying for brokerage fees! Trying to make the government look bad and steer my attention away from them ripping me off? I would love to join a class action law suit. From now on I will only deal with sellers who guarantee no hidden fees or guarantee using the postal service.
As my name states, I am a driver for UPS. In no way am I here to defend UPS and their insane brokerage fees. I like to purchase items from the USA; just like everyone else. I refuse to have any international shipments come through UPS. I always use the Post Office. I see several people get ‘ripped off’ every day because of these unjustified brokerage fees. Often times, it is the exact same consignee getting ripped off several times. They complain each time, and they typically take it out on me.
One question I have always had is “how stupid is this person?” Reason I ask, is because after being ‘ripped off’ once, why do these people still continue to use UPS as a carrier for their international shipments? Once bitten, twice shy, right? Apparently not for some though. I have sympathy for the customer the first time, however, when I go back to your house 2 and 3 times, I can’t help but wonder if you’re completely brain-dead. Several vendors sell the exact same product. Spend some time trying to find the one that ships via USPS or Royal Mail, etc. It’s not difficult.
The reason I have decided to respond to your post, however, is the fact that you took this out on your UPS driver. Let me make this very clear: we (UPS drivers) have NOTHING to do with your brokerage fees. We are there, simply doing our job. We are told to collect the money stated on the COD paperwork. If the customer refuses to pay, we are to take the package back to the depot (maybe it goes back out the next day, maybe not until a ‘brokerage dispute’ is settled with UPS). We are not able to adjust the amount owing, and we have no idea how UPS determines the amount owing on your international shipment. I hate when people assume it is the driver charging you this amount. Here’s a secret: WE DON’T CARE WHETHER YOU PAY OR NOT. We don’t care if your shipment goes back to the sender. Simply say whether you’re going to be paying it or not, so that we can get on with the rest of our day (contrary to what you may believe; you’re not our only delivery of the day, and we don’t have several minutes to stand there and have you take it out on us). We are just there to deliver the item to you, and collect any money owing on it (on behalf of UPS; not ourselves). We don’t see a dime of the money owing.
So, SHAME ON YOU for taking it out on your UPS driver. It is not his/her fault. The fact that you threatened to call the police on him/her, is ridiculous. What did you plan on having him/her charged with? If I were the driver, I likely would’ve asked you to please call the police and then I would’ve pushed for HARASSMENT charges on YOU.
You’ve stated that the driver was aggressive with you. Imagine this: you know that stressful, 20-30 minute drive you have to your heated/air conditioned office in the morning? Try doing that 12 hours/day, no a/c (in the summer), little heat (in the winter), drivers that don’t have a clue how to drive, bad road conditions, the stress of knowing that if you’re involved in any kind of accident, you will lose your job; whether it’s your fault or not (no joke; driver’s have been hit in intersections by drunk drivers, and they’ve been suspended for several weeks with no pay pending investigation). I understand, I signed up for this, and it is a career I have chosen to stick with. However, I did not sign up to be yelled at by uneducated, ignorant people who, for some reason, can’t seem to grasp the fact that the brokerage fees have NOTHING to do with me. I am already sent out with more work than can be safely completed in 12 hours. Don’t hold me up even further to ‘give me a piece of your mind’. I’d like to get home and see my family before they’re all in bed.
The only thing I’m here to defend, is the fact that you shouldn’t take this out on your driver. I definitely don’t agree with the outrageous charges I see on a daily basis. If it was in my control, I’d waive the brokerage fee for everyone. Obviously though, that’s not within my power. Best of luck to everyone with a class-action lawsuit. It sure would be nice if I didn’t have to watch innocent people get ripped off by a multi-billion dollar company anymore.
Well, if you’re the public face representing a shitty company, get used to it. Whether you feel bad or not, you make a salary off these policies. Continuing working for them is essentially tacit approval.
I agree that it is unfair for a delivery person to have to take the brunt of someone’s anger. Unfortunately life is unfair. People get angry. If I worked for UPS and this happened to me, I would find myself another job before someone got so angry that they grabbed their pistol and shot me. You never know when you will be the last straw that breaks someone’s sanity. Maybe some guy just lost his job, got divorced, or his mother just died. Maybe even worse.
As for UPS, now that I know they are such asshÅles, I will avoid them like the plague. I understand FedEx does the same thing. Okay then, to the post office for me! I don’t tolerate extortion from anyone, but especially greedy corporate bastärds
It is 2018 and nothing has been changed. The UPS drivers should ask their managers why customers hate so much the company. It does not matter who is at fault. Hopefully, someone will bring them down legally. In the meantime, we will not provide UPS with any option to get our business. Yes, we will educate other people to avoid UPS.
