Just need to share my frustration... - YouLookFab Forum

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Just need to share my frustration...

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

..because this is the only place where I can find a sympathetic shoulder to cry on :-0

Following Dianthus thread some time ago I bit the bullet and risked ordering BB shirt.
Well it arrived this week. I really like the fabric and quality and it fits well (I got size 10 in Fiitted ) but...IT IS TOO SHORT! I am still keeping it as return is a pain and I still can wear it with skirts and wide leg trousers but what a disappointment! I was so looking forward to add these tried and true shirts to my wardrobe and now I have to look again...
Anyway this is not the last frustration with this order. The shirt was $39 plus $8.50 shipping plus $10 extra to ship to Canada so the total was $57. I thought it is OK for such shirt, right?
Well, I got a bill from FedEX today FOR ANOTHER $23 for this order!!! This is an expense I did not count on at all. The bill stands like this:

$6.xx - Custom duties
$8.xx - Canadian tax
$10.00 - advancement fee
I can understand (even if I cringe on it) custom duties and tax but what the heck is advancement fee for? Isn't it enough that I have already paid almost $19 shipping cost for $39 shirt?
Now with additional $23 I am paying more than twice its price - not as good deal as i originally thought...
This is the last time I have ever ordered any clothing or shoes to be shipped from US to Canada. Never again!!! Either I can do with what is in the stores here or use my visits to US for shopping.

Thanks for listening to my ranting - I feel better already!:-)

Shopping

32 replies

Latest reply was from cheryle (Dianthus)

rae

(website)

Veteran

Ouch! Ugh, I'm sorry for all the shipping weirdness, and then to have the shirt not be 100% perfect on top of it all. I can't imagine having all those fees pile up - I don't think I'd buy anything. Such a bummer, since online shopping *should* make it convenient to try hard to find or hard to fit items.

anne

Veteran

Oh Sveta, how totally annoying!!!

Victoria

(website)

Veteran

welcome to my world...I live in HI where each company seem to conspire on how much they can get away with charging for shipping. Currently I am supper mad at Coach-because not only they charge $40 to ship from their website but if you are foolish enough to buy an item from their local stores, you will be paying on average $100 more than people who live in continental US(its because Hawaii is part of their "international" division, I guess they didn't get the memo about HI being part of US).
You have my sympathies, sweetie, I know how frustrating it is :((

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Oh my Canadian sister - do I hear you! I also got a bill from Fed Ex for my BB shirt but mine arrived more than a month later and it took me a while to figure out what it was for! I also found the shipping for my red/white polka dot Aerosoles shoes ridiculous from Shoe Buy - delivery was almost half the cost of the shoes and then when DHL arrived at my door with the shoes, I had to pay their fee as well. The total cost of the shoes in the end was double the price listed on the website for the shoes.

It is no longer financially responsible to order from the States. This is now why I do much of my shopping at Cleo Petites and thrifting - it's here, I can try it on, and no ridiculous delivery fees.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Anne - thanks!
Rae, if only thifting here can be as good as yours... I was in Goodwill last week and saw there bags for 25+ and not designer or even high quality bags: regular brands but they were leather. They did not even look that good...
Victoria, at least you have a gorgeous tropical climate to compensate for the shipping issue - I on the other hand have 6+ months of winter...:-(
Shannon, mine came a week later than the shirt. I am still recovering from the shock, it just feels so unfair! I guess it is more financially responsible for me to have a couple of shopping trips to US than to endure all this shipping nightmare!

Kari

Veteran

That is so ridiculous! Holy cow, Sveta, I'm sorry. I honestly did not realize until YLF what a raw deal my Canadian sisters have when ordering items only available in the US. Did it used to be easier before US customs locked down so tightly?

On the other hand, not that it saves you money at all or is remotely convenient, but I'd be thrilled if you chose to come to Seattle for your shopping trip...

RE: thrifting, I'll admit that part of it is my impatience, but I see a lot of junk whenever I try to thrift too, and I live in an area that's relatively affluent. I don't know where to scope out the good places.

sarah

Veteran

Wow, that is a huge pain in the neck. My sympathies to all of you Canadians (and Hawaiians).

