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Did my first self clearing of a import today - WIN

M

Mcgyver

Ultra Member
One thing that always dissuaded me doing so was getting to a customs office. The are either far away at the border, or at the airport which is expensive and inconvenient to park at.

Well ...... little did I know! They have an office at 2720 Britannia Rd East, Mississauga, which is in the middle of the airport property between runways. You drive through a tunnel under the runway to get there. Its all freight and service stuff. Free parking out front of building..... and best of all.... they are open 24/7! Went out at 5:00 this morning (when the 401 is like it used to be all day) no line up, no traffic and saved $190.

Win!

If you've not done so, it was very simple. I refused the package at the door asked for a copy of the lading. Called the 1-800 #, they emailed me a form with the shipment details, went to the customs office, paid the tax and got a form, send that form back to UPS and the package is cleared!

These courier fees are extortion imo. They knew when they calculated the shipping cost what the scope of work was. i'll pay the tax but they're standing on step asking for hundreds more? Extortion and unsavoury business practices I say. I think I'll do this a lot more often, if lots did it might cause them to rethink the fee structure.
 
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thestelster

thestelster

Ultra Member
Premium Member
Mcgyver said:
One thing that always dissuaded me doing so was getting to a customs office. The are either far away at the border, or at the airport which is expensive and inconvenient to park at.

Well ...... little did I know! They have an office at 2720 Britannia Rd East, Mississauga, which is in the middle of the airport property between runways. You drive through a tunnel under the runway to get there. Its all freight and service stuff. Free parking out front of building..... and best of all.... they are open 24/7! Went out at 5:00 this morning (when the 401 is like it used to be all day) no line up, no traffic and saved $190.

Win!

If you've not done so, it was very simple. I refused the package at the door asked for a copy of the lading. Called the 1-800 #, they emailed me a form with the shipment details, went to the customs office, paid the tax and got a form, send that form back to UPS and the package is cleared!

These courier fees are extortion imo. They knew when they calculated the shipping cost what the scope of work was. i'll pay the tax but they're standing on step asking for hundreds more? Extortion and unsavoury business practices I say. I think do this a lot more often, if lots did it might cause them to rethink the fee structure.
Click to expand...
Did you fill out the B3 form?
 
thestelster

thestelster

Ultra Member
Premium Member
I've never seen that.

The number of times I've had to import items (firearms), from the US or Europe that I've cleared myself, you have to fill out a B3 form. And you have to make sure you indicate the proper classification number.

For firearms, you submit all your documents: Import Permit, Export Permit, B3 form, Business Firearms License, 2nd born, and your dog, etc. Then you wait there for a couple hours (depending how busy they are), for them to check over all you paperwork. And god help you if you've made a mistake because they absolutely hate that, and you have to redo your B3 and get back in line and wait again. Once the paperwork is accepted, you go home because the RCMP has to come and inspect it, usually takes a couple of days. Then you go back, pay all taxes, but they don't take cash, so you better have enough in your card's daily limit to pay for it or you have to contact your bank and ask them to increase your daily limit. Then they send you to a warehouse where the package is stored, and pick it up. (And you hope and pray that the RCMP officer who's inspecting it isn't ham fisted or butter fingered and drops your customers $50,000.00 shotgun!!)
 

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M

Mcgyver

Ultra Member
wow, sounds like the courier co's were paying them off to make sure it as miserable as possible lol.

Nothing like that, I was only one there, three agents at windows. Handed over ID and what UPS sent me, no forms to fill in. I even got the value reduced from 500 to 50 (that was legit and I had a lot of back up paperwork). Said have a seat and the cashier will call you ... 5 minutes later i'm handing over my visa (they didn't have a open cash till that early) and am out.

UPS did mention a form B3 or B15 ...... sure hope they take what customs gave me.
 
T

Tecnico

(Dave)
Been through that, the agent “serving” you can make a big difference. In my case the jr agent took the initiative to get the paperwork processed upstairs while the supervisor wasn’t so helpful. I think it was a question of the validity of the commercial invoice. There was no need to provide the classification numbers (I was prepared), CBSA did that.

