[Kadath]

Ok, it's starting to make sense. Looks like the prepaid duty fee is now 15% + 15$. It used to be only 15%. So they added a baked-in brokerage fee. It used to be cheaper to prepay duties than to pay Canada Post for it. Not anymore it seems. I guess I'll just take my chances next time (not prepay duties) and try to keep orders below 100$. Let's just hope that they keep using Canada Post and not Skynet as Trinimon experienced.

 

[Trinimon]

Ok, it's starting to make sense. Looks like the prepaid duty fee is now 15% + 15$. It used to be only 15%. So they added a baked-in brokerage fee. It used to be cheaper to prepay duties than to pay Canada Post for it. Not anymore it seems. I guess I'll just take my chances next time (not prepay duties) and try to keep orders below 100$. Let's just hope that they keep using Canada Post and not Skynet as Trinimon experienced.

Good luck. Too bad there isn't an option (or at least I haven't noticed it) to leave comment for CRC at checkout to insist on Basic without tracking. I sent them a complaint email 3 days ago and no response yet. GRRRRR!!!

 

[ray.vermette]

I just placed an order for some stuff from CRC a few days ago, and I specified free standard postal delivery.

Now I have an email from "Aramex" courier demanding payment of duties of over $130. If GST were assessed, it would come to about $75, which means Aramex is charging about $60 for their courier handling fee. No breakdown of the fee was provided. I have no idea if this is the full or partial shipment.

WTF? I asked for standard postal delivery. I expected the package to come through Canada Post and to pay the taxes and handling charge (about $10 last time) to Canada Post. If I had known it would go through a private courier service with their ridiculous handling fees, then I would have chosen the deluxe pre-paid option and had my order delivered faster and cheaper.

 

[Trinimon]

Hmm, interesting, haven't heard about that 100$CAD threshold.
I paid COD ~5 months ago for order from US shipped with USPS, but it was around 130$US, will try to have few smaller orders next time instead of a single bigger one.

Damn! And I thought I got burned. CRC is really f'ing international orders or CDN at least. So much for free shipping.

 

[borisotto]

Damn! And I thought I got burned. CRC is really f'ing international orders or CDN at least. So much for free shipping.

My stuff wasn't from CRC, it was direct from US company, so I've got exactly the fees that I had expected.

 

[Trinimon]

My stuff wasn't from CRC, it was direct from US company, so I've got exactly the fees that I had expected.

Ahh, my misunderstanding.

On another note, here's the response I just got from CRC regarding their shipping. So this explains why regardless if your picked basic or basic with tracking, they'll just ship it however they feel like. Prob just easier to pad up your order and pay the pre-paid duty.

Thanks for your email.

We pride ourselves on our delivery success and being able to offer our customers a variety of choices. You can find all of the choices available to you at the basket stage of your order or the link below:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/staticcontent/postageInfoPage.jsp

If you choose our standard service we will consider all of the couriers available to us at the point of dispatch, to select the best method to send the order based on weight, dimensions and the value of your order.

Orders will be sent with either standard international air mail (non-tracked) or a tracked courier service, depending on the criteria mentioned above. We cannot advise beforehand which shipping method will be used for an order as this is only decided once the order is ready for dispatch.

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

We would really appreciate your feedback by clicking on one of the options below. Overall, how easy was it to get the help you wanted today?

 

[Kadath]

And here's my answer to my query about the price hike for prepaid duty fees:

Due to an increase in worldwide shipping costs, we have been forced to review our tariffs for the delivery of goods. As always, passing savings onto our customers is important to us and this is something we have kept in mind when conducting this review.

Postage costs are now worked out using both the value of the order along with the volumetric weight of the parcel. The best way to work out shipping fees is to put everything you wish to purchase into your basket and go to the checkout stage. At the checkout stage we will show all the options available to you and the costs related to these.

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Bottom line for me is that I won't be using CRC anymore. I was interested in an helmet on sale at 67$ but the duty paid shipping fee is 55$. Utterly ridiculous. I'm not paying that.

 

[ray.vermette]

...If you choose our standard service we will consider all of the couriers available to us at the point of dispatch, to select the best method to send the order based on weight, dimensions and the value of your order. Orders will be sent with either standard international air mail (non-tracked) or a tracked courier service, depending on the criteria mentioned above....

It seems like "the best method" they selected for me then was a tracked courier service with $$$ brokerage fees.

Here's the problem with that: when I choose free standard postal shipping, it says "... delivery by Canada Post...":

Standard Postal - Free
Estimated delivery by Canadian Post 7-10 working days pending customs clearance – Orders over $20 may incur Canadian import duty if they are selected for inspection by Canadian customs

When they state "delivery by Canada Post", then I expect delivery by Canada Post. Not delivery by private courier with expensive brokerage fees.

I was fine with (possibly) paying HST and Canada Post's brokerage fee of about $10. Aramex's brokerage fee of $60-ish dollars is unacceptable.


CRC has really gone downhill. First, it was the blocking of Shimano and SRAM sales to North America. Now it's the surprise brokerage charges. I won't be buying from them anymore.

 

[Arek]

CRC has really gone downhill. First, it was the blocking of Shimano and SRAM sales to North America. Now it's the surprise brokerage charges. I won't be buying from them anymore.

I guess the same could be expected from Wiggle then, since they're basically one company now.

The worst part is that there seems to be no recourse at all - you can write and complain, but all you'll get in response is a pre-baked word salad like "we strive to ... blah blah ... serve the customers .... blah ... we regret it didn't meet your expectations... we always try to improve and listen ... take care bye". The fact that they clearly showed Canada Post Delivery at the time of order, based on which you placed the order, and then basically did whatever suited them, is absolute BS.

Something tells me the process of choosing "the best method of shipping" on their end has to do with deals they work out with those obscure courier companies offering them ridiculously cheap rates, who then are free to more than recoup that on the delivery end by charging whatever they please...

 

[ray.vermette]

Something tells me the process of choosing "the best method of shipping" on their end has to do with deals they work out with those obscure courier companies offering them ridiculously cheap rates, who then are free to more than recoup that on the delivery end by charging whatever they please...

Agreed.

Aramex didn't even deliver my package in the end. They used Purolator for that. It finally arrived yesterday, after sitting in a Mississauga depot for 4 days. No customs paperwork, no receipt, no breakdown provided of how much in taxes and duties were paid versus their brokerage fee.

LESSON LEARNED: if you must buy from CRC, select the pre-paid duty option. If you select any other shipping option, you may get hit with an expensive brokerage fee on top of whatever taxes and duties may be owed.

If the pre-paid duty option is too expensive, seek out another online retailer. There is no shortage of them, some of them are even Canadian-based, and some of them understand the brokerage fee shenanigans that private couriers pull and will ship by standard post when you choose that option.

 

[Arek]

some of them understand the brokerage fee shenanigans that private couriers pull and will ship by standard post when you choose that option.

This. Some retailers understand that's the only way they'll get repeat business from savvy customers. I always ask/make sure that they still ship by regular mail which on our end would mean Canada Post delivery. If the answer is not a firm "yes", I don't order from them, period. Just had this expereince with PBK - was oh-so-close to ordering a carbon wheelset, put it in basket only to notice it said something like "delivery method to be determined based on order size and/or value". Until now I've had every PBK order shipped and delivered by mail. So I contacted them, told them specifically what product I was looking at and asked if they can tell me how it would ship. Since they couldn't give me an answer, I moved on and made sure I told them that was the only reason why I'm not ordering.

 

[Trinimon]

Well, I emailed back CRC and mentioned that a number of international (specifically Canadians) are upset about the random shipping options even when we specify how we want our order shipped. They got back to me a few days later and apologized for the shipping inaccuracies and said the shipping team has been made aware of this problem and that it has been resolved moving forward. Fingers crossed.

I have and still buy a bit of stuff from online Canadian retailers as well as the LBS but sadly, I find the selection too limited and if they happen to have an item you want, it's out of stock and you have to wait 2-3wks for it if you're lucky, so you end up ordering from 2-3 different stores and paying upwards of $15.CDN per each online order.

 

[ray.vermette]

MEC offers free, tracked shipping above $50 and a pretty basic but good selection of parts -- better than available in their store. $6.50 shipping for orders under $50, which is worth it to avoid driving across town in traffic and trying to find parking at the Ottawa MEC.

I bought a crankset from Cyclesmith.ca at a very reasonable price. Shipping has been slow, but that's to be expected approaching Christmas time.

Dunbar Cycles appears to have a good selection. I haven't purchased anything from them yet, but I've bookmarked it for future purchases.

I've had good experiences purchasing small random parts from Amazon.ca. If the part is sold by Amazon or purchase fulfilled by Amazon, the shipping is fast; often the next day or 3 days at most.

