Canada Customs and Canada Post disgruntled

[kannon1]

I ordered specialized cosmetic cream on the 20th of September. Cost me $140. Checking the tracking status from Canada Post it reached Customs in Mississauga on the 4th of October. The tracking status to this date still states "International item arrived in Canada and will be reviewed by Customs".

I have called Canada Customs multiple times for the past month, (905-625-7100) never seeming to get a hold of anyone. And when I did the lady was very hostile and redirected me to another number, which after multiple attempts at calling wasn't the department I should've been calling in the first place! It was the first number!

Having enough of CC I called up Canada Post, who told me CC has the package and there's nothing they can do, they told me to ask the sender to open up an investigation. The sender was insanely difficult, refusing to open up an investigation with the USPS because:

"We have no power against them or their regulations etc. To open up an investigation with USPS would be to find out what happen with a package. We actually know what happen with the package, it’s being held up with Canadian Customs. So USPS isn’t going to do anything but confirm the tracking info that we already know from viewing it online. I’m sorry but if Canadian Customs isn’t responding to the inquiries of one of their own citizens, I’m pretty sure we’d get no better treatment. " - Their words

Last week now I FINALLY got a hold of someone from CC again at the 625-7100 number, and he told me THEY NEVER RECEIVED MY PACKAGE! And that Canada Post has it!
So back to calling Canada Post AGAIN and they told me CC has it, and they can't do anything. I begged the sender to open up an investigation telling them the situation, they responded they did but I don't believe them at all with the newest sarcastic response they gave back.

So in the end I just feel lost, I spent money on a product that's vanished, with a sender that is highly uncooperative, a Postal Service that has its hands tied behind it's back and a government agency that is either lying or incompetent. Is there anyone I can sue? Is there anything else I can do? Waiting around to see if the sender filed an investigation just doesn't sit right with me, he already has his money and frankly doesn't seem to care. This is MY PROPERTY it's MY PURCHASE and these people are throwing it around as if it belongs to no one.

[pauldryan]

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/pers...re/default.jsf

[Tharnax]

Did you pay with Credit card or Paypal with Credit card. I think ultimately here your only choice is a charge back on your credit card. You obviously never signed for the package which Canada Post would have to validate so as far as your are concerned the package has never been received. Regardless of what you've been able to determine through your own investigation, you made a purchase prior to Oct 4/2012, based on your timeline, and it's now 30+ days passed purchased date and the product has not been received. The seller appears unwilling to put a trace on the package, therefore, the only recourse appears to be the charge back from the credit card company which upon verification you did not receive your purchase puts the onus back on the seller. If for some reason you do receive the package, which is highly doubtful from the time you make the claim to a resolution, then you can call the credit card company and confirm you have now received the package and want to cancel the charge back.

It sucks, it's rare but it can happen. GL!

[woof]

The reality is that Customs will not do searches for items. It's simply impossible considering the volume that they handle. For Canada Post any searches they do are superficial and they generally won't do anything unless it involves an insurance claim and unless it has been missing for a certain amount of time. It may still turn up. You don't state whether or not the shipment was insured, but if it wasn't you'll probably end up eating the loss - some postal or customs employee is probably giving your item to his girlfriend for Christmas. Sorry.

As Tharnax mentions you may have some recourse with a chargeback to the seller depending on how you paid.

[starboy869]

Items can be held in customs for 3 months + sometimes.

[flyz]

Items can be held in customs for 3 months + sometimes.

+1

Only been a month, nothing unusual with USPS. Gotta pay to play if you want the item fast.

I've had things arrive from Hong Kong (Dealextreme) faster than stuff shipped from Florida...

[Wingding]

I ordered specialized cosmetic cream on the 20th of September. Cost me $140. Checking the tracking status from Canada Post it reached Customs in Mississauga on the 4th of October. The tracking status to this date still states "International item arrived in Canada and will be reviewed by Customs".

Is the product offered for sale at retail stores in Canada? If not, did you bother to check first to see that it is a product that is permitted in Canada? There are many drug, health, and beauty products made/sold in the US and other countries that have not been approved for sale or import into Canada and therefore cannot get through customs, and I would suspect that given your parcel's long delay at CBSA they are checking to determine admissibility.

Technically, as the Canadian importer of record on this transaction, you are SOL if the product is refused entry and then either seized and destroyed, or sent back to the seller. HOWEVER, if you bought it thru eBay and paid with PayPal, their rules state that the seller is responsible financially for the merchandise until it is successfully delivered to you (and provable by online tracking.) So you should immediately file an Item Not Received claim through your eBay/PayPal accounts, and that now places the onus on the seller to either prove you actually took delivery of the merchandise, or else issue you a full refund.

