So my HUO LOTR made it's made it's way from the lower USA to the Canadian border.  My broker took care of all paperwork and everything went smoothly.  Arrived to Canada yesterday after only 6 days since my order!!!

Then when I call to go and pick up at the warehouse I find out that Canadian Customs marked my shipment documents as requiring and inspection.  No one can tell me why -  Just random bullshit, I guess.

However, now my shipping company needs to ship to Canadian Customs warehouse.  Canadian Customs will keep for a day, unbox, unwrap, inspect and probably mess something up.  Then they rebox, re-pallet and mess more things up.  Then my shipping company picks up again and brings back to their warehouse for me to gather up the pieces...

That sounds like a pain in the a** and many potential problems with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.  However - Canadian Customs also charges me an inspection fee for this service!!!  Could be $100 or more.

OUCH!!!  Not sure if anyone else has gone through this but I am concerned and upset about this process so thought I would share my fun.

Bah!  They just want to play it...   Can you be present while they inspect it?  While you're there, ask them why they took my beef jerky.

Quoted from sinpin

That sounds like a pain in the a** and many potential problems with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.  However - Canadian Customs also charges me an inspection fee for this service!!!  Could be $100 or more

Unbelievable! They charge for a random inspection? Gotta love the Government.

Sorry to hear about you situation. If it was me, I would call and ask if I can be present when they open it. Given it is a collectible, I think it is fair to say you are concerned they won't take proper care of it during the inspection. Of course, word it better than that.

Another reason to only buy games that you can drive and pick up even if the drive involves hours.

Good luck!
Duane

Quoted from sinpin

However - Canadian Customs also charges me an inspection fee for this service!!!  Could be $100 or more.

And your shipping company will charge you as well for the extra work

I figured this could happen, so I elected to pick mine up on teh US side of the boarder and bring it across myself.  I'll let everyone know how that works out.

Hope your Customs inspection doesn't cause too much pain!

good luck.

Quoted from TGlover

I figured this could happen, so I elected to pick mine up on teh US side of the boarder and bring it across myself.  I'll let everyone know how that works out.

Hope your Customs inspection doesn't cause too much pain!

good luck.

Let us know how much you get nailed for at the border, I'm curious.  They got me for $75 with my JP.. which wasn't too bad.

Quoted from TGlover

I figured this could happen, so I elected to pick mine up on teh US side of the boarder and bring it across myself.  I'll let everyone know how that works out.

Hope your Customs inspection doesn't cause too much pain!

good luck.

If at all possible your (Terrence's) method is the better way to go, you won't get hit for the extra charges by the shipper and you are present (at the border in case they want to give the machine the once over) .. just pick the right border crossing (I wouldn't go through Lewiston)  

Quoted from SquidVicious

If at all possible your (Terrence's) method is the better way to go, you won't get hit for the extra charges by the shipper and you are present (at the border in case they want to give the machine the once over) .. just pick the right border crossing (I wouldn't go through Lewiston)  

I got nailed crossing the rainbow, comming back with my IJ and BK so it can happen just as easy on any bridge, it depends on the officer more then anything.  

Fort Erie seems to be the most laid back one.  

Quoted from machine.slave

Let us know how much you get nailed for at the border, I'm curious.  They got me for $75 with my JP.. which wasn't too bad.

You didn't pay tax? Should have been more than that just based on tax.

wow.  customs agents at work.  
  they don't even come to the company to check it all out.  bring it to them for that work to be done.  
    thats the way you to catch the real crimals.

Quoted from TwilightZone

You didn't pay tax? Should have been more than that just based on tax.

well... not when your receipt says you only paid $650 for a "parts machine"  

I haven't had that happen but I've only had pins shipped from the US twice.  But it is sorta random and it sucks when it does.  Hopefully, there won't be any damage as a result.  If it wasn't for bad luck, you wouldn't have luck at all, it seems!  

Quoted from machine.slave

well... not when your receipt says you only paid $650 for a "parts machine"  

You guys must all have horseshoes up your butts, not worth the few bucks you can save if you get stopped.

As the last customs agent told me, they are well aware of what is "collectible now" and pay close attention to these commodities when they flow across the border.

If you declared a lower value I can see why they might have singled it out for inspection. They actually do internet searches to see the average value of pins now.

Quoted from sinpin

That sounds like a pain in the a** and many potential problems with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.  However - Canadian Customs also charges me an inspection fee for this service!!!  Could be $100 or more.
.

$100 isn't too bad. considering that american customs, if they feel inclined to take apart your car isn't under any obligation to put it back together--even they were wrong and found nothing!

