UPS delivery being held at border

Maybe all the UPS drivers quit ?

 

Keep in mind that the ban has not taken effect as of now. The border is still open.

 

Non-essential traffic...not people...traffic.
It's going to take time to figure out what's going to be sent across the borders from either direction right now. This restriction is new, there were literally tons of cargo in transit when this order was given. Sorry, a guitar isn't exactly going to be high up on the list of priorities right now and UPS isn't likely to just dump on the road and drive away. Well...they might...but odds are against it.

You need to relax, you're not the only one waiting for something to be delivered.

 

Not even close to reality.
EU countries have shutdown borders and some crossing points have traffic backups up to 50 miles long. Shut a border down and it gets real busy, real fast. Tourists go home, commerce and commercial transportation doesn't.

 

I'm pretty sure UPS has been in trouble for this before. They held a Marshall amp I bought from the UK hostage at their"UPS Customs Center" until I paid a customs duty of about $60.00. It was later refunded as part of a class action lawsuit against UPS if I recall correctly.

 

Beautiful guitar. Stay calm. You'll get it one day.

 

I like UPS. I found a "perfect" job during college, throwing packages there. I still use UPS often.

Just - don't use UPS to ship stuff from the USA into Canada. Don't do it.

 

I've had UPS hold goods coming from the US into Canada, and had to pay the charge over the phone. A couple of times actually. The last few times this happened (years ago now. I've refused to buy from businesses who use UPS for years now) I refused to pay until they had delivered it. I mean, what if I payed and the package was damaged by UPS? What recourse would I have? They already have my money.

UPS is a scam that is terrible for the customer purchasing the goods.

I refuse to purchase from a company that will only ship via UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.

I contact the company I'm buying the goods from and suggest that if they want my current business and future business, they will ship it to me using USPS.

If they will not, they are on my blacklist.

In my few decades of experience, USPS with a tracking number is the best, least expensive, and most reliable for cross-boarder shipping of purchases.

 

Ironically, large amounts of the USPS packages are subbed out to UPS/Fedex so only the drop off and "last mile" delivery is actually the Post office.

 

True, but with this process the packages get through the boarder without being held hostage by UPS.

 

Dave's is a remarkably credible shop. It's an absolute gem.

https://davesguitar.com/

I feel bad that your shipment got delayed but you may have to wait or week or two. I think it will be ok.

I travel to Canada often for work and we be business with a number of Canadian companies - great people.

I don't understand what happens at the border but every time that I've sold a guitar or a pedal to someone in Canada that shipment goes into a quagmire at the border. Tracking doesn't work; it's like there's a 10 day black hole in Canadian customs every time that I ship something north.. We have the pandemic mess and craziness on our side. Timing is everything. I think it will be ok.

Sorry!

 

All shipments from the U.S. to Canada by UPS or FEDEX utilize a brokerage which adds additional charges and delay. Shipments via USPS do not go through brokers. In the future try to demand that your items are shipped via USPS.

 

I'm going through this right now but with a guitar coming in from the UK to the US. It got across the pond fast, but now it's in bureaucratic limbo at a UPS "secure warehouse". The delivery was scheduled for today, then the status changed to the cryptic "UPS is holding the cargo at a secure facility, pending instructions and agreement."

I called UPS International and they said, no forms, no duty due, it will be there tomorrow, but someone will call you back shortly to confirm. Then I got an email asking for my business tax ID (I don't have one) and for the completion of a "Toxic Substances Control Act" form, which was all about restricted chemicals. I sent the form back and explained I'm just a private citizen buying a guitar. Here we go...

 

I sold a guitar to a guy in Canada and same happened to me. Had to go back to the UPS place I sent it from twice to fill out paperwork. Ended up costing me about 60.00 in addition to shipping costs. I now always note in ads, “lower 48 only”. We have the same issues shipping parts to Canada from work. I always tell the techs Im working with “you’ll get it when you get it”.

 

I realize the original thread was started back in March but since it got bumped I'll add my two cents worth - well, actually my nickel's worth because we don't have pennies in Canada any more.

I'm not going to bother doing an exact count but I've imported more than 20 guitars over the past few years from outside of Canada and all arrived without any holdup in customs. None of them were shipped with UPS and I've never had to deal with any customs paperwork.

What I do is use a third party company like a subsidiary of Pitney Bowes or sometimes I have the guitar shipped directly with FedEx. I have a FedEx account number which any of you can get and that makes life easier.

I pay these companies a reasonable amount of money to do all the customs paperwork, etc. so that I don't have to worry about it because I have better things to do with my time, like play guitar and post on TDPRI. So far it's worked really well for me and even when the CITES trade controls for rosewood used in musical instruments were in effect, I had absolutely no trouble importing guitars with rosewood boards. That's what I pay these companies to do - understand the rules for importing goods into Canada and fill out the necessary paperwork so that my guitars breeze through customs.

In my view, trying to do this sort of thing yourself is too time consuming to be worthwhile. I think it's better to hand it over to the professionals and let them do what they're trained to do.

 

Agreed & same here: Even during the CITES Appendix II Rosewood aka Dalbergia crap that was finally done away with, I never had any issue getting fiddles into the US.
FedEx is the international carrier you want, IMO. They have done fantastic for me, for years.