# UPS delivery held at border



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I'm waiting for a guitar to be delivered from Dave's guitar. The tracking currently says "UPS is holding the cargo at a secure facility, pending instructions and agreement.
I've called UPS and they said something about "power of attorney need to be signed for" and that the shipper should have signed, blah blah.
I emailed Daves guitar and they said nothing they can do on their end. UPS said call Canada customs but I can't find a number to call.
Has anybody ever run in to this?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Never had that one, but add it to the list of weird and generally expensive problems you experience when receiving goods via UPS.

Good luck


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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

UPS is the worst, given a choice between UPS and Eore delivery service you should always choose the donkey.
Good luck, I hope they go easy on you with brokerage fees


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)




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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

UPS had one chance to F%$k me and I still have a size 12 asshole from the experience.

Never again.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)




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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> I'm waiting for a guitar to be delivered from Dave's guitar. The tracking currently says "UPS is holding the cargo at a secure facility, pending instructions and agreement.
> I've called UPS and they said something about "power of attorney need to be signed for" and that the shipper should have signed, blah blah.
> I emailed Daves guitar and they said nothing they can do on their end. UPS said call Canada customs but I can't find a number to call.
> Has anybody ever run in to this?


Does this mean you found your tele? What did you get?


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Did you buy direct or through Reverb? Seller is responsible for all paperwork when shipping


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Milkman said:


> Yes, Honda only for March 23 until April 3 but GM indefinitely.
> 
> They'll all follow suit. We knew this was coming a week ago.





Milkman said:


> UPS had one chance to F%$k me and I still have a size 12 asshole from the experience.
> 
> Never again.


I've had several guitars delivered using UPS from various US retailers, My favorite guitars, Wildwood guitars (3 different deliveries) and now Daves guitars. I recieved my guitars from Wildwood in as little as 2 days. From My Favorite guitars it took about a week. 
I've only ever been charged tax at the doors and fees of about $60. This is on guitars that cost between $3k and 7k. So as yet I've never been screwed by UPS but for some reason I get this bad feeling that this may be the time.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> Did you buy direct or through Reverb? Seller is responsible for all paperwork when shipping


I bought directly off of Daves Guitars using my credit card paying via paypal.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

vokey design said:


> Does this mean you found your tele? What did you get?


This is the one I ended up buying.

1952 Journeyman Relic Telecaster (Milwaukee 608-790-9816) - Dave's Guitar Shop


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> I've had several guitars delivered using UPS from various US retailers, My favorite guitars, Wildwood guitars (3 different deliveries) and now Daves guitars. I recieved my guitars from Wildwood in as little as 2 days. From My Favorite guitars it took about a week.
> I've only ever been charged tax at the doors and fees of about $60. This is on guitars that cost between $3k and 7k. So as yet I've never been screwed by UPS but for some reason I get this bad feeling that this may be the time.


I wish you luck Terry and I'm not taking any pleasure in this, but the smoke around UPS' reputation is a clear indication of a fire.

I'll spare you my testimonial but it was a real slap in the face.

As I said, never again. USPS, Fed Ex are both MUCH better and less likely to raise your BP. Just my experience there.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Milkman said:


> I wish you luck Terry and I'm not taking any pleasure in this, but the smoke around UPS' reputation is a clear indication of a fire.
> 
> I'll spare you my testimonial but it was a real slap in the face.
> 
> As I said, never again. USPS, Fed Ex are both MUCH better and less likely to raise your BP. Just my experience there.


I'm pretty sure I was originally told USPS but then when I got the tracking number it was UPS. I would have preferred USPS.


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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> This is the one I ended up buying.
> 
> 1952 Journeyman Relic Telecaster (Milwaukee 608-790-9816) - Dave's Guitar Shop


Nice, under 7 lbs and flathead screws makes me happy


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

vokey design said:


> Nice, under 7 lbs and flathead screws makes me happy


I got lucky on the weight. I'd have taken it up to a max of aprox 7.7 pounds. Its the neck size I'm most concerned about. They measured it at .970 at the first and 1.01 at the 12th. I'm hoping it has the wider shoulders like a Nocaster but regardless it should be chunky enough for me.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Been going back and forth with someone from UPS thats been very helpful at getting this sorted out. Seems UPS wants me to pay the charges before this gets released to customs. Never had to do that before but maybe because of the current situation. If I hadn't got on this would this have just sat in limbo.
I got an email from someone else that gave me the breakdown in charges and wants to know how I'm paying. I know one other time I paid online at UPS but I paid it when the tracking update was "Out for delivery" so I wouldn't have to pay at the door.
Never the less the brokerage fees aren't too bad but more than I paid before. Aside from taxes which is to be expected they're dinging me for $16.46 plus the tax on that to make a total of $142.90. That along with taxes on the guitar and I have to pay just over $500.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Been going back and forth with someone from UPS thats been very helpful at getting this sorted out. Seems UPS wants me to pay the charges before this gets released to customs. Never had to do that before but maybe because of the current situation. If I hadn't got on this would this have just sat in limbo.
I got an email from someone else that gave me the breakdown in charges and wants to know how I'm paying. I know one other time I paid online at UPS but I paid it when the tracking update was "Out for delivery" so I wouldn't have to pay at the door.
Never the less the brokerage fees aren't too bad but more than I paid before. Aside from taxes which is to be expected they're dinging me for $134. plus the tax on that to make a total of $142.90. That along with taxes on the guitar and I have to pay just over $500.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

UPS is the absolute worst possible choice for shipping from the US to Canada. Sorry you got caught up in it.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Lincoln said:


> UPS is the absolute worst possible choice for shipping from the US to Canada. Sorry you got caught up in it.


