These instructions are the final conclusion to the post
UPS/FedEx Brokerage Fees – avoid scam
- You ordered some goods from US into Canada by UPS and they are on the way
- Going to import some goods from US into Canada by UPS
- Already received your package and did not pay anything to the driver. It means that UPS will send you brokerage fees invoice several weeks/months later, or send information right to collection agency
- Driver showed you collect-on-delivery (C.O.D.) invoice which was ~half of the item’s price and you refused to pay at the door
There are two conditions necessary for the procedure of self clearance at Canada customs:
- Your shipment’s value for duty is less than $1600 CAD
- You have one of the local CBSA (Canada customs) offices nearby. You may find the list of offices across Canada here: Directory of CBSA Offices where Courier Low Value Shipments Program clearances are performed.
Here is the procedure of self clearing (confirmed by CBSA main office and proven many times in practice):
- Wait while your package comes to the local UPS warehouse (where you live). You will see status in the shipment’s tracking information on UPS website. If you don’t track, so just wait for the first delivery attempt and refuse to pay at the door
- Call UPS at toll free number 1-800-742-5877, press “3” to be connected to the billing department (or other prompt by the system), and ask customer service representative to send you shipment’s invoice. Some of the representatives call it commercial invoice. Just ask for “commercial invoice” associated with your tracking number. They can send it by e-mail or fax. Please make sure they got your address correctly – ask to spell it back. They will send it right away in .zip archive to your e-mail. Shipment’s invoice has the Unique Shipment Identifier Number needed by CBSA as well. This is how it looks like (click on image to enlarge):
- Find out what is the address of your local UPS warehouse where your package is being held. Call and ask UPS if you can’t figure out. CBSA may ask for this information during self clear. For GTA (if you see “Concord” in the tracking information) the address as of Nov. 2010 is:
UPS Center
2900 Steels ave. W,
Concord, ON, L4K 3S2
phone: 800-742-5877
- Take your shipment’s invoice, address of UPS warehouse, money to pay taxes and photo ID to the nearest CBSA office. Please take the reply from main CBSA office with instructions about self clear process for the case if officers in your local office are not aware with the proper procedure. You may find their reply at UPS/FedEx Brokerage Fees – avoid scam – section almost at the bottom of the post, just between solid grey lines. Last time I visited CBSA office in Brampton at the following address:
CBSA Brampton: office 480
197 Country Court Blvd.,
Brampton, ON, L6W 4P3
office hours: 8:30 – 16:30, Mon – Fri
!! – recently address has been changed to:
5425 Dixie Rd.
- Present your shipment’s invoice to customs officer and he will do clearance for you. After paying applicable taxes and duties to the cashier you will be provided with CBSA B15 form – Casual Goods Accounting Document, which confirms that you paid all the taxes to Canada customs. B15 form looks like this:
- Call UPS and ask how to provide them with B15 form (proof that you paid taxes) in order to waive brokerage fee invoice. They will give you fax number. Please make sure that you put your tracking number of the cover page. As of Nov 2010 CBSA B15 form should be sent here:
UPS Brokerage Department
fax number: 1-770-990-1724
- After that UPS Brokerage Department should process your B15 form and waive C.O.D. charges. It may take 1-5 days. You may also try to speed up the process by calling UPS and informing them that you already paid taxes to CBSA and sent receipt to the brokerage department. Ask UPS to schedule delivery.
You are done!
I have not done it with FedEx or other couriers, but procedure should be very similar.
Good luck Krzysztof! :)
I went to the CBSA office on 5425 Dixie Road in Mississauga today. While the people at Pearson were essentially clueless, this time I have nothing but good things to say. I got my paperwork done with no fuss, now I need to get back to UPS. Wish me luck! :)
Hi l1ndan,
Right, it’s worth to wait for the shipment delivery. May be there will not be any invoice, and driver will just give your shipment to you. Then you will go from there. If there will be a C.O.D. invoice, so inform the driver that you are going to dispute it. Then obtain shipment’s invoice from UPS and pay taxes directly to CBSA. If you will have specific questions, do not hesitate to ask.
Thanks,
Trueler
Hi Trueler,
I have been notified that a UPS shipping label has been created for my package and received a tracking number. I have made an account on UPS to get my Unique Shipment ID number. Now I must wait until the package is delivered and refuse it in order to receive a shipment invoice? Is there anything that I need to do prior to having my package delivered?
Thanks!
Thanks for detailed description! It will help other importers.
Hi Trueler:
– I waited till tracking showed item arrived in Ottawa. (Actually right after this it showed out for delivery.)
– I went to Ottawa CBSA office with the commercial invoice (which I got using the email inquiry method shown on this site).
