Canadian EF Users... Is there any way to avoid custom charges. They are a B!

Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
Reading this, I am so glad I'm in the USA. I'd send every package back. There's no way I could even afford those fees
12/07/2011
Contributor: Clandestine Clandestine
I just received my Black Friday order a few hours ago, and when the Purolator guy (no UPS here) came to the door and saw my credit card in hand, he said "Oh, you're aware of the fees, then."
In any case, he said the number, and I had to clarify,

"$60.16?"
"No, $16.16."

I was quite pleased with that! I had to post this, as I am not sure what happened: The order with the $56.00 fee had only the O2 Cush, A-Bomb and free wipes, whereas this had six items in total... Regardless, I'm happy.
12/07/2011
Contributor: sexy19364 sexy19364
Quote:
Originally posted by Gingy
what was their solution if you don't mind me asking?
They sent me a reimbursement. I wasn't really expecting it, but I am thankful for it regardless. ^^
12/08/2011
Contributor: Gingy Gingy
Quote:
Originally posted by sexy19364
They sent me a reimbursement. I wasn't really expecting it, but I am thankful for it regardless. ^^
that's great
12/08/2011
Contributor: Gingy Gingy
my fees ended up being $19.95 on a $160 order...hope this means that the fee schedules have been fixed
12/12/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Gingy
my fees ended up being $19.95 on a $160 order...hope this means that the fee schedules have been fixed
That would be straight up taxes without any brokerage fees.
12/12/2011
Contributor: Eva Schwaltz Eva Schwaltz
It's too bad EF is paying a lot of money for expedited shipping. My package was shipped Friday and I still haven't gotten it yet. Standard would have taken just as long.
12/13/2011
Contributor: ShadowKitten ShadowKitten
Quote:
Originally posted by Eva Schwaltz
It's too bad EF is paying a lot of money for expedited shipping. My package was shipped Friday and I still haven't gotten it yet. Standard would have taken just as long.
@schwaltze count yourself extremely lucky, I got my assignment package after an entire month of waiting for them to reship it and for it to arrive with no fees. I placed a new order today that wasn't an assignment and sent in a support ticket pretty much explaining that if it arrives with fees, I have no way of accepting it since UPS doesn't accept cash and my driver refuses gift credit cards as payment methods so I really hope they deal with the fees before shipping this one out as unfortunately I have no control over what stupid BS UPS pulls...I really don't want to stop ordering from EF but with the relatively high (compared to canadian retailers at least) international shipping rates and this recent fee fiasco even on orders that we're supposed to be getting in exchange for a review (not a review and 45 dollars >_> in fees) I don't see how I can.
12/14/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Clandestine
I just received my Black Friday order a few hours ago, and when the Purolator guy (no UPS here) came to the door and saw my credit card in hand, he said "Oh, you're aware of the fees, then."
In any case, he said the number, and I had ... more
It seems that we (Canadians) no longer have to pay the brokerage fee, but only the custom fees now and that is why the fees are a lot less now!
12/14/2011
Contributor: Eva Schwaltz Eva Schwaltz
Quote:
Originally posted by ShadowKitten
@schwaltze count yourself extremely lucky, I got my assignment package after an entire month of waiting for them to reship it and for it to arrive with no fees. I placed a new order today that wasn't an assignment and sent in a support ticket ... more
Ah that sucks. You would think with all the tracking info available, something like that wouldn't happen. As long as your order isn't very big, the fees are very small. My last package was only $3 and the one before that was $5. I think the value for them was around $90.
12/16/2011
Contributor: ShadowKitten ShadowKitten
Quote:
Originally posted by Eva Schwaltz
Ah that sucks. You would think with all the tracking info available, something like that wouldn't happen. As long as your order isn't very big, the fees are very small. My last package was only $3 and the one before that was $5. I think the ... more
that still doesn't help with the issue of people that only have cash or gift credit cards at their disposal to pay for any fees that appear...over the years I've never had any fees with (other) stuff I've gotten from the states and I order a lot of stuff!
12/16/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by ShadowKitten
that still doesn't help with the issue of people that only have cash or gift credit cards at their disposal to pay for any fees that appear...over the years I've never had any fees with (other) stuff I've gotten from the states and I ... more
...They wouldn't accept cash? That must depend on the place you live, because I paid my fee in cash.

