A little while back I purchased a bunch of NES games off of NES_Rules (a great seller by the way). He had to ship from the USA to Canada for me. When you do this the post office asks you to fill out a customs form declaring what the item is, why your are sending it and what the value of the item is. Anything declared at over $40 comes with a small chance of getting charged an extra customs fee on delivery. I've had dozens of things shipped from the states on only encountered this charge 3 times ever.

Now to avoid this fee I commonly request the seller to state the value at something under $40, such as $35 or less, even when the item may be worth more than that, and declare it as a gift (this also seems to lessen the chance of the customs fee). NES_Rules did just that and yet Canada Post didnt trust him for some reason. They opened the package and some jackass estimated its contents at a whopping $200, which was significantly higher than the actual value of the small bunch of common NES games I  was getting.

Because of the large increase in value I was charged a large custom's fee when it was delivered to my house. It was only a few dollars less than I paid for the games!! It was like paying twice, plus shipping. More than a little peeved off I asked the delivery driver for information on how to avoid custom's fee (she wasnt able to tell me anything I didnt already know) and how to get this particular item re-valued and refunded, even if it was just partially. She wasnt sure about the re-value and refund part so I went to the closest Canada Post branch to inquire. I was given a phone number to call because like most places I need help they dont give the store clerks any real power. I called an unusually helpful man who walked me through their website to help find a form I was supposed to fill out and he gave me his extension number incase I needed assistance filling out the form. He also suggested that any form of "proof" I can send with the form would help my case.

Not being a retail sale I couldnt just send a copy of a receipt so I printed off a few of the PMs we had sent back and forth (I blanked out your screen name, email address and any other info I thought you may not want shared without permission NES_Rules). I wrote "PROOF" in huge letters across the top of each page and submitted the form along with print offs of our deal.

This all occured sometime in late June or early July. Just yesterday though I got a check in the mail from Canada Post refunding me for the exact amount I suggested they refund to reflect the actual value of the item. I got two-thirds of my money back from them!! Where not talking about a lot of money or anything, just getting a small wrong made slightly better. I obviously dont want to pay a custom's fee at all, but I'll take my small victory this time.

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