Best Laid Plans IV - Or UPS the Pirates in Brown

The latest update on my troubles with UPS. The package was refused and to be returned to the shipper.  I received a distraught email from him saying that UPS wanted to charged him $55 in U.S. customs and related fees to re-import the package back into the States.   Note that the package never cleared Canada Customs so in terms of tariffs, effectively never left the US. We have agreed that I will accept the package just so the minis don't wind up in the trash or some UPS employees pocket but of course UPS still wants to charge me for the privilege of delivering the package entirely on their terms.  More to follow.

Best Laid Plans III

Well it seems that even these can go astray. The good news that the cyclopeans arrived and pretty little things they are too. So did the flying Martians - and ugly brutes they are. The bad news is that the Brits and Gashants I found such a good deal on were shipped UPS .  Despite all the trumpeting about Free Trade and Open Borders our politicians engage in, items crossing the border from the U.S. into Canada are still subject to tax and duty. This is not a problem except that UPS decides what it wants to charge you for the privilege of acting as your customs broker. On a $50 order that cost $25 to ship, that amounts to $40. Here's the kicker - the duty payable on model soldiers is - 0%.  Ok so how about collecting the taxes - and surely there is some handling required? The same package shipped by regular parcel post would incur at most $7.50 in tax and the post office's "let us be your customs agent" fee is $8.50 for a total of $16 - less than half of the UPS price.

Needless to say they are on their way back.

Grrrr