If you bought through a private website but paid by credit card, you may -- as others have suggested -- be able to file a merchandise non-receipt claim directly with your credit card issuer, although the rules are less clear-cut there when problems arise with parcels held up or seized at customs.

[LondonOntGuy]

Someone from Canada Customs stole it.

Sorry brah, it happens.

[Keigotw]

+1

Only been a month, nothing unusual with USPS. Gotta pay to play if you want the item fast.

I've had things arrive from Hong Kong (Dealextreme) faster than stuff shipped from Florida...

+1, I had one arrive from UK (Royal mail) faster then from USA

[kannon1]

They state they don't have it yet everyone else is saying they do, that's whats bothering me
And it is permitted in Canada, they sell it in the stores, just not that high dosage

[HoleyMoley]

It's strange that Customs told you they never received it in the first place....I suspect the person you dealt with was mistaken. It could just be sitting on a pile at Customs, waiting for someone to go through it. Call back and speak to someone else.

They state they don't have it yet everyone else is saying they do, that's whats bothering me
And it is permitted in Canada, they sell it in the stores, just not that high dosage

It is possible it was seized for this reason.....do you have a valid prescription for the item?

[mabba18]

Someone from Canada Customs stole it.

Sorry brah, it happens.

Proof? I really don't think the average grunt working customs is going to be interested in a jar face cream.

Much more likely it is stuck in customs. Give up the random, pointless slander.

[ride365]

Proof? I really don't think the average grunt working customs is going to be interested in a jar face cream.

Much more likely it is stuck in customs. Give up the random, pointless slander.

+1 mabba18, I highly doubt a CBSA agent would risk losing their job over a face cream. Sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about or the volume of packages that they inspect (or let pass through).

[Wingding]

And it is permitted in Canada, they sell it in the stores, just not that high dosage

Well why do you suppose Canadian stores aren't selling it in "that high dosage"? Probably because Health Canada has set a limit on the percentage content of the active ingredient. So right back to what I already said: you may have ordered a product that is not permitted in Canada.

You posted here (supposedly) for advice, yet you seem to be intent on fighting everyone on this, including people here trying to help you. Best settle down and take some advice instead of pretending you know everything and that everyone else in the world is a moron.

BTW, the seller's response to you was perfectly reasonable and absolutely correct. Canada Customs (CBSA) is here to serve Canadians; they don't give a rat's @$$ about providing info to American sellers. Works the same way everywhere . . . I sell online and ship most of my sales to the USA, and if there's ever a hold-up in US Customs it does me no good at all to try and call them myself . . . they're not interested in serving non-Americans, and they simply tell me (usually very rudely) to have my US customer make any necessary inquiries to them directly.

Under the laws of pretty much every civilized country on the planet, importation is considered to be the responsibility of the buyer/recipient, not the foreign shipper. And it is that recipient who is solely responsible for ensuring that what they buy is fully in compliance with their country's laws and regulations.

[kannon1]

Well why do you suppose Canadian stores aren't selling it in "that high dosage"? Probably because Health Canada has set a limit on the percentage content of the active ingredient. So right back to what I already said: you may have ordered a product that is not permitted in Canada.

You posted here (supposedly) for advice, yet you seem to be intent on fighting everyone on this, including people here trying to help you. Best settle down and take some advice instead of pretending you know everything and that everyone else in the world is a moron.

BTW, the seller's response to you was perfectly reasonable and absolutely correct. Canada Customs (CBSA) is here to serve Canadians; they don't give a rat's @$$ about providing info to American sellers. Works the same way everywhere . . . I sell online and ship most of my sales to the USA, and if there's ever a hold-up in US Customs it does me no good at all to try and call them myself . . . they're not interested in serving non-Americans, and they simply tell me (usually very rudely) to have my US customer make any necessary inquiries to them directly.

Under the laws of pretty much every civilized country on the planet, importation is considered to be the responsibility of the buyer/recipient, not the foreign shipper. And it is that recipient who is solely responsible for ensuring that what they buy is fully in compliance with their country's laws and regulations.

I called my credit card company and asked for a charge back, to which they stated I might not get back the money because if the item is in Customs then technically the item's been delivered to me. I'm not intent on fighting everyone, and have taken the advice. No need to be so snippy as I never called or implied anyone was a moron and act to know it all. And the active ingredient in the cream isn't illegal in Canada I checked over and over, it's allowed in here no matter the percentage. (and I ordered a related product before with the same active ingredient in a high percentage and it arrived here in days) It's just that America sells the better product than Canada which is why I bought it from there

But I lost, that's basically it in the end, I lose.