I fought with the driver and threatened to call the police on him”
And what is the Police going to do for ya you stupid bitch ? Its a civil matter and has nothing to do with the Police so go and eat shit
Currently dealing with UPS re: hidden fees against charge of $236.00 for shipping free items. The items being sent were donations from friends of my US Cousin to myself as I am disabled, am on a fixed income and cannot afford to purchase these items myself. 1st Issue, UPS refused to accept package at any location other than a Customer Care Center due to order being placed online. My cousin had no printer and their website clearly states that they can print out labels at any location. However this was not the case, UPS refused to print shipping labels. This caused a 12 day delay as closest CCC was 50 Miles away and their pick up option had charge. 2nd Issue, CCC Rep. Informed my cousin that he had to fill out an invoice for insurance purposes only, thus in order to ensure the items were properly insured and not knowing original pricing he guessed in the aspect of safety where-by unfortunately overvaluing these donations. 3nd Issue, once package arrived, UPS put in false information and claimed failed delivery attempt due to security door and refused redelivery unless buzzer number was provided. Security Door and Buzzer does not exist at my residence. 4th Issue, After profusely calling me a liar about the status of my dwelling they finally agreed to redeliver same-day. Except at this point I was informed “…so how are you going to pay the COD charge? Cash or Credit?”. They are now currently holding my donations in Dieppe NB and refusing to deliver. Any recommendations?
I agree with all of this. Man, I hate UPS–they just tried to charge me $22.50 on a package that was worth $19 (and for which I had already paid $6.99 shipping–you know, the money that you pay to get someone to bring you something).
I already knew that UPS was basically a criminal organization in this respect, so I never order anything through them any more. However, on this occasion an eBay seller which listed “USPS” as the shipping method decided to ship it UPS anyway and bomb me with the charges.
“Brokerage fees.” How about I brokerage the nose of whichever extortionist runs this syndicate…
UPS is scum!!!!
They are still at it. Eight months after I ordered a book, I get a bill from RMS for 14.98 for UPS brokerage fees.
I am frustrated when US sellers refuse to offer the option to ship via USPS.
I am frustrated when they insist on shipping to Canada only by UPS.
I know that I will get robbed by UPS and their brokerage fees so I decided to abandon my shopping cart and find a Canadian supplier instead.
What I hate about Canada is that we are in 2016 and most businesses still don’t have an online presence.
The reason why I shop from the USA is because Canadian businesses are invisible online, don’t have an online shopping cart and are difficult to impossible to find.
When googling the products I want it is always a American business that shows up.
I get furious when that same business only ships with UPS.
It appears that I will have to make my own stuff instead of buying it. Free markets don’t work.
For someone that might come to this site just to let them know that nothing has been changed in 2018. I am not sure why I should be worried with UPS business model. Lol, they can live in their muddy pond on their own.
* Ordered item from the USA
* Did not have idea that UPS is what it is
* Was not at home at the time they attempted delivery
* Was stunned with the notice
* Red online posts and everything was clear
* Went to UPS and cleared my item on my own
* It was more time consuming and looked more expensive than paying crazy UPS brokerage fees but felt good
* I completed all papers and UPS gave mi the item
* One month later UPS sent again warring and an invoice to pay fees
* I could not reach their customer service because they work 9 to 5 like me
* One month later they sold my “debt” to RMS (Receivable Management Services)
* As far as I can see they sold nothing for a few pennies
* Nobody is at fault at UPS all nice guys
***** NEVER UPS AGAIN****** ANYONE READING IT IS EASY TO REMEMBER NEVER UPS EVER****
***I LOVE UPS BECAUSE THEY SAY LOVE AND HATE GOES TOGETHER***
I am wondering what has happened to these class actions? I for sure know that this is now about both UPS and Fedex. They both charge non-sensical brokery fees. In my opinion, we need a class action against both companies and I think a Canada-wide action might work better. So my question is: why can’t we do a Canada-wide class action? My most concern is not about simply the past, it is about stopping them from doing this wrong practice for good and for ever.
I recommend avoiding them at all costs. There are a lot of brokers with a way better quality/price ratio.
I wonder why the extreme hidden fees charged by UPS and FedEx for shipments to Canada are tolerated by US sellers.
These hidden fees are very bad for US business. I personally abandon 1 to 2 purchases per week when the US seller only offers UPS or FedEx as shipping options. It has now become lower in cost to ship from China or Europe to Canada than from the US. Silly situation.
Can we do this again now in the USA? UPS is so much worse since 2020. I sued to order from Japan a lot before 2020 with UPS and after 2020 they charged me $1200 after I received a package. They sent it to collections and I dont know what to do. The items were all junk auctions but it was a lot so it added up.