This is maddening

[Maurice]

I recently ordered various air springs from a US company (name withheld) and my order was turned down supposedly because they only ship to selected Canadian customers in order to provide the best service they can provide. This is because export  regulations are very 'complicated' these days.

Fair enough, so I asked Jack to order them for me since he has a US shipping address as well. Jack kindly offered to pick up the items and cross the border after going through Canadian customs. So Jack ordered the items and they somehow figured out he was going to ship them to Canada and they refused to ship plus they added him to a no-ship list in case he tries this 'stunt' again.

This was their reason: "The United States government regulates the documentation required for material shipped outside the US and also controls what material companies are allowed to export.  This is a serious responsibility for any exporter, and we have chosen to avoid the risks involved in these transactions."

Anyway, as you can imagine, I'm totally stunned and I decided to express my views to them. Read on if you are interested and if you want to know the name of that company, PM or e-mail me

Maurice


Hello **** & ****,

Alas my dastardly subterfuge was discovered. Since you refused to ship some air springs to me in Canada, I enlisted the help of a friend who has a US shipping address and I asked him to order those same parts so that you would not need to ship directly to a rogue country like Canada where the air springs could be used to manufacture deadly shock absorbers for instance. Since my friend would need to go through customs and abide by the Canadian import regulations, I stupidly thought that this would free you from any consequences for having shipped to a Canadian address.

In my limited simple mind, I figured this would fool you and that I would get away with contravening those famous export regulations which you claim prevent you from selling to some Canadian customers but apparently not to all Canadians. I guess you know how to pick & choose who the dangerous Canadians are.

I am so proud & gratified to know that we made it to the no-ship list simply because we are Canadians and/or Canadians with a US shipping address which could be used to ship dangerous goods such as those deadly air springs from the US to Canada, which incidentally is the US preferred trading partner (sic) with a 'free-trade agreement' in place

In order to avoid further skirmishes such as this one, I will do my best to advise as many Canadians as possible via letter to all major Canadian newspapers that the ever vigilant ****** staff cannot be fooled by such callous disregard of their policy.

In fact, I think it would be a great idea if I also wrote to major newspapers in the US to warn other US companies about the deviousness some Canadians are resorting to in order to import simple household items. We would not want Canadians to have car hoods or trunks that stay open by themselves, would we?

I'm sure there would be a place for you in the United States Homeland Security agency thanks to your amazing investigative abilities. It boggles my mind how on earth you figured out this shipment would eventually end up in Canada. Are you ex CIA members by any chance??

In conclusion, thank you so much for preserving the safety of our countries. I personally feel much safer knowing you stand forever on guard. I do sincerely hope though that you personally realize the stupidity of the policy of your company and that your only reason for enforcing it was because you fear consequences if you deviate from the policy. That would be the only reason I would have any sympathy and/or understanding for your behaviour.


Regards,

Maurice

[matta757]

Well said, Maurice. I agree that this seems completely ridiculous. I appreciate your dry sense of humor throughout the letter.

[Emesis]

Well Maurice, therein lies your problem, you should of let an Al Qaeda member or a Mexican* get the air springs for you, they can get across the border with no problems at all.

Dying to hear what the company's response will be!

*Sorry I have to be politically correct, I meant an immigrant! 

[Maurice]

Dying to hear what the company's response will be!

I'll be very surprised if they answer but if they do, I'll let you know for sure. Depending on their answer, I also intend to write to their customer service and express my 'opinion' about their policy. It's obvious that someone is lying or overstepping their bounds since they do ship to selected customers in Canada including my old employer.

Maurice

[autocadplease]

Does the company happen to be **master - *arr?

[Maurice]

Does the company happen to be **master - *arr?

Check your PM.

Maurice

[shaneb]

Well, Maurice you have probably made it to the famous "no fly and terrorist watch list"   next we will see Maurice on "America's most Wanted"  . . . dangerous Canadian attempting to import air springs!          Don't you just love knee jerk reactions . . I'm really suprised that we can ship anything out of the U.S.      Emesis is right . . you used the wrong shipping company . .  should have used drug cartel import/export incorporated . . masters at all your import / export problems!

Might as well get a good laugh out of the situation . . .   

[Maurice]

Well, Maurice you have probably made it to the famous "no fly and terrorist watch list"   next we will see Maurice on "America's most Wanted"  . . . dangerous Canadian attempting to import air springs!          Don't you just love knee jerk reactions . . I'm really suprised that we can ship anything out of the U.S.      Emesis is right . . you used the wrong shipping company . .  should have used drug cartel import/export incorporated . . masters at all your import / export problems!

Might as well get a good laugh out of the situation . . .   

Funny that I had no problems getting a pair of yokes & columns I bought on e-bay. They probably figured that as long as I do not have the air springs to make them work, it was safe to deliver the yokes since I could not fly without them  . I would laugh about it except that it is very sad that shipping between 2 friendly neighbours has become such a problem.

Maurice

[fsaviator]

Maurice,

herein lies the problem... you should have gone Chinese...  in fact, I'm finding that I can get all sorts of great stuff, at low prices through Alibaba.com.

I just today received four custom made (to order) gas springs to use on my brake pedals, for $55 DHL shipping included.

they built them to my specs, and shipped them.  The package had been opened so it appears some vigilant inspector checked them out, but must have deemed that they weren't a threat.

Warren

[Maurice]

Warren I would order from Timbuktu if I could find what I needed there. The reason I went with these morons is because they have a very detailed catalog that displays all the characteristics of their air springs. Many other companies sell them as well but often have no details about things like the force required for instance.

Anyway, I think I found another source unless they end up giving me the same song & dance. Incidentally, the only air springs I saw at alibaba.com were nothing like what I need. Do you have a better link to the air springs section by any chance?

Thanks,

Maurice

[Boeing Skunk Works]

You'll put an eye out with those springs if'n you ain't careful. 

[ETomlin]

Once again Mau, your command of your not so native English language is impressive to the point of astonishment. Very good. Im glad you're not my neighbor or boss. I have a feeling you could make a mechanic feel stupid for fixing a car right!

Good luck getting what you need. Sounds like maybe you should attempt to order your springs from Benq. Might have better luck! :-)

[Maurice]

Good luck getting what you need. Sounds like maybe you should attempt to order your springs from Benq. Might have better luck! :-)

What can I say Eric? The world is out to get me it seems these days. A willing customer and no willing supplier. Recession you say...no wonder 

Maurice

[fsaviator]

Maurice,

I told them what I needed and they sent me some drawings.  Here's who I used:

Worldwide Gas Springs, Ltd [http://wgssprings.en.alibaba.com/]

You can email Lucy Sun <lucy.sun[at]wgssprings.com> and tell he what you're looking for.  She can then help you out.  I've had no issues with spam or anything so her address is fine.

I searched quite a bit and their prices were very reasonable.  I wish I had known more about Newtons and pounds of force though.  I bought these at 10-20lbs of force and they are a little tough for toe brakes...  5-10 would have been better.  I'll just have to build up my calf muscles.

Here's a pic of what I got:



Here's the card that was in the package:



Hope it helps.

[autocadplease]

How many units have you purchased in the past? The minimum order is 100?

[fsaviator]

None.  I just told them I needed four.  they charged me $13.50 each

[DaveK]

hahahahahaha best letter to a company I have read in a while.

I am not laughing at you Maurice or your situation but your letter does strike my type of sense of humour.

and I spose now we probably wont see you on here once the admins realise what a threat to the world you are, they will ban you.

I would purposely not buy from them, they obviously dont want your $$, and follow through with the chinese alternative, I know they are always more than happy to take anyones money.

Good luck with finding what you want!

[makoy]

Maurice,

looks like you're on terrorist list 
For now on, you get nothing from US 

[Maurice]

Thanks Warren. If the other site I found does not pan out, I will give your supplier a chance for sure.

And to Makoy & Dave K, yes, I am a threat to the US as I will use these air springs to manufacture pea shooters which I will use to topple their monuments in Monument Valley if I can sneak in into the US (I may have to go through Mexico though). Can't wait to get my revenge.

Maurice

[Trevor Hale]

OMG..  This has to be the craziest thing in the world.  Mau, Hopefully you managed to find your super dangerous gas springs elsewhere..  I cannot beleive that some companies put the binders on when they think they need to ship to Canada.  I remember reading about other companies that have done the same. 

By the way, I have no issues of you making this companies name public, especially because it was a "Personal experience" that happened.  It wouldn't take long for the search engines to pick up this thread, and make your comments known.  Everyone should know who these guys are, and they should be punnished.  (Just bad business sense)  Apparently not all American's think we Canadains are neighbourly.

Trev

[saabpilot]

Just a byline,

We have plenty of 200 Newton high precision gas dampers in perfect condition for sale at 10 € each + shipping.
I can ship anywhere, even Alcatraz 

www.boeing737sim.se

[Maurice]

Well Trev, I will be getting my sweet revenge soon. Anytime now, Canada Geese will be migrating South & dumping their brown loads on American soil & hopefully on McMaster-Carr along their way. 

Furthermore, I really don't need them anymore anyway. I found several other places where I can get suitable springs. Thanks to Warren, I also contacted Lucy Sun in China and she is eager to help. The funny thing is, she did not seem afraid I would launch an attack on China with my air springs. I guess they are a bit less terrified of us nasty Canadians

Maurice

[Maurice]

Just a byline,

We have plenty of 200 Newton high precision gas dampers in perfect condition for sale at 10 € each + shipping.
I can ship anywhere, even Alcatraz 

www.boeing737sim.se

Would have been nice if the force was less than 200N. 200 is much too strong for my use.

Thanks anyway,
Maurice

[fsaviator]

Well, to be fair to our authorities here...

I can think of many dubious uses for gas springs...  The one that comes to mind first is you could potentially buy gas springs that when strapped to your legs could help bounce or jump over any size wall that could be built between the US and Canada and enter our country illegally.  I mean come on, we take the security of our border seriously here!

See...  the Chinese have nothing to fear.  It's very unlikely you could get a big enough gas spring to jump from Canada to China...



Glad the info helped

Warren

[Maurice]

Well, to close this story, I received the air springs I needed from Lucy Sun in China who was very eager to help and who shipped the items very quickly and quite a bit cheaper than McMaster-Carr ($15.00 each including shipping). They got to me in only a few days so I can now continue my dastardly scheme to invade the U.S.

Maurice