I'm confused ( it doesn't take much ).  Is the machine on Canadian soil ?  How was it allowed to pass through the border the first time ?  Didn't customs already have their shot ?

Quoted from mrniceguy

I'm confused ( it doesn't take much ).  Is the machine on Canadian soil ?  How was it allowed to pass through the border the first time ?  Didn't customs already have their shot ?

He just bought it from the US.

Quoted from Azatotht

And your shipping company will charge you as well for the extra work

I found out a little more information.  FIRST of all, my shipping company tells me this is a "package" inspection only.  This means the item should not be opened but only inspected from the outside.  They want to make sure that what I wrote on the paperwork matches what the item is.  I still have my questions and concerns about this. I told the shipping company that because I have not taken delivery any damage I will inspect when I pick up and I will pin 100% on them.  She said I still have the right to inspect when I pick up.

Key point - the box should not be open, it should not be taken off of the pallet and it should not be played  

Second point - the shipping company has told me that customs charges them and they only charge me what the actual charge is from customs.  They say that they DO NOT add any additional charges.  Again I have my doubts on this but I will make sure I see the charge receipt from customs to verify I am only paying their fee.

Last point - I already paid GST of 5% plus $100 broker fee when the item entered Canada.  There was no duty applied because I wrote on the item that it is manufactured in USA.  This is where I think the inspection is coming in.  They want to make sure I am not importing JAPAN or CHINESE electronics (valued at $3500) which would be subject to tons and tons of duty.  Hopefully when they see the box showing "MADE IN USA" they will be happy and leave it the %$&* alone!

My machine should be back at the warehouse ready for me to pickup tomorrow or Friday at the latest...

Quoted from HP5P

You guys must all have horseshoes up your butts, not worth the few bucks you can save if you get stopped.

As the last customs agent told me, they are well aware of what is "collectible now" and pay close attention to these commodities when they flow across the border.

If you declared a lower value I can see why they might have singled it out for inspection. They actually do internet searches to see the average value of pins now.

They're more than welcome to look up the value, doesn't bother me.. it's the chance you take when importing from the US.  Generally though, I take the extra time to pull boards and yank wires before I get to the border.. thus, a "parts machine"    

"I'm sorry, sir.. I'd love to set it up for you but frankly, I don't know how."

Works like a charm  

Quoted from takochef

$100 isn't too bad. considering that american customs, if they feel inclined to take apart your car isn't under any obligation to put it back together--even they were wrong and found nothing!

I think the same is true in Canada.

Quoted from mrniceguy

I'm confused ( it doesn't take much ).  Is the machine on Canadian soil ?  How was it allowed to pass through the border the first time ?  Didn't customs already have their shot ?

When items go through the border with a shipping company, only the paperwork is filed.  Duty and taxes are paid based on what the paperwork says.  When the item arrives in Canada it is held "in bond" by the shipping company pending release by customs.  If customs agrees to just accept everything as it is on the paperwork (having never seen the item) then the item is released.  If they want to inspect the item - this is what happens.

Had I drove down to the USA I could have brought the paperwork and the item across myself.  At that point they have the same option - accept what I tell them or inspect.  If they inspect, they look at the item right there and let me go or not.  MUCH MUCH easier.  I am now wishing I had made the 8 hour drive down to the USA and back.  Oh well...  we will see what happens.

Quoted from machine.slave

They're more than welcome to look up the value, doesn't bother me.. it's the chance you take when importing from the US.  Generally though, I take the extra time to pull boards and yank wires before I get to the border.. thus, a "parts machine"    

"I'm sorry, sir.. I'd love to set it up for you but frankly, I don't know how."

Works like a charm  

I guess border agents don't read MAACA?  

Quoted from sinpin

I am now wishing I had made the 8 hour drive down to the USA and back.  Oh well...  we will see what happens.

Yea and I'm sure if you made the 16 hour drive for there and back and they just waived you through you would have wish you shipped it   

Yep, held in bond and kept in a bonded warehouse. The random inspection aspect wasn't something I was aware of but it makes sense. What's to keep someone from filling a machine up with a bunch of undeclared items.

I just drive to the U.S. and pick machines up. Even when I shipped Forward Air there was an extra $60 charge to pick up from their warehouse in T.O. beyond all other cross border charges, brokerage, premium for the extra distance etc. that I wasn't going to be dinged with with any of the U.S. warehouses. It all starts to add up and for what the drive takes plus the advantages of personal handling it just makes sense to go south with being this close to the border for me.

I think I would take customs delay over a 16 hour drive.  I've done a drive to 10-11 hour drive from Calgary to Regina and back for a pin and I wouldn't want to do it again unless it was extremely special.  