– I also took with me the instructions from this site, the invoice from the vendor, a printout of the tracking from USA to Ottawa and the D-17-4-0 document just in case.
-The CBSA officer I spoke to said that I need a manifest from UPS. I showed him what I had and he said that’s not enough. He also asked me where the package was and I told him at UPS in Ottawa (I showed him the tracking document)(actually it was on a truck somewhere in Ottawa).
-He directed me to the UPS building which is practically next door. I went there and the girl I spoke to was super nice. She printed off of form titled “Canada Calculation Inquiry”
-Despite the fact that the shipment was zero-rated for HST UPS wanted to charge me $110.66 HST anyway, but for some reason they had discounted the brokerage fee (73.35 – 10.10 discount). The total charge was $182.13
-She then called the CBSA office to find out what they wanted. After a brief chat she printed off a ‘screen grab’ titled “Shipment Inquiry Detail”.
-She then told me to go to CBSA and get that form stamped and come back.
-I went back to CBSA and the officer I spoke to the 2nd time was super nice. I gave her the form and told her that the item should be zero rated. I showed her the invoice with the item description and she agreed that it should be zero rated. After an extensive search on the computer she found a zero rate code to apply (I’m sure it’s not the correct code, but I don’t think it matters as long as she stamps the form). She gave me a B15-1 (Casual goods accounting document) and stamped it PAID ($0.00). She also stamped the “Shipment Inquiry Detail” print out.
-I went back to the UPS building, gave said documents to the lady she took a copy of the B15-1, took the stamped “Shipment Inquiry Detail” form and gave me a copy back.
-She told me that the item was out for delivery and she’d see what she can do to stop the driver from charging me COD. She said it would be delivered today or tomorrow. And if there was a problem I should get the driver to call her (and gave me the #)
-By the time I got back to my office (20 minutes) the package had been left on my driveway – no charges. So whatever she did it worked! I must say this UPS employee was very nice, very understanding and very efficient – Kudos!
It took me an hour and a half (including 40-50 mintues driving) to save $182.13! And incredibly, due to the speed of the processing I recieved the package on the first delivery attempt with no COD requested.
Thank you very very much Trueler, I would not have been able to do this without your help.
Cheers,
BS
Hi B Smith,
All you need is the commercial/shipment invoice which specifies description of the goods and its value. CBSA will determine if it is a subject for duty or taxes according to their classification list. Plus you will need shipment ID number and address where your shipment is being held. BTW, why is it in Concord? Isn’t there a local UPS warehouse in Ottawa?
Please also take the printed e-mail reply from CBSA, because officers may ask you to go to the port of entry in order to obtain manifest. It is not required according to the documents and reply from CBSA. Only shipment’s invoice which describes goods and its value.
UPS may bring your shipment without any C.O.D. (collect on delivery) invoice, so just take it and do self-clearance yourself. In this case they will send invoice to you in 1-2 months when it is too late to self-clear. If they ask you to pay – make a copy of the invoice (may be a picture with a digital camera if you have one) and tell that you are going to dispute charges with UPS.
It is up to UPS if they want to send the invoice with a breakdown of the charges. I think there is additional fee for this procedure…
I really hope that you will successfully complete the process!
Thanks,
Trueler
Further to my questions yesterday. The package is now in Concord and scheduled for delivery by the end of the day tomorrow. I called UPS to ask if they can tell me what the delivery charges will be and they said $182.13 (which is $105 more than UPS quoted me when I inquired 2 weeks ago – before the item was shipped).
I asked if they could send me an invoice and they said no, not for 2-3 weeks after delivery. I asked them how I can pay if there’s no invoice and they said that the UPS uses charts to calculate the charges at the door.
Without an invoice I have no idea what the cost breakdown on this item is, but as far as I am aware the package is HST and duty free as it is a medical assistive device (anyway, if there was HST applied then it would be more than this, so whatever the extra charges are it can’t be HST).
Should UPS be able to send me an invoice with a breakdown of the charges now or not?
Also, I called CBSA to ask about the procedure and they said that I need the commercial invoice (which I have) and I need to get UPS to tell me where to go to clear the package. I haven’t heard that before, so what’s that about? There’s only one CBSA office that does CLVS in Ottawa.
Do I really need to ask UPS for permission to self-clear?
Now that the charge has been ramped up to $182.13 I’m determined to do the self-clear.
Thanks for your help
BS
Thank you for the speedy and informative reply.
I’m watching and waiting.
Cheers,
BS
Hi B Smith,
1. Yes, CBSA requires that the package is being held in a local UPS warehouse when you pay taxes and duties.
2. As far as I know, not all the medical devices are HST exempt. It’s better to ask UPS how much you owe them for this shipment (wait until it comes to the local warehouse, so UPS won’t block it at the port of entry).
