5 ms·

I got charged a $600 tariff from UPS to ship a $30 25-pound sandbag into the US from Canada. UPS didn't even deliver the product. I'm suing them in small clai

I got charged a $600 tariff from UPS to ship a $30 25-pound sandbag into the US from Canada. UPS didn't even deliver the product. I'm suing them in small claims. We'll see what happens. I imagine that even after the ruling, our ass backwards legal system will somehow say this makes sense, even though the tariff rate was never near high enough for that bill to make any sense. Further, they're going to get refunded the $10 it MIGHT have cost them.

aardvarkr 8mo ago
Huh? In what world was the tariff on sand 2000%?
- jacobgkau 8mo ago
  It wasn't the tariff. UPS has been tacking on a ridiculously high paperwork fee for the service of processing tariff payments. Other shipping companies have also had fees, but UPS is the main one that's made it exorbitant and disproportionately higher than the tariff itself.
  - qingcharles 8mo ago
    I'm thinking the delivery agents such as UPS, Fedex, USPS now need to sue the United States so they can pay back all the recipients the fees they charged, plus interest. There are going to be a raft of class action suits based on this. As one of my lawyers once said, the only winners here are the lawyers.
    - vjvjvjvjghv 8mo ago
      “ As one of my lawyers once said, the only winners here are the lawyers.” Congress is full of lawyers do it’s pretty natural that they make rules that favor lawyers.
  - markbnj 8mo ago
    I suspect that my recent experience confirms this. Our daughter shipped two suitcases home from the UK, paying some local company for "door-to-door" delivery. They contracted with UPS who demanded an additional $32 when the first bag showed up. For the second she paid the same fee online so they wouldn't require a check at the door.
deleted 8mo ago
[deleted]
lostlogin 8mo ago
> 25-pound sandbag into the US from Canada. It's not the point, but why were you doing this? Surely internationally shipping a sack of sand is more painful than getting a local one?
- aiauthoritydev 8mo ago
  This could just be across the border.
  - ignoramous 8mo ago
    > just be across the border. It was interesting to see shops in the border towns of south & south east Switzerland buying & selling products from Italy, a relatively cheaper market.
    - gambiting 8mo ago
      I mean, when I was young we lived in Poland right next to the border with Slovakia and we'd drive over once a week for groceries and to buy fuel because it was just so much cheaper over there. Nowadays it's the reverse since they got the Euro - most Polish shops near the border cater to Slovakian shoppers and even accept Euro for payment.
      - lostlogin 8mo ago
        > even accept Euro for payment. Pre Brexit, I encounter a shop that did this in London and was surprised. Having just been over there again, it's not hard to be entirely cashless, so the convenience isn’t missed. Italians seem to like dealing in cash, with various taxis and hotels being cheaper if you pay cash. I guess that means it’s off the books?
        davidron 8mo ago
        American here. My experience is that the US dollar seems to be accepted in tons of stores in countries all over in the Americas Europe and Asia. Trade is trade it seems.

aardvarkr 8mo ago

Huh? In what world was the tariff on sand 2000%?

jacobgkau 8mo ago
It wasn't the tariff. UPS has been tacking on a ridiculously high paperwork fee for the service of processing tariff payments. Other shipping companies have also had fees, but UPS is the main one that's made it exorbitant and disproportionately higher than the tariff itself.
- qingcharles 8mo ago
  I'm thinking the delivery agents such as UPS, Fedex, USPS now need to sue the United States so they can pay back all the recipients the fees they charged, plus interest. There are going to be a raft of class action suits based on this. As one of my lawyers once said, the only winners here are the lawyers.
  - vjvjvjvjghv 8mo ago
    “ As one of my lawyers once said, the only winners here are the lawyers.” Congress is full of lawyers do it’s pretty natural that they make rules that favor lawyers.
- markbnj 8mo ago
  I suspect that my recent experience confirms this. Our daughter shipped two suitcases home from the UK, paying some local company for "door-to-door" delivery. They contracted with UPS who demanded an additional $32 when the first bag showed up. For the second she paid the same fee online so they wouldn't require a check at the door.

deleted 8mo ago

[deleted]

lostlogin 8mo ago

> 25-pound sandbag into the US from Canada. It's not the point, but why were you doing this? Surely internationally shipping a sack of sand is more painful than getting a local one?

aiauthoritydev 8mo ago
This could just be across the border.
- ignoramous 8mo ago
  > just be across the border. It was interesting to see shops in the border towns of south & south east Switzerland buying & selling products from Italy, a relatively cheaper market.
  - gambiting 8mo ago
    I mean, when I was young we lived in Poland right next to the border with Slovakia and we'd drive over once a week for groceries and to buy fuel because it was just so much cheaper over there. Nowadays it's the reverse since they got the Euro - most Polish shops near the border cater to Slovakian shoppers and even accept Euro for payment.
    - lostlogin 8mo ago
      > even accept Euro for payment. Pre Brexit, I encounter a shop that did this in London and was surprised. Having just been over there again, it's not hard to be entirely cashless, so the convenience isn’t missed. Italians seem to like dealing in cash, with various taxis and hotels being cheaper if you pay cash. I guess that means it’s off the books?
      - davidron 8mo ago
        American here. My experience is that the US dollar seems to be accepted in tons of stores in countries all over in the Americas Europe and Asia. Trade is trade it seems.