I sold my 993 rollbar last December to a guy in Canada. He wired funds, and arranged a UPS pickup w/ his commercial account number, and I thought nothing of it. He was excited to get the bar, and we even talked afterwards with him sending me pictures of the customer's project car he was using it for. He was even a Rennlist sponsor.

A few weeks ago ( 3 months after the sale), my receptionist got a call from UPS, saying that the receiver had refused to pay the shipping charge, and that UPS had attempted to collect for the past 90 days, and, that I was now responsible for the shipping charge. I was told that even though the item was confirmed delivered, if the the receiver refuses to pay shipping, then the shipper must pay. They apologized, and said they knew it was unfair, but that that was the rule.

In that 90 days, the company must have gone out of business, because I've exhausted every phone, email, physical address I had for him. He is Keith Sawatsky of Rennsport Systems Calgary. If anyone knows of a contact for him, I'd love to get in touch in hoping that there was just some kind of miscommunication.

This happened right before I sold my 993, so I talked to my banker about safely transferring money, and learned a few things that I didn't know. Wire transfer is the safest method of payment, as once funds have landed in your account, it cannot be reversed. Cashier's check is safe, but takes 7-9 business days to "really" clear. He said there were a lot of scams with them currently, and that even though funds will show in the account, it can still be reversed. Even cash, he said you have to be careful with. He said it was common for large amounts for part of the money to be real, and part counterfeit. He said to take it to the bank with the buyer, and have them run it though their machine to verify it's real.

It's sad you have to be so careful nowadays, but atleast my lesson learned in this case was only a few hundred bucks, and not something big.

 

The biggest problem in all this is the border. For two countries that supposedly have free trade, it's unbelievable how difficult and expensive it is to get things over the border.

As a Canadian it drives me nuts. I buy lots of parts from the US. There is no market in Canada so I have no choice. Often the part ends up being twice the price by the time it hits my hands.

I recently sold a used wing to a guy in Ohio. I paid $150 to ship it. If I lived in Buffalo, just an hour away, it would have cost me $30.

Believe me. It's worse to be Canadian.

 

Happens in the USA too. I solde a watch to a guy in N.Carolina. Funds cleared and everything was ok. He gave me his UPS shipper number and I used that at UPS to ship the watch. 4 weeks later I got a letter from UPS saying the shipper number was a bad number and I have 10 days to pay the shipping.

 

Keith has been an avid rennlister for a while. I'm a little surprised that he would dissapear like that. I really doubt that he would intentionally leave you on the hook like that. Which number do you have for him? 243-2234?

What really pisses me off is when someone refuses to ship to Canada. There is aboslutely no difference other than an extra customs form that has to be filled out. (takes 1 minute) Other than that, it's exactly as much of a risk as it is to send to anyone in the states.

 

I shipped a tool to Indonesia and the shipping was over $500.00. The person I was dealing with was a total PITA to boot. They arrainged shipping their own shipping with Fedex. Driver showed up, filled out all of the paperwork himself, and took the package. I don't know what happened but Fedex never got paid, and Fedex tried to collect the money from us. Said we had to pay because the reciever didn't. I told them to take a hike. The customer somehow got the package without paying Fedex, but Fedex had no recourse with us as all of the documents originated from the other end. They were just trying to get lucky by bullying us.

 

I bought euro tail lights for my 993 from Germany (eBay) where they don't do much Paypal so I had to use Western Union money transfer. In the end the ******* took my money but never sent the lights...

 

And our government is always promoting "free trade". There is nothing free about it. I bought a Europipe from Belgiam and had to pay the duty. Government should be changed to Liarment.

 

We need to invade & make Canada teh 51st state.







Professional Racing and Driving Coach

 

You just want our oil, water, wood, quality strippers, good beer and solvent banks.

 

What's your point?

 

I no longer deal with PIA's.Remember Winward !

 

I had this happen before. If the receiver or 3rd party refuses to pay, you get stuck with the bill. I will no longer ship using the receiver's or 3rd party account number.

Shipping to other countries is a hassle, there is no question about it.

 

Reversed? Don't think so. Not if it was a validly issued legitimate cashier's check from a reputable bank. A seller can verify the authenticity a cashier's check by contacting the issuing bank.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties. Sounds like a real PITA.

 

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Same thing happened to me last summer only it was shipping from Canada to the US. Recipient gave me a commerical UPS account number to use for shipping, but the shipping cost was rejected at delivery and I was billed. I was pissed that they delivered the item when the recipient refused to pay but those were the rules. Luckily it turned out to be a misunderstanding and the recipient did pay in the end. Hope it works out for you.