Thanks,
Trueler
My package from UPS is currently showing as “Receiver’s customs broker has been assigned The shipment is now released to move in transit.” I managed to obtain the commercial invoice using the email request method outlined on the website (it worked a treat :).
2 Questions.
1. Do I still have to wait until the package is received at my local UPS warehouse before I go to the CBSA office?
2. The item being shipped is a medical device and should be tax and duty exempt (I believe). If there is no tax and duty will UPS still charge the brokerage fee based on the item value?
Thanks,
BS
Well I went to CBSA at Pearson Airport today armed with my commercial invoice and
my intention to self clear. I showed her the official CBSA reply that says I can pay at ANY CBSA office. She said the response was accurate however, the commercial invoice was not enough to clear the goods, she said I needed a manifest also.
She says one of the ways to get the manifest is for me to refuse the package, so that it gets routed back to the Concord warehouse, then call UPS and ask for the manifest.
She said the only reason that CBSA at Pearson couldn’t clear the package was because there was no proof that it was inspected. With the package being routed back to Concord after my refusal, that would be sufficient proof that CBSA Windsor had inspected the package.
She said I needed the manifest along with Commercial invoice.
I have lots of patience so this is something I will investigate thoroughly.
Came Across this site 2 days ago. This might be a bit lengthy.
Ups came to deliver my package, I refused. I went to the UPS warehouse to pick up an unrelated package that had no COD attached to it. While I was there, I asked them why the COD was so high on the first package I refused. She said they dont handle brokerage issues at the UPS warehouse, so she told me to call the 1 800 number. I did.
I ended up speaking to someone from the brokerage department and basically told him that I was unaware that there was a COD attached to the package and that if I knew all this before hand, I would have cleared it myself. I told him that I wanted to dispute the charge and for him to forward me the commercial invoice.
He said that since UPS had already cleared the package and that I wasn’t aware of the brokerage fee, He said that he would give me a one time waiver of the brokerage fee. He took the COD completely off and just charged me the mandatory gov. tax. Even better was that I was already at the warehouse so he just authorized the recpetionist to wave the fee.
I also have another package on the way and I told him of my intent to self clear. I asked him if I would need to be at the port of entry to self clear, he initially said yes, but after I told him I had an official reply from CBSA stating that I could self clear at ANY CBSA office, He put me on hold to confirm what I had said. I think he was unaware of self cleraring at any CBSA office.
He told me that because my package was below 1600 dollars, I can clear the package without it being on Canadian soil. CBSA would forward the paper work to Windsor and my package SHOULD NOT have any un-necessary delays.
Thanks Blair for good tip! Great that it took just two hours.
E-mail communication with UPS is often more effective than via phone. You don’t have to wait for next rep or supervisor and have everything in written, so you can refer to it later. But it may take days. If you are not in a hurry, it’s a good option.
Thanks!
Trueler
Here’s a tip on how to get your copy of the UPS commercial invoice without going thru the grief of talking to someone at UPS, here’s what you do:
1. Go UPS.COM, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Email UPS’
2. Type in your name and email address.
Support Category : Tracking
Support Topic : Tracking Information
Are you the : Receiver
3. Fill-out the form and at the bottom where it says “What is you question or comment” type in “please send me an electronic copy of my shipment’s commercial invoice”.
4. Within two hours I had a copy of it in my inbox. By the way, they send it you via “disiiwebserver@acs-inc.com” with a subject line of “image request”. I thought this was spam mail and almost deleted it!
Good Luck everyone!
Blair
Hi Trueler,
Thanks a lot for the quick reply. I found in my research with your advice a company that offer a better price that the company that I deal. But I don’t know very well their service (bad or good). And the difference is 10$ each time that I use the service.
Also I couldn’t find a chart to compare the price of more company.
What’s your opinion do a try to negociate with my company and see if they can give the same deal or I go with the new company.
Thanks a lot for saving us of the hard earn money.
George
Hi George,
Self-clearance at a local CBSA office for orders less than $1600 works for personal shipments only, not for commercial orders unfortunately. Otherwise you have to present yourself at the port of entry. Or someone designated by you. I think you may try to find cheaper brokerage services. I saw some ads of brokers who provide flat rate services for customs clearance (but I did not check if it is true and how good it is). Try to search more for such services and negotiate discounts for you depending on the volume.
Regards,
Trueler
Hi Trueler,
Thanks a lot for the nice information and help.
I have a company and I order most of the time a shipment that is less than 1600 (500 $ at the time).
When I find that UPS charge a high fees I decide to obtain the service of customs broker to clear my shipment.
And still I found that the fees is high but less than UPS.
I read and read all the post in your web site and I would like to know if a business company that order less than 1600 $ can clear it self.