Having said that...this was the first time I had ever had to pay those fees for anything I've ordered from the US, and I have to say that I'm wary of ordering anything else from EF (or, well, anywhere else) because I don't always keep cash on hand either, and you never know how much the damn charges are going to be until the delivery guy knocks on the door.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by ShadowKitten
that still doesn't help with the issue of people that only have cash or gift credit cards at their disposal to pay for any fees that appear...over the years I've never had any fees with (other) stuff I've gotten from the states and I ... more
It sucks, but that's on UPS and not EdenFantasys. They used to accept cash, but I guess the drivers didn't like having all that cash on them or something.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
...They wouldn't accept cash? That must depend on the place you live, because I paid my fee in cash.

Having said that...this was the first time I had ever had to pay those fees for anything I've ordered from the US, and I have to say ... more
If you don't live inside a city, UPS hands your package over to Purolator and they do accept cash so that could be why.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Serenesub Serenesub
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
If you don't live inside a city, UPS hands your package over to Purolator and they do accept cash so that could be why.
My purolator guy doesn't accept cash and I know him personally.. it's a company policy. They aren't supposed to take cash but some will if you find one willing to bend rules, at least here anyways. They say it can't be tracked so credit card or check is all they will accept.

Which yes, does screw some of us. Which is why I was hoping EF would add on a "Pay customs" option at check out which I've seen elsewhere.

I do agree though, it still doesn't explain why we suddenly have these charges. It's not that they're outrageous (though some were for a while) it's that up until now we hadn't been paying anything no matter how much our package cost. I know customs charges have always applied.. but we've never been charged them, it makes you wonder if something changed at customs or if they finally found their mistake.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Serenesub Serenesub
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
...They wouldn't accept cash? That must depend on the place you live, because I paid my fee in cash.

Having said that...this was the first time I had ever had to pay those fees for anything I've ordered from the US, and I have to say ... more
when you get a tracking number scroll down to the bottom of the page on UPS and hit the email button and select general as a topic and ask. It's what I do because my guy doesn't take cash and I don't have a credit card or check so I have to do some begging and pleading and paying of those around me that do.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Serenesub
My purolator guy doesn't accept cash and I know him personally.. it's a company policy. They aren't supposed to take cash but some will if you find one willing to bend rules, at least here anyways. They say it can't be tracked so ... more
Hmmm. When the Purolator guy made his first delivery attempt, I told him that he would need to come back the next day as I hadn't been prepared for any COD charges....he said that was fine and then listed "cash, credit or cheque" as payment options. Odd.

But I'm with you on the confusion as to why all of a sudden these charges are appearing when people have been ordering from EF for ages and never had them show up before. Yes, yes, I know that customs charges and all that can be part of ordering things from the US, but that doesn't change the fact that up until now, when ordering things from the US, a LOT of us have *never* had these charges, and now all of a sudden...BAM. (Not to mention the fact that, since I ordered the items from EF that had the COD charge, I've ordered things from other US companies and haven't been hit with COD charges for customs from them, so it's really weird to me.)

It just sucks that, whatever happened, we're getting slammed with these charges, and it doesn't seem like there's any way to know what the charges will be before your package arrives. I'm really hesitating about my next EF order because I wonder how much extra I'll be hit with at my door.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
If you don't live inside a city, UPS hands your package over to Purolator and they do accept cash so that could be why.
Yeah, I live outside the city in a rural area. We don't have UPS here, only Purolator, so I guess that's the difference.
12/16/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by Serenesub
My purolator guy doesn't accept cash and I know him personally.. it's a company policy. They aren't supposed to take cash but some will if you find one willing to bend rules, at least here anyways. They say it can't be tracked so ... more
Hmm... maybe it's based on area for them too, then. The Purolator guy that delivers mine accepts cash, but it's delivered to a business so maybe that's why there is an exception. Who knows! When I use my house address, UPS delivers and I have to ask them to hold it for pickup at the warehouse since that's the only way I can pay with debit.
12/16/2011
Contributor: toxie m toxie m
Holy. Hell. Alright, sorry guys, but I just have to rant for a second.

So: Knowing about all this madness that's been going down, I emailed Megan as soon as I placed my latest order to let her know about it because she'd been very helpful with my last few. The shipment got here super fast (2 days!) and I wasn't home to take care of it, so my mom answered the door and refused the COD charge, attempting to roughly explain the situation to the UPS guy (who apparently looked disgruntled and alarmed that she was refusing to pay). She told him that I'd be taking care of it and talking to EF. The tracking thing from this time reads
"Receiver has refused the delivery of the package. (domestic returned to sender, international - sender is contacted)."
And then
"The receiver did not want the order and refused this delivery. / Undeliverable international shipment. UPS is obtaining further instructions or approval for return shipment."

