Warning on using FedEx vs USPS for incoming shipments from other countries.

[oldwestgold]

I wanted to share a recent experience I had lately with having something shipped overnight using FedEx from Canada to the US. The package got hung up in customs. Long story short, I discovered FedEx has their own trained customs people then charge for their services to the sender. FedEx attempted to bill me $92 after I received the shipment. I found using the USPS would not have incurred these charges as the package would have gone the normal route through US Customs. I Googled this and found many people having the same problem for charges not authorized after the fact. One of my gripes is that FedEx should have notified me of the charge and then provided me the opportunity to approve or reject the package. Some people stated they got a bill in the mail months after they received their item. Sounds like a nice scam FedEx has going and I just wanted to share my experience. Possibly someone else has more info on this. Moral of the story - I won't be using FedEx any further for anything ordered outside of the US. Interesting too is that I had a similar package just 2 weeks earlier come through the same way from the same vendor and no charge. And no I didn't pay the $92. I sent FedEx a letter stating that I did not approve the charge and that they could pick up the package and return it to the sender. They declined to do that and reversed their charge.

[aabalat_fine_and_rare_wines]

Had the exact same thing happen with Fedex, but be aware it can also happen with UPS as well.   When you generate the shipment, there are options the shipper can choose in regards to customs fees.   You can bill shipper, split charges, or bill recipient.    If they select bill recipient, you get what you had. 

Generally they will not deliver the package until the charges are paid, so you got lucky they delivered it.    When it happened to me with Fedex, I also told them to pound sand and they eventually gave up.   Suspect they most likely charged it back to the shippers account.   If we had not had a Fedex account I do not think they would have made the delivery to us, I had no idea until a Fedex bill showed up. 

[martin2001]

So what is the status of the package?

[oldwestcoins]

Interesting. Thanks for the additional info.

[oldwestcoins]

I kept the package since they delivered it after 5 days and paying over $100 for overnight. I read where other people had the same problem and wrote a letter telling FedEx that they did not receive their authorization for the services they were trying to charge for. It also stated they can come to pick it up if they needed to, which they never did.