M/T are here

Wow ... I'm just seeing this thread for the first time and have to say that sucks Snake.

When I ship parts to Canada, I am required to fill out a Customs form. The form asks for the value of the contents in U.S. dollars, and has a separate entry for the amount of insurance on the parcel. The amount of insurance is a matter that I leave up to my customer, but I state in my 'shipping email' that I recommend insuring it for an amount that will cover not only the full amount of my bill but also the cost of the parts themselves on the open market in the event the customer has to replace them from scratch so he or she is not out anything in the event the box gets run over by a forklift or something and is destroyed.

I have asked members in the past (when these kinds of "outrageous shipping costs" threads come up) how I as a business owner can help defray my customers' costs and expenses but have never heard a peep from anybody, nor has anyone bothered to share with me after the fact that they got hit at the border with some tax or fee that I wasn't aware of.

I am sick to my stomach that this happened to you and know from our emails that money is a big concern for you following your stroke and the fact you have been out of work for awhile.

As a restorer and enthusiast myself, I try especially hard to keep my customers' costs and expenses to an absolute minimum -- probably a lot more so than other companies involved in the automotive venue -- because I know myself that what you don't spend on a particular part can be spent on your car elsewhere.

Your box was insured for $200 (about half of what it really should have been insured for in my opinion), but that was your call. Again, please accept my apologies for the unexpected border fee ... it was beyond my control.

If anyone from Canada can explain to me how I can help to avoid such border fees in the future and help my customers to save as much money as they can without being dishonest on the stated value or compromising the speed of shipment by obvious "red flags" on the form, I'd love to hear it!

Again, I'm deeply sorry. I know that's the last thing you and Cindy needed right now. :-(