Thanks in advance for your response.
Ok, I have called UPS again and gotten the shipment ID verbally. I was told they don’t have any document they can send me with the Shipment ID.
It is a 11 digit number. I created an account on UPS.com and see thatthis number is the same as the reference number when tracking info is entered.
Hope this works for the CBSA officer.
Thanks!
Hi Akito,
I think “1Z…” is a tracking number and not the unique shipment ID. Please try to create an account on ups.com and you will probably see the actual unique shipment ID. You may also refer to comments in the parallel thread here:
http://trueler.com/2010/09/13/ups-brokerage-fees-total-scam-fraud-cheating-avoid-it/#comment-2973
Take a look at other comment related to obtaining unique shipment ID as well in that thread.
I also think that image you got from UPS is fine as long as it has a description of goods and value for duty. I guess that UPS just has no computerized version of this commercial invoice.
Let us know if you could get unique shipment ID from ups.com
Thanks,
Trueler
Hi Trueler,
I have a shipment of 4 boxes coming in from the states. I just called UPS to try and get the commercial invoice (without saying that I wanted to self broker as of yet). I had to call 2 times to get the email sent to me properly. My issue is: The zip file they sent me is an image of the same paperwork the sender sent me that he filled out @ the UPS store. (it has hand written info in it) The only difference is that there is a stamp at the top with one of the tracking numbers beginning with “1Z…”
Does anyone know if that is the unique identifier number? If not should I be calling back trying to get computerized paperwork?
Thanks
You are very welcome Eric!
Thanks for sharing your experience. It is indeed helpful for importers!
Trueler
Trueler,
UPS has confirmed that there is now $0.00 owing on the shipment, and I can come pick it up Monday.
Awesome.
You saved me $80!
Thanks,
Eric
Eric,
UPS did not provide me an e-mail of Brokerage Department, only fax number as well.
I think instead of showing up at the local UPS depot, you may try to call UPS and ask them to confirm with brokerage department that you have already paid taxes and sent them B15, and schedule delivery without C.O.D. invoice. It will save you a trip to the local depot. However, if you show up there and they will be able to confirm tax payment with brokerage department, they will release package to you right away. Otherwise it will be at least Monday. You may show B15 at the local depot as a proof that you paid taxes, so when they will talk to brokerage department they can refer to it, or resend it by fax again if required. It may probably be more effective than calling UPS.
I have also updated post with one more instruction at the end. Thanks for pointing this out!
Thanks,
Trueler
Trueler,
I called UPS for the email for the UPS Brokerage Department, so that I could get the B15 to them. Of course, they only have a fax number.
I was given a slightly different number though. Maybe they have more than one, or maybe it was deliberate to mess with me. We’ll see. I was given (770)990-1722. (Last digit a ‘2’ instead of a ‘4’)
Your instructions stop at this point. UPS told me it will take 1-5 days to process my B15. That is ridiculous.
What happens if I show up at the local UPS depot? Will they call their brokerage department to ‘expedite’ it?
Eric
Trueler,
Wow. COMPLETELY different experience the second time I called.
Me: “Hello. I would like a copy of the commercial invoice associated with my tracking number please.”
(Tracking number exchanged)
UPS: “OK. Trying to pull it up in my system …. yes, I have it right here. What is your fax number?”
Me: “I would like it emailed please.”
UPS: “Sure. Just a sec – need to pull up a different screen for that.”
(Email address exchanged and recited back)
Me: “When should I get that email?”
UPS: “Well – it is already sent – so within a few minutes I guess.”
Me: “Thanks!”
Note: The email arrived while I was writing this update.
Off to the CBSA!
Dude – you need one of those ‘Buy me a beer’ buttons.
Trueler!
Trueler,
At one point during the conversation, UPS stated the package would have to be sent back to the border if I was going to self-clear.
I am assuming that is an idle threat. Thoughts?
Calling for the commercial invoice again.
Thanks,
Eric
Hi Eric,
From my experience, if it does not arrive to your inbox within ten or so minutes, it will never arrive. I called several times to get it.
However in my case they did not send it to another department. I believe that representative sent it.
Regards,
Trueler
Trueler,
OK. I called UPS. Told them I wanted to self-clear.
Call then went like this:
UPS: “You are going to drive to Windsor to pick it up?”
Me: “No. You are going to hold it in Barrie for pickup after I self-clear at the local CBSA office and provide UPS with the B15.”
Me: “Can I please have the commercial invoice emailed to me?”
US: “We can’t email, we can only fax.”
Me: “I know for a fact that it can be emailed.”
UPS: “Sir – I do NOT have the ability to email!”
Me: “Is it YOU that sends me the commercial invoice?”
UPS: “No. I have request another department to do that.”
