wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Ok, I told myself I'd never do thids again, but there is a board I WANT in Canada. I just don't want to go through the circus and BS and ridiculous charges again that I had to endure last year. This included UPS calling me a month after the sale with a bill for $75 for import charges or something - AFTER I returned a damaged board to the seller. The shipping alone through UPS was $75 and then, because it was shipped from Canada, I had to deal with CAN UPS when there was a problem, and they had NO info on the US side of things - which seemed absurd to me. Anyway - what is the best way to ship a 185cm board? What is the best service (NOT UPS) to use? Insurance wise - how do I keep from getting in the situation I had last year where I had it insured, but the seller paid the shipper the insurance fee and UPS woulkd only give the insurance $$ to them, so when it arrived damaged I had to get the insurance dollars from the seller, who claimed the board was not damaged and at first would not return my money and then returned only part of it with her "costs" deducted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 It's been said many times here - use USPS and Canada Post. Do not use couriers, no matter what. I have been party to many cross-border snowboard shipments using the respective postal services and never once had a problem. No hidden charges. No brokerage fees. And only once did it take more than a week to get the board. It's such a piece of cake, I don't know understand the trepidation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willywhit Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I just got a board from Calgary to Boston. No probs. It went Purolator in canada to DHL in the US. Sent as a gift. I'm sending out a board today the same way. USPS is best ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor VonRippington Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Yep... regular mail has always worked great for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 It's been said many times here - use USPS and Canada Post. Do not use couriers, no matter what. I have been party to many cross-border snowboard shipments using the respective postal services and never once had a problem. No hidden charges. No brokerage fees. And only once did it take more than a week to get the board.It's such a piece of cake, I don't know understand the trepidation. Thanks for the info. I'm just asking for advice here - don't need comments about "how many times it's been said". :) And if you don't understand the trepidation after reading the above...then maybe you didn't read it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I just got a board from Calgary to Boston. No probs. It went Purolator in canada to DHL in the US. Sent as a gift. I'm sending out a board today the same way. USPS is best ? After searching the forum for "USPS Canada" (doh - should have done that first?) it does seem USPS/Canada Post is the way to go. That was just SUCH a NIGHTMARE last year it scared me off ever trying it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Sorry man, I wasn't trying to criticise. It was more a general comment. I've had a couple of deals aborted recently because a seller didn't want to deal with the "hassle" of shipping to Canada. It's one 2"x2" blue slip you have to fill out that tell Customs what's in the package. That's the extra hassle. The whole deal with insurance sounds like it could've happened with a domestic shipment. I've had two experiences with insurance claims. One, a paintball gun that arrived damaged (domestic shipment). I sent photos of the damage to the sender, he sent them to Canada Post. A week later, Canada Post sent a cheque to the sender and he refunded my PayPal account. The second was a very expensive set of speakers sent by FedEx. One arrived with a dented corner. FedEx claimed "improper packaging" and refused to cover it. The speaker was double boxed. So there you have it - for me, dealing with Canada Post was far easier when it came to insurance. I don't know if any of that is relevant to your bad transaction though. To me, it sounds like it's an issue with the seller and not the carrier. How do you know if a seller is trustworthy or not? I think we need a feedback system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Two boards, a set of TD1's and all my parts from Bomber. Never had an issue. Got my boots sent UPS, brokerage fees were $35US and all up a $80US set of boots ended up costing me nearly $200. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Sorry man, I wasn't trying to criticise. It was more a general comment. I've had a couple of deals aborted recently because a seller didn't want to deal with the "hassle" of shipping to Canada. It's one 2"x2" blue slip you have to fill out that tell Customs what's in the package. That's the extra hassle. No worries - thatz why I put the smilie next to my comment...just a friendly jab at ya! Again, thanks for the good info. The whole deal with insurance sounds like it could've happened with a domestic shipment. Yes and no - a big part of the problem was that UPS Canada and UPS USA didn't play nicely with each other AT ALL - i.e. I'd be told two different things by each one and they claimed not to be able to help me with the other! Worldwide shipping indeed!!! Sorry UPS - you suck! To me, it sounds like it's an issue with the seller and not the carrier. How