Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 250 & 400 => Topic started by: jodyvan on September 13, 2007, 01:57:41 PM
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Anyone else slightly curious as to why the estimated times for shipping of 6-10 days from Ohio to BC, Canada can turn into over 2 weeks?
I had some parts shipped from Jay and according to tracking they arrived in Canada on Sept 4th. They sat there until yesterday when they entered the sorting plant in Ontario on the other side of the country.
Wasn't NAFTA supposed to allow Free trade? Why is it so freaking hard to ship stuff with a friendly nation?
I get stuff shipped from Korea and Japan in 3-4 days what's the problem at the Canada/US border?
That's my little rant for the day but man that bugs the shit out of me.... even my patience is tested....
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Ive always had issues with car and bike parts when shipping across the Canada boarder.It took weeks for my Virago's single carb conversion to come from KJS Cycles, and I had BIG issues with CP Racing, regarding parts for my RX-7.
I never know what the exact problem always is,but dont worry,youll get it eventually.
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The problem can be summed up with four letters-the CCRA. Stuff can sit at the border awaiting clearance for a looong time. I don't know if they're always backlogged or if they just don't give a crap, my guess is the latter. And the postal system isn't exactly the model of speed and efficiency either, although it's probably the best, cheapest and easiest shipping method for the average guy.
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I think that Canada Post is the model of incompetence....
Of course, then there's those damn DHL drivers...
(r_outsider works for DHL :wink: :lol: )
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Storm - didn't that chain I sent you take forever to get there? But I don't remember the same problem when I shipped to Interfuse but I could be wrong.... I'm getting old and beginning to regret some of those brain cells I've been so frivolous with over the years... The worst was a set of leathers that I shipped to Ireland (where the heck has Echomadman been???). They apparently sat in Irish customs for WEEKS.
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USPS sometimes gets held up at the boarder. A package can sit at the boarder for a while before it clears.
UPS appears next day, but we get raped with a $30 brokerage fee.
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Sometimes I think that shipping UPS would be better when time is of the essence. If I had known it was going to take this long I've have payed the 30 bucks instead of just 20 or whatever to ship it 6-10 days (my ass) with USPS and Canada Post with their excellent tracking and customer service.
At this rate I'll get my parts just in time to put the bike together and ride it into storage for winter. :D (If I get that much more riding I'll still do it with a smile though... haha
:motorsmile:
(For the record we deal with DHL exclusively through work and they play innocent with dualie marks through our boxes... nope $2 bucks a pound.... They are hit or miss here in BC so far)
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Storm - didn't that chain I sent you take forever to get there? But I don't remember the same problem when I shipped to Interfuse but I could be wrong....
Yeah, it was something like 3 weeks. I think that parts coming from a big company are faster somehow than from Jay or a private person. The stuff I shipped from BikeBandit took 3 days from a California warehouse to my door. Jay's stuff to me took some time too. I remember him PMing me and saying "well?" about the time it arrived, both of us surprised at the length of time.
I wonder if the holdup is which border crossing is being used. Jodyvan is on my half of the country.
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(For the record we deal with DHL exclusively through work and they play innocent with dualie marks through our boxes... nope $2 bucks a pound.... They are hit or miss here in BC so far)
A lot of that depends on the driver you get. r_outsider generally tells the client refuse it as damaged in shipping. I've had purolator and UPS drivers not even let me see the package I was signing for, and take off running to their trucks before I could yell that it was destroyed...
So far for me, the best was purolator and a computer we shipped from Vancouver. It was literally 5mm shorter on one corner, that's how hard it was dropped. The purolator guy gave it to r_outsider and left, he looked at it like,..wtf? I called purolator and said "you're kidding, right?" The response? "Well, if it's fragile, maybe you shouldn't ship it through us." So I told her, "sure, how about I don't ship -anything- through you anymore." Not to mention the 14week claim time.
They're really all the same, the big conveyor belts 14ft off the ground over the truck doors, good and bad drivers, warehouse staff, just the names and faces change really.
I just like to poke fun at r_outsider...
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Oh ya I agree Stormi, we have a great driver here too and totally agree they are all the same. We've just had some bad luck. I don't pay for any of it so I'm not so worried.
Well the parts took 2 days to go from Mississauga to Kamloops, BC and arrived this morning. Still trying to figure out why it sat around for just about two weeks at customs.
Oh well it's to be expected I guess.... they are here now no worries!!
Time to get the bike running again BOOYA :motorsmile:
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USPS sometimes gets held up at the boarder. A package can sit at the boarder for a while before it clears.
UPS appears next day, but we get raped with a $30 brokerage fee.
UPS Canada tried to ding me with a $19 brokerage fee on an ebay purchase. I was lucky in that they tried to collect it after they had delivered it. They said they were going to send it to small claims court to collect and I said bring it on, If they are willing to spend $50 to try and collect 19 here I am. One of my buddies found out about a class action lawsuit in BC and I joined that. The last time they call I told them that I had join the class action suit against them, Haven't heard back from them in over a year now.
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I just got dinged 18 bucks customs fees and taxes...
I guess they figure it was there for ever they can charge for it.
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Earlier this summer I bought a generator off of ebay. When fedex delivered it I asked the driver 3 times if there where any other fees. He said no. So I signed off on the delivery. About a month later I get a bill for $65 in brokerage fees. :annoy: That is just stealing. If they want a nickel from me they can take it to court and tell it to a judge.
They got paid well for the delivery but that's not enough. They have to try to gouge you after the fact for more. I wouldn't mind so much if they were up front with the fees but basically, once they have your parcel they can charge what ever they like and get away with it because they usually won't release the package until you have paid. Bastards!
G
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Ya probably didn't help that the customs docs said Used parts and inside were all Suzuki OEM parts in brand new bags. :lol:
I'm sure they decided to keep it for extra long then charge some for it on top.
Whatever I'm ok paying an extra 8 bucks but at least deliver it on time...Hard to be fair when there is no other option for cross border stuff.
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What you're paying for with those brokerage fees is GST, PST and any duties on whatever it is, plus an admin fee(ours is 7 bucks). About a year ago the CCRA changed a bunch of rules and regs and basically made all the couriers tax collectors. They started charging all the taxes to the companies, rather than tracking down people and getting their money themselves. So basically the companies pay the gov't, then you repay the companies. We got some memo outlining all the specifics about it all, I glanced at it, said "@$%*ing great" and tossed it like all the other memos I get. Nothing like shaking down some poor sap at their door for a C-note worth of taxes and crap they weren't expecting.
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Haha.. ya I can imagine it being great as the messenger just doing your job. Sucks but what can ya do... :D
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Since rumor has it 90% of you Canadians live within a few hours of drive of the US border, you should be making more road trips down here to get your stuff.
If you also install it in the US, it's used by the time you cross the border, so there's no tax to pay the agent. And the other beauty is you'll be supporting the US economy, so it's a win-win situation.
:motorsmile:
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I was in the states on labour day. I had to pay $5 in toll fees each way... that almost negates any benifits. If you stayed long enough you could buy liquor at the duty free shop and it may make it worth your while.
Did I mention I love detroit?
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50564&l=27697&id=743330649
Those kids know how to party.
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I live 4 hrs from the border and with my bike not running it's a tough trip to make to install the parts.
Agreed it'd help the US economy but last I check there wasn't much being done in the reverse situation to help the Canuck economy :stickpoke: :lol:
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Somebody must have been doing something...
(Probably the US, since it has fallen against other currencies, too.)
For instance:
Today, the US$1 is only worth CDN$1.03 (or CDN$1 = US$0.97).
Five years ago, the US$1 was worth CDN$1.58 (or CDN$1 = US$0.63).
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Question is are they doing something to help other economies or hurt their own... I'd say that's a whole other topic though. :lol:
True the dollars are matching. With the drop in interest rates recently some things are being fixed.
That and Canada isn't as dependent on the US market these days either with a lot of IT and exports being outsourced to other emerging countries like China and India. Exports to Japan have increased as well. Whatever it is there are some changes happening. I'm far from knowledgeable on the subject but I'm sure someone can clarify.
Back in the 80s I believe the Canuck buck was more then the US Dollar as well...
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lets put the US $ up against the UK pound sad thing it is and then flip that with the yen 100 $ equals roughly 10000 yen
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Still though, all currencies are equated to the US Dollar. Lets hope it'll hold. I've even heard talk of going back to the gold standard since the debt to the US treasury (or whatever Fort Knox is as I've heard it's privately owned but could be wrong) is escalating.