Me: “Do you know for a fact that they do NOT have email?”
UPS: “No. I don’t.”
Me: :)
She took my email address and recited it back to me.
Any idea how long I have to wait for that email?
Thanks,
Eric
UPS showed up. Invoice had a brokerage fee of $80 on a $1,100 item. I thought it was going to be worse. Anyway – tomorrow I call UPS to get the commercial invoice, and then off to the customs office to self-clear.
Delivery guy did not seem surprised I said I was going to self clear – especially since Canada Post does it for $8, and the CBSA office is less than 1/2 a mile away from me. He was hiding a smirk.
Finally – it is moving again.
Windsor, ON, Canada 03/29/2011 4:45 Registered with clearing agency / Shipment submitted to clearing agency
At one point, it said delivery would be late Thursday, which would mean a full week. But now that message is removed.
So, less than 12 hrs from Southern California to the Ontario border, and what looks like 6+ days to get here.
Trueler and everyone,
Does anyone know how long it takes to move to the next step?
It has been more than 1 business day. Seems slow for a company in the business of being fast.
Last update was:
Windsor, ON, Canada 03/25/2011 6:35 Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance.
Thanks,
Eric
Eric,
Sorry, I’m not sure what may happen if you won’t accept it. I believe it depends on instructions which shipper indicated for the case of failed delivery. Most likely they ship it back. Regarding who pays for shipping it is better to negotiate with seller. I don’t think seller would want to cover it…
As for the fee. Taxes would be a bit over $130 + brokerage fees (which amount is really hard to guess). I agree that their online info is not clear.
“Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance” just means that it has not been sent from the port of entry to your local warehouse.
When it is sent, you will see something like this:
“Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance / Receiver’s customs broker has been assigned The shipment is now released to move in transit”.
Regards,
Trueler
Trueler,
I just confirmed with the original shipper that they did NOT reference my company on the paperwork that UPS received. It is only referenced on the OEM invoice emailed to myself.
So, I am confused as to why it is ‘Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance’.
I will update when I learn more – but right now my plan is to NOT initiate communication with them and see if it continues to the local UPS depot and ultimately a delivery attempt.
Regards,
Eric
Trueler,
What happens if I decide to not accept it? Do they ship it back to the original shipper? Who pays for that shipping?
I’m thinking that if it gets sent back to the shipper, they can then re-ship it with the correct personal info only on the paperwork.
I went with the UPS Standard service, and the item is $1,028. How much can I expect to pay for brokerage fees? (I guess I’ll find out) Their online info is not clear – no surprise there.
Failing that – yes – I plan on hammering the original shipper, because I gave CLEAR instructions not to reference my company on the paperwork.
Thanks,
Eric
damn… That’s true, commercial shipments do not fall under LVS program. Nevertheless, you may call UPS and advise that you want to pay taxes for the shipment by yourself in a local CBSA office. If they clearly identify that you can’t do it because it is a commercial shipment and not personal, they are right. You may appeal that “Bill To” was a mistake and the shipment is indeed personal, not related to your business. If there is no way to resolve it with UPS and you will have to accept their brokerage services and pay the fee, may be it’s worth to negotiate with the shipper their carelessness.
Trueler,
I just examined the invoice sent to me by the shipper. Against my instructions, they put my company name in the ‘Bill To’ field, and just myself personally in the ‘Ship To’ field.
My guess is that excludes me from self-clearing.
Advice?
Thanks,
Eric
Hm… that’s strange. So, there is no way other than advising them that you intend to pay taxes by yourself. But in this case they will definitely not allow this to happen asking you to present yourself at the port of entry.
Trueler,
Based on my experience, I won’t get the option to wait until it is on its way from port of entry. It will stay there until there is communication with me, or they will return it to the sender.
I expect a phone call today. I’ll let it go to voice-mail and will update this post then.
Thanks,
Eric
Hi Eric,
I would wait until their “clearance” completed and package is at least on its way from port of entry to your local UPS warehouse. Otherwise they may block it at the port of entry until you call them and pay brokerage fees.
Regards,
Trueler
Trueler,
The instructions state to ‘Wait while your package comes to the local UPS warehouse…’ and then to call UPS.
My shipment is apparently at the border, and the status is ‘Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance’.
If I recall, this is typically when they sit on it and wait until they can reach me and I agree to pay brokerage fees. Of course, this time I am not going to.
So, do I let them know now that I intend to self-clear? There is a CBSA less than 1 km from me and I already talked to the people there in person – very polite and helpful!
Thanks,
Eric
Hello Trueler and everyone,
This morning, I received a call from UPS and the rep. told me my package is already in-transit back to the sender. I told the rep. that I contacted UPS immediately after I cleared the package and received confirmation that the package is indeed in Toronto. I also made known to her that the CBSA officer who called UPS on my behalf guaranteed that package is still in Toronto (or else she wouldn’t have been able to clear it for me right there). The rep. took my contact number and said she would investigate and call back.
