Tax and Damage on my new rig : (

[aeroflyer 0]

Hey all,
I just had my new wings rig delivered, which I had shipped with USPS express mail international (I live in Canada). It arrived with a huge dent in the side of the box, and looks like part of it was WET for an extended period of time . Needless to say I am complely furious, and on top of that they want tax on the damaged rig. There's no way I'm going to pay anything till I have it inspected to see if it's in proper condition.

Anyone have advice on this situation??

Thanks a ton!

[beowulf 1]

Don't ever use USPS again.

[aeroflyer 0]

I don't know whether to be angry with Sunrise Mfg (Wings) or USPS for leaving it in water and crushing the box

[Glitch 0]

Every Wings rig I've ever seen (mine included), shipped from the factory in a plastic bag. How was yours shipped?

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

[aeroflyer 0]

I have to go get the box from the post office.. i havent paid the tax yet because I'm still deciding if I want to send it back. I think I felt a plastic bag through the hole in the box... hopefully it will not be punctured. but it DID say that border services opened it...

[PhreeZone 20]

How would you expect Sunrise to ship a rig to you? I have opened a few boxes with new containers and almost everyone of them is in a box but when you look they put the rig components into bags for transport.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[BIGUN 1,326]

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I don't know whether to be angry with Sunrise Mfg (Wings)

Well, considerable previous experience with Sunrise would suggest they should be last on the "pissed off at" list.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[Glitch 0]

[BEER]

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

[AndyMan 7]

I'm not really sure what you want us to say..? You certainly aren't the first person to receive a package in a broken or wet box, and to be completely honest I don't understand why you care about the condition of the BOX.

Open the package, inspect it, and if there's any issues with the container itself then take that up with the company that sent it to you.

As for paying tax, yup - gotta pay tax on imported goods. Again, not really sure what you're looking for. Some people avoid tax by having the goods shipped to a US address, but it sounds like it's too late to play this card.

_Am

__

You put the fun in "funnel" - craichead.

[brettski74 0]

Relax. Take a few deep breaths.

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It arrived with a huge dent in the side of the box, and looks like part of it was WET for an extended period of time

A harness/container system is made from materials that are generally quite flexible and resistant to damage by water. In addition to that, as noted by other posters, most new gear is packed inside an LDPE bag inside the box to further protect it from water and other liquids. Unless the wetness was caused by some kind of solvent or corrosive substance that can penetrate LDPE and also damage nylon and/or stainless steel, your harness/container should be fairly safe. Nothing's impossible, but your harness/container is more than likely fine.

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on top of that they want tax

That's how it works. You should have expected that. "They" is Canada Customs and the Canada Revenue Agency. Sunrise has no control over this, nor does the USPS. Do you complain when you walk into Future Shop and they charge you GST and PST on your purchases?

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on the damaged rig

Since you haven't inspected the harness/container, how do you know that it's damaged? I highly doubt that there is any damage whatsoever.

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There's no way I'm going to pay anything till I have it inspected to see if it's in proper condition.

Anyone have advice on this situation??

At this point, you really only have two options:

Suck it up, pay the taxes and collect your harness/container

Don't pay the taxes and kiss your ~$2k that you've already paid goodbye

Once you collect the package, you can open the box, inspect it and if there is any damage, contact Sunrise to make appropriate arrangements.

[aeroflyer 0]

Thanks for the replies all. I found out from customs that I can get the tax refunded if I send it back. I'm more worried about the damage.. so I'm going to open it at the post office and see if it's okay. I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff so obviously there is a lot for me to learn here.

I forgot to say there's a PD reserve in there, unassembled. I figure if the reserve is wet I probably don't want to accept it. Unfortunately Sunrise MFG is closed till July 5 since they went on holiday this week (and told me they were going to have a holiday ages ago). Wings is a great company and I have nothing but good things to say about them so far, they were very easy to deal with and did everything super quick. As usual its the shipping company that's to blame.

thanks again for the help

[captain1976 0]

USPS is a mistake. FedEx is probably the best method and its pretty reasonably priced. They are also non-union which makes them much more efficient than UPS or the government run Post Office.

You live more in the few minutes of skydiving than many people live in their lifetime

[DeNReN 0]

As others have said...tax is normal. You buy it you pay tax in Canada.

Damage...what damage? As other have said you do not know if it is damaged or not.

Next time you can ship it Fedex or UPS and pay the outragious brokerage fees......you think the tax hurts??

USPS is the cheapest and usually best shipping for US/Canada packages.

[aeroflyer 0]

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As others have said...tax is normal. You buy it you pay tax in Canada.

Damage...what damage? As other have said you do not know if it is damaged or not.

Next time you can ship it Fedex or UPS and pay the outragious brokerage fees......you think the tax hurts??

USPS is the cheapest and usually best shipping for US/Canada packages.

Agreed, UPS and Fedex charge outrageous fees just for passing through customs. The USPS brokerage fee is $8. It is getting ridiculous though... so many fees and taxes.. about $600 in shipping, taxes, and fees on top of a container and reserve. In the future I would tell everyone to buy everything used and buy locally.

[likestojump 3]

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As others have said...tax is normal. You buy it you pay tax in Canada.

