My Mk1 importing days may be on hold... :(

[amalventano at sc.rr.com (Allyn)]

Mark,

some things you might be able to use as ammo before your next attempt:
- who do those customs people answer to? someone must surely be in charge of 
ensuring they keep civil rights in check... otherwise they could just tell 
everyone to screw off and die.
- there *should* be some sort of dispute handling, other than having to deal 
with someone accusing you of everything under the sun. knowing their 
procedure better then they do will usually halp you prevail (and its usually 
not hard with a small bit of research).

hth
Al

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark" <mardak@cogeco.ca>
To: "Sciroccolist" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 10:11 PM
Subject: My Mk1 importing days may be on hold... :(


>I got burned for being a nice guy, and being honest...  Again...
>
> I guess most people get more cynical with age, but today didn't help...
>
> I was denied entry into the U.S. today on my way to help out Rhett and 
> Tarra by towing her Mk2 from Daun's in Ohio to Iowa "on my way" to picking 
> up a 75 track car I bought in Chicago.
>
> My biggest mistake was telling the border guard in the booth that I was 
> "delivering a car for a friend" on my way to picking up my own car.  I 
> should have just said I was picking up a car I bought on the internet - 
> like I've done a bunch of times this year.  She immediately started 
> thinking I was operating a towing business, and didn't want to hear 
> anything about me basically doing it for fuel and hotel costs - more as a 
> favor to a fellow Scirocco fan than as a money making enterprise.
>
> So off to the immigration office I went.  After four (yes four!) hours 
> standing (yes standing!) in a tiny, VERY crowed and smelly waiting area I 
> was "helped" by a customs official.  After explaining the story to her she 
> asked what I did for a living - to which I replied that I was self 
> employed.  Then she asked if I owned a house - to which I said that I 
> rented an apartment.  She then concluded that I had no "ties" to Canada, 
> and why should she believe me that I won't just stay in the U.S.  I 
> pointed out that I've already imported six vehicles this year alone, and 
> this trip was no different - I even gave her the fax confirmation of the 
> title I faxed to customs so I could import the car to Canada, and a copy 
> of the title itself signed over to me!
>
> It was very hard to remain calm, as her accusations got more and more 
> obsurd as I answered her questions.  The last thing I needed was an even 
> bigger "X" beside my name so I kept my cool...
>
> Needless to say, I was turned around and basically not told anything about 
> what I can do or bring next time I were to try and cross...  So, now I 
> don't know what to do...  I have a car in Chicago bought and paid for, a 
> deposit on another car, and Tarra's Mk2 still sitting in Ohio...
>
> I'm actually still dumbfounded...
>
> I think I'll try again after the long weekend and bring some 
> documentation/receipts of jobs I've done recently, rent receipts, and 
> receipts for a couple cars that I've sold.  Maybe I'll get an official 
> with a bit more grey matter upstairs...  (Judging by the supervisor I 
> spoke to that's highly unlikely though).
>
> Later,
>
> Mark - "perturbed"
> 75
> 75 - trapped in the windy city
> 80 S
> 81 S  x3
> 81 Caddy
>
>
>
>
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