I, of course, didn’t wait for the call and contacted Shelley. Shelley, again, confirmed that the package is still in Toronto and said it will be out for delivery tomorrow. I asked if I can pick it up today and she said I would have to contact UPS tracking department to find out which warehouse it’s being held at first; she gave me the number.
I called and found out the package is in Concord. I, then, drive over to Concord UPS Centre to pick up the package. It took the clerk a good 30 odd minutes to locate the package as UPS failed to scan the package when it arrived in the warehouse. I do appreciate the clerk for locating it though. Anyway, the clerk asked whether C.O.D.’s been paid for; I said it was waived. He called brokerage department, got the confirmation of the waiver and released the package to me. End of story.
I will definitely make damn sure the sellers I deal with in the future don’t ship with UPS. I was hit with UPS brokerage fee before but I was able to receive a refund of all brokerage charges paid after I emailed UPS client services (I was lucky to say the least). This time I was misled because the seller’s shipping policy is that only those shipments over 5 lbs would be shipped with UPS. Since my shipment is 5 lbs, I thought it’d be shipped via USPS. Another lesson learned.
Once again, thank you Trueler and everyone else who posted their experience. I hope I and you won’t ever have to deal with this again. Or better yet, I hope governments would start regulating this sort of companies to the extent they regulate, say, the aviation industry.
-tony
Thanks a lot Tony for your detailed experience.
It was a big hassle for you. But it is a hassle for UPS and CBSA as well. I think they have spent more money in persons*hours talking with you and handling your case than the brokerage fee itself…
If every importer will do the same thing as you did and will insist on legal rights, UPS and CBSA will make it easy, otherwise they will be buried with phone calls.
I really hope that your shipment will arrive to your door on Monday without any problems.
Great job!
Thanks!
Trueler
Thank you Trueler,
Now, before I go into my 2nd visit to CBSA, I’d like to start my story from the very beginning. After I refused the package when it arrived, I contact UPS. First, I was trying to be nice by asking Terry (UPS rep., useless) for a commercial invoice so I can review everything. He refused by saying he doesn’t have it on the system but will come with the package once I accept it; I insisted that it has to be on the system or else where would the invoice come from, does it magically appear? Just simple logic. He asked me to hold to speak with supervisor; he came back saying the same thing and kept asking why I need to invoice to which I replied I want to review everything. After a few more exchanges, I asked to speak with supervisor, Cindy. Cindy gave me the same bull and said she can only provide me with a breakdown of all charges but not the commercial invoice (which she referred to as B3 Coding Form). Cindy was very patient and stood firm on the generic UPS lies but otherwise useless. After 45min of exchange, we ended the call.
About 20 min later, I call again. This time I told the rep. (I don’t remember the name) straight up that I want to self-clear the package and need the commercial invoice. She gave me the same UPS crap (i.e. you can only clear it in port of entry). I corrected her by telling her I can clear the item in Toronto providing the package is not being held in the same office where I will be clearing it at. She put me on hold to speak with supervisor. She came back repeating the same shit and I told her UPS is undertaking an illegal practice by refusing me the legal right to self-clear my package. She put me on hold and directed the call to her supervisor, Sam (well trained on UPS’s nonsense, otherwise,she’s very nice). Sam game me the same crap when I asked for the commercial invoice and I gave her the same reply. She emailed the invoice to me within seconds.
I check UPS tracking about 30min later and found out that they are sending my package back to the sender. I immediately called to find out why. Jane (the rep., useless) said the package is not going back to sender but the port of entry since I want to self-clear it. I said no, the package can and must stay in Toronto because I can self-clear the package in Toronto and that if UPS sends it back, they are breaking their company policy and the contract the shipper has with UPS (i.e. UPS must ship the package to me as shipping’s been paid). She directed me back to Sam and Sam gave me the same shit. I gave her the valid arguments but she said the package is going back to port of entry no matter what as this is UPS’s company policy. However, she guaranteed the package would be delivered to my doorstep once I have faxed them the receipt from CBSA, the number she gave is 1-905-994-5369. I ended call shortly after.
The next morning, I went to CBSA. First to the office in the Toronto Island Airport to find out which office to go (was hoping I can clear it there). But I was directed to the one at 1 Front St; however, this one no longer does UPS and DHL self-clearance since October 2008. I was told to go to Pearson CBSA (6500 Airport Rd or 2720 Britannia Rd E.).Sometime during the day, UPS contacted me (I actually had to call back since I missed the call). Shelley (UPS rep., very nice) called and asked if it’s true that I want to self-clear. I said yes and she said I must go to Fort Erie. I said no blah blah blah (same thing I told all UPS reps). She put me on hold for about a minute, came back and asked if I have the commercial invoice. I said yes and she told me to email the CBSA receipt when I get it then she will have the package shipped to me ASAP. I went to Britannia office after work because that one is 24/7. My previous comment explains what happened on this visit to the office.