I just paid the charges over the phone to UPS with my CC. As I've said I've had many guitar (probably about 7 or 8) delivered by UPS and never really had a problem. This was a bit weird in that they wanted me to pay the charges before it was even released. from Windsor. If I hadn't got proactive about it how long would my guitar be sitting there in limbo. No one contacted me or said I had to pay charges. It was me following up and emailing them. Several emails later we finally get to the bottom of it and I am made aware of the resolution. The charges in my opinion aren't too bad considering the horror stories I've heard. And I just noticed that Daves guitar put a value of $2,000 which saved me some tax. 
In spite of all this I'm still not going to blame UPS too much and write them off as being "The Devil". They are very busy which is why their phones are so tied up. Due to the fact of the current situation I'll give them a pass.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

So you paid Ups 500 in fees and that's ok with you?


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

UPS, that's your first mistake. Held for extortion at the border, that's a new one.

If you've only paid $60 at the door, I find that odd.

I placed an order from an outfit in NY state. It was $120 US and they would only ship UPS.
Driver got to the door and first time, was requesting an extra $200 until he realized that he had the wrong package.
Next day, he came to the door requesting an extra $100 for a $150 CD package. I told him to keep it.

I got a letter from a collection agency a while later demanding that $100 for a package that I did not recieve.
Never again for UPS, never.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

DHL is my friend. FedEx is ok too.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Lincoln said:


> DHL is my friend. FedEx is ok too.


We use DHL for documents and FedEx for packages.

Both seem bulletproof and dependable.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

I'm not clear on how much extra you ended up paying beyond what you were expecting the shipping to cost?


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> So you paid Ups 500 in fees and that's ok with you?


Should I have not paid the $360 portion of that $500 that was taxes on the guitar? Would that be all right with you?
Like I said, $142 of that $500 is the UPS brokerage fees and thats close to double that I've paid in the past but what are you going to do. I'll probably get the guitar and I'll forget all about it. Not the greatest situation but I'm not gonna dwell on it or bitch about it.
This whole thing this time around has been weird but we're in weird times where we struggle to find toilet paper.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Good point. You got the guitar through customs and on its way to you. Nothing else really matters.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

You made it sound like you paid 500 brokerage fees.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

I don't even like UPS for domestic shipments.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'm ok with their e-packet program. Gets dropped off by Canada Post


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> You made it sound like you paid 500 brokerage fees.


No. When I first mentioned the fees I said that it was including the taxes, which on $4,000 + guitar is going to be a good chunk of it.

Quoted from the post where I brought it up:



> Aside from taxes which is to be expected they're dinging me for $134 plus the tax on that to make a total of $142.90. That along with taxes on the guitar and I have to pay just over $500.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

So my guitar is supposed to be delivered today but what a rigamarole to get this. After countless calls and emails to get it released at the border I come to find I had to pay all the taxes and broker fees first. So they called me to do it over the phone because it was impossible for me to get through on the phones. At least that was their explanation. 
Then the tracking page still said I had to pay the fees and still says it at this moment. So I'm thinking they're going to show up at the door and want me to pay again or not leave the package. So more countless emails and I get a receipt that they promised to send but didn't without me sounding several emails. 
So I have an auth # the receipt and a print out of my bank statement showing the credit card was charged the exact amount, all waiting at the door.
But fearing that won't be enough I call the UPS warehouse in Brantford today and give them the tracking number. She said she would look in to this and call back, which she did. She called my house (I'm at work) and my daughter answered who is on "wait for brown truck" duty. The person at UPS wanted the auth # which my daughter gave her and the UPS person said that she would call the driver, get him to pull the tags (whatever that means) and deliver the package.
Holy shit that was a lot of work. And I'll believe it when my guitar gets delivered.
I do give some credit that for the most part UPS was helpful in getting all these things resolved. But it shouldn't take all these emails, phone calls and time. I do have to say I've had many packages delivered by UPS and have not had the nightmares I read about that others have had so I guess I was due.
Theres only one thing left to be done for this to be resolved and hopefully I can update that detail with an NGD post.


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## dmc69 (Jan 20, 2011)

It's always a roller coaster ride every time with UPS. They just can't seem to have one consistent policy when it comes to customs and clearance. One shipment, it's this. Another shipment, that. The next, none of the above. It makes zero sense.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

oh well, now I move on. Its in my hands now and its glorius.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

dmc69 said:


> It's always a roller coaster ride every time with UPS. They just can't seem to have one consistent policy when it comes to customs and clearance. One shipment, it's this. Another shipment, that. The next, none of the above. It makes zero sense.


That seems to be the case. I recently used UPS for shipping two oversized packages (guitars) that Canada Post would not accept. I used ground shipping for one guitar and it was refused entry to the US. After many calls and the package returned to me with a piece of paper from Customs stating "no entry", I still don't have a reason as to why US Customs refused entry. After calling UPS brokerage and speaking to 4 reps., and explaining to them that clearing customs is their job, they gave me US Customs phone number to call (wtf?). I shipped it again using FedEx and no problems and got delivered yesterday. 

The other shipment I sent was two day express and it took 4 days - ok fine but the buyer had to jump hoops in filling out "dangerous goods" paperwork. All the proper paperwork including waybill and invoice were provided correctly including the Harmonized Tariff Code. 

Not sure if it's competency issues or US Customs just don't like UPS.


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