It may not be HUO after customs plugs it in and plays a few.   CUO?  

Quoted from Monkeybug

I guess border agents don't read MAACA?  

"Why you gotta be like that?"^™ (2009, registered trademark, Corey Cooke)

Quoted from pinsRfun

I think I would take customs delay over a 16 hour drive.  I've done a drive to 10-11 hour drive from Calgary to Regina and back for a pin and I wouldn't want to do it again unless it was extremely special.  

Fair enough but for most of us in the GTA it is like a 60-90 minute each way trip to the border .. I can understand that 8 hours each way would change the situation ... hell I can almost get to Chicago in 8 hours.

How would they know that it was made in the US by looking at a box?  It's not NIB anymore.  You can use anything to wrap around the pin.  Unless they can visually see that it's a pinball machine (parts of it exposed), the inspection is pretty useless without opening something.

Quoted from pinsRfun

How would they know that it was made in the US by looking at a box?  It's not NIB anymore.  You can use anything to wrap around the pin.  Unless they can visually see that it's a pinball machine (parts of it exposed), the inspection is pretty useless without opening something.

They would need to see the serial number plate on the back of the machine.

I was told by someone who really semas to be in the "KNOW" via all his detailed info on another board, that Fort Erie is the worst crossing for Coin-op machines.

FYI:  I think I might try Manitoba... Hahahaha.

I'll tell my story when I'm back.  I have budgeted $450 for tax based on $3000US game.

That's what I mean.  If the inspectors doesn't open up at least part of the packaging and assuming the entire machine is wrapped up, you can't see the back of the head.

I've been fortunate, all the times I've gone across the border with machines I've only had to pay once, and that was when I brought ToM home from Michigan. They dinged me almost $200 on that one, but I've come through with 6-7 vids in the back of the truck and not been nailed for anything. Totally depends on the customs agent you get.

I think the best crossing to deal with for the SW Ontario guys is Sarnia/Pt Huron.

Quoted from pinsRfun

I think I would take customs delay over a 16 hour drive.  I've done a drive to 10-11 hour drive from Calgary to Regina and back for a pin and I wouldn't want to do it again unless it was extremely special.  

Hey! I like when you make that drive and I wind up with the Pin!!

Dave  

Sarnia seems to be best for the London crowd  (You wanna talk horseshoes up asses.. these guys have the whole HORSE up there)

Quoted from pins only

Hey! I like when you make that drive and I wind up with the Pin!!

Dave  

Lol.  I thought that was special enough.  But you can only make the same 3 shots over and over before it gets old.  Is it still setup or in storage now?    At this point, the ONLY pin I would drive for is maybe a Spidey if shipping was off the table.  My list of pins to own is getting shorter and shorter.  

Quoted from pinsRfun

Lol.  I thought that was special enough.  But you can only make the same 3 shots over and over before it gets old.  Is it still setup or in storage now?    At this point, the ONLY pin I would drive for is maybe a Spidey if shipping was off the table.  My list of pins to own is getting shorter and shorter.  

My list is shorter too, but for entirely different reasons!

BK2K is still set up and not going anywhere. Good luck getting Bill Davis to do another set of those playfields!

Dave

Quoted from pins only

My list is shorter too, but for entirely different reasons!

BK2K is still set up and not going anywhere. Good luck getting Bill Davis to do another set of those playfields!

Dave

Can't say I miss the pin.  There's still a few more Steve Ritchie titles I want to try out depending on theme.  

Quoted from TwilightZone

You didn't pay tax? Should have been more than that just based on tax.

Tax is the only thing they can make you pay when bringing a machine back yourself. There is no duty on items made in North America (like most pinball machines).

Came up through Quebec from Vermont with my HS in the back of my truck. Border was one guy who comes from what looks like his house. You get to the border, have to ring a doorbell and wait for the dude to put his shoes on I guess. Easiest border ever. Guy asks what I got, I tell him, he says, right on and lets me through.

Detroit border, takes me with my buddy 4 hours of waiting just to get into the US. Guy asks me what I'm doing and I tell him, picking up a pinball machine. By the time I get through its midnight. Yay, midnight in Detroit. By the time I get back guy asks me what I'm doing here, I tell him, just picked up a pin...he says, at THIS time of night? Writes me the duty for the $350 I claimed it was (non working, and it was a non working machine) and I was on my way. I had a hand written receipt for that amount too but I lost it immedietely...I found it a year later in the truck.

What I've also done before is disconnect a few connectors and get rid of the batteries just in case they want to pull me aside and test it out, I make sure it'll never fire up.

