UPS in Class Action Suit in Canada over fees

Brokerage fees are a fact of life. I ship regularly through my biz to the US, and all shipments must be accompanied with a formal invoice AND an NAFTA Certificate of Origin. If the goods are manufactured in the US or Canada they are generally duty free, but someone (UPS, Fedex, freight company) has to clear the shipment. My fees are are $325US/annum for a customs bond and $23 per shipment (with no prepaid bond they would add a pro-rated fee; $20 for the first $10K, $10 for very $10K past that, it might have gone up.)
If you ship UPS or Fedex express there's no time to charge the cosignee (receiver) for the brokerage, hence the high fees to do so.....the brokerage is wrapped into the UPS express shipping fee which is hidden and is paid by the shipper or cosignee depending on who's footing the bill. If you ship UPS ground to a customer cross-border expect a pissed off call from your customer saying the guy in brown wouldn't leave the package until the brokerage fee is paid......UPS is well aware of people refusing to pay brokerage. (Unless the shipper, who has a UPS account, checks the box that directs all shipping, brokerage, and duty fees to him.)
If you get stuff brokerage free via USPS or Canada Post it's because they missed it due to volume, or you got your seller to label it a gift with a value of $10. But that has risks too.......
 
I am very very glad to read this, Jan. Thank you for finding it and posting it.

I last used UPS when I ordered a $25 sweatshirt from the U.S. I ordered it on-line. I chose regular airmail. The vendor unilaterally chose UPS because THEY got a good rate. UPS arrived at my door in Toronto wanting something like $38 for brokerage fees. I rejected the package. Flat-out. Screw 'em. UPS didn't get a dime, I got my refund on the $25 and I didn't have to wear something that I didn't need anyway. A bit of a pyrrhic victory, but nice nonetheless.

As for this class-action business, B.C. has pretty good class-action laws. Saskatchewan believe it or not is considered the most liberal for class-actions. If someone tries it in Ontario too, not so great. There's one particular judge in Toronto who gets a lot of class-action certification requests. His name is Mr. Justice Nordheimer. On more than one occasion he has taken perfectly good class-actions, denied certification, and ordered costs personally against the lead plaintiff for $250,000 or so. To say the least he has a "chilling effect" on class-actions in the province.

For the American readers who support the Canadian UPS lawsuit idea, you'll be glad to know that in Canada we have an "English system" of legal costs. This means that if UPS loses, or even settles privately, not only does it pay the money it owes but it must pay a good-sized share of the winner's attorney fees. That doesn't happen in the U.S. One of the many reasons Americans (and their lawyers) are so sue-happy in the U.S. is that the loser doesn't have to pay the winner's lawyer fees like they do in Canada, England, Australia, etc. It rewards legitimate lawsuits but discourages misguided ones. Uh, I'm getting a wee bit off-topic.

In conclusion, good on ya to the righteous guy in B.C. I'll pitch into the legal fund too.
 
I'm glad someone has finally stood up to hidden fees. I'd love to see paypal in court next.
 
slightly OT

but has anyone had experience using FEDEX Ground International from US to Canada? I'm tempted to try them as USPS EMS tracking virtually stops at the border.

Last scan when shipping into Canada via USPS is ALWAYS that it made it to Canadian customs ... and then ... nothing 🙁 Like the Bermuda Triangle ... poof ! 😕
 
About time somebody decided to stand up to UPS with their insane brokerage fees for their ground cross border shipments. I refuse to deal with organizations that use UPS as their carrier of record. I am surprised that someone has not stood up to them before now.

Repeat after me:
UPS IS EVIL
UPS IS EVIL
UPS IS EVIL!!!!!
 
back alley said:
canada post only charges 5 bucks though.
Click to expand...

Joe, I received a lens from an RFF member today sent using USPS thru Canada Post, there was a "Handling Fee" of $5.00 That is only 15 percent of the fee noted in the UPS news item , that is $33.40 in savings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom