The Boeing Store and I got screwed!

[Trevor Hale]

Been trolling the Boeing Store looking for a really nice 737 golf shirt and to my amazement they were quite a bit more expensive than the t-shirts. But rightfully so they would be embroidered and likely better material.

After reading people here had bought stuff I figured why not give it a shot. The 40.00 us shirt would likely be 45.00 cdn and how bad could shipping be.

Well let me tell you.

By the time I checked out of the Boeing store I was at 57.95 usd. With the exchange that puts it around $65.00.

That's one expensive golf shirt. But it's a Boeing official golf shirt so maybe it's ok.

The next day I get a phone call from DHL requesting $30.00 for shipping. I had already paid shipping but they wanted their cut. Not to mention the duties and taxes but the duty was 5$ not a big deal and the rest of the 25$ was DHL fees and HST(tax) but the funny part is they taxes the tax a second time.

In the end this 40$ golf shirt ended up costing more in shipping fees and taxes than the shirt was worth.

The product was nice. Not worth 100.00$ I will however never shop at TheBoeingStore.com again because the shipping is retarded.

Trev

[quid246]

If they can't ship USPS to Canada, avoid like the plague.  DHL/UPS/Fedex all in the customs racket.

[Trevor Hale]

My thoughts exactly. I can handle paying 5 or 6 dollars sure from usps. That's the thing. I wasn't given the choice on shipping. Your right though. FedEx and DHL racket

[geeman47]

Trev,

If you ever want something from them again let me know.  I have a friend of mine who works for Boeing so he gets a discount, I'll ship it to me and then I will ship it to YOU!

Not that you will ever want to buy from them again after that.  What a racket.

George

[quid246]

Some prices on there are insane... 2500 for a mounted yoke.  Comes with a "certificate of authenticity"... well last time I looked, there was no Chinese knock-offs of these being sold at flea markets!

[Trevor Hale]

Lol Guys. I guess I would buy from them again if it would be shipped to a U.S. address and then have some one usps it to me. In this case I just wanted the shirt for world flight. If I was smart I would have just had it shipped to Sam and I would have picked it up when I got there.

Thanks Mike I will let you know if I decide to try again. It won't be anytime soon though lol.

[Sam Llorca]

Hi Trevor,

You can use my address anytime, see you soon.

[Trevor Hale]

Thanks bud. I appreciate that.

[HarryZ]

Trev,

Welcome to the world of getting products from the US into Canada!

In my small flight simulation business, I see this all the time and caution customers about getting products sent to them from the US by courier. 

There is this thing called Brokerage Fees that often gets ignored by companies in the US that use Ground Service from the various couriers.  The courier looks at the value of the shipment, converted to CA $, and then applies a fee to clear it through customs.  The product may be duty free but the brokerage fee is always applied.  There is usually a minimum fee involved and HST is added on top.  So your not so expensive product can end up costing double in the long run.

You can use USPS/Canada Post but that doesn't necessarily avoid a brokerage fee.  Canada Post adds on a flat $ 8.00 fee...$ 10.00 to businesses...plus collecting the HST when they deliver the package to you.  Sometimes, the package will go through customs and it won't cost you a cent extra...but that doesn't happen too often.

With the couriers, brokerage fees can be avoided if the shipper uses their next day express service...but the cost of that service is usually higher than them using Ground Service plus brokerage.

They've got you by the short ones and unless you can choose your method of shipping from the business in the US,  beware!

Harry