My 69 is in a body shop having some repairs and a paint job. I ordered two front fender lower rear repair panels from Ames on Friday the 3rd of Feb. When I asked how they would ship them to me in Ottawa, ON, I was told that they were small enough to go USPS, which I was satisfied with, since the border broker fees with UPS/Fedex can be very high. The items were in stock, and therefore in keeping with Ames claim that they ship most orders within 24 hours, I expected them within a week or so.
When they didn`t arrive last week, I called on Friday the 10th to confirm the shipping date. You can imagine my surprise to learn that they had only left Ames via USPS that day! I asked for an explanation for the delay and was told that they wait until they have several orders before calling in USPS...If I had been told this when I ordered, I would have accepted the higher brokerage fees and asked for UPS shipping. Now for the odd part; the shipment arrived yesterday morning (Feb 16). In other words, it took USPS/Canada Post no more time to move the items from rural New Hampshire to Ottawa Canada than it took Ames to get them out the door....
I`ll take some of the blame for not asking specifically when they would leave, but Ames' own "ship most orders within 24 hours" was certainly misleading in my case. Buyer beware...
I find USPS/Canada post is the best way for shipping things. Every single time I have something shipped by UPS or FedEX it gets damaged, and the extra fees are typically more than the item is worth.
USPS/Canada Post get things delivered at a good speed, and the items arrive undamaged.
UPS once managed to crush a steel cooking pot on it's way to me.... no idea how.
Duties and border fees were dropped a few years ago, for auto parts. That's why it's free sailing with the Postal Service. Any companies still charging fees at the border for these items are a rip off.
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