Re: A2 News and Notes - Super Drive Card

[Gary Gouriluk <gvgouril@ilos.net>]

I have had that problem of the outrageous brokerage fees from UPS also. Buy a $10
item and they want to charge me $25 to broker it!!!!  Depending on where you live,
you may be able to get around that. I have done it many times. Here in Winnipeg,
there are customs offices, and you can broker it yourself.

I refuse the package when it comes, saying I want to broker it myself. (UPS
sometimes tries to hose you by saying you have to pay, they have power of
attorney, or some other such bullshit.) Then I have to drive to the UPS office,
pick up the paper work, and take that paperwork to the customs office to pay the
GST, and then go to the UPS depot to pick up the package. Luckily, all three are
within a few blocks of each other.

This may not be worth $25 to you, but I do it on principle, as I think the fees
are artificially high.

The last three times I have had packages come UPS, and I have refused the item as
per above, it has worked out even better. When I phone UPS to arrange to pick up
the paperwork, they have said they will give me a one-time free delivery, but I
should open a brokerage account with them for the next time. (I don't.) What is
really happening is that they broker everything by computer without asking you if
you want to do it yourself (that would be too much trouble for them) so it is
easier to give it to you free than to undo the paperwork. To reduce the cost of
people doing their own brokering (which is your right) they try to convince you
it's mandatory.

Of course, for most people, it's too much trouble... so they just pay. I'm cheap
so I do it myself, and ask most vendors to ship via US Postal Service. Its almost
as fast and usually way cheaper.

Gary


"Brian A. Davis" wrote:

> Hi;
>
> I just received my order from Shreve Systems. The card works great. I am
> using it with my Applied Engineering HD+ drive.
>
> NOTE TO CANADIANS: Shreve uses UPS for shipping, so expect to pay UPS's
> $40.00 charge to bring the package across the border on top of the item,
> tax, and shipping costs. :-(
>
> Brian
>
> In article <3BA4AE14.72F1EEA4@intergate.bc.ca>,
>  Wayne Stewart <waynes@intergate.bc.ca> wrote:
>
> > "Ralph E. Dodd" wrote:
> >
> > > I got an Apple II 3.5 Disk Controller Card A0076LL/A from Shreve Systems
> > > today and it looks like it's brand new.  In original box, software, manual,
> > > and
> > > all the waranty cards. When I called, they quoted the price as $69 but when
> > > I mentioned that comp.sys.apple2 posted a price of $59 they agreed to the
> > > lowerprice.