That d*mn courier thread.

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DHL has sent my package out for delivery twice. Neither time was it delivered nor delivery even attempted. I'm a bit baffled here. Like where is the driver going all day? I guess I'll have to contact customer service and see if I can just get it held for pickup since it seems like they can't figure out how to deliver. Hopefully they at least still have it...
 
DHL is a bit of a mess lately, we bought some stuff from Ebay and one of the boxes got routed incorrectly, another package supposedly was delivered but it was not...supposedly it was scanned incorrectly...let's say I'm underwhelmed with DHL lately where they used to be my favorite courier a year or two ago. (currently Fedex and UPS are pretty good out here, weirdly enough)
 
After talking to customer service and having them confirm they would have the package held for pickup at a location I chose, they delivered it today to my house. Happy got it but kind of funny they only delivered it after I told them not to
 
Shipped a Venev from the US into Canada via UPS and these were the fees. I am absolutely enraged. $77 charges from UPS? :mad:

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Tekkz said:
Shipped a Venev from the US into Canada via UPS and these were the fees. I am absolutely enraged. $77 charges from UPS? :mad:

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About average for UPS Standard Rates. They start at something like $50 and then tack on a % based on the value of the shipment. Total a*holes on that as they are charging $77 to collect $14 in taxes.

UPS Expedited to Canada is worth the up-charge. IIRC, they reduce the brokerage fee to something like a flat $10.
 
esoo said:
About average for UPS Standard Rates. They start at something like $50 and then tack on a % based on the value of the shipment. Total a*holes on that as they are charging $77 to collect $14 in taxes.

UPS Expedited to Canada is worth the up-charge. IIRC, they reduce the brokerage fee to something like a flat $10.
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I wish I had known this before. I'm not even selling the Venev, just lending it so someone can try it. He already paid the fees to get the package released and I feel terrible.
 
Tekkz said:
I wish I had known this before. I'm not even selling the Venev, just lending it so someone can try it. He already paid the fees to get the package released and I feel terrible.
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For the future, there is a process to which the recipient can do self-brokerage (involves going to a government office though). As well using USPS is a good choice - based on what I've received there is about a 5% change it will be caught for taxes and Canada Posts handling charge is only $10.
 
Tekkz said:
Shipped a Venev from the US into Canada via UPS and these were the fees. I am absolutely enraged. $77 charges from UPS? :mad:

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MSicardCutlery said:
IMO the only reason to use UPS is freight. There's nothing they do for regular parcels that standard USPS or CP doesn't do better for cheaper.
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^ This.

I had sent Matt something through USPS and it took a world-wide tour before just coming back to me. So when I went to re-send it, I thought I'd check with UPS first. I was gun shy of going USPS. UPS quoted something like $50+ to ship! I went back to USPS, spent the fifteen bucks and it arrived fine that time.

EDIT: It might've been a second package but either way, same-same outcome.
 
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MSicardCutlery said:
IMO the only reason to use UPS is freight. There's nothing they do for regular parcels that standard USPS or CP doesn't do better for cheaper.
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I just wish UPS was upfront about it. I had no clue that their brokerage fee would be $77. I knew about import duty & taxes but there was zero transparency about brokerage fees.

Obviously I won't make that mistake again. Still seems super scammy to me if other companies can do it without charging insane amounts.
 
Tekkz said:
I just wish UPS was upfront about it. I had no clue that their brokerage fee would be $77. I knew about import duty & taxes but there was zero transparency about brokerage fees.

Obviously I won't make that mistake again. Still seems super scammy to me if other companies can do it without charging insane amounts.
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Yeah I'm with you on that!
 
Tekkz said:
I just wish UPS was upfront about it. I had no clue that their brokerage fee would be $77. I knew about import duty & taxes but there was zero transparency about brokerage fees.

Obviously I won't make that mistake again. Still seems super scammy to me if other companies can do it without charging insane amounts.
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+1. Just got bitten by UPS today as well, now it's on perm ban for my international shippings and gets a deserved finger. sigh
 
Tekkz said:
I just wish UPS was upfront about it. I had no clue that their brokerage fee would be $77. I knew about import duty & taxes but there was zero transparency about brokerage fees.

Obviously I won't make that mistake again. Still seems super scammy to me if other companies can do it without charging insane amounts.
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It's buried in their rate guide for Canada.
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of course they have to charge tax of their fees as well 🤦
 
For shipping into Canada, I find Fedex to be the best for brokerage fees. As in they don't charge any if you have an account with them. Then it's regular postal service (Canada Post, USPS) which is $10, then DHL at $18 CAD. UPS is a deal-breaker.

