Audi Parts Superstore

[brown_Guy1]

Hi everybody..i need a bit of help....I just bought a set of mats from audipartssuperstore.com and got them shipped to Canada. Then today when UPS comes to my door with the package they're asking for $55 COD and i'm like what is this for. The driver says he's not aware and that I should call UPS to ask them. so I called UPS and they say it's a brokerage fee that the shipper should have told you about(which he never did). No where under their shipping policy does it say that the buyer is responsible for brokerage fees and it doesn't say anything like that on the bill of sale either. My question to all of you is...am i stuck paying this fee? or do you think AudiPArtsSuperstore.com should shoulder it?....any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
TJ

[schusters4]

FYI. whenever you give out money..... it's very hard to get back. If these MATS are not a necessity, i would deny the COD charge and contact Audipartssuperstore.com of their inability to mange a website. A larger majority of internet companies use a third party to set -up and monitor their online buiness. I'm sure that if they are committed to providing great service that Audi customers are accustomed to recieving,they will take care of the situtation in your favor. If not. Then I'm sure there are at least 5-10 different sites bidding for your business. Most of which can be found here by simply activating the "search button". Best of luck to your endevors.

[widgget]

it's not their fault you live in Canada and didn't want to purchase though a local supplier.

[AvanTTix]

Hi everybody..i need a bit of help....I just bought a set of mats from audipartssuperstore.com and got them shipped to Canada. Then today when UPS comes to my door with the package they're asking for $55 COD and i'm like what is this for. The driver says he's not aware and that I should call UPS to ask them. so I called UPS and they say it's a brokerage fee that the shipper should have told you about(which he never did). No where under their shipping policy does it say that the buyer is responsible for brokerage fees and it doesn't say anything like that on the bill of sale either. My question to all of you is...am i stuck paying this fee? or do you think AudiPArtsSuperstore.com should shoulder it?....any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
TJ

on every item you buy down South and get shipped up North you're going to pay taxes and most likely brokerage fees on... these are in no way the responsibility of the shop you bought the goods from, but yours. they may not even be aware of these if they only ship up North on rare occasions... there are ways to get around brokerage fees by having the items shipped by USPS or by taking the item through the border yourself... there is however no legal way to get out of taxes...

[Silver streak]

You will have to pay our taxes on that product, however you do not have to pay the brokerage fees. You never authorized UPS to do that for you. However they do have to clear through customs and some one has to do this. I live in Vancouver and when they tried to do that to me I said I would clear the the item myself. I had to go to UPS main shipping center in Richmond get the paper work, drive 2 min. to customs, and in 5 min. had it all done. Take that paper work back to UPS and they gave me the package. I do not have any thing sent to me in Vancouver any more, packages are sent to TBS shipping in Point Roberts WA and don't have to deal with being ripped off by those ass holes.

[ed@mtl]

UPS will rape you with brokerage fees which they call it COD.

Next time, use this site to calculate the final cost of your purchase from the US.

http://www.thefinalcost.com

It may not be exact but it comes close.

[brown_Guy1]

thanks a lot guys....i just email them to see if they'll cover some if any at all of the fees....I shoulda just bought them from the dealership...I figured I'd save a couple of bucks....was i ever wrong....hmmm....oh well you live you learn...I think what through me off is i've bought a lot of stuff from e-bay and never had to go through something like this...first time i ever purchased from an actual online store....I guess i'm just gonna refuse to pay the COD and just get a refund....thanks for everything guys.

[evilgabbie]

it wasn't the seller's fault

anything that is shipped NOT via air (UPS / Fedex / DHL / etc) with USPS / CNDPOST being exceptions, you will get hit will brokage fees UNLESS you clear customs yourself

[dmc]

http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html

[JackalS4]

It's UPS's fault....I have a (from US to Canada) no-UPS-or-no-business-from-me policy. Been screwed too many times.

Not the Audi store's fault.

Have a look at a similar discussion here:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...&highlight=ups

[1_8T_Dub_PimP]

Yeah like everyone said it's probably not the stores fault. When you order from the states you have to realize that not a large part of their business comes from Canada so they may not be aware of all the fees associated with shipping to Canada. The larger more well known sites that have a large amount of Canadian customers will know about the fees and will warn you, or have free worldwide shipping, etc. Like someone said there are ways to get the border rape lessened sometimes eliminated. If you have the items shipped USPS, declare a small value, mark it as a gift, or package it well but in a way that it looks used. I've had rims shipped to me and I paid very little brokerage because the sender protected it with cardboard box backing and covered them in garbage bags each so it looked very used. So when you're ordering online you have to figure in the possible brokerage sometimes in the end it might work out cheaper to get it locally if it's available. Then if it's not depending on how badly you want the item you may just have to bite the bullet and pay.

[hoganalley]

It's been posted before......all shipping costs, duties, brokerage, taxes are all responsibility of the receiver. UPS is the worst for brokerage.....I've never been charged brokerage by Fedex, but they're usually more expensive. US/Canada Mail has next to no fees. You will have to pay taxes if the item isn't covered under duty free. You can always ask the seller to ship the item as "a gift" to you and it's void from all duties.

