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

[marc at getty.net (marc@getty.net)]

These folks think they report to nobody, don't bother with the who is your 
boss routine! The people they do report do don't give 1/2 a rats ass! 
Dispute handling is very slow (sometimes *YEARS*), and you often sit in a 
jail cell through this whole process. 

International travel is always dependent of the good graces of your host 
country. Right now the USA is not very gracefull unless you have an in with 
W or his cronies. Next time you can tell them you were coming for an 
anti-abortion rally or a meeting to support drilling in the artic and they 
will let you through! ;-) 

Sorry to hear your trip got nix'ed Mark! 

BTW: My insurance company totaled my Benz today. :-( 

 -Marc
Only a bunny truck 


Allyn writes: 

> 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 
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Scirocco-l mailing list
>> Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>> http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
>  
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Scirocco-l mailing list
> Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l