Stan

The drive would have been only 4 hours one way - 8 hours total.

The border crossing is easy and ver nice to deal with

The inspection is visual just to confirm the paperwok makes sense.

My fingers are so crossed that those greasy customs guys don't get their
hands or egos into my machine.

I should know by tomorrow so at least not too many sleepless nights

Just figure out where you'll put LOTR and IJ.  

Quoted from HP5P

He just bought it from the US.

I'm confused easily but not THAT confused.  


Sounds like a pretty poor system to me...almost like the U.S. embassy in Canada is still considered U.S. soil.  I guess the with the amount of manifest crossing the border, they can't take the time to potentially inspect every vehicle.  But why not ?  Hire more agents.  Further modernize the inspection process.  Have you ever cleared customs yourself ?  They just sit there sipping coffee and typing on the computer with their index fingers.  It's pathetic.

Umm, are there any customs agents on MAACA ?  If so...I'm just repeating what ottogd told me.    

Quoted from mrniceguy

Umm, are there any customs agents on MAACA ?  If so...I'm just repeating what ottogd told me.    

What happened to 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'? Sure, I may have had one or six too many daiquiris and I may have talked a little too much ... but I don't remember a thing! I just met her that night and never in a million years thought I'd propose but sh!t happens, right? Right??? She said her name was Lola and, I can assure you, we never consummated the marriage. I never ran so hard in my life!

... what was the question?  

Quoted from sinpin

So my HUO LOTR made it's made it's way from the lower USA to the Canadian border.  My broker took care of all paperwork and everything went smoothly.  Arrived to Canada yesterday after only 6 days since my order!!!

Then when I call to go and pick up at the warehouse I find out that Canadian Customs marked my shipment documents as requiring and inspection.  No one can tell me why -  Just random bullshit, I guess.

However, now my shipping company needs to ship to Canadian Customs warehouse.  Canadian Customs will keep for a day, unbox, unwrap, inspect and probably mess something up.  Then they rebox, re-pallet and mess more things up.  Then my shipping company picks up again and brings back to their warehouse for me to gather up the pieces...

That sounds like a pain in the a** and many potential problems with everyone pointing fingers at everyone else.  However - Canadian Customs also charges me an inspection fee for this service!!!  Could be $100 or more.

OUCH!!!  Not sure if anyone else has gone through this but I am concerned and upset about this process so thought I would share my fun.

I did'nt take the time to read all the replies so I don't know if this was mentioned...But One of my games was opened and inspected at the customs....They broke the Backglass broke pieces on the playfield and they did'nt even put the game back in the box,

There's a big chance that, them being very unfamiliar with pinballs, open the crate scratch the cabinet and break the game trying to find a way to open it to check what's inside,
I hope not but this is quite possible.....

Quoted from ALJO

I did'nt take the time to read all the replies so I don't know if this was mentioned...But One of my games was opened and inspected at the customs....They broke the Backglass broke pieces on the playfield and they did'nt even put the game back in the box,

There's a big chance that, them being very unfamiliar with pinballs, open the crate scratch the cabinet and break the game trying to find a way to open it to check what's inside,
I hope not but this is quite possible.....

Jeese why give the poor guy a heart attack.  (On top of that I don't know any freight companies that will themselves insure the true value of goods beyond a certain weight to cost ratio... oh behave! )

If you have a good broker, who did the paperwork correctly, and the pinball was properly wrapped and packed, and you didn't do any funny business and the declaration and the code numbers are all correct and it didn't spend any time sitting next to a medical marijuana shipment or a box of fireworks, and you've properly declared it as US made, then why worry BEFORE something unimaginable happens.  For gosh sakes they ship hundreds of these things North in containers. It's not worth doing your worrying after the fact.

But I always had this theory as a child, "if you imagine the worst possible thing that could happen, then the chances of it actually happening coincidentally are astronomical". Maybe that's Aljo's approach?   And maybe that's why I never win the lottery, because I'm always spending my winnings before I've actually won....

Quoted from ALJO

I did'nt take the time to read all the replies so I don't know if this was mentioned...But One of my games was opened and inspected at the customs....They broke the Backglass broke pieces on the playfield and they did'nt even put the game back in the box,

There's a big chance that, them being very unfamiliar with pinballs, open the crate scratch the cabinet and break the game trying to find a way to open it to check what's inside,
I hope not but this is quite possible.....