Jjsloane

Veteran

This seems so unfair. Have you talked with Fedex? I've heard sometimes they can charge fees for something they should not have (pickups for things folks dropped off at a fedex shipper) so maybe you can get that back somehow?
Otherwise I suggest you use one of us to be your middleman - has to be cheaper than that.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Kari, actually I am seriously considering a vacation to NW with a side trip to Seattle. We have never been there and I am sure we can find a lot of fun things to do and see...

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Thanks, Sarah!
Jjsloane, I have to confess I have already used the goodwill of some wonderful YLFers for US orders... I am going to call FedEx for sure - I MUST know what advancement I was blessed with that I have to pay a fee for!

catgirl

Veteran

Alaska is part of Canada, according to most shipping companies. I totally sympathize!

Fruitful

Veteran

So sorry Sveta (and other Canadians). This is always an awful problem for people in Canada and other countries with similar customs policies. I would find it unworkable to not know upfront how much money I'd need to buy something. That's the one good thing about shopping online from Australia; up to $1000 import value we don't pay tax/customs/duties (of course the retailers tried to end that but thankfully the government said no!).

jen

I bought a wooden cat ornament from ebay (came from Indonesia) $36. Australian quarantined it and charged me an extra $48. Wont buy anything else wooden unless it is in Australia!!!!

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

And then if the item has to be returned, we pay the return shipping and sometimes return duty fees as well!

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Argh, that's really a bummer

Fruitful

Veteran

Jen whaaaaat?!?

Shannon, I admit to not returning things overseas yet, too expensive. But return duties? They have got their heads up their &^% (can you tell I really want to swear today ^_^)

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Oh no!!! SUCH CHEEK.

(((HUGS))).

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I have to admit I have never heard about return duties. More than that: if retailers handle all international shipping themselves (like Nordstrom or Zappos when it shipped to Canada - alas, not anymore!) then refund those duties and taxes if you return through the mail but you have to pay return shipping...

Fruitful

Veteran

Zappos no longer ships to Canada??? This is getting worse and worse!

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

Yep, they stopped that a year ago. Even though their selection for Canada was about 1/10 of US selection and their return policy was not as good ($10 flat shipping rate and $15 for each returned item) still it was a good option..

ManidipaM

Veteran

Yikes, Sveta! How awful!

I'll admit this is why I only do overseas teleshopping if a local friend can take delivery and bring it with them when they visit 'home'. Shipping costs twice the cost of an item are too much for me. Related mini-rant: I did do it a couple of times, shipping and all --- and one of those times the item turned out to be, wait for it!, 'Made in India', but of course unavailable locally. I hate-hate-hate that!

Fruitful

Veteran

Manidipa, that is so wrong (OT but reminds me of some Indians not getting good rice and fish because the best is for export). Not okay!

Julie

Veteran

Sveta, perhaps I can enlighten you on Advancement charges. When a shipping company processes your order through Customs, the Canadian Border Services asses the amount of duty, if applicable, and GST/Hst that is due. That amount must be paid before the item is cleared. Therefore, the carrier, in this case Fed Ex advances the money to The Canada Revenue Agency(CRA) on your behalf. The Advancement fee is to cover the administration and the use of said money for the time it takes to collect from you. I agree most of the fees are exorbitant, but they are permitted under Canadian law. If at all possible, use the mail. If that is not possible, then open an account with Fed Ex, which will get you better rates, and you can then avoid the Advancement fee if you allow them to debit your bank account or credit card. When I order from the US, I try to use merchants that are registered with CRA as non- resident importers. They calculate the duty and taxes at time of check-out, charge it to my card, and pay CRA directly. No border fees or hassles. At least not now.

If more US retailers were aware of the non resident importer provisions, and made use of them, they would surely reap the benefits of more Canadian business. Having said this, if an item is available from a Canadian retailer, I will always deal with them first.

If you have any more questions, please ask.

Cheers

Julie

velvetychocolate

Veteran

Well, things will change when Target starts opening up stores, and I have a very strong suspicion that Nordstrom will be opening in Canada very soon!

Also - awhile back, Amazon was able to win approval to open up distribution centres in Canada as well, and I do know that over time (they've already been doing so), they'll be adding way more stuff to their Amazon Canada site than just books and movies.