Today, Shelley called again and to find out why I haven’t emailed her the receipt yet. I told her I was just about to call her and let her know that CBSA is requesting UPS to provide me with the waybill (i.e. cargo/release form). I went on telling her that UPS must provide me with such information as per Paragraph 26 in Memorandum D17-4-0. Sh put me on hold to speak with supervisor. She came back telling me they don’t have it and if I need one, they’d have to sent item back to Port Erie so they can “reverse” their clearance to get me the document. I insisted that UPS must provide that to me by law; she transferred me to Karen (she’s very nice) the supervisor who said the same thing and told me it’s UPS procedure should I want a waybill. I told her to keep the package in Toronto and will consult CBSA. After a few more exchanges, the call was ended and I wasn’t able to get the waybill or any written refusal.
I went to Britannia office again after work today with the same commercial invoice and the official reply. However, Ms Officer 145** (** in place of number for her privacy) read the reply thoroughly several times. Then, she asked where I got the reply from; I said “CBSA client service in Ottawa”. She replied that I also need a ‘manifest’. I said “I did read something about a manifest and cargo/release list and did ask UPS to provide such information to me but UPS said they can’t give them to me.” She shook her head. I continued, “UPS said the package must be sent back to Fort Erie if I need the document.” She shook her head again and said “No, that’s not true.” She asked which UPS # I contacted and I gave her the number Shelley asked me to call her back at. Ms Officer 145** immediately called the number (luckily someone was still at work) to find out why I wasn’t provided with the information. She got the UPS person to fax her the manifest. She then explained to me that because UPS’s system is not set up to produce a manifest for items under LVS as the value is under $1600 and the item is no secured in a bonded facility, e.g. Fort Erie. She went on telling me that UPS agent had to change the item from LVS to HVS (high value shipment) to produce the manifest. Finally, I paid the necessary fees to the proper organization.
When I got home, I contacted UPS at the 1-800 number but mistakenly called UPS shipping department who then directed me to UPS tracking department who then directed me to UPS brokerage department. I spoke with Norma (she’s very nice) to find out how to present the proof of payment to UPS. She said UPS has already received confirmation that CBSA has process my clearance (Ms Officer 145** did mention something about faxing something to UPS). However, Norma said there is still an outstanding balance of (approx.) $56 for duties. I argued that I paid ALL necessary fees to CBSA to clear the package and I have the official receipt. I went on telling her I didn’t have to pay any duties on the item and I only had to pay taxes, which I paid in full. She put me on hold to investigate and speak with supervisor. She came back and told me to email the receipt to UPS and she will remove the C.O.D. tag. She confirmed that I will not have to pay UPS a penny when the package arrives on Monday. I emailed a copy to Shelley as well. So, we shall see come Monday.
I will keep on updating.
Hi Tony,
In case of refusal from CBSA office to follow instructions sent by CBSA Ottawa signed by Government of Canada, the only way is to complain to the ministry with the names of the officers who refused. It would be good to have a refusal in written, but I think officers won’t do that. Ideally, ask them to write refusal right on the instructions (e-mail from CBSA Ottawa).
I’m sorry that you have difficulties with paying taxes…
There are so many local CBSA offices! What do they do? When I dropped by couple of times, there were no customers, but several officers. And they refuse to accept taxes which importers wish to pay according to CLVS documents and instructions from the main CBSA office. Why does government keep all those local offices? Why taxpayers should pay for it? This is what I don’t understand at all…
Hope you will have some luck!
Thanks,
Trueler
Hello Trueler,
So I went to the office today (however, I didn’t have a copy of the official reply with me). The CBSA officer told me that I must provide them with the Waybill and that I need to contact UPS for such information. I did, but they kept on insisting that they cannot provide such information EVEN after I told them what they are doing is denying me my legal right to self clear my package.
What do you suggest? Should I go to the CBSA office again and show them the official reply? What should I do if they don’t recognize the official reply? Have them write me a written refusal?
And one thing I noticed on the commercial invoice is that it does not have the courier’s name on it (btw, it looks just like the one you have in your article).
Please help.
Regards,
Tony
Hi Tony,
Please find the copy of the e-mail here:
http://trueler.com/2010/09/13/ups-brokerage-fees-total-scam-fraud-cheating-avoid-it/
Regards,
Trueler
Hello Trueler,
This is a truly informative and helpful article! Thanks!