That is a very nasty story.  However there is a difference here.  I am not importing the item directly myself.  The machine has been shipped to the Canadian Customs warehouse for inspection.  The shipping company then has to pick the item back up and bring it back to their warehouse.  THEY ARE NOT going to be able to leave the pieces scattered about and ask the shipping company to come and pack it up.  No way.  That is why it is a visual inspection of the item combined with looking at the paperwork only.  If it makes sense, no problem.  It will make sense and there should be no problem - Other than the time delay and money I will need to pay.

If they want to open up the item and kick the mess out of it - I will hold the shipping company's insurance responsible for the damage because I have not signed and taken delivery yet.  They insure a $25/pound which equals almost enough for me to get a NIB LOTR - Not the gold editon either.  A NIB original LOTR  

OK you didn't hear it from me, but there is a way to get around the inspection, well sort of.
Your customs entry is all done on a network with your customs broker.
You customs broker basically fills out the customs form on the screen, presses send, and the reply comes back from customs if it needs to be inspected or not, or any other issues.
Then your broker tells you about the issues, and you get frustrated.

The way around it is as soon as your broker advises you its in for inspection, tell your broker you made an error and gave him the wrong details about the shipment, to cancel the entry, and then to re-enter the information as a new entry altogether. Then send him new information with something different on it. Change the value by $25 or the description of something minor. Make sure he cancels the entry and doesn't simply amend it. It's like a lottery, and your number may not come up again.  If your broker asks you what the hell you are doing, just tell him to do it the way you ask because your paperwork system will get all screwed up if he only amends the entry and you need a new one. He doesn't care, but may charge you and extra $50 for a new entry.

My wife used to be a customs broker and said many importers would lie about the contents to avoid duties, and when customs said they would inspect it, the importer would all of a sudden find out he gave the wrong information, and the contents would change. It was a big game, and customs never penalized them if they came clean, BEFORE the inspection. Then once the change was made, it wasn't automatically inspected again.

Don't worry about customs, get on the phone, express your concerns, not that they are idiots, but that it may be damaged if not opened properly. Tell them that you want to help them get inside of it, and help them look in it. Tell them it can only be opened a certain way, and if not damage will occur and etc., etc.. They won't have a problem with you, and won't arrest you since you aren't doing anything wrong. Just remember, BE POLITE!!

Good luck.

OK - first the good news - Received my machine in 100% working order.  Only one screw fell out in the shipping process. She is mint condition and very very nice...

Customs.  They received the item on Thursday, did not open it.  Probably looked at it and made a check mark on their sheet.  Customs Canada charged me $180 for the "inspection fee" plus another $45 for overnight storage because they did not do the inspection until Friday morning.

What a country we live in.  What the hell do all the taxes we pay actually pay for.  I don't understand how I have to pay for an inspection when my taxes already pay their salaries!

Anyhow - my word of advise would be to drive the item accross yourself.  I will never again ship cross border.  I will ship to the closest city and pick up there myself.  Live and learn.  In the meantime it looks like my MINT HUO LOTR has costs me $5000 all in.  Not a really super deal but a very nice, collectors machine which is what I wanted.

In the end, I am happy - I guess there is one thing missing - NO KEY FOR THE BACKBOX!!!!  

no key keeps it super minty - no fingerprints inside

Quoted from sinpin

In the end, I am happy - I guess there is one thing missing - NO KEY FOR THE BACKBOX!!!!  

Look in the bottom of the machine, at the back or in the wires etc. I have had them fall off during shipping and when they are on their back, that is where they go.

Dave

The inspection doesn't always happen as someone else mentioned.  Hasn't happened to me but I've only done it twice.  pins_only would be a better sample.  lol.

Never had a game inspected, at least not like that, I have picked them up from bonded warehouses etc. Never been an issue for me, I always declare what they are worth and pay the GST (No PST here) Not a big deal for 5% or 7% back in the day. Saves a lot of grief. For what it's worth, I would never drive to get it vs. shipping it, the extra $$ is well worth the 8 Hour drive and aggravation if you get questioned by some customs guy who is having a bad day. Send the cash, call the broker and wait for the call, I like it that way!  

Dave

sinpin just has the worst luck, plain and simple.

I'm starting to wonder.

Quoted from jonny_eh

sinpin just has the worst luck, plain and simple.

Perhaps it's because my nick is "sinpin"?

Quoted from pins only

Look in the bottom of the machine, at the back or in the wires etc. I have had them fall off during shipping and when they are on their back, that is where they go.

Dave

Thanks Dave!!  Found it at the very bottom back of the machine along with 3 washers, 2 screws and a broken LED.  Not sure where those came from?   Destroyed the ring last night  

No problem, Glad you found it. There is way more to that game than Destroying the Ring...

Dave