Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Be aware of two scams pulled by UPS and FedEx: First, they insist on paying for customs clearance even when there are no customs charges. This is especially egrregious for shipments from the US to Canada, where UPS and FedEx charge about $US 50 for the unnecessary transaction. Second, UPS and FedEx will not insure a "unique item" in overseas shipping. They will NOT tell you about this in advance and will take your money but, if there is a loss, they will just refund the insurance and tell you, "sorry about that, good buddy". A "unique item" is an item bearing a serial number which is no longer in production. I was warned of this by my UPS delivery guy when I was getting ready to send an $8,000 lens to Japan about twenty years back. I understand their policy -- they do not want to be responsible for finding rare lenses or the like to replace items lost in transit -- but they ought to tell you in advance. I always send items by the Postal Service. I might be an Anarchist radical who wants to abolish the government but, in general, the US Postal Service does a substantially better job than do the private services. I have very limited experience with DHL and the other services, but I believe that their policies track those of UPS and FedEx. (After all, "UPS" stands for "the Unsatsifactory Parcel Service", doesn't it?) Marc msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir!