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Chain Reaction Cycles shipping to Canada

164K views 576 replies 150 participants last post by  smashysmashy 
#1 ·
A week or two ago I was looking for information about chainreactioncycles.com shipping to Canada and didn't find anything here. I went ahead and made a purchase anyways and thought I'd report back my experience for the next person.

I ordered a 2012 Bell Sweep helmet. I know bike parts typically don't have customs charges but I wasn't sure where a helmet falls in here. My helmet cost just over $100 at CRC with free shipping. On top of the purchase price Canada Customs charged me the HST and an additional $8.50 in 'Handling Fees', and that's it. I was prepared for worse so I was quite pleased. The helmet arrived about 8 days after the order was made but the Easter weekend was in there so that may have caused a day or two delay over the usual.

And before anybody gives me grief about buying online, I was perfectly prepared to buy locally but couldn't find the size/colour combination I wanted nearby. If I was going to have to wait a week for it to be ordered in at the shop I may as well save myself $60 and the return trip and order it myself.

So anyways, overall thumbs up to CRC and I will be ordering again.
 
#87 ·
This happened to me once before, after 2 shipments with no duty charges. It seems to be more common if it is a mixed package of duty exempt and non exempt items.

I just filled in the form that came with the customs bill, indicating that the items were bike parts and therefore duty free, and got a refund in the mail a few weeks later. :thumbsup:

Certainly not enough of a hassle to put me off - shiny new XT brakes and shifters are en route from CRC right now!
 
#89 ·
DHL's brokerage charge is $10, the same as canada post's.

The problem is that as a private company they have to take the high road and charge taxes + duty on everything, whereas CanadaPost goes directly through the CBSA who sometimes wave stuff through if they are busy.

So you are gonna be paying an extra 18% +HST on any clothes from wiggle in a surprise invoice after-the-fact from DHL, whereas with CRC/CanadaPost you might pay the same, but maybe nothing at all.

Wiggle used to ship with Royal Mail/Canada post, so this change, while it speeds up shipping, adds some pretty big hidden $$$ on that discount jersey and shorts. Which are STILL probably cheaper that MSRP around here....
 
#91 ·
Shipped $200 of parts with free shipping option. Arrived through Canada Post with no taxes or fees. The box was half open but nothing had fallen out. It looked like whoever packaged it used some half ass box without proper lid flaps and only taped one half, leaving the other half of the lid with no tape at all.

When I bought a wheelset from them I owed Canada post 15% of the cost of the wheelset.
 
#93 ·
Smaller items seems to be shipped through Royal Mail International which doesn't seem to pass customs. Always straight to my door. Larger items seems to go through Parcel Force International which always passes through customs.

I ordered a set of brakes which was sent via Royal mail and received an empty box. Glad CRC came through sending out a replacement.
 
#98 ·
Smaller items seems to be shipped through Royal Mail International which doesn't seem to pass customs. Always straight to my door. Larger items seems to go through Parcel Force International which always passes through customs.
Well this has been shot down! CRC sent my package via Royal Mail International and was charged taxes + $9.95 Canada Post handling fee. The last two orders that was sent this way came straight to my door, no fees. Win some loose some. Just happy it wasn't an empty box like the last shipment via RMI.
 
#101 ·
I ordered from CRC last thursday and got my package yesterday. That was crazy fast. The new thing (for me) is that they used DHL which in my experience has very bad service. Unfortunatly they lived up to their reputation again.

First you cannot change the delivery address unless you pay beforehand the duty and taxes. I like to know what I'm paying for but in this case, you don't get to know before you receive your package... Canada post never has that issue as they just redirect the package to the nearest post office.

The other thing is that they made a mistake when they declared the value of my package. Instead of declaring the value of the items(about 250$) they declared some random weight information(320). So I ended up paying too much taxes. I'm trying to get them to fix this situation but their CS is pretty useless.

Anyway, I'm not gonna order from CRC again unless I get the confirmation that the shipment will be handled by Royal mail/Canada post.
 
#102 ·
I ordered a set of XT brakes and rotors.... over 2 weeks ago.
not a sign of them, even worse now reading this. I realise this "free shipping" to Canada thing is going to be a load of crap.

2 weeks.

I needed A sram discrete bracket. only 10$ at chain reaction. 30$+ most places here.
I can not wait 2 more weeks for a bracket. Nor can I rist whatever brokerage fees are going to be involved.

PS I did use my cc, now you all have me scared.
 
#103 ·
I ordered a set of XT brakes and rotors.... over 2 weeks ago.
not a sign of them, even worse now reading this. I realise this "free shipping" to Canada thing is going to be a load of crap.

2 weeks.

I needed A sram discrete bracket. only 10$ at chain reaction. 30$+ most places here.
I can not wait 2 more weeks for a bracket. Nor can I rist whatever brokerage fees are going to be involved.

PS I did use my cc, now you all have me scared.
Did you email them and inquired?

I never had any issues. Whatsoever. And I used them many times. I find their CS excellent.
 
#104 ·
Haven't had any problems with them and communication was really good when I screwed up on a spec and they held the order and fixed before shipping,
Out of 5 orders in the last couple of years I have only paid a Can Post fee once and Hst once on an order. You may want to call. Also have never waited more than 5 business days for del. usually only 3-4
 
#107 ·
Ordered a CX fork that my LBS couldn't get and added a cassette to the order since they were on sale.

I got the fork within a few days, but they shipped the items separately, which had me thinking that I'd pay the Canada customs $10 charge twice, defeating the purpose of stuff being on sale. But as it turned out, taxes and the fee were only added to the fork package.
 
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