pulled in at the Niagara border | GTAMotorcycle.com

pulled in at the Niagara border

J

justretarded

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The story starts when a few weeks ago ordered a new rear shock for the track bike and shipped it to US address depot ready for pickup. It has been there for a while so I decided to take advantage of the nice day and took a ride down to the border. Was a little nippy in the morning so it was a great time to tryout my new cold weather pants and gloves I picked up from GP bikes about a month ago for the colder weather. I also brought along an extra pair of my normal riding gloves, incase the weather warms up and my cold weather gloves get too bulky.
I also loaded up both my tank bag and tail bag incase I find any deals in the buffalo area or on the niagara region ride back I stop at a winery and pickup a bottle of wine.
Make it to the Lewiston border and a 30 min wait as the customs officers sort thru all the women filled SUV's that are ready to spend their husband's paycheque.
Stopped at usaddressinc.com and loaded the used ohlins shock i purchased from an ebay seller. Total...$207.50
Again nice day so decided for a ride down to the falls and used the niagara falls border to get my way back into Canada.

It was a nice site to see 6 customs booths wide open with no line up what so ever. Picked a lucky lane and the window opened with a nice guy asking about the ride in the weather and all the other customs standard questions. Claimed the shock and no other purchases. He gave me the pink slip and sent me to secondary.

Went into secondary and paid duty on the shock of $27.00 and exited to show the agent my receipt. They confirmed and began investigating my bike. The female officer immediately asked
" pants are brandnew? "...agent
" yes, purchased approx a month ago in canada for the cold weather riding and today is their maiden voyage."...me
'Don't you think its a little too warm for pants already?' ...agent
"Uuhhmm, not really, it was cold this morning!"....me
" I ride and I'm still not wearing pants."...agent
(holding back sarcastic remark)" I'm impressed"...me

pause

"whats with all the gloves, they look new"...agent
"i brought extra pair incase it warms up. These were purchased sametime as the pants for the impending cold weather."....me
"they look new."...agent
"I dont wear them much"....me

pause

"let me see the soles of your boots....okay"...agent

pause

"why dont you make this easier for yourself and just tell me what you purchased over in the states."....agent
(this is a tactic the customs agents use so that you admit guilt then a samll fine is imposed and an internal redmark added to your file and their numbers get inflated for siezures ultimately recieving more funding to hire more agents and increased wages)
" sure, here is the reciept for the shock of $207.50"...me
"wait here." ...agent

wait approx 10-15 minutes
agent comes out

" you failed to show me that these items are not new therefore we have assessed a value on the two items, gloves $107 pants $107..total duty $27. If you find your reciepts at home, simply mail in with this form and we will refund the monies. Have a nice day".....agent

paid the duty and left

The power customs has is unreal to say something is new and it comes to be.Its a heads up for anyone crossing the border for the day with new gear. Ride thru a mud puddle before you come back.
 
Policing for profit
 
For me I find the following:

Worse bridge to come back over: Rainbow bridge, as they have no commercial traffic to deal with so they try and nail everyone and are usually unpleasant (maybe it's the tourist thing). Haven't said that I find it the easiest to go over to the US.
In between for me is Queenston/Lewiston. Can be hit or miss, but usually more hit. Usually the busiest bridge to go over to the US and had some hassles there on the US side as well.
Best I find is Ft Eire Peace bridge. They are pleasant and tend to let things go a bit more (ie: $150 spent in a 6 hour visit). So paying once in a while at this bridge is no problem. Going over to the US, can be hit or miss on the traffic, but no problems with US customs.


Cheers,
Tross
 
On the basis that your gear "looked new" - really?? Most riders I know carry at least one if not two spare pairs of gloves - especially this time of year with weather fluctuations. Hope you have your receipts.

I ride stateside a lot too and really haven't found much difference with the border crossings - I think sometimes you get hit during "blitz" time - the best time is right before a shift change - a couple of times I wasn't even asked if I had anything to declare - ID, citizenship, licence plate - have a nice day :)
 
You paid for the items in Canada, just mail the receipts to get the duty back.

" I ride and I'm still not wearing pants."...agent
(holding back sarcastic remark)" I'm impressed"...me

You got a lesson in authority. That comment likely got you nicked.

You want to live in a country with the 4-2nd standard of living in the world, you have to pay taxes. If you don't like this, you can move to the US and the 57th ranked standard of living, and live in awesome towns like Buffalo and Detroit.

Even if you don't like paying duties, just stay in the States 48 hours and you get $800 exempted.

Every Canadian should live in the US for a few years to learn about the myths of that country and appreciate what we have up here.
 
You failed to prove that the items weren't new but she didn't prove that they were... Innocent until proven guilty, no?
 
redridernl said:
You failed to prove that the items weren't new but she didn't prove that they were... Innocent until proven guilty, no?
Click to expand...

Guilty until proven innocent
 
yes i have the receipts...do i bother for $27..probably not. Just trying to warn riders when going over. I always have 2 pairs of gloves and sometimes carrry running shoes to walk around in. IF i had my shoes for sure would be nailed for boots too.
good thing my underwear are OVIOUSLY old
 
That story just ****** me off so much. A glorified security guard with most basic training and education telling an honest citizen that he's lying. If you took your car and had all kinds of new gear laying around - fine. However, it's generally understood that motorcyclists need to be prepared to face the elements.

Bottom line - it sucks that we have such high prices and such poor supply for our bikes in Canada. There would be no need to shop in the States.
 
kellen said:
Guilty until proven innocent
Click to expand...

Haha! So true! Another thing that separates us from the USA.
Customs agents in general have a "god complex" to start with. They are rejects from crooked police forces and other government offices where the public might video you shooting off your mouth and abusing the public.
 
If that happens and you feel it's unfair simply ask for a supervisor and explain the situation to them.
The agents don't like the supervisor being bothered.
One guy got a reprimand for the attitude he showed me.
I called immediately as I left the border and they acknowledged the guy had "previous problems"

I suspect I know the agent you dealt with a Lewiston ( we do border runs for the business once a week tho I don't do them these days )
If she's rather short then she's got a serious authority complex.
Got in a shouting match with her over her comments ( basically told me she could do whatever she wanted and too ****ing bad ) - other agents calmed us down but didn't defend her actions.

Most of the people there are fine….there are a few.
Little Napoleon strutting.
 
Don't swear on the internet, children might read it!
 
Did the items in question have only English and French on the labels? This is a good way to prove where you bought it (for future reference). If it has no French or a bunch of languages it does not work...
 
send in a complaint, only way things get fixed, being government they are taken seriously despite what common belief is.
 
justretarded said:
yes i have the receipts...do i bother for $27..probably not. Just trying to warn riders when going over. I always have 2 pairs of gloves and sometimes carrry running shoes to walk around in. IF i had my shoes for sure would be nailed for boots too.
good thing my underwear are OVIOUSLY old
Click to expand...

Yes you bother. Assuming they make notes of the occurrence then they would give you a hard time every time you travel.

BTW, what did she think you rode there wearing?
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