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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
riffer
362 posts
 
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.
byfo
120 posts
 
Ridiculous comments I must say! How do you respond?
zenieth
381 posts
 
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 .........
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,699 posts
 
I have had a couple of very successful transactions with our Canadian friends and look forward to many more in the future.

Chuck
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Actually, I have had no bad experiences buying from Canada, but I have had a couple problems shipping to Canada. The problem is with Fed Ex Ground, which is seperate for the Fed Ex Air. The problem I had was Canadians not paying the import tax, which Fed Ex Ground would then force me to pay. There is no duty/import taxes with gear coming into the USA, only when going into Canada. So buying has not been an issue. UPS, Fed Ex Air, and USPS do not release the package to the buyer until duties/taxes are collected. Fed Ex Ground will deliver w/o collecting, therein lies the problem. If the buyer chooses to ignore the bill from Fed Ex Ground, Fed Ex Ground will just pass the bill on back to the shipper. Needless to say it can be quite a pain to receive this bill 3 months after you've shipped the item. Live and learn.

Once you learn to avoid Fed Ex Ground when shipping to Canada, the problems dissappear. Either UPS, Fed Ex Air, or USPS works fine, though I'd recommend USPS. Even USPS has told me that it is tougher to ship to Canada then anywhere else in the world. This has only been since 9/11. Customs, paperwork, etc. I guess it's better to be safe than sorry though.

Cheers,
John
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