Black91n/a

I just tried to order some parts from McMaster-Carr on the weekend, but then today I got an email from them stating that they were no longer shipping internationally to anyone but their largest corporate customers. I looked at their shipping and ordering policies posted on their website to be sure that I would be able to get what I wanted and they state:"We ship our products throughout the world using air and ocean transportation services." and "At McMaster-Carr, we do not have order minimums". No where on their site is there anything about not selling to individuals or not selling to international individuals or anything like that, so the email I got was a total shock to me. I am really mad at them, because I'd been flat out lied to.

Here's the email I got:

Dear Graham

Thank you for sending us your order. Due to the ever-increasing complexity of U.S. Export regulations, McMaster-Carr has decided to only accept orders from a few, long-established customers of ours in Canada. We no longer accept orders from private individuals, and we are unable to take this order. We regret the inconvenience this causes you.

Lindsay

McMaster-Carr Supply Company




It's not even like I had a tiny or complicated order. It was about $80US worth of wiring/electrical stuff, so it would have been easy to do the customs tag for, as it's just one category.

They're dishonest and discriminatory against people outside of the US, and that really makes me mad, as an increasing number of US companies (eBay sellers especially) are refusing to ship to anyone not in the US, and they aren't always 100% upfront about it.

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

yup, i have experienced this first hand with some eBay sellers/retailers. one auction site i saw states "will ship to anywhere except: France, Canada, Africa/middle-east". damn Americans.

sadly though shipping from US to Canada has become more expensive in some cases than shipping in from overseas to Canada. "free trade" is bullshit.

Alak

iTrader: (9)

My buddy ordered a radiator a while back for his Supra from the states. It was at customs for over 3 months before I got a line on it and finally got it into the country. Its ******* rediculous. You can walk across the border with it but stick ANYTHING into a box and it takes 3 months. I dismay for our southern neighbours grows daily.

Black91n/a

The stupid thing is that it's not really that hard to get stuff through the border. If they wanted they could do a computerised customs documents system that automatically filled out the forms for them based on the order information. Would maybe cost them a few grand to hire some computer programming student to write them a program, and then they could get more business.

In the summer of 2004 I had a job for an eBay seller here in BC (DVD's and VHS mostly) and part of what I did was take the packages across into the US to mail them. There were times when all I had to do was hand them the properly filled out paperwork (~15 minutes work to fill them out for 400+ packages) and then I'd just drive on through, easy as pie! They're much more **** about what comes in than out too. It's rediculous.

At christmas I came back to Vancouver from England and even though I was just changing planes in Seattle I still had to get my checked bags and go through customs. That pretty much only happens in the US, other places only check you if you're leaving the secure area.

It's stupid stuff like this that makes people hate Americans.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

They aren't discriminating.

The post-9/11 export laws make it so that they cannot ship to a residential address in Canada without expensive licensing. They called me and offered to ship it to my place of business, or my university (Since on the order form I said it was for the "Department of Rotary Mechanics" they thought I was in University)

So I just had them send the O-rings to a friend in the 'states (Rx7Carl) and he's gonna pack 'em in with my carburetor and send 'em that way.

You can also ship to any address in the USA, so if I couldn't send 'em to Carl, I'd have shipped them to the UPS Store in Ogdensburg and gone to pick them up

Jon

eViLRotor

iTrader: (2)

Yes, it's not discrimination, it's paranoia that has brought this on.

rxtasy

i'd rather find stuff in Canada anyways.... f'n duty and brokerage is like bending over for a rusty pipe.... never mind that the value of our dollar has gone up but by the time you get through with charges to convert it, or visa or whatever.... screw it!

Black91n/a

Part of the problem is the stupid US government is so damned paranoid that everyone's out to get them. It's rediculous. I find the airport thing especially stupid, I mean these people wouldn't have acess to their checked bags within the US if they allowed them to just transfer across, but they make you get the bags, go through customs, then recheck them. In my mind that leads to an increased security risk, and does nothing for trade protection, duty and all that. The stuff and the people aren't even going to go into the US, they're staying in the international part of the airport and are going to leave in a few hours. The US is the only country in the western world that I've heard of doing this, in fact many people will spend extra and fly farther to avoid changing planes in the US for these and other reasons.

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

so US eBay sellers not wanting to ship to France is just because of US government export rules? seems kind of hard to believe.

SpeedNRG

actually you guys got it wrong, its not the americans... its the canadians, and it has always been them infact. anything coming into canada, the canadian customs side checks them instead.

before, they would occasionally open to check a few packages only, but lately they've been very rough and checking a lot more than usual, especially of packages with upgraded mailing options. thats not the worst part, (lately also) after opening some of them... they GIVE the items a value, and TAX you on them. I've seen many cases and I've experienced a few.

even though the american exporting rules have changed, its the canadians keeping your packages and not the americans. after not receiving/receiving the items late, the canadians complains to the american sellers, asking for reimbursments and replacements so on, making them more and more unwilling to deal with the canadians. some of the items have tracking... but yes, the customs usually choose those ones to open because they seem "more important".
if you have more experiences with shipping + receiving items in both the US and Canada then you should know what I'm talking about.
think about it, the items are leaving usa, do the americans really care. now.. in which country will the items be going to? and which country will be responsible when something happens?

Black91n/a

Like I said, I worked for an eBay seller who shipped large volumes of product into the US and we had to get returns from the US. I've also personally courriered many packages across. The US customs are much worse in my experiance. The Americans also open packages and inspect them, and they tax the items too.

Mostly it seems like the companies just can't be bothered. While we can't force them to do business to us it seems discriminatory to me that they used to take our business, and now they won't.

[sarcasm]This can't have anything to do with Iraq now can it? [/sarcasm]

SpeedNRG

I know what you mean but, taking items accross the border with you... and mailing them accross the border is different. you have lots with you by yourself and the americans see them in plain sight, while mailing... is just one package separate from each but the canadian customs still pays that much attention. if you do the same thing again, except this time carry a bunch from the US to canada................ actually my friend was afraid to do that last time =/

but... no way lol, I can't imagine this having to do with iraq... its not even on my mind, may be because it seems impossible, or if it might be true, it would be terrible...