I recently sent a whistle to Canada in a trade. Actually, recently isn’t the right word because it has now been over two weeks since it was sent. USPS told me they can’t track anything outside of the country.
Has anyone had similar experiences with shipping to Canada and know how long I might expect it to take or what I could do to resolve it? I feel terrible about it because I traded with David O’Brien who couldn’t have been any more generous or any more pleasant to deal with.
Unfortunately, it does take a while to clear customs on its way into Canada. Using the postal service, they could be trying to determine the classification for duty purposes and also, depending on its value, the charge for the GST (tax).
With UPS it get worse… if at all possible declare the value as less than 25$… this goes under the radar for a brokerage charge. Even if the item is duty free, if the value is over 25 $, you will get hit with a brokerage fee ~40$.
While two weeks seems like a long time, it is not abnormal.
USPS will track it to the border, after that the next notification is when it actually gets delivered… hopefully it will arrive soon.
I ship to Canada all the time for my business and it can be tricky. I tend to use UPS though. It is up to the receiver to pay all the customs, duties and goods and services taxes unless you explicitly told your carrier to have those charges billed to you. So the problem may be that they’re trying to get the receiver to “accept” the package, i.e. pay the customs fees etc. I take it the declared value is quite low so their won’t be much of any duties.
Two weeks sitting in customs? Sounds like there’s a problem. But perhaps that’s just how long things take with USPS. Did you include the required one original invoice and two copies? Did you indicate who is supposed to pay brokerage fees, etc? Find out who the customs broker is and give them a call. Good luck.
Customs can take as long as they want with a package. Two weeks is well within the range I’ve experienced.
And yes, USPS is still the best method of shipping, unless your adressee has their own customs broker.
UPS charges a ‘surprise!’ $50 brokerage surcharge to the consignee that they never tell the shipper about.
And Denis may be right, they may not have a clue as to how to classify a tin whistle. In any case, my hunch is that the harmonized tariff code would be: 9208.90.00.90
which is:
Other Blades, for paper, textiles, plastics, etc. machines
Call horns
Calls decoy of all kinds
Calls, decoy, of all kinds
Instruments mouth-blown sound signalling instruments, n.e.s.o.i.
Mouth blown sound signalling instruments, n.e.s.o.i.
Musical beer mugs
Musical instruments, n.e.s.o.i.
Musical saws
Organs fairground
Organs mechanical street
Singing birds, mechanical
Whistles (mouth blown)
Yeah, but my packages have not sat in customs for two weeks. one day, yes. but not two weeks. If $50 get me speedy clearance, i’ll take it (i always pay these charges, not the receiver). But you are right: canadian customs can hold whatever they want for however long they want.
if the paperwork is insufficient or missing, it will take much longer to clear. the customs brokers/agents often seem to push such things to the back burner. Something as small as declaring the value as zero or one dollar. nothing has zero value when it comes to customs.
if you declared the value as zero or almost zero due to the trade you mentioned, this could be the cause of delay. nothing should sit in customs more than a day or two before you and/or the recipient are contacted. and it could be non-customs related. missorted letters and packages happen all the time.
As for communication, UPS or FEDEX is the way to go. It may cost more, but you can actually see the scans and determine any necessary followup. online tracking is A+.
I send lots of whistles to Canada (one at a time), airmail letter post. They can take a ridiculously long time. Two weeks isn’t that unusual.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Patience is a virtue when dealing with Canada Customs and the Post Office.
UPSin my experience is not a virtuous choice…no doubt most of them get through, but a couple of years ago I was witness to a chain of incompetence that resulted in the loss of an instrument (well, a banjo actually).
-if you’re shipping by UPS, make sure the item is insured for its full value, and PAY FOR A SIGNATURE-REQUIRED DELIVERY ($2 surcharge apparently).
my daughter’s friend left a banjo at my inlaws’ place in Vermont. They returned it via UPS. After long delays, UPS admitted that they had lost the item after it got to Toronto–they left it on the front porch at the wrong address, no signature, never to be seen again.
It was insured but we all know how tragic it can feel to lose an instrument. UPS won’t be shipping anything for me anytime soon.
Canada Post can be slow (there are various express options but I don’t know how you can access them from outside the country) but they usually get it here eventually.
Best way by far to get stuff to Canada is to have someone bring it. Really very littlehassle forCanadian citizens returning home by car.
Bill
1st post
I used to swap Girl Scout patches & once traded for Girl Guides Canada patches. They went in regular envelopes with “used patches” written on the envelope. It took close to a month for them to arrive either way.
I have done several deals with C&F’ers from the US and have never waited 2 weeks for a whistle to clear customs. As mentioned USPS is the better option, and specifying that it is a gift works well. UPS are a disaster and it can become a very expensive whistle as I found out to my chagrin the one time I did use them.
Hope it shows up soon…
Thanks for the input everyone. Well Mr. O’Brien finally got his whistle a few days ago after almost 3 weeks. I was worried sick during that time, but I now I know it’s not very unusual. I’ll know better for next time.
They can put a man on the moon but they can’t send a piece of mail less than 500 miles in less than two weeks… crikey.
Canada is the least predictable of all the countries I’ve shipped to (23 and counting).
Three weeks is nothing. But then again sometimes things arrive in less than a week.
Doc
England was the worst for me. I tried to return a flute that was sold with a money back option. From what I can gather the local postal authority can charge a postal tax on top of the VAT. I wrote"return of merchandise" on the custom slip and included the bill of sale addressed to me in the States and they still tried to charge what I remember to be $180 to return the flute. Of course the maker refused the package and by the time all was said and done almost four months went by. When I finally got the flute back I just sold it here, at a loss.
Kurt
I shipped a low whistle to the UK recently with no trouble at all. The guy I sent it to told me to declare the value at only $130 although it was worth much more to avoid that problem. Takes longer to ship a high D to Canada than to ship a low D to Europe.
The biggest problems I’ve had shipping to canada is people (Ebayers, not reasonable chiffers) complaining that they had to pay duties because I didn’t lie on the government customs document by calling a purchased item a gift. That’s happened about three times.
Although UPS does have a better record for tracking cross border shipments, I still prefer USPS. It might just be because of the local office, but I have yet to get a package from UPS that didn’t have some sort of damage, or was left outside in bad weather. I had their inspectors out here several times due to damage.
OTH the mail carrier will knock and make sure I have gotten the package in the house. Awhile back he even rang my doorbell to let me know that UPS had left a box outside my house in the rain…
With shipments to Canada, I just advise my customers that delivery may take 2 or 3 weeks due to getting hung up in Customs.
Its expensive but I have no problem with Fedex and I send to Canada regularly. It gets there next day.
Not whistles though.
Even going the other direction Canadian customs can be a problem and has been a big pain the backside.
I use a printer in Manitoba and I have to get my books trucked over the boarder to North Dakota in order to distribute them in a timely fashion.