[old_dude]

Looks like you cannot buy an Ibex from Canada now. The Ibex site says that they have ceased to ship to Canada.

old dude

 

[Jake Pay]

Why?....................................

** NO SHIPPING TO CANADA - Note: Shipping to Canada is temporarily suspended due to problems collecting taxes and customs fees. We may resume accepting Canadian orders at some future date if this issue can be resolved.

>>>>>:ihih:>>Jake

 

[Call_me_Clyde]

The reason

From the web site:

** NO SHIPPING TO CANADA - Note: Shipping to Canada is temporarily suspended due to problems collecting taxes and customs fees. We may resume accepting Canadian orders at some future date if this issue can be resolved.

This is not an uncommon problem, and is probably a combination of Canadian gov't., shipping service as well as customer issues.

Bob

 

[old_dude]

It is more likely a problem with UPS

From the web site:

** NO SHIPPING TO CANADA - Note: Shipping to Canada is temporarily suspended due to problems collecting taxes and customs fees. We may resume accepting Canadian orders at some future date if this issue can be resolved.

This is not an uncommon problem, and is probably a combination of Canadian gov't., shipping service as well as customer issues.

Bob

The owners of IBEX were likely given a deal by UPS for using them exclusively. Shipping inside the US is dirt cheap, but shipping internationally costs much more. Since, those fees are paid by a foreign purchaser, the vendor (IBEX) does not care.

While UPS may be OK for shipping within the Continental USA, they suck for shipping to Canada, and are avoided by just about any purchaser who has had any experience with them. UPS is a complete SNAFU for shipping to Canada. They have outrageous fees, are often a total nightmare to deal with, and they can't seem to grasp the simple idea of coordinating delivery with a time when someone is actually at home. They just show up, and leave only a failed delivery message, apparently assuming that every household in the world has somebody home everyday during business hours. Not only that, they will continue to do the same thing until they have failed to deliver three times, always during the working day, when kids are in school and parents are at work. Then they want you to drive forty miles to their depot and pick it up yourself. So, for the astronomical fees they charge, you don't even get it delivered.

When I ordered my boys' two IBEX Ignition frames for $199US each, plus a optional $50 shock, I ended up paying about $800 Canadian, by the time it was all over. Much of that was UPS fees.

If you try to get UPS to deliver to your place of work, they assume that your employer is receiving the shipment and then try to charge your employer for the shipping, if they have an account with them. Then you can spend hours on the phone for days trying to get them to straighten things out. UPS it totally f'ck'd up.

Consequently, I only deal with vendors that ship by UPS, if the price is so outrageously good, that even after UPS tacks on their inflated fees, it is still a good deal. If I have to deal with UPS, a really good price helps offset some of the aggrevation. So, unless it is an outrageouly good deal, you ship UPS, you don't get my business.

I have not ordered a single thing from JensenUSA since they started using UPS to ship to Canada, while they were one of my main sources for parts before the switch.

When vendors make decisions like this, they are interested in saving themselves money and reducing the cost to their continental United States customers. Foreign customers are likely a small part of their business, so they consciously choose to screw the foreign customer, to better serve themselves and the native customer.

Consequently, I typically have no problem dropping the vendor. They deserve it by the choice they made. They chose to screw me by choosing UPS, so screw them.

The only reason, I want to order from IBEX, is that the Ignition frame is a really good deal. At $199 US plus $124 for the RockShox rear shock, By the time I pay for shipping with UPS, convert to Canadian dollars, and pay import duties on the frame, I should end up paying about $500 Canadian. That is enough to make me deal with UPS, since any other frame would be well over a thousand dollars.

I think if IBEX switched to FEDEX for shipping to Canada there would be much less trouble.

old dude

 

[Call_me_Clyde]

Sounds like a mess

Hopefully Jack will get things sorted out soon so that Ibex can resume shipping to Canada. As for UPS and other vendors not scheduling deliveries when someone is at the residence, that's an issue we all have to deal with unfortunately. Been frustrated by this issue myself many times, so I can relate.

Bob

 

[ibexbikes]

Hopefully Jack will get things sorted out soon so that Ibex can resume shipping to Canada. As for UPS and other vendors not scheduling deliveries when someone is at the residence, that's an issue we all have to deal with unfortunately. Been frustrated by this issue myself many times, so I can relate.

Bob

We're working on the Canadian issue. We ran into some problems with the way FedEx handles duties, taxes, etc... We never had much of a problem with this when we used to use UPS, but we switched to FedEx because UPS had started re-rating all our shipping. So, they are not really an option right now. While UPS may have cleaner handling of the customs issue, their shipping rates would more than offset it.

As far as carriers not being able to schedule deliveries around the consignee's agenda, there is not much we can do about that. We do not specify "signature required" (unless requested by the customer), so most of our orders will be left at the door even when the recipient is not at home. However, there is a certain degree of driver discretion involved. If the delivery is in a high traffic location, drivers tend to be leery of leaving a package as large as a bike or frame without a signature. We do send out tracking numbers when we ship, so you can at least find out what day the delivery is scheduled for. But, none of the carriers are going to be able to tell you exactly what time of day they will arrive. If a driver is not comfortable leaving the package, those are usually available for pick-up at their terminal within a few days. The other solution is to ship into your work location as they strive to make all commercial deliveries during normal office hours.

