Forget Christmas...it's UPS I HATE!

[iaresee]

ARGGGGHHHH!

I bought a GT-500 off a guy in California and he shipped it UPS. NOOOOOO. I had the yellow delivery note of doom on my door today when I got in. $160 CAD is what I paid him for the pedal. UPS wants $63.78 before they'll hand it over. Argh.

Any Americans reading this, repeat after me: USPS is good, UPS is bad. USPS is good, UPS is bad.

[adamthemute]

Yeah screw UPS and FedEx...I once bought a used Larrivee C-09 from the States, and UPS charged me $300 in "brokerage" fees.

I got it back eventually, but I always go with USPS now or I don't buy it.

[zdogma]

I think UPS is the worst. Here's my experience from last month:

I bought an attenuator and a blue dog from Weber (225$) and the Fed Ex charges for brokerage and tax were $24 (less than 10%).

Mojotone sent me some guitar parts (69$) and the brokerage and taxes were $42 (more than 50%!!!) That's highway robbery. I will never buy from a US company that insists on using UPS again.

[NB_Terry]

I bought some AKG headphones on ebay for $67, the seller wanted $20 to ship them, then UPS wants another $41 when they show up at my door. Brutal!

USPS is the way to go.

[fraser]

man that sucks-
i guess its kind of a crap shoot- i just had an acoustic guitar shipped fedex from the states. arrived yesterday in a huge 6 foot tall box- no brokerage, taxes or customs fees- total shipping cost was 30$ which i paid to the seller when paying for the guitar. was afraid i was going to get dinged- maybe lucky?

[iaresee]

I specifically asked the guy to ship USPS. I even bartered down on the price because I didn't want super fast courier shipping. Some people don't listen...

[Robert1950]

I found out about this when I bought a camera lens in 2001. All I have to say is...

UPS,... BAD! EVIL! NOSTFORATU!

[Gilliangirl]

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/Gilliangirl/upsvsfedex.jpg

[Robert1950]

LOL !!! I love it!

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/Gilliangirl/upsvsfedex.jpg

[Ophidian]

Thats doesn't surprise me. It's scary how little training couriers get.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f176/Gilliangirl/upsvsfedex.jpg

[bRian]

I always go with USPS now or I don't buy it.

That's my moto too, I also got burnt. I made a trade with a guy in New York we agreed we'd both use the post office, I held up my end but he shipped his UPS, long story short, I got dinged $138 to get my guitar. Didn't cost him anything to get my amp.:mad: The only thing I can figure is that US postal employees must be a-holes to deal with when it comes to cross border shipping. I heard stories from a lot of Americans who say that would never ship anything out of the states via the post office.

[mario]

I too alway's insist on USPS or I do not buy it. Oh well...I played a GT-500 and it is a wonderful pedal. No sense beating yourself up about it.

[J S Moore]

I have noticed a lot of companies are now using USPS EMS service. It's more on the front end but a lot less coming across the border.

I had my R8 shipped by UPS and was fretting about the fees but when it got to my door it was less than $300.00. Having paid $2800.00 for the guitar I figured I got lucky.

[iaresee]

I have noticed a lot of companies are now using USPS EMS service. It's more on the front end but a lot less coming across the border.
Yea, if he'd said to me he wasn't going to honour my request to use USPS and really wanted to use UPS I would have ponied up the extra $20 for UPS Air service, which includes the brokerage fees. The cheapest UPS option is apparently cheaper than the cheapest USPS option to Canada but it comes with a heckuva bigger price tag on the receiver's end.

I had my R8 shipped by UPS and was fretting about the fees but when it got to my door it was less than $300.00. Having paid $2800.00 for the guitar I figured I got lucky.
It's completely hit and miss with UPS. I shipped a CiJ Tele to a guy in Florida UPS and he didn't pay a dime on it. Same deal for the MiUSA LP he sent me. And then sometimes the bill is ridiculous like this one. I honestly think they screwed something up here. He said he declared the value as CAD$160. It's made in the USA. The bill is just too big. I'm going to have to complain I think.