Damage...what damage? As other have said you do not know if it is damaged or not.

Next time you can ship it Fedex or UPS and pay the outragious brokerage fees......you think the tax hurts??

USPS is the cheapest and usually best shipping for US/Canada packages.

Agreed, UPS and Fedex charge outrageous fees just for passing through customs. The USPS brokerage fee is $8. It is getting ridiculous though... so many fees and taxes.. about $600 in shipping, taxes, and fees on top of a container and reserve. In the future I would tell everyone to buy everything used and buy locally.

I do maybe 100 packages to Canada a year. If any of my customers were ever to pay even close to $600 in postage/taxes on a package, I think I would be getting some seriously nasty phone calls.

Perhaps I should revamp my biz model to get more revenue...

[likestojump 3]

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USPS is a mistake. FedEx is probably the best method and its pretty reasonably priced. They are also non-union which makes them much more efficient than UPS or the government run Post Office.

I'll take your (pulled out of your ass) probably, and raise you some FACTS :

EMS Mail is the best/cheapest way to ship packages across the world (USPS Offers it under the name EMS EXPRESS MAIL). The level of service is on par with FedEx/UPS Air, yet noticeably cheaper.The customs clearance is significantly cheaper and faster as well. The EMS service has cross cross-country agreements within 154 countries This is by far the best bang for the buck for your average international medium to large package shipping.

more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Express_mail

[councilman24 37]

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A harness/container system is made from materials that are generally quite flexible and resistant to damage by water. In addition to that, as noted by other posters, most new gear is packed inside an LDPE bag inside the box to further protect it from water and other liquids. Unless the wetness was caused by some kind of solvent or corrosive substance that can penetrate LDPE and also damage nylon and/or stainless steel, your harness/container should be fairly safe. Nothing's impossible, but your harness/container is more than likely fine.

This is BAD advice. Corrosion, mold or fungal growth fed by the cardboard or material in the water, depostion of what ever was IN the water, bleeding of colors are just some things thay might have happened. I consider something shipped wet for several days unairworthy until proved otherwise and I doubt someone could prove it. IF it was wet claim insurance and wait for a good one.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[aeroflyer 0]

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As others have said...tax is normal. You buy it you pay tax in Canada.

Damage...what damage? As other have said you do not know if it is damaged or not.

Next time you can ship it Fedex or UPS and pay the outragious brokerage fees......you think the tax hurts??

USPS is the cheapest and usually best shipping for US/Canada packages.

Agreed, UPS and Fedex charge outrageous fees just for passing through customs. The USPS brokerage fee is $8. It is getting ridiculous though... so many fees and taxes.. about $600 in shipping, taxes, and fees on top of a container and reserve. In the future I would tell everyone to buy everything used and buy locally.

I do maybe 100 packages to Canada a year. If any of my customers were ever to pay even close to $600 in postage/taxes on a package, I think I would be getting some seriously nasty phone calls.

Perhaps I should revamp my biz model to get more revenue...

Well, if you don't label the box saying its worth 3k you won't get charged as much tax. Postage from Florida was more than 100 bucks.. all these things add up.

[airathanas 0]

I ordered a weight belt from dz.com and it never arrived (yes it was shipped- the shipper sent me a copy of the receipt). That was through USPS Priority (you don't get a tracking number when you don't ship it online).

I just received a Body Bugg (electronic device you wear on your arm that counts the calories that you burn). It was shipped UPS. They put the package on my apartment patio. It rained heavily that day. When I found the package, it was soaking wet. Thankfully, the device didn't get wet by the rain and there was no damage. Needless to say, I was a little pissed when I found that package sitting in a huge pool of water.

Take home point: It doesn't matter who you ship with, they will manage to fuck it up somehow.

http://3ringnecklace.com/

[tetra316 0]

And that is one of the reasons I always ship everything of value to my work place. It will never sit outside in weather and has a much less chance of being stolen. Something to consider.

[PhreeZone 20]

If you are asking someone to declare an item for less then its value then you are really asking them to help you commit tax fraud. I don't believe many firms are willing to do that...

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[jlmiracle 7]

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USPS is a mistake. FedEx is probably the best method and its pretty reasonably priced. They are also non-union which makes them much more efficient than UPS or the government run Post Office.

Most of their pilots belong to a union and complain they don't make enough money and work too hard.

j

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[jumpwally 0]

Mullins seems to be doing ok,,he flys for them, no ?

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[jumpwally 0]

....and if you don't delare its real value, then i'll bet you'll have a tough time getting insurance to pay any claims that arise. You'll always sleep better doing the ligit thing... and if ya don't like the taxes...move !

smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083

[aeroflyer 0]

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....and if you don't delare its real value, then i'll bet you'll have a tough time getting insurance to pay any claims that arise. You'll always sleep better doing the ligit thing... and if ya don't like the taxes...move !

I was actually thinking about going down to get it, if you go for 7 days to the US you can get a $750 personal exemption on items broght back, which lessens the blow a bit.

As for insurance, yes you need to declare the full value. But here is a good quote about insurance which is very true based on my experience:

"Think of it more like this. You pay for the insurance, they lose the package, and then they give you the runaround until you get tired of asking about it. They win, you lose."