General Forum

If you don't pay it do they return it to the sender?

Tracking continues. If it is priority express, it will continue as priority express and will be tracked. If it is first-class tracked, it will continue as what they call here Xpresspost (more or less equivalent to U.S. priority regular) and it will be tracked 'til destination. It used to be a while (two or three years ago) when Canada Post employees didn't had a definitive directive on which code they needed to scan or not and they slowed down on scanning items that should have been tracked, but they solved the issue by reprinting the foreign code bar on a Canada Post label at the Canadian point of entry. They scan it and tracking is available on both Canada Post and USPS website. In the other direction, tracking is an additional paid option that require shipper to use tracked parcel mail, registered mail, Xpresspost or Priority. Also, registered mail is for documents only in Canada and not "goods" as it is used by asian shippers.

Return mail service is included for lettermail (first class), not for package. If they return a package, shipper will be asked for postage due or it will more likely go in the dead letter department.

The Canada Customs Handling Fee used to be $10, but there was a recent rate increase. It is explained as Canada Post charges it to receivers for acting as their designed customs broker and to collect sale taxes when required by the customs. At UPS and Fedex, the last time I heard the rate, it was a $35.00 on everything, including when nothing is due. At least, Canada Post doesn't charge anything, if they don't collect additonnal taxes.

C2Cigars wrote:

If you don't pay it do they return it to the sender?

ranfordfan wrote:

I have had three items opened so far this year. Did not explain why, no penalties or taxes to be paid just the "Canadian Customs Handling Fee" of $20 plus GST. Yup had to pay it right at the kiosk. BS plain and simple.

The madness continues. I probably had a second incoming cross-border letter opened by customs officials in about a month after years and thousands of hassle-free shipments. The issue is they opened the envelope on the side, they checked the contents and they didn't resealed the envelope. I then received an empty envelope without the cards today. I filled a service ticket with Canada Post for what it is worth and the agent noticed a good point. They didn't put my envelope in a plastic bag as they usually do with damaged mail pieces.

At least my recent trades the cards have been arriving so far in last month  i had all 8 coming from Canada inspected out of 10 to Europe haven't been but 2 have been hit with customs tax, 1 from Canada to me and one where I sent a Panini stickers album with 4 packs to Spain trader cost me $14 to send but ended up costing him 40€ to pick up. This was for items costing less than $5 In the first place. I have been doing this for decades and only 1 box, no envelope ever inspected by customs  so not sure if this is going to be the norm 

With all the talk, I was considering canceling a deal from Canada. But I told my trading partner, I'm gambling, let's do it. I was receiving a box of cards, not suspicous but WTH, to my my surprise it arrived in days, unscathed. Postal system, sometimes weird !

Bobscardz, don't cancel your trade from Canada. That kind of things can happens everywhere, including the U.S.. Just for the anectode, about 15 years ago, I mailed documents back home from Topeka, KS while I was on the road and when I got them back at home, they were all destroyed soaked wet in an USPS plastic bag. It was like the mailman, who picked up the mailbox contents, has dropped my letter in a puddle or something. Since it was an USPS bag and not Canada Post, the incident was done stateside.

About the customs opening PWEs, I guess that things are changing. What I find regrettable is the lack of professionalism by the customs officers up here. If they choose to lose their time by opening letters with nothing wrong inside, can't they be classy and put everything back and secured as it was before? I guess that I should take as a lost envelope and carry on.

I have no clue, I would assume it would either just be confiscated and auctioned off or returned to sender. LOL sorry I missed this somehow.