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@*($&! I forgot to check for UPS!

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dknguyen

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Okay so I made two orders from smallparts.com, but I forgot to check what shipping method they use...actually I checked but they only had rates and didn't have the actual method and it never occured to me they might use UPS.

Anyways the only reason I know they shipped the two orders via UPS is because of the status of the orders on the website. It shipped via UPS Express. DAMN! Are there crappy brokerage fees for UPS Express going from the US to Canada? I seem to have gotten the impression that that undisclosed and should-be-illegal fee are already included as part of the UPS Express Price.
 
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Doesn't Canada charge some hefty fees for shipping stuff into the country? Be tough to include such fees, before knowing the origin and destination. It's your country, support it. Can't blame you though, my country is looking getting a whole boat load of new taxes and fees, to so my government can just give the money away to people who don't really need it, or too lazy to go out and earn it.
 
I am not talking about supporting the country. I'm talking about supporting a crappy company with crappy management that treats employees like crap and charge crappy prices for crappy service. Specifically, the $30 UPS-specific brokerage fee they charge for the service of figuring out what 5% of my order is worth so the government can tax it.
 
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I'm pretty sure they need to use the special expedited shipping in order to avoid the rip off brokerage fee. Ya, UPS needs to be avoided at all costs for cross border.
 
Last year, Digikey in Canada changed shippers from Purolator to UPS. What a big mistake! Up to that point, Digikey was always delivered reliably to my home the next morning, with a smile and with no mistakes. The Purolator driver always went out of his way to hand me my package if he could, and with a "how do you do" or "nice weather", his truck didn't drip oil on my driveway, and I often got my Digikey order about 15 hours after entering the order online. After changing to UPS, things went wrong. They drag themselves around to my house after 6:00 PM the next day, and if I'm lucky, they might actually deliver my order. In the first Digikey-via-UPS case, despite my being home, the driver didn't bother to ring my doorbell and just left a note, but no parcel. The next day when he returned I was waiting for him at the foot of the driveway and had to teach the idiot how to ring a doorbell by pressing the obvious button in front of his nose. The next delivery, some couple of weeks later, the parcel was simply left on the grass boulevard under my mailbox for anyone to walk away with. No doorbell, no knock, no nothing, and there I was, waiting inside for some sort of indication, but none came. Later that evening I discovered the parcel where they had left it.

Of all the shipping companies, it is UPS that has left a sour taste with me. A couple of years ago, they botched the delivery of an expensive picture, and also a while back, they surprised us with the $45 brokerage fee that had to be paid at the door.

I'm no fan of UPS in Canada. But nowadays, I ship mostly within the US and in that case, UPS is fine, and cheap too.

edit: I wanted to add that I have, for many years, considered Digikey the leader in the optimum online ordering experience. I have evangelized their service to others in the electronics world, and am quick to jump in with a suggestion that Digikey is good when others ask for a recommended distributor. Of course hobbyists might go another way if there is a minimum order charge, but in the industrial electronics world, availability and speed of delivery are extremely important for new product development projects. In Canada, Purolator was an important part of the product that Digikey offered. After the switch to UPS, I have stopped recommending Digikey above other distributors and find myself shopping at other sites considerably more often too.
 
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What?! Digikey changed from Purolator to UPS?! I haven't ordered anything from them in a while...who am I supposed to order from now?
 
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I have no problem with Digikey and UPS. Digikey ships within Canada, so no brokerage fee, and I'm still getting my packages mid day, day after I order them.
 
To be fair I have not found a shipping company that doesn't have its good or bad days.

Fed Ex cant find my place for some odd reason about 4 out of five times yet its the same delivery guy every time.

The post office seems to have a fixation on confirmation signatures for every little item. Especially when its important and I am not around.

UPS gets here but at any time from 8 am to around 10 pm. But often takes three stops in the same day to get all three items to me. Same truck same driver too.

The private delivery services wont deliver here since I dont have an official loading dock or fork lift. Even if the package or crate can be unloaded by two people or a tractor.

Overall it beats cross country driving the point of origin and getting my packages myself. (most of the time) :(
 
www.groupvehiclelogistics.com

Okay so I made two orders from smallparts.com, but I forgot to check what shipping method they use...actually I checked but they only had rates and didn't have the actual method and it never occured to me they might use UPS.

Anyways the only reason I know they shipped the two orders via UPS is because of the status of the orders on the website. It shipped via UPS Express. DAMN! Are there crappy brokerage fees for UPS Express going from the US to Canada? I seem to have gotten the impression that that undisclosed and should-be-illegal fee are already included as part of the UPS Express Price.

the best in europe is : **broken link removed**

thank you
 
I refrain from purchasing items that need to be shipped from Canada across the US border due to the rediculous additional fees.
 
I'm talking about supporting a crappy company with crappy management that treats employees like crap and charge crappy prices for crappy service.

Why do you think their trucks and uniforms are brown?
 
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