NEVER, ever use UPS when shipping cross boarder

[quarkx]

I offer the following rant, to the few people in the US that don't know. It has probably come up in the forums before, and I would Assume that it is common knowledge, But UPS SCREWS Canadian's right up the old poopshoot when shipping things from the US to Canada.
We are SUPPOSE to have "Free trade" but there is NOTHING "free" about UPS.
I have been buying and selling stuff on e-bay for years, and the first time I ran into UPS is when I bought a $5 DVD off ebay and they wanted a $55 Canadian "Boarder Fee".
I just got an A4000D here and last night, UPS attemped to deliver it with an $80 boarder fee. Now I already paid for shipping and now they want a COD of ANOTHER $80! I don't know about you, but I generally don't carry $80 around "just for the fun of it". They are Crooks, thieves and extortionists and should be hunted down in the streets and decapitated with a spork.
I guess it would not be soo bad if the called before hand and told you there was a charge. And guess what? The drivers don't carry change! They want EXACT fees only!
No other Courier charges these pretend fees for COD.
I usually beg the shipper to send USPS, for there never is more than a $10 customs fee. It may take a week, but they never ask you to drop your pants and bend you over at your front door.
UPS may be good for people who ship within the US and most people have an account with them, but NEVER ship with them out of the country.
Sorry, just my 2 cents.

[quarkx]

Doing a google search, I see that there is a class action lawsuit against UPS for the brokerage fees. Even going by there OWN chart, this A4000 Should only come to about $50 with GST. It looks like this happens all the time, charge as much as the customer will pay and hope to heck they just pay it and not look. Well, it looks like there are ways (be it sneaky and under handed) to get around it. Even the Canadian Customs website says the flat fee is only $5 plus GST. UPS's website has so many "add on fees" to justify the "other" charges

amigakit wrote:
Heavy fees- good warning.

We use Canada Post for most small items and FedEx for items over 2.2 lbs.   FedEx is very efficient which keeps our customers happy- especially selected US East Coast customers who can receive their order within next working day (usually two working days to West Coast).

Amiga Kit, I had to pay a $35 COD Fed Ex charge on Wednesday from my A1200 package from you. $35 I can live with, but I paid HALF of what I paid you for this A4000 and MORE for shipping upfront to UPS (about twice as much-due to weight-obviously), so we all know that UPS is a big scam.

[quarkx]

Sad thing is there is really nothing you can do until AFTER you pay, unless you have a Customs Clearance Center in your city AND its the one that UPS used. You CAN then refuse delivery, request ALL the UPS paperwork and go down to the Custom center, pay $5 and "Clear" the package yourself, then go and pick up the package from UPS.Spend a day to run around, and if the Clearance Center is across the country, you are SOL. UPS holds the Package as Ransom and does God knows what to it while it is in hold. You can always write a "bum" cheque and fight with them later, but now you have the package.It's Sad that the "easy" way is illegal, and you could get charged for fighting an illegal injustice with another illegal act.
Looks like they got me by the short and curleys. I am hunting though.

UPS ONLY does this to private individuals though, they bend over backwards to please Businesses and big corporate clients.No corporate client will ever see a "Brokerage Fee".

[quarkx]

UPS NEVER mentions it to the shipper, Probably for fear that they actually wont ship with them. You should Google "UPS brokerage fees" and see the thousands of complaints that they have. The Media in Canada have even investigated them, and it seems the moment you get the media involved, the Fees suddenly get reversed or refunded. Maybe that's the key. get the local media involved again.
The fact that they don't even follow their own charts really burn me more. It's a crap shoot with them.