Now, I will be receiving an UPS shipment pretty soon and I’m wondering if you can forward me a copy of the email CBSA sent you? I may need to reference this when I speak with the CBSA agents at the airport where I work.
Thank you in advance.
Trueler,
I have the exact document (Shipment Invoice) you have at the top of this page (and your other pages), and CBSA Calgary would not clear my package.
I have an official copy of the Shipping Manifest, as referenced in my post above. This is the document that relates the entire UPS shipment to your package and is required for a “2 port process” – per the Ottawa office you refereed me to, and the Calgary office. This document contains the “Cargo Control Number”. This is the only number that CBSA has to relate your package in a shipment of hundreds of packages.
The problem is once UPS issues a copy of the shipping manifest, UPS automatically tries to return the package to the port of entry. I believe this is default in their system, and not a human input. This is why this document is difficult to obtain.
I have yet to be successful in clearing my own package, but I will keep fighting.
Thank you,
Jones
An update, and a caution!
Turns out that UPS may be trying to deal with “repeat offenders†by not even bothering to email the commercial invoice!
When I received the initial UPS “delivery attempt†notice yesterday, I immediately phoned up UPS and asked for the commercial invoice associated with that tracking number. I had them read my email back to me so there was no mistake (I own and host my own domain, so this email was my personal one). Even by this morning, there was no email from them.
Phoned again at 0730hrs, had another email sent to the same address. By 1000hrs, still no email, so I phoned again (they claimed that there was an “email queue†that took at least 90 minutes to send an email… LOL – NOT!) and had another commercial invoice sent to me, but this time to my gmail account. No dice. 1200hrs saw me phone them up again, and have another one sent to my hotmail account. Again, nothing came in.
Finally, by 1400hrs I phoned them again, and asked for a commercial invoice to be sent to the exact same hotmail address I gave them on the previous call. But this time, I DID SO WITHOUT MENTIONING MY TRACKING NUMBER. Within seconds I got a form for CREATING a commercial invoice. YAY… NOT. But this was an important step, because it confirmed that I could receive an email from them within seconds of them sending it. So I then gave them my tracking number with a request for the commercial invoice that was associated with that tracking number (once again, they used the same hotmail account), and lo and behold… the email arrived within five seconds of them sending it.
I know for a fact that I never received the first email, because it never reached my server. I own and run my own Iron in-house, and I did a search through the log files for my mail server and found NOTHING that came in from UPS.com. My mail server logs EVERYTHING, even if it is summarily dropped as spam, and there was nothing that came in from them in the last 24 hours.
Additionally, I used the same hotmail address on all three occasions, and it was only on the second and third occasions (with my last phone call) that the emails actually came in.
So either their own mail server binned the emails meant for me – three times in a row – or they purposely claimed to have sent me emails when they actually didn’t.
So a word of advice to anyone requesting the commercial invoice to their shipment — if you don’t get it within seconds (and at most, a few minutes), phone in again, ask for *something* (like a commercial invoice form) *without* mentioning your tracking number, and once you receive that in your email, tell them that you have a tracking number that you need the commercial invoice for. That way, you can stay on the phone with them until you receive your second email (this time with the correct commercial invoice!). In fact, make a point of doing so by making something up — like you are on a bad internet connection and you want to make sure the email makes it to you before you hang up.
Remember, they are doing everything they can to make money, including lying to you — the last person I spoke to nearly had my package sent back to its point of entry in Richmond because I had to explain why I needed the commercial invoice for my shipment. She did her best to argue that I could only self-clear if I picked up my shipment at the port of entry, and I had to correct her by quoting the CBSA documentation. In fact, I am not taking any chances, and am going to the warehouse tonight to pick my package up just to make sure they won’t have a chance to send it back to the port of entry.
Oh, and one final thing that I have looked into — if anyone at UPS says that the package needs to go back to the port of entry, you can tell them that they are lying, and that you can prove it. When the sender used UPS to send the package, there was a contract made (between the sender and UPS) that specified transport from the sender to you. If you paid the sender shipping, that contract exists between you and UPS. If you do not receive the shipment at the address specified, you have the ability to sue them for breach of contract. The contract itself is wholly and totally encapsulated by the original payment that the sender gave to UPS, any additional charges are levies that only the Canadian Government can truly collect on. Whether they collect through UPS (the HST charge is a part of that) or by you self-clearing is immaterial.
As well, if UPS claims that you *have* to pay HST/GST, remind them that there is something called “accounts payable†(they only pay once, at the end of the month that your parcel clears the port of entry), and that any attempt by them to force you to pay HST/GST twice (once you paid CBSA directly) is illegal. Revenue Canada would certainly be very interested in examining their books if they were to stand firm on this one.