Hi Volks,

My employer has been put on COD terms with UPS in a dispute over
brokerage fees. We bring in a LOT of crossborder shipments with many
US-based suppliers and it's been a big problem for us. I always ask
my ebay sellers to send stuff US Postal Service rather than USPS.

I also got hit with an overcharge from Canada Post on duties for a
$50 ebay muffler I had shipped up from NJ... They taxed me on an
estimated $200 for the part. I could have disputed it, but the $$$
involved and the hassle of proof was more trouble than it was worth.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
1973/74/75/77/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
www.busesofthecorn.com

On 25-Oct-06, at 9:00 PM, Nathaniel Poole wrote:

> Happened to me once - bought a motorcycle jacket online and UPS
> wanted 50
> bucks or so. I was not told anything about this from anyone when I
> decided
> to buy the jacket (I was told a shipping cost which did NOT include
> this
> amount). The vendor was flummoxed when I phoned him. But I had the
> jacket so
> told UPS to bite me. A few nasty letters and then nothing. They still
> deliver stuff though...:)
>
>
> On 10/25/06 5:09 PM, "Jim Arnott" <jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> Spotted this in this morning's daily dose of 'news.' Link: <http://
>> cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2006/10/24/2115440-cp.html>
>>
>>
>> October 24, 2006
>> B.C. man sets off suit against UPS
>> By TERRI THEODORE
>>
>> VANCOUVER (CP) - Hidden fees seem to be an everyday irritant for
>> consumers, but a B.C. man is so angry about a fee charged by United
>> Parcel Service he's willing to become the point man for a class-
>> action lawsuit.
>>
>> It started after Robert Macfarlane purchased an amplified telephone
>> device from Arizona over the Internet last year. He knew he would
>> have to pay shipping and handling fees and government levies, but he
>> was also ordered to pay a $38.40 brokerage fee charged by UPS.
>>
>> "It's outrageous," said Macfarlane's lawyer Jim Poyner.
>>
>> "It's a surcharge that nobody agrees to, nobody knows anything about
>> it until the delivery person is at the door."
>>
>> Poyner said Tuesday he expects hundreds of thousands of people have
>> been in the same situation across the country, and there are plans to
>> file a similar lawsuit in Ontario.
>>
>> "It's certainly a problem that affects the entire country."
>>
>> The lawsuit has been filed under the Class Proceedings Act, but the
>> B.C. Supreme Court must first determine if the case fits the criteria
>> for a class-action lawsuit.
>>
>> The court action claims the UPS brokerage fee is "so harsh and
>> adverse as to constitute an unconscionable practice."
>>
>> The same Canada Post service for goods shipped from the United States
>> to Canada costs $5.00.
>>
>> A spokesman for UPS was unavailable for an interview.
>>
>> Poyner said people are usually never told there will be an added fee
>> until there's a knock on the door.
>>
>> "(The delivery person) has your goods in one hand and the other hand
>> is out wanting to be paid more money," he said.
>>
>> The lawsuit accuses UPS of misleading and deceptive practices by
>> failing to get the consumer's consent, not telling the consumer about
>> the fee and not allowing the consumer to arrange their own customs
>> clearance.
>>
>> Not only does Macfarlane want his own money back, but the lawsuit
>> wants everyone who paid the fee reimbursed.
>>
>> Poyner said the other major goal of such a lawsuit is what the court
>> calls "behaviour modification."
>>
>> In one of 10 remedies requested in Macfarlane's statement of claim,
>> it asks for a permanent injunction stopping UPS from continuing to
>> charge the fee.
>>
>> It also asks for punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages.