Member Needs Help with Canadian Customs/Delivery Time Concern

[mistwomandancing]

gabasge

‎10-14-2017 11:34 PM

item is at customs

I need your help in one issue. OK the question is. I sold an item, handmade tattoo machine, made by me, in Canada. Order has been shipped on the next day after receiving a payment. In 5 days item has arrived in Canada and after this, duration 8 days, is in Canada Border Services Agency for custom review. This info I see in official Canada Post web site. I contacted with Canadian Post, but they replied, that they had no control over the customs and nobody knows, how long time it can be at the customs. But the problem is that in five days the delivery time will expire. In my listing I have a note that I cannot be held responsible for any delay at the customs in the country of destination which may affect on the estimate delivery time. But we know, that eBay do not interested in all this and after 5 days eBay or Buyer can starting the procedure of refund. Can you advise me, what to do in this situation. Thank you very much in advance

[nawlinsron2]

You say "made in Canada"...then you say "arrived in Canada".
Was it mailed FROM Canada?
If so, there's no time limit on intl deliveries that I'm aware of.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@mistwomandancing wrote:

gabasge

‎10-14-2017 11:34 PM

item is at customs

I need your help in one issue. OK the question is. I sold an item, handmade tattoo machine, made by me, in Canada. Order has been shipped on the next day after receiving a payment. In 5 days item has arrived in Canada and after this, duration 8 days, is in Canada Border Services Agency for custom review. This info I see in official Canada Post web site. I contacted with Canadian Post, but they replied, that they had no control over the customs and nobody knows, how long time it can be at the customs. But the problem is that in five days the delivery time will expire. In my listing I have a note that I cannot be held responsible for any delay at the customs in the country of destination which may affect on the estimate delivery time. But we know, that eBay do not interested in all this and after 5 days eBay or Buyer can starting the procedure of refund. Can you advise me, what to do in this situation. Thank you very much in advance

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Unforutnately Canada Customs can be as crabby as anything. I''ve sent items that were stuck there 10 days before it moved. By the time it was received by the customer it had  tag stating it had been inspected, but nothing else. 

I heard of a seller from NY who shipped a rather expensive diamond ring to someone in Canada. Marked the ring down to a ridicilous price and it was stopped at Customs. The buyer didn't know the seller had done this, so was prepared to pay the duties anyway.

There have been a few scary issues too just crossing the border physically.

[siayan]

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@mistwomandancing wrote:

gabasge

‎10-14-2017 11:34 PM

item is at customs

I need your help in one issue. OK the question is. I sold an item, handmade tattoo machine, made by me, in Canada. Order has been shipped on the next day after receiving a payment. In 5 days item has arrived in Canada and after this, duration 8 days, is in Canada Border Services Agency for custom review. This info I see in official Canada Post web site. I contacted with Canadian Post, but they replied, that they had no control over the customs and nobody knows, how long time it can be at the customs. But the problem is that in five days the delivery time will expire. In my listing I have a note that I cannot be held responsible for any delay at the customs in the country of destination which may affect on the estimate delivery time. But we know, that eBay do not interested in all this and after 5 days eBay or Buyer can starting the procedure of refund. Can you advise me, what to do in this situation. Thank you very much in advance

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I think, no matter what you say in your listing, you would be resonsible to make sure that the package arrives at the destination. I don't know how customs would view a homeade tattoo device. Medical device?

[gabasge]

no I say Tattoo machine made by myself was sent to Canada

[slippinjimmy]

What date did it reach Canada Customs?

Which Customs office is it being processed at?

Have you heard something from the buyer?

Maybe post the tracking number here so I can look for myself.....

[1786davycrockett]

Word went out a few weeks ago that Canadian Customs was really coming down hard on international packages -- not sure if a reason was listed, but I'd suspect too many packages with customs valuations listed below the actual retail selling price, thus requiring much more scrutiny and opening packages to check contents.

Contact eBay Customer Service (click on the "Help & Contact" button at the top of this page to get the eBay phone number).  And place your call BEFORE 10:00 AM PST, so that you speak to a CS rep in the United States -- otherwise you'll be talking to a CS rep in the Philippines, who may not fully understand the problem, or who will claim to solve the issue, but actually won't.  The American CS rep may actually be able to extend the delivery date out another two weeks, and that should be enough time to clear Customs.

Think it's bad now?  Wait until after Thanksgiving!!!

