Don't Use FedEx for Any International Shipments

[carrdo]

Hi All,

If ever you purchase anything from overseas and subsequently it is to be shipped here, ask who will be the carrier and if they indicate FedEx say you want an alternative or refuse that shipping method all together.

This is the second time I have had unresolved issues with them.

First of all they add a bogus ROD charge (reimbursement on delivery) which you will never receive (as you have to set up an account with them first which I have never done and will never do with any carrier due to security issues - the same reason why you should NEVER link any of your bank accounts with some payment entity like PayPal or ebay) and secondly when they notify you about any HST/import duties payable, if you try any pay with a credit card their system, for whatever reason, will say you have an invalid postal code (even though you enter a valid Canadian postal address/code). This means you can't pay using a credit card at all - I had to go through PayPal.

I complained about this last time it happened about a year ago. I never received a response or explanation as to why this happens. Then It happened again just the other day. So I gave them a 1/10 rating for incompetence/stupidity. I don't think they ever read feedback.

So be warned.

 

[PeterT]

I have not had this issue with Fedex, sending or receiving, domestic or international. Tracking has been straightforward. Sometimes you get the post delivery dinger fees but that's all couriers unless the seller has some kind of prearrangement. I wonder if something is changing. One thing I'll mention, I have been using netParcel to ship things (so far only in Canada) & so far so good. But I have read where a seller selects a shipper from a list of options (say Fedex) but it takes a more onerous route depending on the sellers 'designated drop-off location'. The purchaser doesn't really see anything until its logged into the shippers system. Now here the details are fuzzy. I think the netParcel tracking & courier tracking are one of the same, but I've also heard maybe different depending on shippers location.

Can you provide any more details about the type of purchase? Sometimes the problem is with the seller.

 

[David]

I've not had any issues with FedEx either. UPS? Oh yeah, but not FedEx.

 

[carrdo]

Hi Peter et al,

I bought the item through ebay from a well known south Asian country. All that it said on shipping was International Shipping, Expedited shipping from Outside Canada, Ships to Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe. No other information was given or could be found other than the shipping cost. No shipping carrier identified (not by the seller or by anything on ebay). So one was left completely in the dark on this. That is why I said ask the seller who the carrier is which I will do in the future.

Tracking was fine, it was the import duties payment that was the problem.

 

[David]

Hi Peter et al,

I bought the item through ebay from a well known south Asian country. All that it said on shipping was International Shipping, Expedited shipping from Outside Canada, Ships to Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe. No other information was given or could be found other than the shipping cost. No shipping carrier identified (not by the seller or by anything on ebay). So one was left completely in the dark on this. That is why I said ask the seller who the carrier is which I will do in the future.

Tracking was fine, it was the import duties payment that was the problem.

Which eBay store?

 

[carrdo]

Easytools.

 

[Chicken lights]

Hi All,

If ever you purchase anything from overseas and subsequently it is to be shipped here, ask who will be the carrier and if they indicate FedEx say you want an alternative or refuse that shipping method all together.

This is the second time I have had unresolved issues with them.

First of all they add a bogus ROD charge (reimbursement on delivery) which you will never receive (as you have to set up an account with them first which I have never done and will never do with any carrier due to security issues - the same reason why you should NEVER link any of your bank accounts with some payment entity like PayPal or ebay) and secondly when they notify you about any HST/import duties payable, if you try any pay with a credit card their system, for whatever reason, will say you have an invalid postal code (even though you enter a valid Canadian postal address/code). This means you can't pay using a credit card at all - I had to go through PayPal.

I complained about this last time it happened about a year ago. I never received a response or explanation as to why this happens. Then It happened again just the other day. So I gave them a 1/10 rating for incompetence/stupidity. I don't think they ever read feedback.

So be warned.

Try using the Canada postal code trick. Use only the numbers from your Canada zip code and add two zeros, to give you a 5 digit USA zip code

 

[Doggggboy]

Try using the Canada postal code trick. Use only the numbers from your Canada zip code and add two zeros, to give you a 5 digit USA zip code

Does that still work?
I know it used to at the gas pumps if you were at an American pump and using a credit card.

