Amazon to Canada No Longer Duty-Free (1 Viewer)

[Kevin McCorry]

From 1999 until last month, every DVD shipment sent
to me from Amazon.com had been delivered by Purolator
Courier, and no matter how large the shipment, there
was no charge for import taxes or processing.
Now, packages come by one of two carriers. The regular
post and by DHL. There's no charge when the package is
delivered by DHL, but a week or two later what comes in
the mail but an invoice for customs charges (approx. $7)
plus $5 processing, and the buyer has to remit the money
by mail at his own time and expense (envelope, stamp).
Already, I've received one such invoice, and another one
is probably imminent.
What could have happened with Purolator? Did Amazon cancel the contract? Amazon stands to lose a lot of Canadian business if DHL now does the shipping. It was bad enough to have to remit cash for customs at the door when post delivered packages, but to have to mail money to DHL for every shipment is just too much, and incentive enough to try one's luck with a Canadian online retailer, that is if there is one that ships discs in a timely manner.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Considering how much Amazon charges both for their product and shipping, I wonder why anyone from Canada would order from them in the first place.
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[DeborahK]

I thought we had free-trade with Canada now and that there were no duties on goods bought and sold between the countries. Wasn't that what NAFTA was all about??
I don't get it.
Deborah
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[Kevin McCorry]

NAFTA only applies to corporations and big businesses, not to the average Joe.
When it comes to consumers, Canada is as protectionist as ever, and it's even worse when Canadian online companies are notoriously slow to ship. My Star Trek Vols. 27 & 28 that I ordered online through a Canadian company still haven't
shipped, and they were released 2 days ago. Still on backorder, I'm told. This is why I've until now gone with Amazon- and may still have to do so and just pay the duty and handling fees.
[Edited last by Kevin McCorry on July 12, 2001 at 06:58 AM]

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I'm with DeborahK. It just doesn't make any sense, and the $7 charge seems excessive. You might want to send a copy of your last bill to your local representive, or call them if you can. If all Canadian retailers are slow (because the DVD's are being held up in customs?) or are they just being lazy, then I can see why you buy from the US, but we are in the same region, so they should be duty-free.
Perhaps a local paper or TV station could help too. You should not be penalized for living in Canada.
Glenn

 

[Kevin McCorry]

As I'm still waiting for my Space: 1999 Sets 3 & 4 shipped from another U.S. online retailer on July 2, I'd say that, yes, I'm penalized for living in Canada.
Had to cancel my Star Trek DVD order because as of yesterday, the Canadian DVD retailer still had them on backorder. So, again, I'd say that, yes, I'm penalized for living in Canada.
The $7 dollars I mentioned consisted of duty, GST and GST (federal & provincial taxes; you see, they impose a sales tax on goods puchased outside the country). Then the $5 handling fee. If you want to see something really obscene,
how about the approx. $79 I had to pay in brokerage fees to get my Cosmos DVDs that were shipped here by UPS.
If Canadian retailers had better selection in stock and faster delivery, there'd be no problem, but this is the problem, and it ain't abating.
At least Amazon was 95% reliable in this way (exception
includes problems involving ordering Cosmos and other DVDs from them last December). When I ordered DVDs, they were promptly stocked and shipped. I guess I'll just have to pay the extra money now for it.
Wrote a Letter to the Editor about this once, and the local newspaper printed it. But the folly still goes on.