Regards,
Jack A.
IBEX Bicycles

 

[old_dude]

We're working on the Canadian issue. We ran into some problems with the way FedEx handles duties, taxes, etc... We never had much of a problem with this when we used to use UPS, but we switched to FedEx because UPS had started re-rating all our shipping. So, they are not really an option right now. While UPS may have cleaner handling of the customs issue, their shipping rates would more than offset it.

As far as carriers not being able to schedule deliveries around the consignee's agenda, there is not much we can do about that. We do not specify "signature required" (unless requested by the customer), so most of our orders will be left at the door even when the recipient is not at home. However, there is a certain degree of driver discretion involved. If the delivery is in a high traffic location, drivers tend to be leery of leaving a package as large as a bike or frame without a signature. We do send out tracking numbers when we ship, so you can at least find out what day the delivery is scheduled for. But, none of the carriers are going to be able to tell you exactly what time of day they will arrive. If a driver is not comfortable leaving the package, those are usually available for pick-up at their terminal within a few days. The other solution is to ship into your work location as they strive to make all commercial deliveries during normal office hours.

Regards,
Jack A.
IBEX Bicycles

Thanks for the response.

BTW, both my sons really like their new yellow IBEX Ignition frames.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=254659&highlight=country+cruisers

It surprises me that you switched to FedEx and are having problems. When JensenUSA was using FedEx, I ordered many things from them and never had a single problem. Everything went smoothly and timely. The shipping cost was more reasonable.

Every time I use UPS, I find myself saying never again. However, sometimes, I find a really good deal that I can't pass up even if the shipping is by UPS. I wince and bite the bullet, hoping that things will be better this time. It never is.

If seems that the vendor experience with these couriers can be quite different than the consumer experience.

I hope you soon get things sorted out with FedEx, for shipping to Canada. After trying my son's new bike, built on the Ignition frame, I am looking to purchase another Ignition frame, if I can get it before the sale ends. This one is for me, and I was happy that you switched colours to german silver. I did not want to buy yet another identical yellow frame. I was just waiting to see pictures of it in the new colour, before ordering.

old dude

 

[ibexbikes]

It surprises me that you switched to FedEx and are having problems. When JensenUSA was using FedEx, I ordered many things from them and never had a single problem. Everything went smoothly and timely. The shipping cost was more reasonable.

The problem has nothing to do with FedEx's deliveries or physical handling of the packages. They're spot-on with that. We have a better on-time delivery ratio with them and fewer problems with shipping damages than we had with UPS. However, FedEx's handling of the paperwork and customs clearing going into Canada is the problem.

We're getting hit with higher duty & tax charges than we did with UPS handling it, and FedEx is inclined to deliver before collecting those fees from the consignee. That means we were getting charged back for that stuff and had no recourse to enforce collection of those fees after-the-fact from the customer. In some cases we were getting hit with as much as 50% of the bike's value as a charge back.

First off, that was too high a rate, and secondly, it should be collected from the recipient. I can't ship into Canada if it's going I'm going to loose what was sometimes hundreds of dollars on the sale. We are working on a two part solution. One, we need to figure out why these were getting hit with duties & taxes that are higher than they should be... and, two, we have then figure out how to have our website Cart system collect the correct fees when the order is placed so that they are pre-paid (and get that across to the Canadian customers so they understand why the final tally was higher than the bike's advertised price). It'll be a while before we can sort all this out.

Thanks,
Jack

 

[wickerman1]

friends in the right places.

thus why i had the zone shipped to bellingham at a buddys house.
Its only 20 min from my place which is nice, and saves alot of BS. He works here so he put the bike together and rode it across the border for me.

 

[old_dude]

The problem has nothing to do with FedEx's deliveries or physical handling of the packages. They're spot-on with that. We have a better on-time delivery ratio with them and fewer problems with shipping damages than we had with UPS. However, FedEx's handling of the paperwork and customs clearing going into Canada is the problem.

We're getting hit with higher duty & tax charges than we did with UPS handling it, and FedEx is inclined to deliver before collecting those fees from the consignee. That means we were getting charged back for that stuff and had no recourse to enforce collection of those fees after-the-fact from the customer. In some cases we were getting hit with as much as 50% of the bike's value as a charge back.

First off, that was too high a rate, and secondly, it should be collected from the recipient. I can't ship into Canada if it's going I'm going to loose what was sometimes hundreds of dollars on the sale. We are working on a two part solution. One, we need to figure out why these were getting hit with duties & taxes that are higher than they should be... and, two, we have then figure out how to have our website Cart system collect the correct fees when the order is placed so that they are pre-paid (and get that across to the Canadian customers so they understand why the final tally was higher than the bike's advertised price). It'll be a while before we can sort all this out.

Thanks,
Jack

Jack,

When I dealt with JensonUSA, before they switched to UPS, they had a Fedex "International Priority" shipping method.

The customer paid more up front to the vendor, for the "International Priority" shipping, but paid much less in fees when the shipment arrived. It actually cost less in the end.

Does Fedex stilll offer "International Priority" as a shipping method, and do they offer it on big items like bikes and frames?

old dude