the taxman cometh...

[BJ Bignell]

it was canada post and it says duty. the seller put down used camera lens so it's clearly marked.
it's not the 10 bucks as much as the inconsistency that annoys me.
joe

Yeah, that sort of behaviour is irritating. But seriously, if the package is clearly marked, and you have a receipt for the duty you paid, go to your local branch with the documentation and ask about receiving a refund.

Maybe they'll give you a form to fill out, maybe they'll give you an immediate refund, or maybe they'll just give you a blank look; it's hard to say. But if it only takes five minutes, it would be worth it.

 

[traveller]

Hi,

if I ordered a CV 28/3.5 from Cameraquest today ($285), the German state would want an extra $45 as VAT and then again about $15 duties, so I think you guys are really well off.

Philipp

Still a good deal. The official price here is ~ $ 750,- :bang: :bang:
Good thing that globalization works for customers too......

 

[kvanderlaag]

I'm still waiting on a Pentax ME Super body that shipped on the ninth of May.

My CL took a month and two weeks to get here from Florida.

And somehow, they still wanted $45 for GST and handling fees and junk.

I'm really not happy with the post office lately.

 

[back alley]

keegan, long waits usually have more to do with customs than the post office.
one reason i like a tracking number is i can watch the item being shipped and most of the time it's in customs, sitting.

joe

 

[John Camp]

Warning: Overt political statement ahead: I'd much rather pay taxes and know I'm getting pretty damn good universal health care versus having them frittered away trying to be the world's policeman.

I have two objections to this overt political statement:

1) your universal health care is only as good as it is, which isn't all that good, because you have an escape valve to the south where your rich/priveleged folks can go if they need work in a hurry. Also, I once had the choice of taking my daughter either to a children's hospital in Toronto, or a children''s hospital in Texas, for some specialized work involving a nerve transplant. We went to Toronto. The surgeon was superb, the nurses were wonderful, the fee was high but not exhorbitant...but at the front end, where we were checking in, getting things arranged, etc., they treated us just like customers in a license bureau in the US: in other words, like dirt. If I hadn't been so anxious about my daughter, I might have choked the living ---- out of a clerk in the check-in area.

2) How dare you use the word "frittering?" We're not frittering, we're shoveling it out the door with both hands, both feet, and probably a bulldozer. One of our big crises is the question of how to pay Social Security for the boomers -- but if we could set aside annually what the current war is costing us, Social Security would be a much smaller problem. I say this, by the way, as an Extreme Moderate; in other words, I have bones to pick in all directions.😀

 

[Trius]

You know when you're in a far-off place and they find out that you're from, let's say, Canada and they say "oh, then maybe you know....(some 3rd-cousin of theirs who lives in Whitehorse, Wawa or Winnipeg)".

So, Joe, since you're in Alberta you must know Stephen Harper -- personally. Get him moving on this $5 "handling fee" will you please. The tax on postage stamps would help too. Wasn't GST supposed to disappear, like, 25 years ago already?

With the exception of these 2 personal peeves, I generally agree with DCSang's post about taxes. Warning: Overt political statement ahead: I'd much rather pay taxes and know I'm getting pretty damn good universal health care versus having them frittered away trying to be the world's policeman.

OT Warning.... Let's have Stephen (what is your waist size now?) Harper get some asses in gear in Lebanon...

Otherwise, pretty well agreed. You are still entitled to Tim coffee, Julian, though GST on postage on stamps is, IMO, not a "tax on a tax"; cost of stamps is the price of a service, and it is the GST, afterall, for better or worse.

GO LEAFS GO!

 

[back alley]

stamps were originally a tax, the stamp proved that you paid the tax. now the tax is being taxed.

 

[John Robertson]

YUP here in UK we pay the taxes then wait for years to get a hospital bed, not if you are a politician of course:bang:

 

[julianphotoart]

stamps were originally a tax, the stamp proved that you paid the tax. now the tax is being taxed.

Why can't I say it so succinctly. Bingo.

 

[back alley]

Why can't I say it so succinctly. Bingo.

you need to socialize with people who have a short attention span, it helps...😉

 

[NIKON KIU]

why's everybody always pickin' on me?

You KNOW why Joe, dont you? You are very pickible🙂 Even the Canadian post picks on you!
Kiu

 

[Trius]

Meh. Not a tax any more, just try to claim it on your return!