In the meantime, my Mom has found that Talbots, Lands End, Lands End Canvas are quite reasonable when it comes to shipping to Canada. She's not so impressed with other stores that use a specialty 'international shipping service'.

One last thing - there has been some discussion about why there is such a price discrepancy between the US and Canada, especially since the Canadian dollar is at par or higher than the the US dollar. The thing that jumped out at me?

"The reality is that suppliers of products -- those where you would tend to see the greatest difference in pricing -- will charge Canadian retailers up to 50% more to buy those products than they charge retailers in the United States."

from: http://www.nationalpost.com/re.....story.html

I do think things are going to change (retail-wise) quite a bit over the next two or three years.

All of that said, I'm so sorry to hear that you got hit with all kinds of ridiculous fees/charges and so on for a shirt that was supposed to be on sale for a great price.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Wow, Julie, very interesting...you seem very knowledgeable about this!

Sveta, I sympathize. It is SO frustrating.

My few orders from the US have also been subject to huge fees. Even once when a YLFer sent me something in the hopes it would work for me I got binged with an extra fee from customs. (It was not a gift but sent at a VERY reasonable price that as per our understanding of the Canadian customs information, SHOULD have allowed it to come customs=free...but they had changed their rules and so we got hit for the fee we had hoped to avoid...and then it didn't fit and I had to send it back anyway!)

Sorry, that was a long story...but what I really wanted to say is that I have decided I cannot order from the US unless I am ordering it to be delivered to a friend when I am going to be visiting the US. And I really do think that a twice yearly shopping trip is a better solution than frequent ordering.

I think perhaps we need to plan some of these shopping trips together. What say you?

PS I am VERY sorry about the BB shirt. My other thought with US trips is that some of them will be not so much buying as reconnaissance missions. I will TRY stuff on...and then, if I am able, can order when it goes on sale, when I am going to the US, when someone in my family is going, etc. I tried BB shirts when I was in the US a few months ago and although they didn't have what I wanted in stock, I did find out what fits me best. So it was valuable even though I did not buy.

Julie

Veteran

Don't be so quick to think an influx of US retailers into Canada will fix everything. Walmart in Canada is well below the quality of it's US operations. A lower income class of people are the target market in Canada. As an aside, I refuse to purchase from Walmart because I don't agree with their predatory business practises.

Another example is Sears. Recently a friend bought a washer and dryer set from them. The best deal she could wrangle, still cost her over 25% more than the same items are advertised for in US stores. To add insult to injury, the appliances are made in Canada. When it comes to after sale service, Sears Canada obsoletes parts a minimum of 5 years earlier than in the US. And don't bother trying to order your part from the US, because they won't ship to Canada.

Manufacturers can be just as bad. You cannot buy all styles and fits of Levis in Canada. Seven For All Mankind will not permit shipments to a dealers "Protected Area". If there is a store that carries only one style and wash of their jeans, no one is permitted to ship into that area. This includes items the local retailer doesn't carry.

The only US based retailer with a Canadian subsidiary that seems to give both its Canadian employees and customers an even deal is Costco. Wages are well above the average of the sector in both countries. Prices are fabulous, and some of their biggest customers are local mom and pop corner stores. A very nice arrangement for all parties involved. Here in Canada, they patronize local business, such as food suppliers, and restaurants, quite well.

I'd better stop before my boot stomps a hole in this soap box.

Cheers

Julie

ManidipaM

Veteran

Julie, don't stop! That was a stomping good read! And great to know, even for people like me who aren't directly affected by all --- I'm sure these are considerations across markets, to differing degrees. The 'free market' sure has a lot of rules and restrictions in practice, doesn't it?

fashionista

Veteran

Oh you poor girl such an annoying week and bills.
hugs from me.

Anonymous

Sveta, I am really sorry. It seems so unfair let alone unreasonable.
Just wanted to chime in to offer you and all of the other Canadian ladies an open invitation to use my address as many times as you need, and as often as you need it. It is really not a problem at all. I live 1 block away from the post office and my UPS, Fedex and USPS guys are great. Just pm me if you need anything.

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