Ridiculous Duty Charge from DHL on Chain Reaction Order

[bfree]

I had never used Chain Reaction before, but figured I'd try them since it was a few bucks cheaper than Jenson and I'm in no hurry. Order total was $189 for some shoes and pedals. Orders under $200 should be duty free, but DHL now wants $52. Fuck that. Has anyone had success negotiating customs fees with DHL? Or can I refuse the shipment and have them return to sender and get my money back from CRC or Visa?

[gravitylover]

Does it bring the total price to about what it would cost if you went to a local bike shop? You didn't pay shipping or sales tax or the tax on the gas you would have used if you were to shop locally and a local business lost the chance to earn their piece because you didn't shop with them and ... ... ...

[evdog]

Do you know whether the stuff you bought is actually subject to duty? Just because Dewey Hewey and Lewey say you owe duty does not necessarily mean that you do. Rules concerning duties are complex and the people applying those rules are not always competent. If they are wrong and you can prove it then you may get out of the charge.

Different circumstances, but I had a minor victory back in the day when I sent a shock from BC down to Avalanche for repair. On its return the customs brokerage assessed sales tax on the full declared value of the shock as if I had bought it, despite it being labelled as a "return for repair". At most I should have paid $15 on labor for the repair and even that is douche-y. But they also misclassified the shock and applied duty to the full value. There was no duty on bike parts into Canada back then (not sure if still the case). Weeks later I got a bill for $170.

Technically I was supposed to pay the brokerage bill and then submit a refund request to Revenue Canada. Fuck that. So I wrote the brokerage a check for $15 along with a letter telling them I'm a poor student who can't afford to go out of pocket for their careless mistake, and pointing out the specific code and calculation that should apply. They replied with the same bill and threatened collections but after 2 more identical letters from me they gave in and filled out the government refund form for me. I just had to sign and mail it. They kindly requested that I endorse the refund check over to them when it arrived (it did, 6 months later). I thought briefly of cashing it myself but remembered karma, and mailed it on. Small victory, but pretty satisfying.

[DasBlunt]

Canada is so awesome. it is polite and smart all at once^^^^^

[Lahar]

I ordered rims and tires to lace up a 29er wheelset from them a few months ago. Total bill was around $200, no issues with duty... I would call Chain Reaction, sounds like DHL is in the wrong to me.

[stuckathuntermtn]

CRC is in Canada? Thought it was Yurp.
I sent some tidbits to Canada. I don't think there was any monetary issue other than that it took awhile.

[edog80]

Live and learn for me. I got dinged by dhl via wiggle, just paid it and got it out of my hair, which I've heard is the smart thing to do. You have to go royal mail to avoid most of the custom charges, but you getting dinged for under $200 is surprising. Not sure it's worth the fight, but royal mail (ribble) should avoid the charges in the future.

[bagtagley]

I'm with Lahar. Start with CRC.

[evdog]

CRC is in Canada? Thought it was Yurp..

No, CRC is in UK. I lived in Canada.

[jamesp]

Talking to CRC won't get you anywhere

[bfree]

Talking to CRC won't get you anywhere

That's my thought as well. I'm starting with them, but it's probably more DHL and the customs agent's fault.

[FlimFlamvanHam]

CRC had a brief lapse in common sense about 9 months ago and moved all of their shipping to tracked shipping. This meant their "free" economy option was no longer via Royal Mail (hands off to USPS or Canada Post) but instead had to be a courier, which is DHL for north america.

I had ordered a lot of gear thru them over the years and never an issue with duties or taxes or import fees. That was until an order i placed right after this move to tracked service.

I got home one day and there was a yellow DHL slip in my mailbox saying attempted delivery and they would try again tomorrow and advice that $60 or so was owed to them for brokerage and duties and taxes. Fuck that.

I called DHL and told them to return it to sender. I'm not paying that. It was two pairs of shorts (total was about $120 for both).

I contacted CRC advising them they were going to lose just about every Canadian customer and it would likley be in their best interest to move back to the no charge, untracked, Royal Mail option. There is a long thread at MTBR about this with correspondence between customers and CRC posted. Anyway, they must have seen a lot of similar responses because they sent out an email advising that they were bringing back the free untracked shipping option.

But it's still not as it used to be.

I have heard from others that if it is a larger item it will forfeit on CRC's end to DHL, regardless of shipping choice. It is still the "free" option.

I think it's a bit of hit and miss now.

did you choose the free untracked shipping option? I'm assuming you yanks have similar choices as us up here for the shipping options.

Unlike others, my instant reaction from any courier who is asking me for fees is simply, no thanks, return it to sender. If I take possession then I owe the courier the funds.