[kous]

I always try to convince the seller to mark it under $60 and send it as a gift. Completely avoids all duties/fees. If its from overseas, I found sending it as a gift @ $100 seems to do the trick.
I'm not too worried about insurance; guitars don't break that easily. And usually the packaging is "good enough". If it doesn't come with a HSC, I ask if they can separate the neck from the body and stick a bunch of fragile stickers on it. But some sellers don't like to go against the law... I personally don't see whats wrong with it, there is no loss for them.

But I agree; UPS has :2guns: me couple times.

[zdogma]

I always try to convince the seller to mark it under $60 and send it as a gift. Completely avoids all duties/fees. If its from overseas, I found sending it as a gift @ $100 seems to do the trick.
I'm not too worried about insurance; guitars don't break that easily. And usually the packaging is "good enough". If it doesn't come with a HSC, I ask if they can separate the neck from the body and stick a bunch of fragile stickers on it. But some sellers don't like to go against the law... I personally don't see whats wrong with it, there is no loss for them.

But I agree; UPS has :2guns: me couple times.

I always refuse to do this, technically its mail fraud, and if they ever decide to make an example of someone over this I think it carries like a 5 year sentence in the states.

[zdogma]

Yea, if he'd said to me he wasn't going to honour my request to use USPS and really wanted to use UPS I would have ponied up the extra $20 for UPS Air service, which includes the brokerage fees. The cheapest UPS option is apparently cheaper than the cheapest USPS option to Canada but it comes with a heckuva bigger price tag on the receiver's end.


It's completely hit and miss with UPS. I shipped a CiJ Tele to a guy in Florida UPS and he didn't pay a dime on it. Same deal for the MiUSA LP he sent me. And then sometimes the bill is ridiculous like this one. I honestly think they screwed something up here. He said he declared the value as CAD$160. It's made in the USA. The bill is just too big. I'm going to have to complain I think.


I've had this experience too. I have sent an expensive boutique amp to the states for a trade, marked this on the customs form (for trade), and nothing was charged on either end. AND I sent it UPS (didn't know any better at the time)

A loophole, maybe?

[kous]

I always refuse to do this, technically its mail fraud, and if they ever decide to make an example of someone over this I think it carries like a 5 year sentence in the states.

Yes, it probably is. But think about it this way: Anything you buy for yourself is a gift to yourself! :smile:

Besides, any sale from a person to person is like a private sale. If both parties agree, then it is absolutely no problemo!

[RIFF WRATH]

I have just received my second bill from FEDX for a Rondo purchase back in Oct... phoned FEDX on the first bill and said screw you, I don't have any business arrangements with you, talk to the shipper, person I spoke with said just disregard if paid by shipper? (so do these guys just give it a try and if you pay then they are ahead $)....I e-mailed Rondo and "spoke" with a nice chap there and he said that they had covered customs and shipping in the price ($50 canadian surcharge, I paid up front)...I wonder how many bills I am going to disregard before someone sics a collection agency on me???

Ive had a few small shipments from stewmac with no problems.

guess what people...you are taking your chances dealing with this foreign country we happen to share borders with....

bah humbucklers
RIFF

[ClintonHammond]

"I wonder how many bills I am going to disregard before..."
... you FK up your credit rating and don't know it.

I had a chum who did something similar.... was billed for something that he didn't feel he had to pay, told them to get bent and thought nothing of it. A few years later when he thought he might apply for a mortgage, they laughed him out of the bank.... When he had his credit examined, that company, from years ago had black marked him, and over the years it grew and grew and grew like a cancer. Took him quite a while and a LOT of effort to get his sh!t back together......

So you wanna be careful who you say "Screw you" to....

[RIFF WRATH]

Ya Clinton, and all I got to show is a couple of e-mail conversations with Rondo. I guess I will wait for bill #3 and then start putting things in writing.

BTW I am in no way knocking Rondo. I got my banjo case from them and am very impressed with the overall value and the quality. would deal with them again. (yup...I know ...no banjo pics yet....LOL)
cheers
RIFF

[ClintonHammond]

" I guess I will wait for bill #3 and then start putting things in writing."
It doesn't hurt too much to run a credit check on yourself once a year just to be safe too!

,-)

Banjo pics? What banjo? :-P Heh

[Geek]

I just had a conversation with Cafe Press.... they are using UPS *exclusively* for everything now.

Time to close my store there :frown: