UPS Sucks!

john vanlandingham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> heymagic Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Well we ordered a tire Sunday evening online
> from
> > Motorcycle Superstore in Oregon and it was
> here
> > Tuesday mornimg..UPS.
> >
> >
> > A couple years ago ACP had some dog gears
> shipped
> > to my business from England by FedEx. 3
> months
> > later FedEx bills my shop for $60 or so for
> > Customs charges. My only connection was the
> > shipping addy.
>
> Yeah they do that.
>


I can also confirm that's a regular practice for them. Doesn't mean I paid it, though...

Doivi Clarkinen Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> john vanlandingham Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > heymagic Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Well we ordered a tire Sunday evening
> online
> > from
> > > Motorcycle Superstore in Oregon and it
> was
> > here
> > > Tuesday mornimg..UPS.
> > >
> > >
> > > A couple years ago ACP had some dog
> gears
> > shipped
> > > to my business from England by FedEx. 3
> > months
> > > later FedEx bills my shop for $60 or so
> for
> > > Customs charges. My only connection was
> the
> > > shipping addy.
> >
> > Yeah they do that.
> >
>
>
> I can also confirm that's a regular practice for
> them. Doesn't mean I paid it, though...

I wussed out and paid it, but ACP took care of it later. Seems a pretty sketchy practice.

UPS also has to pay for the Teamster's Union. I had a friend who worked at UPS for a few years. Corrupt as all get-out. People who came in drunk and late consistently, and who broke things, couldn't get fired because the union wouldn't allow it.

--sarge

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---** To be in compliance with the Anarchy **---
Jorden R. Kleier
Baraboo, Wisconsin, USA
1990 Mazdog Protege 4WD
1973

Yes, UPS has a brokerage fee for GROUND shipping US to Canada.
CANADA REVENUE DEPT(government) charges the duties and taxes.
Shipments from the rest of the world to the US will result in duties and taxes to the recipient in the US.
To avoid the brokerage fee to CANADA send the package AIR. Typical brokerage fee for an under $50 item is about $25. So compare prices for air and ground.
The UPS STORE.
UPS regulates the price UPS Stores can charge for UPS SHIPPING. They do not regulate PACKAGING CHARGES. Many times it is cheapoer to package large items in 2 seperate boxes than one large one. At the UPS online website you can calculate SHIPPING CHARGES. For example a 10 inch diameter light about 4 inches deep should be packed in a 14x14x8 inch box minimum. Two of the same lights would go in a 14x14x20 inch box.The single light might cost $18 to ship in the US ground. The 2 lights in the same box might cost only $4 more. If you use the UPS website to figure costs you MUST HAVE THE OUTSIDE DIMS AND WEIGHT OF THE FINAL SHIPPING CONTAINER. You need to educate yourself on shipping costs. I have seen businesses fail because they could not control shipping prices. The big boy shippers(millions of dollars a year in UPS charges) can write their owncontracts with UPS etc.
I am in the shipping business. I do this every day.

NickLeone
packackandship.biz

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Nick Leone
Former scca member

Brown is awful. For domestic shipments they are more or less acceptable but if you're crossing a border you may as well shoot yourself. Their standard brokerage fee is $59 plus whatever Revenue Canada charges in duties and taxes, UPS brokerage service is really unreliable, often taking two to three additional days to get stuff "out of customs". They also suck at communicating lost or stranded parcel status -- I've had numerous shipments go missing, they send "lost" parcels to a depot in Montreal and destroy them after 3 weeks without notifying the shipper or intended recipient. And, in my experience brown mangles and loses more packages than FedEx. FedEx has it's own issues, the delayed random billing on brokerage that Gene mentioned being the most annoying -- they are better at getting packages delivered and better at keeping them in one piece in my experience.

I've also had USPS parcels get lost completely and others take three weeks to get through customs as well.

IMO, since roughly 80% of Canadians live within an hour's drive of the US border, the best option is ship to a friend on the US side and pick it up. Or see if your employer (or that of someone you know) does regular importing. B2B shipments with a dedicated broker are significantly cheaper and more reliable than one-off shipments through the shipper's broker.

Cheers, Ted

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Pure mathematics is the enemy of every truly creative man -- Sir Alec