 

[RobinHood]

Does that still work?

Yes, it works at US gas stations. Used it about a month ago in California.

 

[Chicken lights]

Does that still work?
I know it used to at the gas pumps if you were at an American pump and using a credit card.

Yep, used it not long ago in MN at a wrecking yard

 

[PeterT]

This could be a seller/eBay specific issue. Ebay has gotten kind of stupid with their all encompassing shipping plans. Its way more clunky than it was prior years. I have listed things myself & you have to go through some gyrations to de-select all the hoops they want you to jump through by selecting a shipper, ETA, package details... Often (as a Canuck) I want to make the item appealing so I list for $10 flat shipping (knowing full well it will cost me $15) that's factored in the price. People like certainty + cheap. With this Ebay program supposedly the seller is getting some discount on shipping charges & the buyer is getting some level of documented security or... I dunno really. But its a PITA. And when I compared the shipping costs there was no discount using Ebay because they just have some web crawler that goes to CanPost website or whatever for the price. Now a Ebay 'store' may have even more restrictions, or at least more issues to contend with. I suspect eBay is getting a cut of shipping on top of their usual fees. While I'm ranting, used tools can be subject to duty if the 'bot' somehow specified this on the handy shipping sticker. Taxes are the gift that just keeps giving with every transaction apparently.

In short, I highly doubt this has anything to do with Fedex. I mean they are perfectly capable of dropping the ball but this sounds like an issue somewhere between Seller & Ebay structure.

 

[David]

I agree 100%.
I'm to the point where if a seller is using the global shipping program I'm likely not to buy from them.

 

[trevj]

Had issues in the past with both FedEx and UPS charging stupid fees.

Got told by one vendor that BOTH had been touting the same line, that Canadians were simply trying to pay duties and taxes. Told every one that said that, that I was fully expecting the duties and taxes, just was not willing to get screwed for the $70+ 'service charge' that was applied. They understood a lot better, when I told them that if it came in the mail, a worst, I would pay a $12 service fee, plus taxes and duty if applicable, when FedEx (or their bounty collectors) wanted $70+.

 

[Martin w]

https://www.fedex.com/en-ca/rate-changes.html#demand

We live in an instant gratification society. People want things yesterday, so this is the shipper's way of getting payment for it. The Ebay seller wants a good rating, so they ship as fast as possible to get it to you. They don't care about extra charges as it has nothing to do with their product, and the buyer gets it fast.

 

[slow-poke]

Hi Peter et al,

I bought the item through ebay from a well known south Asian country. All that it said on shipping was International Shipping, Expedited shipping from Outside Canada, Ships to Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe. No other information was given or could be found other than the shipping cost. No shipping carrier identified (not by the seller or by anything on ebay). So one was left completely in the dark on this. That is why I said ask the seller who the carrier is which I will do in the future.

Tracking was fine, it was the import duties payment that was the problem.

Same thing happened to me (since the new Trump thing) except it was a used tool from USA to Canada and they used UPS. I'm just guessing but seems like eBay stopped using the user friendly Global shipping and have now started using regular couriers with their extra customs fees to Canada. No more USA eBay for me unless absolutely necessary.

Please comment if anyone is still receiving via the user friendly Global shipping option.

 

[whydontu]

It’s all math of large numbers. FedEx achieved $$88b revenue in 2024. Their customer base must be in the hundreds of million users. So pissing off a thousand users a week will have zero effect on revenue.

FedEx revenue 2024| Statista

In the fiscal year of 2024, FedEx generated nearly 88 billion U.S.

www.statista.com

And don’t bother complaining, check out this ranking chart:

U.S. consumer shipping: customer satisfaction index| Statista

This statistic shows the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) scores for consumer shipping companies in the United States from 2017 through 2024.

www.statista.com