Today's adventures with customs

[desinor@sympatico.ca (Désinor Jean-Claude)]

  Being a naive good citizen, during a shopping spree just across the
border to Plattsburg, I resisted the urge to buy a small portable TV,
thinking that what with duty and everything else, it would be a lot
cheaper to get one in Montreal.

  But my girl friend bought a pair of inexpensive shoes on sale at
Sears, all of US$9.00

  On our way back, I thought, what the heck, let us find out what they
charge you when you report a purchase ... and when they asked if we had
anything to declare, I said matter of factly "next to nothing, a pair of
shoes on sale".

  Happens that shoes from Brazil are the most horrendously tarriffed
items in the book. The customs people told us jokingly that we would
have paid next to nothing if the shoes were made in Taiwan. I asked
"what about a portable tv?" Well, they would probably *pay* me to bring
one in ...

  Sigh. Now, if it was my shoes, I would probably cringe and pay and get
over it. But it was not *my* shoes, see ...

  Anyhow, just for fun, anyone in the US wants leftover softwood lumber
from my last wood project? :-)

	Jean-Claude

Cathy Boyko a écrit :
> 
> Okay, so off I go again, too cheap to pay a broker, so I do the US mailing
> address thing, which I've done many times. And agree to have another set of
> goodies sent there for someone else, should be no problem. So I contact the
> other guy, who will not be named pending notification of his family, and we
> set up a secret meeting place (okay, the Duty Free) and there we hatch a
> plot...So he is supposed to follow me, and I give him really skimpy
> instructions on where we are going, since he is following me and we have cell
> phones. (can you see where this is going?)
> 
> I'm first through Customs, and have the passport all ready, and I decide to be
> all honest (MISTAKE) and say I'm going over to pick up some car parts. Well,
> now it's Where? Are they for your car? ( well, yes, but the other guy is
> getting some too but I don't mention that) What car are they for? And what do
> you do? Do you have a business? etc...it goes on for some time. I'm thinking
> the other guy is toast, young, male, old car (MkI Rocco)...So I pull ahead and
> wait, and wait, and wait, no signs of him. So off I go after it is clear he
> ain't coming, and get the parts. I try phoning, but no cell service...
> 
> So I hit the other side, with two of everything (we're talking Quaifes here),
> and go in to pay the taxes (and discover that "warrantee replacement" means
> you still pay full taxes). Same deal...show me who you work for ( I produce my
> teacher's card, looking for the Mohawk College one), are you reselling these?
> (would you like to see the four VW ownerships in my purse? yes, I could use
> all those parts...) So I pay and then they decide to launch into a phone
> verification of whether the business on the bill really exists, and then the
> car search. I'm a wreck by the time this is over, and still have no clue where
> the other guy is, could be in jail for all I know...but I have his diff, so
> I'm sure he was more worried. Turns out he got yanked in for interrogation,
> (something about his story being vague...) and we finally met up and all is
> well. But serves me right for being honest. They must have served bad ham at
> the Custom's Easter dinner. Bunch of miserable so and so's.
> And it's not the Sept 11 thing either, I've done this since then and it wasn't
> a hassle at all. I thought they were going to sieze it. Thanks for listening.
> Now tell me your worst Customs horror story. It wouldn't bother me, but I had
> real bills and paid on the full value and they still made me feel like a
> criminal. Next time I'll just smuggle...
> Done ranting, Cathy
> 
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