Doesn't seem to matter a ton though for the most part things are priced to match no matter the currency. Except for bike parts from Jay which seem to be close to half what I can buy them for locally. Go figure....
The US, Canada, world debate continues.... :lol
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lets put the US $ up against the UK pound sad thing it is and then flip that with the yen 100 $ equals roughly 10000 yen
The UK Pound has been close to US$2/Pound when I was a kid (about the same as today) and IIRC, it was ~US$1.60/Pound 5 years ago when I bought some stuff from NWS in the UK (about the best I recall the dollar to the pound).
I remember when I lived in Japan back in '64-'65, US$100 would get you 36,000 Yen! So the Japanese have come a LOOOONG way since then!!
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interesting read is: Rich Dad's Prophecy written by Robert T. Kiyosaki
i dont mind the weak USdollar, makes buying stuff from the USA cheap :grin:
really sucks for the people in the US though... (tip: convert your savings to another currency (pounds/euros) to keep more value)
i dont think the usd will make a comeback this year either
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Richdads - Cashflow Quadrant is another great read. Excellent suggestion Bart!
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ghehe thanks,
alreaddy read it :bandit:
he has some more interesting stuff, but i think where going offtopic now :lol:
if someone wants to read but cant find it on the internet. PM someone
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Since rumor has it 90% of you Canadians live within a few hours of drive of the US border, you should be making more road trips down here to get your stuff.
well, this Canadian is more than 6.5hrs from the border, and about 9hrs (842kms/523miles) to the closest "major" shopping.
Since that border is into Montana, and I've been told that shoppin' ain't so great there, it's likely a -lot- further for parts.
That's easily $200 - 250 in gas for both bikes to make the trip. That's a lot of duty.... plus the wear and tear on the bikes.
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I think you Edmontonians must be part of that 10%. :stickpoke:
Around here, BC plates are the most common non-WA plate we see on the road, far outnumbering any of our states - and I live near several military bases where out-of-state plates are commonplace.
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I think you Edmontonians must be part of that 10%. :stickpoke:
Around here, BC plates are the most common non-WA plate we see on the road, far outnumbering any of our states - and I live near several military bases where out-of-state plates are commonplace.
You're probably right. :wink:
Interesting though, since where I am is far from the furthest north you can be, even in Alberta.
(http://members.stormi.ca/images/alberta.jpg)
I know that my mom makes regular trips into Washington, and she's in Richmond BC. The last time I was down there, I got her to take me to Seattle for tea. :grin:
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Update on the exchange rate... it's pretty much US$1= CDN$1 now.
US$1 = CDN$1.00176
CDN$1 = US$0.998243
It doesn't get much closer than that! Give it a day or to, and it just may be the other way around.
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The first time I went to the states it was the other way around. That was in '85? That was pretty exciting for a 10 yr old, to make money just for crossing the border. Disneyland was more affordable all of the sudden. :wink:
I hear the dollar was "par" last week, and thought, hey!! We're only going to be a couple of hours from the border... then I couldn't think of anything that I wanted. :annoy:
I've heard that this is because the US dollar is weak right now, not because the Canadian dollar is strong,... opinions?
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I've heard that this is because the US dollar is weak right now, not because the Canadian dollar is strong,... opinions?
True. has nothing to do with the Canadian dollar.
When the Euro was introduced it was worth a littlebit less then the US dollar.
now 1 Euro = 1.41 US dollar
or 1 US dollar = 0.71 Euro
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I've heard that this is because the US dollar is weak right now, not because the Canadian dollar is strong,... opinions?
If I understand correctly, it is both. US$ are weak due to trade deficit, high debt load (country and personal) and recently, the sub-prime mortgage issues.
Canadian$ has benefitted primarily from the increase in Oil Prices (as a net exporter), high commodity prices for minerals, etc, high interest rates vs US, etc., making Can$ more attractive internationally.
In my opinion, this opens up a short term (3+ months) opportunity for Canadians to purchase from US retailers. For eg. - a buddy of mine got quoted $7400 for a new Bandit 1250(non ABS) in Montana, vs best price of $8900 in Canada. Other than warrantee issues, it's not that expensive to import a bike (or so I'm told).
I would expect US Suzuki will have to increase 2008 prices, due to Yen/Dollar exchange, and Can Suzuki will have to drop 2008 prices. Right now, 2007 inventory was brought into both countries when the US$ was stronger and the Can$ weaker.