[femmefan1946]

Did your customer confirm BEFORE BUYING that tattooing equipment can be imported into Canada?

Did you use the appropriate HS Code on the customs label?

I took a quick look at the CBSA website

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/hcdcs-hsdcm/menu-eng.html

and was unable to see any listings for tattooing equipment.*

Has the buyer been complaining?

Well the last estimated date for delivery has not yet passed, so he can't really.

Don't poke the bear.

If he contacts you after the last estimated date, it might help if you politely mention that the 13 days in transit so far included Thanksgiving Weekend and another weekend, so really only eight days in transit.

You might get points for knowing about Canadian Thanksgiving.

Another problem is that you say the machine is handmade.

Did you get a UL safety label for it? This might be another problem (UL is accepted usually, although we prefer our own ULC or CSA safety labels which may have slightly different standards.)

Your customer is required (by eBay) to know if an item can be imported into his own country. This is not your responsibility.

*To confuse the issue, while the website is in English, 'tattoo' is French for an armadillo. I only know that because it was popular the year DD graduated from high school.

[femmefan1946]

Word went out a few weeks ago that Canadian Customs was really coming down hard on international packages -- not sure if a reason was listed,

Fentanyl.

Drug dealers have been mixing this cheap and very strong drug into every street drug going.

My province (British Columbia) had nearly 1000 deaths from fentanyl overdoses last year, and while China, the source of the drug, has acted quickly to control its manufacture and export, there is still a lot coming in.

It's not just street people either, although the paramedics dread welfare day in Vancouver.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-overdose-deaths-reach-780-in-june-up-88-per-cent-from-sa...

Just as in the USA, pharmaceutical companies where pushing doctors to prescribe opiods for relatively minor problems and the result is a lot of 'respectable' addicts who need drugs to function at work.

Most of the backlog is searching for packages from China, especially untracked packets with low declared value, that used to just sail through.

The backlog has a knock -on effect, slowing other packages.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Word went out a few weeks ago that Canadian Customs was really coming down hard on international packages -- not sure if a reason was listed,

Fentanyl.

Drug dealers have been mixing this cheap and very strong drug into every street drug going.

My province (British Columbia) had nearly 1000 deaths from fentanyl overdoses last year, and while China, the source of the drug, has acted quickly to control its manufacture and export, there is still a lot coming in.

It's not just street people either, although the paramedics dread welfare day in Vancouver.

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-overdose-deaths-reach-780-in-june-up-88-per-cent-from-sa...

Just as in the USA, pharmaceutical companies where pushing doctors to prescribe opiods for relatively minor problems and the result is a lot of 'respectable' addicts who need drugs to function at work.

Most of the backlog is searching for packages from China, especially untracked packets with low declared value, that used to just sail through.

The backlog has a knock -on effect, slowing other packages.

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We live near the Canadian border. and the Fentanyl crisis has been in the news constantly, so this is probably part of the closer scrutiny. The border services though have always been pretty hard on items coming into the country and will open many packages, especially items marked as gifts or low ball customs estimates. If it nets them an extra 13& HST they'll go for it regardless of the amount. 

[odditiesandantiquities1]

Acutally, I have one more story to tell about the Canadian guards. We were going to our cottage for the weekend and I'd forgotten to mail one of my packages before we left.

We were pulled over crossing the border and they went through our entire truck. Then they had me empty out my purse. The package was in a USPS bag will a mailing address for the US. They removed the packaged and accused me of trying to bring jewelry into Canada??? I was scared out of my wits. This border crossing has over 55 claims against them with Human Rights due to aggressive handling of the Akwasasne Tribe that live in the area.

They confiscated it and it took me 17 months to get it returned to me. I had to go through a tribunal who reviewed the entire process before it was released. Believe it or not, the customer repurchased it when I got it back. We don't cross there any more.

[slippinjimmy]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

What date did it reach Canada Customs?

Which Customs office is it being processed at?

Have you heard something from the buyer?

Maybe post the tracking number here so I can look for myself.....

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@gabasge

Please answer my questions.........

[duchess-at-speakeasy]

Customs in Canada can be really slow at times, especially if they don't know exactly what the product is and what it's worth.   Homemade gizmos certainly can invite scrutiny! That said, a buyer can initiate an eBay or Paypal complaint at any time, even after delivery.  Also note that eBay's "estimated delivery time" is not tallied for international transactions. No worries about missing tracking or scan deadlines. ~~C~~ 

[gabasge]

yes, the situation is not comforting