To our cousins in the US...

Please PLEASE if someone from Canada buys something from you, never ship by UPS. :banghead:

IF we ask for UPS then slap us, call us dumb canucks, and ship by USPS :D

First off... UPS charges us Canadians Brokerage fees. How much? Well last time I got something that had a worth of $100, I was charged $40 in brokerage fees. USPS on the other hand doesn't charge fees.

Secondly, UPS is dumb as a sack of wet mice. Here's my latest shipment with them. I'll post the dumbest moments from the tracking.

Davenport, IA, United States 08/02/2011 8:00 Adverse weather conditions.

Ok this means my package was delayed due to the weather. Now this one might make sense since on that day it was 35 degrees celcius without a cloud in the sky and chance of thunder storms that night.

Richmond, BC, Canada 08/04/2011 13:11 Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance / Receiver's customs broker has been assigned The shipment is now released to move in transit

And here come the brokerage fees. What does that involve? It means someone opening the package and looking inside to make sure the item can be imported BEFORE sending it to customs who does the same thing.

It's now stuck on another plane to fly to Prince George for the next sorting location. Once in Prince George it gets out into a Semi truck which heads back down to Richmond dropping off packages to the local UPS deliverers in each city along the way.

Prince George, BC, Canada 08/05/2011 12:14 Adverse weather conditions

Another delay by weather. But this one I can't understand since I was in Prince George that day actually. It was 17 degrees celcius, cloudy skies with sunny periods, no wind. There is NO reason for the weather to effect my shipment.

Williams Lake, BC, Canada 08/08/2011 7:52 Destination Scan

Oh look it's in my city! And it's early enough to easily make it out for delivery on the exact day it's supposed to!

Williams Lake, BC, Canada 08/08/2011 13:12 Missorted to an incorrect location

Oh wait it's UPS, my mistake. 5 hours after reaching my city, it's put back onto the semi truck and continues south back towards Richmond. My parcel is now on it's way BACK in Richmond.

The truck doesn't turn around and there is no truck headed north. So my parcel has to go back down to UPS in Richmond, sorted again, put back onto a plane, flown back to Prince George and placed onto another Truck headed south.

Scheduled Delivery Updated To:
Friday, 08/12/2011, By End of Day

Yup it's going to take them 4 more extra days for them to turn the parcel back around and get it back here.


I should say this is no problem of the shipper's. My problem was when he said UPS I thought he meant to type USPS and never asked for clarrification.