So, the next day I call UPS to find out what's what. I talk to a very nice lady, explain that I'll be in touch with the shipping company to see about fees because I've gone through this before, etc. I stress that I want the package held at the depot while I figure this out, and she confirms that it'll be there for 5 days.

I report all this to Megan, and two days go by and I haven't heard back from her. I just now go to check the tracking thing and it now says that the package is no longer in my town but was shipped out, and:
"The receiver stated the order was too expensive and refused this delivery. / UPS will contact the sender and/or receiver regarding the status or disposition of this package."

What happened to holding it for five days?! Why can't UPS ever communicate within their company properly and follow through with things? I am honestly so, so tired of this madness. This fiasco might be my final straw for ordering from EF. It'd be really nice if Megan would get back to me, at least. I'll be on the phone with UPS first thing in the morning trying to get my package and just pay for it and be done with it, but I'm so tired of constant complications.
12/18/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
I'm honestly starting to get frustrated with all of you complaining about the fees being charged. Those of us who posted in the first few pages of this thread were overcharged, which is why EdenFantasys was kind enough to reimburse us. From what I understand, they are still reimbursing folks (Which I've NEVER heard of another company willing to do), but the honest truth is that these fees are the buyers responsibility. Not the sellers. These are your country and province taxes. The same taxes you pay when you shop anywhere else. You receive a package valued over $20 cdn, you pay the taxes. That's just how it works!

If your package has been taxed at the correct value, you should be paying the fees yourself instead of asking for a refund.

/end rant
12/18/2011
Contributor: toxie m toxie m
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I'm honestly starting to get frustrated with all of you complaining about the fees being charged. Those of us who posted in the first few pages of this thread were overcharged, which is why EdenFantasys was kind enough to reimburse us. From what ... more
At this point I'm mostly just extremely frustrated by UPS' apparent complete incompetency. I ask them to hold a package, they say okay and then they send it away. The two other times I've been having issues they attempted to redeliver the same packages to my house three days in a row after agreeing to hold them at the depot (and even leaving a slip of paper with me confirming this). I explain the situation to one driver, watch him make notes on my package and say he understands what I'm talking about, and then the next day a new driver is at my door holding the same package. I mean, honestly.
12/18/2011
Contributor: Misfit Momma Misfit Momma
Quote:
Originally posted by toxie m
At this point I'm mostly just extremely frustrated by UPS' apparent complete incompetency. I ask them to hold a package, they say okay and then they send it away. The two other times I've been having issues they attempted to redeliver the ... more
Yea, I've had my own set of issues with UPS. Mainly because half the time they deliver a package, they don't even bother to knock on the door and just claim no one was home! I've also had them claim that I refused a package when they never even came to the door so I totally understand how incompetent they are. If you really want to get their attention, send them an @ message on Twitter. (@UPS) They take care of complaints quickly when you go public with them!
12/19/2011
Contributor: Serenesub Serenesub
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I'm honestly starting to get frustrated with all of you complaining about the fees being charged. Those of us who posted in the first few pages of this thread were overcharged, which is why EdenFantasys was kind enough to reimburse us. From what ... more
I was definitely over charged on a few packages. Like I said, I get the small fees, I know why the happen. The big ones were a problem obviously. Thing is, we're all wondering why we're being charged even the small fees when some of us have been ordering for a year or more and never been charged anything at all. I get the taxes, but when they haven't been applied before you wonder what happened.

I don't have a problem with paying my $5 when they come to the door when I can figure out a method to pay it. It's just odd that until now nothing was charged. There is just no way that pretty much every single person on this thread has been "lucky" until now and continue to be lucky with other companies. We just want to know if somebody finally caught a mistake or if something changed that made these fees suddenly come to light again.

I do get what you're saying though. I was overcharged and listening to people complain about having to pay just the taxes is irritating when it's just the way things are. It may not have happened before and it's irritating and confusing but it's WAY better than having to fork out half (or more) the value of the order just to get it.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Serenesub
I was definitely over charged on a few packages. Like I said, I get the small fees, I know why the happen. The big ones were a problem obviously. Thing is, we're all wondering why we're being charged even the small fees when some of us have ... more
Well, here's the thing, though (at least in my case, and I'm not going to apologize for "complaining" here on the forum): The amount I was charged did not match the amount I would have been charged simply to cover taxes. I've done the calculations, and the amount was WAY off. It just seemed to be an arbitrary number that was pulled out of someone's ass.