UPS SUCKS. The worst company to ship anything with. They charge you if they drive head on into the wind because they used more gas. Brutal.

if you can wait the 7-10 days always ship by regular mail

[headshok2002]

Well, you've been very lucky in ignorance... because if you've bought off eBay several times, you were very fortunate to have USPS do your shipping each time.
If something was ever brought to you from UPS and it crossed a border, you'll be paying for it. It's a well known fact... UPS and FedEx are both BRUTAL with brokerage fees.

Now, if this is your first time getting owned by UPS, call them, explain that you had no idea, and plead with them for lenience. They will give you a freebie, if it's your first time, and greatly discount the fees. Not sure if you can do that if you've already paid the fee... but I know multiple people who have refused the package, and pleaded with UPS while the pkg was in limbo.

Good luck.

[dmc]

Jesus, there's NOTHING wrong with UPS.

Try shipping something via FedEx Ground and you'll get the same thing.

FedEx Express (air) and UPS Express both include the cost of customs brokerage in the fee. The shipper fills out some extra forms, provides a commercial invoice, and the package is cleared to you at no extra charge. In fact, on many occasions, FedEx delivers the package to you without delay, and invoices you later for the PST/GST.

FedEx Ground is just as bad as UPS Ground. In fact, I think they're worse. The last time I had some parts shipped to me from the US via FedEx Ground, I had to open an account through FedEx Trade Networks just to get them to clear my package. It was held at the Mississauga facility for over a week while they did this.

There's no problem with UPS. They've always disclosed customs brokerage fees (separate from PST/GST and duties) on their website.

Note that USPS also charges a brokerage fee, but it's usually less than $5, so most people don't notice it on top of the PST/GST and/or duty paid.

[sakimano]

Anyone know a good place to get Audi Sport winter mats for a B7 A4/S4/RS4?

(now that I know not to order from the USA!)

cheers

[boravr6]

Anyone know a good place to get Audi Sport winter mats for a B7 A4/S4/RS4?

(now that I know not to order from the USA!)

cheers

The dealer

Paid 125$ for black with s-line logo. 4 mats in the box.

[MacDaddy]

UPS has been doing this for years now, i won't buy from a shipper that uses UPS anymore because i'm tired of them sticking over inflated brokerage fees on my shit.

they are expensive and slow too, i have no idea how these douchebags stay in business

[headshok2002]

Jesus, there's NOTHING wrong with UPS.

Try shipping something via FedEx Ground and you'll get the same thing.

FedEx Express (air) and UPS Express both include the cost of customs brokerage in the fee. The shipper fills out some extra forms, provides a commercial invoice, and the package is cleared to you at no extra charge. In fact, on many occasions, FedEx delivers the package to you without delay, and invoices you later for the PST/GST.

FedEx Ground is just as bad as UPS Ground. In fact, I think they're worse. The last time I had some parts shipped to me from the US via FedEx Ground, I had to open an account through FedEx Trade Networks just to get them to clear my package. It was held at the Mississauga facility for over a week while they did this.

There's no problem with UPS. They've always disclosed customs brokerage fees (separate from PST/GST and duties) on their website.

Note that USPS also charges a brokerage fee, but it's usually less than $5, so most people don't notice it on top of the PST/GST and/or duty paid.

Well, I agree that they do state their prices online... but still, who would expect brokerage fees to be so bloody high? on a 20 dollar item, it's like 6.95 or something... plus they add a 5 dollar COD fee (that's a fee to pay THEIR fees at the door).

So, your 20 dollar item would be just under 23 if shipped USPS... but with UPS, you'd end up paying 12 bucks on top of taxes... so like 35 bucks, for an item declared at 20 bucks. That is a pretty huge percentage to add to something.

I once bought sideview mirrors from a guy on audizine... I forgot to tell him to ship USPS, and he shipped UPS. I paid 40 for the pair... he didn't put a value, so UPS defaulted to 100 dollars (as it came with 100 in free insurance). The exchange rate back then was about 1.25, so my package was valued at 125ish CDN. UPS wanted 49 dollars at the door... It's pathetic.

[jackyaudi]

I vote that its UPS's issue. Brokerage fees are a killer. And it does not get much better with some other carriers.

Lets face it, on ebay and other online stores, many sellers mark things as gifts to avoid taxes and what not for the buyer. There are tons of "gifts" going back and forth at the border every day.

Another way is to ship it via UPS to the border and then via Canada post from that point on to your house. I got a couple of bottles of Auto-Rx and thats how they did it. It take 2-3 weeks but you pay no extra fees.

But I also think that any online business that deal with customers from Canada must have had previous complains about this, based on which you would expect that online business either to avoid or not recommend UPS for future Canadian customers. Unless they dont deal that much with Canadian customers.

In my own experience, usually the seller is aware of such fees and will warn you beforehand, but its not their fault.

[Rallyguy]

UPS is the spawn of Satan. Not only do they have predatory pricing for brokerage fees - they have both autrocious and indifferent (which is worse to me) customer service, exacerbated by unreliable, confusing and poorly integrated systems and business proceses.

Other shippers might suck too - by UPS is BY FAR the worst I've ever experienced.

I too have a firm NO UPS rule. "You only ship UPS? Sorry - I'll take my business elsewhere"

No amount of reasonably attainable savings are worth the inevitable hassles, delays, frustrations and costs incurred with UPS.

I encourage you to pass this message along to ALL suppliers.

Lastly -the solution to this conundrum? USPS. Not only are they fast, cheap and reliable, they supported road cycling like mad. Heros in my book.

RK