3 réponses à ce sujet

[PIngp0NG]

Hi folks, I just wanted to post my experience here for any Canadian customers thinking of purchasing items through the Bioware Store.

I received my N7 Hoodie in the mail today.  It's very nice, well made, and fits great.  It's a great garment I am happy to have purchased.

However, I was very disappointed to discover that upon delivery, the Canada Post person requested a $13.67 Cash-On-Delivery charge for the item.  This caught me unaware as I was not expecting any additional fees.  The Canada Post person also could not interpret or describe what it was for.  I was not able to pay with a credit card; only cash, certified cheque, or money order.  Upon payment I wasn't able to receive a receipt either.  This all smelt fishy to me but what else could I do except refuse delivery?  So I paid the cash.  The Canada Post woman was nice enough to write the details of the COD on the package for me as she took the slip back attached to the package.

I logged a ticket with the Bioware store and in the meantime, checked this forum where I found out that other folks had been charged this COD (sometimes double charged) about a month ago on lithographs and art books.  They had a similar experience: no warning, inconvenient methods of payment (sometimes cash not accepted), and little transparency with the formula for calcuting the charges.

Customer Service got back to me promptly and explained that these were taxes due to the Government and had nothing to do with their shipping.  The rep also mentioned that this was clearly posted on their website and they would not reimburse me for the charges or issue store credit.  The Customer Service rep was friendly, informative, and the response by email and phone were both prompt.

I see now that in the terms and conditions it states:
INTERNATIONAL ORDER CUSTOMS FEES
International orders may have
additional fees applied to them by the receiving country's (your
country's) customs agency. Unfortunately, http://biowarestore.com
has nothing to do with these fees and is not able to estimate fees or
determine whether or not there will be any. To learn more about your
country's customs fees and any other import duties/taxes, we recommend
contacting your country's customs agency. http://biowarestore.com
is not responsible for these customs fees and cannot reimburse
customers for any additional fees charged by your customs agency.

My main issues are the following:
1.  This information is listed in the terms & conditions but not the FAQ on shipping charges, where this would logically make sense to be posted or linked to.
2.  My email order confirmation does not mention this information or anything in regards to taxes or customs/brokerage fees.  This was also not articulated in the shopping cart or prior to checkout.
3.  There has been a thread on the BSN for a month where other users have mentioned and been acknowledge by Customer Service as having to have paid both tax and the $7.25 processing fee upon delivery in Canada.  This processing fee is not a tax but a fee to the courier.  Given that the store consistently uses this XPO shipping company as a shipper, this means that the Bioware Store terms and conditions should minimally estimate that the fees will be at least $7.25 in addition to taxes on declared value for shipping to Canada.

To put this into perspective, my hoodie cost $49.99 and shipping ($12.45) + taxes and fees ($13.67) = $76.11.

I encourage current and future customers to factor in both the shipping component and the taxes and fees into their cost calculations when making a decision.  For example, that $24.99 t-shirt or baseball cap may cost more than you think.

While I acknowledge responsibility for not thoroughly checking the terms & conditions pre-purchase, I feel that this information could be much more clearly and mandatorily articulated prior to checkout.

Cheers.

[Tocquevillain]

This is not something that is the Bioware store's responsibility. It's something you, as a consumer, should be aware of.

See here for the breakdown on fees levied by the government:

http://www.cbsa-asfc...droits-eng.html

All Canadians should know that Canada is able to leverage fees on you importing goods here when they exceed a certain amount. In no way should Treehouse Brands ever be held liable by a customer for something like this.

EDIT: Ah I see what you're saying now. They probably switched to using another courier. When you use the United States Postal Service, you rarely if ever get charged fees. If you a private courier, your package will generally be charged a fee. It's too convoluted for me to explain it all right now, but the main thing is, this is life when it comes to importing goods, the government wants its cut.

Modifié par Tocquevillain, 23 mars 2012 - 01:48 .

[Rabid619]

I'm fairly used to paying duty when I order online, it's just usually something that comes with the territory. Today, however, my N7 hoodie came and went because apparently they wouldn't allow me to pay or it with cash. Either money order or cheque, and I have to go pick it up later. Ugh! So all told after the base price, shipping, and duty I will be paying about $110 for this hoodie >.> lucky I love Mass Effect so much.

[Wolfskins]

Just for anyone who didn't see it, the other thread on COD charges is here: http://social.biowar...index/9364223/1

PIngp0NG, nice post. It's a pretty good summary of what's been going on, and puts forth the current best piece of advice for Canadian customers considering a purchase:

PIngp0NG wrote...

I encourage current and future customers to factor in both the shipping component and the taxes and fees into their cost calculations when making a decision.  For example, that $24.99 t-shirt or baseball cap may cost more than you think.

It's a bit disappointing that most people are only finding these threads AFTER they get their package & COD charge though. To anyone expecting an order, the only further advice I can add is:

-make sure your COD works out to provincial tax on your item(s) + $7.25. Some people have been overcharged.
-if you're expecting a package, it's worth keeping some cash on hand to pay the COD, HOWEVER, not everyone has been able to pay in cash. You may be forced to pay by money order or certified cheque.

Modifié par Wolfskins, 23 mars 2012 - 04:31 .