[Coco] Anyone have any TRS-80 8" floppies

[J.P. Samson]

On Apr 27, 2009, at 3:13 PM, Gene Heskett wrote:
> On Monday 27 April 2009, Christian Lesage wrote:
>> Grumpyx wrote:
>>> I have a  8" drive Expansion box if anyone wants it. I think it  
>>> has all 3
>>> drives in it. I live in the Chattanooga, TN area, I hate to throw  
>>> it out,
>>> but it's just in the way. Let  me know if you interested in it.
>>> Malcom
>>
>> I would love to have them... but I live in Québec, Canada, and  
>> shipping
>> would cost me and arm and a leg!
>
> Tell that to your customs critters.  I've had my battles with them  
> to the
> extent that when something canadian dies and needs to be returrned  
> to the
> factory for service, I've found that the techs at CBS network HQ can  
> get it
> through about a month faster both ways.  No idea if they send Tony  
> and Luigi
> over to 'talk' to them or what. :)
>
> Your customs headache costs good Canadian companies at least 20  
> million
> dollars a year in lost business cuz we just won't buy it unless it  
> is the only
> thing that will get the job done, we can't tolerate the tin-pot  
> dictatorial
> attitude at the border.

Gene, it is the same problem for us individual Canadians trying to buy  
stuff and ship it up from the U.S.  I've bought a bunch of CoCo  
goodies off eBay over the years.  I usually have to tell the shipper  
to mark the customs value down to get around the border headaches.   
I'm not convinced it's just the Canadian governmental agencies that  
are the problem; the American-based couriers tend to charge outrageous  
fees for their services.  They are in on the gravy train, too.

For example, I bought a CoCo 1 for $31 off eBay.  Got shipped via UPS  
Ground.  On top of the shipping cost, UPS tacked on the following fees  
(in CDN $):

Goods & Services Tax (GST):  $1.54

Entry Preparation Fee:  $7.00
Brokerage GST:  $0.35

Disbursement Fee:  $5.85
Disbursement GST:  $0.29
Cash on Delivery Surcharge:  $4.25
Cash on Delivery GST:  $0.21

Total:  $19.49

What the heck does that all mean?  The gist of it is that UPS is  
required to collect federal sales tax on items valued over $20  
imported into Canada.  That tax (GST) amounted to $1.54 in this case.

The "Entry Preparation Fee" of $7.00 is UPS's fee for filling in the  
customs forms indicating the GST on the CoCo.

Now here's the biggie.  The "Disbursement Fee" and "Cash on Delivery  
Surcharge" of $10.10 is UPS's charge for loaning you the $1.54 in GST  
and then collecting that tax from you on delivery.  Personally, I  
think I could argue that these fees and surcharges are illegal because  
they exceed the Canadian maximum interest rate laws.

Now you tell me who's the bigger villain is here.  I would like to see  
all of this get fixed up, streamlined, and most importantly, made  
equitable.

-- JP