And yes, CRC will do nothing but advise you are responsible for such 'import fees' and that they have no control over them.

[bfree]

CRC had a brief lapse in common sense about 9 months ago and moved all of their shipping to tracked shipping. This meant their "free" economy option was no longer via Royal Mail (hands off to USPS or Canada Post) but instead had to be a courier, which is DHL for north america.

I had ordered a lot of gear thru them over the years and never an issue with duties or taxes or import fees. That was until an order i placed right after this move to tracked service.

I got home one day and there was a yellow DHL slip in my mailbox saying attempted delivery and they would try again tomorrow and advice that $60 or so was owed to them for brokerage and duties and taxes. Fuck that.

I called DHL and told them to return it to sender. I'm not paying that. It was two pairs of shorts (total was about $120 for both).

I contacted CRC advising them they were going to lose just about every Canadian customer and it would likley be in their best interest to move back to the no charge, untracked, Royal Mail option. There is a long thread at MTBR about this with correspondence between customers and CRC posted. Anyway, they must have seen a lot of similar responses because they sent out an email advising that they were bringing back the free untracked shipping option.

But it's still not as it used to be.

I have heard from others that if it is a larger item it will forfeit on CRC's end to DHL, regardless of shipping choice. It is still the "free" option.

I think it's a bit of hit and miss now.

did you choose the free untracked shipping option? I'm assuming you yanks have similar choices as us up here for the shipping options.

Unlike others, my instant reaction from any courier who is asking me for fees is simply, no thanks, return it to sender. If I take possession then I owe the courier the funds.

And yes, CRC will do nothing but advise you are responsible for such 'import fees' and that they have no control over them.

Thanks for sharing. Yeah I ordered with free shipping and they sent it DHL anyways. I'd also like to reject the shipment and have them return to sender. You didn't have any issues getting CRC to accept the return that way?

After talking with the CRC rep, it's partially their fault for declaring the value before discounts. That doesn't make any sense since it's not the true replacement value for the goods. Their website says that shipping costs are excluded from declared values, but makes no reference to discounts.

[xyz]

I've heard a rumour that Dunbar Cycles in Vancouver is matching prices from CR. Try contacting them to confirm. It would obviously be great to get CR prices without the hassle of potential duties.

[jm2e]

You take a risk when you order from Yurp. Accept it.
I've bought stuff and had it sit in customs for a month. I got really pissed that the sender couldn't touch it. So they switch to a shipper that can expedite my package and I get pissed that it costs more.
My fault for thinking the world is full of free lunches.

[ScrewYou]

I bought a $1700 commencal FS frame along with some components from CRC, shipped DHL, never had any fees.

Also bought a fully built commencal hardtail from them, $1100, shipped DHL, no fees..

This was almost 2 years ago though..

I have had great luck with those Euro "Inn" stores too. Like snowinn, motardinn, and such. I Buy a lot of alpinestars leather from them at discount prices, never pay any fees.

[FlimFlamvanHam]

You didn't have any issues getting CRC to accept the return that way?

none at all. Apparently the courier (DHL) has to contact them to accept the return. When DHL told me this i was a bit worried but CRC had advised me in a prior email with them regarding this instance to do just that: reject it and they would accept it back.

i think it was about 7 bus days between my rejecting it and them sending me an email saying they had received the return and were issuing a credit against my CC.

I've heard a rumour that Dunbar Cycles in Vancouver is matching prices from CR. Try contacting them to confirm. It would obviously be great to get CR prices without the hassle of potential duties.

I was working with Dunbar to match CRC on a Pike about a year ago. I ended up buying a new take off in Whistler, but they did sound like they were prepared to do it. They make it very clear that the price match would also be subject to the values of any applicable duties and taxes. But on a fork there are no duties. Be interested in knowing if anyone has been successful using their price match because when Pikes were just over $800CAD thru CRC at the time I was looking I was within about $30 of cost to Dunbar.

[Canada1]

So this is the law guy. Don't admit to avoiding or circumventing taxes,fees,etc in a public forum. I had some friends show up in court to have their posts laid out to a judge in a drug case.

[FlimFlamvanHam]

Good advice Canada1.

however in such an instance as this, the carrier choosing not to charge said fees would not qualify as circumventing.

[jm2e]

Buying shit and hoping to avoid import fees in a poorly understood, under enforced and insignificant system is a long way away from talking online about how you're selling crack at the local high school.
Either way, if coppers are trolling in here for evidence, I'm pretty sure we can get Blurred to stop at the local donut shop and give 'em a real ski town beat down.