UPS brokerage charges lawsuit

[NomoZ]

A couple months ago I ordered a bare sword blade and pommel from a site in the US through my friend(i dont have a credit card yet). UPS left it at his doorstep so he didn't sign for it.

A month later they left an UPS envelope at his door with an invoice in it for brokerage, gst, etc so we decided that we weren't going to pay and if they asked we were going to tell them to prove that he recieved it since he never signed for anything.

It's been atleast a month and a half since we got the invoice and still haven't heard a peep from them.

[SKI]

I use a brokerage firm that has reasonable rates. Any shippment that comes to the border is flagged and goes through them. I don't know if you need a vendor's permit to use a brokerage firm or if you just need to set up an account with them. The nice thing is that UPS still sends the package as far as the border and then they have to turn it over to whatever company my broker uses.

[Jake]

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

UPS' normal trick from the people I talk to is to hand the parcel to you right at the door and not ask for a cent, a few weeks later you get a bill for the brokerage fee.

That is exactly what happened to me. A $70 brokerage fee for a $170 item came in the mail 2 weeks later. There's no way I would have paid that if the guy would have asked for it at the door. I haven't used them again since.

[Gryphon]

I've been raped by this BS a few times also. The worst was when they asked me for $80 brokerage on an item that THEY BROKE IN TRANSIT.

Lately however it seems things have changed, or I just happened to have real good luck. I imported a $250 LBV from the States and UPS actually called me to ask who my broker was. Since I didn't have one I asked what my options were. One was to have them do it, which I promptly rejected. The second was to do it myself. I went to the UPS office, drove a few blocks to the customs office with the UPS paperwork, paid my taxes after telling them what it was, went back and got my parcel. Piece of cake.

The next time I had something come UPS was a massive bulk order of those cheap plastic PASGT helmets from eHobbyAsia. I'd ordered sixty of them and they came in two large cardboard boxes, unbeknownst to me by UPS. I had them held for pickup and went to get them at the sortation plant after UPS did the brokerage themselves. Bear in mind this was a four-figure order so I made sure to bring a liter of KY. I think my heart skipped a beat when I read they had only charged me some $15 total for everything. Not only that, but the second box came a couple of days later and they'd be closed by the time I was available to come get it, so they put it aside for me and said "Oh sure, just come down anytime and we'll let someone in the plant know you're coming to get it." I showed up at like 9 pm and got it without a hassle at all. Color me impressed.

On the whole I agree, USPS/CP, FedEx, Purolator are far superior. FedEx has charged me brokerage on occasion but certainly nowhere near what UPS has.

[spacemoose]

I hope UPS loses on this.

They sent a 30 dollar brokerage bill to the wrong adress, and sent my bill to collections.

[ILLusion]

I don't think they will lose on this. Almost all courier companies have these brokerage fees that are roughly in the same price range.

DHL
Fedex
TNT

... they all have it. You just don't hear about it so much because the business courier industry is mostly saturated by UPS.

[Sgt_Lynch]

Yeah, UPS is a joke unless you are shipping something substantial. But then, the Postal service tends to 'loose' things on a regular basis.

I laugh when I see EBay auctions for $10 items, and the only shipping method into Canada is UPS. I'm like: "Damn, some fool is gonna freek when he gets the bill".

Good to see someone is finally fighting this BS. Unfortunatly, I doubt anything will come of it.

[LUTNIT]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

I don't think they will lose on this. Almost all courier companies have these brokerage fees that are roughly in the same price range.

DHL
Fedex
TNT

... they all have it. You just don't hear about it so much because the business courier industry is mostly saturated by UPS.

I've recieved one DHL package from the states with a declaried value of $250 and several through Fedex for values from $200-500 and I've never even had to pay more than $40 for customs charged (normally its only $14-25.) Am I just lucky?

[ILLusion]

I always received an invoice for the brokerage fees, taxes and duties anywhere from 2 to 25 weeks later.

[Sgt_Lynch]

Well, I owe them $82. Which quite honestly isn't bad for a $2500 receiver... at least it frickin got here.

[as_styles]

DHL is a better service, UPS I have revieved brokerage fees sometimes up front sometimes a few weeks later with UPS....

[thephenom]

As much as Canada Post isn't that great of a service anymore, that $5-7 customs fees is much more reasonable in my books. FedEx, never had to pay customs since it's usually returns from warranty service.

And what Gryphon said is true, you can go to the airport customs to clear these package yourself without UPS/FedEx or whatever, just have to wait in the line for a few hrs and get some paper work filled in.

[safx]

I import items all the time from the US and Asian, and in my experience UPS has the highest fees of any of the other major shippers. I've also heard that UPS doesn't use an internal system for processing the cross boarder items, and that they use an outside source. UPS is also notorious for opening parcels labeled as "gift" or with a suspect low value. Once they have opened it the fees start piling up. And if they do not believe the value is correct they will hold your item until you can fax them proof.

If you need speed and don't want to pay a rape charge, then I would recommend DHL, they've been really good for me lately. My fees have been lower with these guys. Expect a bill within a week or 2.

FedEx, Puralator etc are roughly the same, decent service, respect the gift and value and have medium brokerage fees.

The absolute best way to ship if your not in need of lightening fast service is to use the local Airmail service. USPS in the USA and HK Airmail are very cheap and shipments arrive in 4-10 business days. Since Canada Post picks them up and completes the delivery, gift and values claimed are always respected and the cross boarder fees are minimal. GST and PST gets added if the item was a sale and contains an invoice, or around a 100$.. I think.

[Laike]

I hope he wins, I order from Airsoft GI once in a while for parts and random things, but I always end up getting screwed out of alot of cash because of UPS and their damn fees. Really have no clue why they have to charge so darn much.

I remember I ran a group order of vests, and the damn brokerage fee basically doubled the damn tax and I ended up having to pay 150 something for 300 dollars worth of vests!

[goughbrandon]

Originally Posted by Gryphon

The next time I had something come UPS was a massive bulk order of those cheap plastic PASGT helmets from eHobbyAsia.

That seems sort of odd for eHobbyAsia to ship with UPS. I've ordered many things from them and they've always shipped it by HK Airmail then Canada Post took over once it reached Canada