The couriers can do all this on-line so it’s nowhere near the hassle for them, in fact it’s probably more work for them to let the customer do it. EDIT: And why can’t the public do it on line?? All the paperwork is on line.

In my case with DHL they sent me an E-mail telling me that the package would need clearance and gave a link to click to set up with them to self clear, no need to refuse the package at the door. There is probably a way to do that with the other couriers too.

Once I got the form above I E-mailed it to the courier and they delivered the package.

D :cool:
 
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MrWhoopee

MrWhoopee

Active Member
The legacy of British bureaucracy lives on.

In a previous life, Fred sent me to a machinery auction in Malaysia to buy a surface grinder. The auction was a bust, but I managed to spend several days collecting ferns in the jungle. Getting them out of the country was a nightmare, being shuffled from this government office to that. No one cared about what was in the boxes, they were all worried about the paperwork. No one wanted to be the first to sign. Once I had the first signature, it was back to the same offices, each calling the previous to confirm the signatures. Even customs didn't bother to look in the boxes.
 
Ironman

Ironman

Ultra Member
Sounds like Canada copied them.
I brought two 5 gallon pails of rocks from Tanzania into Canada, they were cleared at customs, and then put back on the belt to go round to incoming, and I was paged. They threatened me with all sorts of stuff, jail and fines. If I had been a black drug runner I would have been ok. They refused to open and inspect the rocks, and after a half hour finally gave up trying to scare me and passed me through. I think the real problem is that someone made a mistake and put them on the wrong conveyor belt and they refused to admit it.
I had to pay a bribe to get them on as air freight in Tanzania, it would be so much simpler if they did things that way here.
 
W

wmetfab

Well-Known Member
Ironman said:
Sounds like Canada copied them.
I brought two 5 gallon pails of rocks from Tanzania into Canada, they were cleared at customs, and then put back on the belt to go round to incoming, and I was paged. They threatened me with all sorts of stuff, jail and fines. If I had been a black drug runner I would have been ok. They refused to open and inspect the rocks, and after a half hour finally gave up trying to scare me and passed me through. I think the real problem is that someone made a mistake and put them on the wrong conveyor belt and they refused to admit it.
I had to pay a bribe to get them on as air freight in Tanzania, it would be so much simpler if they did things that way here.
Click to expand...
So um .. what kind of rocks were they? Mind if I ask
 
W

wmetfab

Well-Known Member
Junior exploration / mining companies
Thanks, Its a lot of fun to see whats inside.
Have u ever considered a farm on sand?
 
W

wmetfab

Well-Known Member
Ive done the B3's for about 13 yrs.
A grouchy CBSA agent showed me how one day
I've saved 10's of thousands in brokerage fees that went in my pocket, not the brokers.
The avantage was that i was only 3 km from the border and the computer terminal provided there. Having a gst# helped. All they want is to collect the gst.
 
Susquatch

Susquatch

Ultra Member
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
wmetfab said:
Thanks, Its a lot of fun to see whats inside.
Click to expand...

I've cracked lots of rocks apart and even found one geode that way. But I don't have a way to polish them to see their polished body or beauty.

wmetfab said:
Have u ever considered a farm on sand?
Click to expand...

About 1/3 of my farm is sand, 1/3 is gravel, and 1/3 is clay. The yield on the gravel is twice the yield on the sand. The sand is only marginally better than the clay.

It's not at all what you would expect. That Rocky crap I have is actually prime farm land. It's not vegetable loam, but it's enviable stuff just the same.
 
Ironman

Ironman

Ultra Member
We got lots of clay here, and it grows quite well. But from my point of view, vegetable loam comes out of a cows ass. Of course that offends Dear Leader, but the best most nutritious soil is anything amended with manure. I grow my garden and garlic crop on 40yr old manure a foot deep...under that is clay.
 
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