I think part of the issue, too, for most of the people commenting is that most of us had *never* seen those charges before -- I know I hadn't. Yes, yes, I know -- paying brokerage fees and taxes are "part of living in Canada and ordering internationally", so on and so forth, ad nauseum, but why are we seeing these charges *all of a sudden*, when some of us have been ordering online from the US for ages? Honestly, I think that's the part that bamboozled most of us.

Like others have said, for ME it wasn't the fact of the amount of the charges (although, as I said, I have done the calculations over and over again, and the amount I was charged does not match the amount of HST I would have been charged in a Canadian store had I purchased my items there). So the thing is, I can sit here now and try to figure out ahead of time how much I'm going to be charged for my latest order, but it may never match what the delivery guy tells me when he knocks on my door. THAT's my problem with it, personally. What is the charge for and how are they calculating it?

Having to listen to people "complain" -- well, that's going to happen when people are confronted with charges they've never seen before and, in some cases, were totally unprepared to pay, causing (in some cases) their packages to be sent back to EF without their knowledge or consent. It's a legitimate problem, and I think we have a right to bring it up and want an answer.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Serenesub Serenesub
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
Well, here's the thing, though (at least in my case, and I'm not going to apologize for "complaining" here on the forum): The amount I was charged did not match the amount I would have been charged simply to cover taxes. I've ... more
I Completely agree with everything you said. It was what I had tried to say, but it obviously didn't come across. When I said people complaining was irritating I meant the people that complained about having to pay the taxes that are standard (or supposed to be though we've never been charged them until now. I too want to know why those are suddenly being charged when they weren't before. I know they were supposed to be but they weren't.)and were not completely wrong. Paying $5 is not a big deal and not what I meant at all.

As for calculating.. don't bother. Just email UPS and ask if there will be any COD charges once it shows your package has cleared customs (before then it wont show any). As for when they were outrageous.. it was a brokerage fee. I had them email me a break down when I had to pay WAY too much for a package that wasn't even worth $40.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Kynky Kytty Kynky Kytty
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I'm honestly starting to get frustrated with all of you complaining about the fees being charged. Those of us who posted in the first few pages of this thread were overcharged, which is why EdenFantasys was kind enough to reimburse us. From what ... more
I agree here. As long as I'm only paying the regular taxes on my items, I don't mind paying.

But if it's UPS extra fees so that they process my item through the customs, then no, I'm not interested.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Kat Shanahan Kat Shanahan
Quote:
Originally posted by Serenesub
I Completely agree with everything you said. It was what I had tried to say, but it obviously didn't come across. When I said people complaining was irritating I meant the people that complained about having to pay the taxes that are standard (or ... more
OK, so I just placed another order over the weekend, and it was shipped today. I'm hoping to stay ahead of any "surprises" in terms of fees and be ready when the Purolator guy comes knocking.

When you say "..email UPS and ask if there will be any COD charges once it shows your package has cleared customs"...right now, my package is showing an exception on the UPS website. The package data is being processed by brokerage. Should I email them now, then, or wait until it *physically* clears customs upon arrival in Canada? The last estimated delivery date that showed on the site was December 23 by the end of the day; I don't really expect it to arrive that soon, but who knows. And as I said, I'm trying to stay one step ahead here.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Kynky Kytty Kynky Kytty
Quote:
Originally posted by Kat Shanahan
OK, so I just placed another order over the weekend, and it was shipped today. I'm hoping to stay ahead of any "surprises" in terms of fees and be ready when the Purolator guy comes knocking.

When you say "..email UPS and ... more
One of my last packages also went through brokerage, but I paid the regular taxes, and not the extra fees. It all depends if the package is shipped UPS Ground or Worldwide. The Worldwide option requires a much higher value before brokerage fees start to be applied.
12/19/2011
Contributor: Breas Breas
Quote:
Originally posted by Misfit Momma
I'm honestly starting to get frustrated with all of you complaining about the fees being charged. Those of us who posted in the first few pages of this thread were overcharged, which is why EdenFantasys was kind enough to reimburse us. From what ... more
I don't think anyone has been requesting refunds for taxes.. at least I didn't get that from reading the responses.. maybe I missed it. I feel the same way as you about the taxes that do not include the brokerage fee. That is what was the killer and made the taxes go from under 20bucks, to over $50. That was insane! lol.

Then again, I do understand what some people are saying when it went from no taxes at all, to taxes every time.
12/20/2011