I find Fedex isn't very popular though unfortunately. I wonder why that is. Higher prices? Unreliable?
esoo said:
For the future, there is a process to which the recipient can do self-brokerage (involves going to a government office though). As well using USPS is a good choice - based on what I've received there is about a 5% change it will be caught for taxes and Canada Posts handling charge is only $10.
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I can say >$100 cad I've always needed to pay customs/taxes and brokerage. You must have some good luck having things slip through!
 
binsed said:
For shipping into Canada, I find Fedex to be the best for brokerage fees. As in they don't charge any if you have an account with them. Then it's regular postal service (Canada Post, USPS) which is $10, then DHL at $18 CAD. UPS is a deal-breaker.

I find Fedex isn't very popular though unfortunately. I wonder why that is. Higher prices? Unreliable?

I can say >$100 cad I've always needed to pay customs/taxes and brokerage. You must have some good luck having things slip through!
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With FedEx, I'm at 95% for not having to pay anything (taxes or fees)

Taxes are taxes, but duty and brokerage piss me off.
 
esoo said:
With FedEx, I'm at 95% for not having to pay anything (taxes or fees)

Taxes are taxes, but duty and brokerage piss me off.
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Really...maybe customs agents in your area are just a little more lax than mine...

Well, you could argue duties are taxes, just additional on top of regular hst. Although I don't think kitchenware (at least knives) incur any additional duties in addition to HST. Might depend on what the sender labels the item as when shipping. I've only paid HST, no additional duties for knives.

Ya outrageous brokerage fees are just the shipping companies charging us for shipping twice lol.
 
binsed said:
Really...maybe customs agents in your area are just a little more lax than mine...

Well, you could argue duties are taxes, just additional on top of regular hst. Although I don't think kitchenware (at least knives) incur any additional duties in addition to HST. Might depend on what the sender labels the item as when shipping. I've only paid HST, no additional duties for knives.

Ya outrageous brokerage fees are just the shipping companies charging us for shipping twice lol.
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I'm in the GTA so they are likely overworked.

As for duty, it depends on how the shipper codes it. I've had to pay duty a few times. I don't record duty seperately on my records so not sure how many time exactly.
 
So I want to ship my buddy a knife and I have never done so before. What's the current recommended courier? USPS? FedEx? DHL?

For reference it would be from NC to NJ
 
I recently bought something from JNS and DHL shipped it to the wrong address. After I opened up an investigation they said they retrieved it and shipped to the the right one and closed the case - but it was never there. I called again and got a claim number which they said I should tell the vendor - so I reached out via email but have been left in the dark for a few days now. Anybody had an experience like this or have any advice for what to do in this situation?
 
TheDza said:
So I want to ship my buddy a knife and I have never done so before. What's the current recommended courier? USPS? FedEx? DHL?

For reference it would be from NC to NJ
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I personally would use USPS. I don't know the knife value you will be sending. I do Priority (usually with signature required) and I also insure for the value. That makes it a bit expensive, but you can save by dropping some of the options.
 
TheDza said:
So I want to ship my buddy a knife and I have never done so before. What's the current recommended courier? USPS? FedEx? DHL?

For reference it would be from NC to NJ
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Register on Pirateship and use their service. The cheapest vendor for shipping knives in the US is usually UPS or USPS for me. I don’t think there’s any clear “best” courier.
 
Blumbo said:
I recently bought something from JNS and DHL shipped it to the wrong address. After I opened up an investigation they said they retrieved it and shipped to the the right one and closed the case - but it was never there. I called again and got a claim number which they said I should tell the vendor - so I reached out via email but have been left in the dark for a few days now. Anybody had an experience like this or have any advice for what to do in this situation?
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have the shipper handle this, as receiver there is little you can do and even less you can make the courier do...
For transactions including shipping make clear agreements/find ouy local laws on who is risk carrier until hand ed off to you.
 
If anyone is shipping to / from Houston use anyone but USPS right now. Absolutely absurd delays due to tech system changes in the sorting center. Multiple weeks of radio silence on 4 packages I’ve sent or received. Took 13 days to get an envelope from Houston to Houston. Hopefully resolved soon but I’m not optimistic
 
That sucks.

All the coffee roasters I have bought from that were not local used UPS for shipping; I guess this illustrates why :(
 
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