West Marine Online

[buoyohbuoy]

To all the Canadian Tugnuts out there: beware of ordering anything online from West Marine!

Back in the spring, we ordered a few items from the West Marine website (value $800 USD) and had them delivered to our home via FedEx Ground. It was our first time ordering from West Marine and everything arrived in good order and in less than 10 days. We were very impressed with the service even though we had to take it on the chin with the USD exchange rate. There was a notice on the order that customs' clearance was the responsibility of the consignee but we didn't give it too much thought. We should have! Three months later, we received a bill from FedEx for $420 CAD to cover the cost of duty, taxes, customs' brokerage and bond fees (freight was already prepaid on the West Marine invoice). Needless to say, we were not happy as that amounted to almost 50% of the value of the original order. West Marine, of course, doesn't warn its international customers about which items are dutiable and how much additional cost they can expect. We've placed our first and last order with them.
Just wondering if any others have had similar experiences.

Cheers,
Mike & Peggy Eligh
2014 R25SC "Daria"

 

[SlackwaterJack]

This has nothing to do with West Marine

My sister in Canada has the same problem with ANYTHING she orders from anywhere outside the country.
My niece in Penticton and some of her friends share a P.O. box in Omak,WA to avoid some of the fees.

 

[baz]

Mike: Yes, be forewarned for sure. Did you contact West Marine customer service to alert them to this issue and suggest they make amends with some sort of notice to the online customer about possible custom duty & fees in such a situation ?

I would have expected any custom duty & fees to have been payable by you upon receipt/delivery by FedEx. I've received shipments from the UK and France and had to pay 'up front' at the door step for customs duty & fees etc. My shipments from UK are via DHL and they state clearly the associated fees. If the fee was more than what you want to pay simply refuse delivery. I had to do this for a shipment from France several years ago as the fee was 3x the original cost of the merchandise.

 

[knotflying]

I think this is why many Canadians have things shipped just south of the boarder and then pick it up in the US. They have to cross the boarder back and if asked probably have to lie to avoid all those fees, but that is what I have been told is done.

 

[Pilotnavigator]

Canadians only have to pay the tax on the items being imported that are over the limit allowed based on time in the U.S.
We order from binnacle.ca in Canada. West marine is moving out of Canada only one store left that I know about. It is no big deal to pay the tax. Better to declare the goods than it is to lie to a border security agent. Borders are federal so you pay the federal tax.

 

[buoyohbuoy]

I failed to mention that the deciding factor in buying from West Marine was not the price but the delivery. We could have purchased the items through any of several local marine supply stores at prices similar to those of West Marine, but the delivery was considerably longer. I realize that the extra fees are not West Marine's but Canadian Customs' (whatever happened to NAFTA?) but my beef with West Marine is that they had to know that customs would impose these extra charges and that their prices would effectively be uncompetitive once the duty and brokerage charges came through three months later. Had we known how much extra money we would have to shell out, we never would have placed the order. And I guess that explains why West Marine is closing all its Canadian outlets.

Mike
2014 R25SC "Daria"

 

[baz]

Mike: Over past 5 years West Marine has been slowly closing some of its shops in USA.... those that don't bring in enough revenue presumably. My local West Marine shop went poof some 5 years ago.

 

[Levitation]

The internet is changing everything
I never whine about West Marine prices because they have what I need on the shelf right then
But there is a cost to that - and it is higher prices
The internet is putting pressure on brick and mortar
I'm expecting our local (well, two counties away local) West marine to go poof also

But, there are a few dark clouds on the horizon for internet sellers
1. the cost of shipping is rising like a rocket and I can pay twice as much for a small gasket, or something, at the local stores and still be money ahead over shipping charges
2. Items that need dealer support. Manufacturers have become concerned that their reputations are being damaged by lack of dealer support for minor issues, an engine that doesn't idle smoothly, a loose wire inside of a small appliance, etc.
I just bought a new chainsaw from a local dealer I could have bought over the internet for less. Good thing I didn't because it needed three trips back to the dealer for warranty issues in the first 10 days. (now works great)
3. Tax authorities have become pit bulls over collecting taxes on internet purchases - this issue is not going away and it will not be settled peaceably. Look at Chicago/Rob-Emmanuel now claiming the right to tax the internet per megabyte.

The original post is a different issue in that import duties are involved. Once the "authorities' are involved all bets are off. One thing I learned a long time ago (the hard way) is never ever agree to a purchase until you know the final price, period.