do you know if a seller is trustworthy or not? I think we need a feedback system. Yes - BIG issue with the seller. She was probably trustworthy ina general sense (former Canada team rider) but her idea of what constituted "damage" and "condition" was WAY different from most folks. The board was a Prior and I sent photos of it to Dean at Prior and he backed up what I was seeing and it was only then that the seller complied in part. I say complied in part because she refused to refund shipping charges - when the damage and misrepresented condition were entirely her fault. She said, and I quote "I am not an expert on selling items, I do not know the ins and outs." Then why sell something? There was a thread I started about this last spring, and several people commented on the need for "feedback" ratings, but it never got any traction..it would be pain in the A** for Fin and the "buyer beware" seems to work pretty well for the majority of the time here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 If you must have a courier and tracking and all that, use EMS through Canada Post/USPS. I also receive lots of shipments from Japan through DHL and their brokerage charges are very reasonable. But if I'm not home when the courier shows up (usually the case) then the package ends up at their warehouse on the other side of town. With EMS or regular post, it just ends up at the local post office 5 minutes away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Whatz "EMS"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheffy Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 UPS======= Getting screwed everytime!!!!!!!!!!!!!.................ive got tons of stuff shipped from the USA to Canada and never have any problems with USPS(no extra charges what so ever)...the few times ive used UPS..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 EMS == "Express Mail Service". I think in the US maybe it's called GEM, Global Express Mail? I do most of my shipping back and forth with Japan, so excuse the terminology differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUD Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 From what I was told, it may be incorrect, just something to look into. If you send it USPS you may loose tracking once it goes over the boarder...... This was told to me buy a PS worker, it could be incorrect. Just one more thing to check out....... FedEx has tracking all the way through. I did the purolator/DHL thing with Big Canuck and had no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derf Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I second the USPS / Canada Post suggestions. I received bindings last year and a board this year through USPS / Canada Post and had no problems (no surprise brokerage fees). I only sent small items (Burton aluminium disks) through Canada Post and had no problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtanner Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I've also sent/recieved things to and from the States using the Canada Post/USPS route. It was quite easy and as long as you note the object being sent as a "gift" and with a very low declared value, you don't get hit with brokerage/customs fees. -Gord Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allee Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 I'm pretty sure Canada Post charges a flat $5 fee for clearing an item from the States, and then they just charge you the GST on the declared value when you pick it up. If it's under $10 total sometimes they won't even bother, they'll just deliver it (I've had that happen twice). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb Posted December 4, 2006 Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Never EVER use UPS. I have 2 differents kind of bad experience with them. Now, when I browse on EBay, I run away from seller that wants only to use UPS: 1. They charge excessive brokerage fees, no matter what is the value of the item: $35 fees for a $20 item would pissed off anybody. 2. Few years ago, a friend of me shipped his Mountain bike to a friend of final destination ( MOAB,UT ) to save the overcharge on airline. UPS lost it because of a wrong delivery. In the mean time, UPS did guarantee us they had the bike on hand, they would not agreed to pay him any rental fees, any damage, they asked us how many days we would stay in MOAB, they offer us to have it deliver to our next stop, etc. After six months of phone call and letter on their side, they finally refund him half the value of my bike because it was a 2 years old one.... Guess what, on our first day in MOAB we went in one of the bike shop where we found his box with his bike in sitting on the floor. The whole time they were saying they had the bike on hand, he was using it because we were lucky to go to the right bike shop;) . We rename it OUPS ! Never EVER UPS:nono: :nono: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavechaser Posted December 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2006 Wow - I should have made this a poll! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin A. Posted December 5, 2006 Report Share Posted December 5, 2006 And the poll would be "does UPS Suck?" :lol: . Anyway, when I got my coiler bruce sent it USPS if I recall and I had it in a week, no brokerage fees or anything like that. Go with USPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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