Originally Posted by heraclitus

Glitches with the actual order are very rare, although as it turns out the shop.ca in the order I mentioned failed to include two ink cartridges as promised - only one. So they are sending out a second package. Way to go, shop.ca

My beef is mainly with delivery. When something gets sent by Canada Post, I can at least go and pick it up at the local postal concession if no one is home to accept delivery. No big deal. But when a company sends something by courier, I usually have no advance notice as to which one it will be so as to make the proper arrangements. When they show up at my house at 1 pm on a weekday and no one is home (surprise), they typically take it back to their depot by the airport and then the clock is ticking for me to pick it up within a few days before it gets sent back. This is a pain.

If I buy something from a non-Canadian supplier, then I get the pleasure of the above while having to deal with customs brokerage. I can do it myself at great inconvenience, or I can pay UPS or another courier $40 or whatever to spend 5 minutes filling out a couple of forms. Both options are annoying.

Maybe in the US they've worked this stuff out, but in Canada it's a pain. The only way I can guarantee a smooth online purchase experience is to order stuff from a US website and have it shipped to a US address and just go there and pick it up myself.