Buying from Canada a hassle for you too?


I have had 3 nightmare transactions from Canada.
This ,I hope is not a reflection on Canadian Agon members,however, issues exist like never before.
I had a CD PLAYER held up at customs for 1 month by the FDA claiming it contained consumable goods.
I know the US does not want our senior citizens getting discounts on prescription drugs they need,therefore,everything must be getting delayed.

I can ship/get shipments from/to China,Russia and the Middle East easier and faster than Canada.

I guess it shows where our security priority is.

It's okay to mess with us just don't mess with those Pharmaceutical companies.

There is one common thing that does seem to occur with shipments fronm Canada.

And that is, they definately take their time shipping things to us.

I think most US Agon members try to ship the item as soon as they are paid or maybe a day or 2 later.

Canadian members like to take a week or so and then ship the item in a different manner than arranged.

These have been my experiences anyway.

I need to hear other stories,as I soon may not deal with Canada if this is the new norm
darealjaydee
There was an earlier thread that suggested using postal system and, I think, UPS by air.

Fedex is, if I remember, a nightmare.

Also, another suggestion especially when buying from a dealer. Write "replacement parts installed under warranty' on the box.
Puuuullllleeeeease!

We take longer than normal to ship? Talk about a stereotype mentality! I've acutally shipped stuff to the US when payment was also "in the air". Let me advise there are good and bad A-gon members on both sides of the border when it comes to shipping, etc.

I'm not saying that its a perfect transborder shipment process but if the shipper does up the paperwork correctly you'll have no problems. Now if you all agree to use a courier service there may be brokerage fees, etc. involved but if you think these guys do everything for free you are pretty naive. Canada Post to USPS is a better method for lower cost when dealing with small items less than $1K although once the shipment crosses the border the tracking info dies. DHL, Bax Global and a few others do a good job on bigger items although all of them have dropped the ball (or the cd player...) at one time or another.

If you've had 3 nightmare transactions why wouldn't you have stopped after the first? Maybe you might try a second one with fingers crossed but after that went sour why try a third and then moan about it after the fact? You are not the only one who feels this way and hopefully you and those like you don't respond to ads based up here. Don't waste your and our time.

My advice to you is shop at home. Statistically you are better off as while our population ratio may only be 10:1 (10 Americans to 1 Canuck) just canvass the ads here and you'll see that there are probably 20 or more to 1 in terms of for sale ads within the US. And with the recent surge in the Canuch buck its more expensive to buy from up here now anyways...
I ship next day, I don't know about everyone else.

On both sides of the border, shipping UPS and Fedex ground is easier than the Post Office, if your buyer wants to pay a large brokerage fee. If not, then it is the Post Office with it's variable quality service and useless tracking.

Also, if you pay by money order, consider that it takes an international money order drawn on a Canadian bank 10 days to settle. If not drawn on a Canadian bank, 30 days. Postal money orders for more than negligble amounts can take dseveral visits to cash, as they are dependent on the post office having enough cash on hand to cover the money order. With all the counterfeit US Postal Money orders floating around, I would never ship without cashing first.

etc.
Well ......facts are the facts here. I agree,why go out on limb on more than one occassion? I also sense that our weak dollar does bring out a bit of anger from our friends up North. Today things have gotten much more difficult at all borders .........