My LBS is decent too. I get all my maintenance work done their and if I'm ordering a part I want them to replace or install (like a dropper post), I often just buy it from them to save time.

 

[Kadath]

I'll add that jensonusa has quite reasonable prepaid duty fee options. I just did a test and it appears to be 12.5%. Shipping is very expensive however, unless you reach the free threshold of 150$.

amaincycling is GREAT for small parts. They actually ship many small parts for only 3-4$ to Canada (the ones that qualify for their 1.99$ USA shipping). Shipping larger parts is quite reasonable as well and ships by USPS. They ask 10$ to ship a derailleur for example.

 

[jon123]

I used to order quite regularly from CRC. Honestly in the last year though - and most likely longer - I haven't ordered once from them.
I even unsubscribed from their emails.
Shipping fees are all over the place. And things are regularly not in stock.
Jenson however is about the exact opposite.
Amazing selection. They keep things in stock. And their shipping is really hard to beat. I appreciate the "to your doorstep" fee.
I ordered something this Tuesday - arrived the NEXT DAY early afternoon.
I realize the US exchange can be hard to take sometimes. And Jenson prices
can sometimes be on the higher end (though often very competitive).
But if you want something QUICK, dropped off to your door so you don't have to go to the local post office the next day to claim it, they're hard to beat.

 

[xmessenger]

Agreed.

Aramex didn't even deliver my package in the end. They used Purolator for that. It finally arrived yesterday, after sitting in a Mississauga depot for 4 days. No customs paperwork, no receipt, no breakdown provided of how much in taxes and duties were paid versus their brokerage fee.

LESSON LEARNED: if you must buy from CRC, select the pre-paid duty option. If you select any other shipping option, you may get hit with an expensive brokerage fee on top of whatever taxes and duties may be owed.

If the pre-paid duty option is too expensive, seek out another online retailer. There is no shortage of them, some of them are even Canadian-based, and some of them understand the brokerage fee shenanigans that private couriers pull and will ship by standard post when you choose that option.

Yeah, I just discovered how messed up CRC has become.
I too chose basic postal service and hot an email from Aramex demanding duty fees etc. Annoyed, I just wanted to pay and get my stuff but they only have CC as a payment option. I do not have a credit card.
I attempted to contact Aramex multiple times to offer PayPal or etransfer to no avail, just got roboemail responses.
So I contact CRC and expplaiin the issue. They take a week or 2 "investigating" and finally contact me saying they are getting the shipment returned, that this will take some ridiculous amount of time and will get back to me when they get it.
I must have placed this order in October and am still waiting for them.
I will never ever use CRC again, horrible.
Too bad because they used to be the best.

 

[Kadath]

So I took another chance on CRC for a 148$ backpack. I didn't choose duty paid because it was overly priced. I chose standard postal, crossing fingers that it would be shipped by Canada Post. It was, and best of all, I didn't have to pay any duty fees! Perhaps CRC heard our complaints and will not use couriers anymore if we choose standard non-tracked postal?

 

[Trinimon]

So I took another chance on CRC for a 148$ backpack. I didn't choose duty paid because it was overly priced. I chose standard postal, crossing fingers that it would be shipped by Canada Post. It was, and best of all, I didn't have to pay any duty fees! Perhaps CRC heard our complaints and will not use couriers anymore if we choose standard non-tracked postal?

I guess my complaining worked. lol

I reached out to CRC and brought up the shipping issues to Canada and about their shipping dept choosing other shipping options other than what the buyer selected. They meant well but I told them there was a reason why buyers may select different shipping options. CRC said that they will update the shipping dept to not deviate from the buyer's shipping option moving forward. Let's hope your purchase wasn't a one-off 'cause I'm building up another order myself.

 

[Tyger]

In the last month, I ordered from:

CRC - I ordered a new handlebar, about $115, chose free postal (duty paid would have been $35). Package arrived via Canada Post. I did have to pay duties though, $24, so not horrible.

Primeau Velo - pretty good regular prices, better when they have a sale or discount code

Jensen USA - quick shipping, reasonable duty fees, just wish the free shipping threshold was lower $100 instead $150 USD would be amazing.

RaceFace (shoprfe.ca) - nothing special, but they're the only vendor in Canada that had the stem colour/size I needed in stock

 

[Greg_o]

Cyclesmith is another good Canadian option.