Ferrari

I am so pissed off at this moment in time with Canada Customs in YVR..Just got in from BKK via HKG and spent 6 hours in secondary...

All because the ***** in the baggage hall did not like my answer...

She ask for my tickets and then asked why I went to BKK, I told her for a visit and a chill out, her reply "Not good enough" I told her it was the truth but she had me in the customs hall and searched me...

What has me fuming like nothing before and I will not let this one go..They open my laptop and forced to enter the password, the other option was for them to take it and have there IT open it...The ***** then read all my emails etc and private documents...

I am sure they are not allowed to do this.?....some one???

Then they sent me to immigration for 3 hours...the line up was 2 hours..what a poor excuse these people have for do such a poor job... outrageous, not one deserves a job...the slow bunch of twats the world has ever seen.

At this point I need to go punch one of them..........s.!

Braindrain

Wow. I was talking to an acquaintance before who was working as a Customs Officer and he was saying that they had "extraoardinary powers" when it comes to searching.

I feel your pain though...

exAC

As usual with a Ferrari post, I can't help feel that thetone of the post is a reflection of the problems encountered.

Ferrari

exAC...

I was fine, I am used to this now...because I used to live they believe that I still am...why...probably tax!.

I was okay for the first hour, just chilling then she got into me...that was it...It was not pretty from there on in...

They couldn't understand why I flew in and out off Canada 45 times in 2 years...You try explaining to this idoits about connecting flights...

taupo

Ferrari,

First of all nice to see the term ...... being used, it is not used enough in this country, I've called several people ......s, then have to explain it.

Next time, tell her you went to BKK for a rub and a tug. If she doen't like that answer, ask her of she can save you the trip next time.

FatBoyYVR

Ferrari's post is a reflection on the knobs who work for YVR customs and the whole system under which they operate. The level of personal questioning of visitors, residents and citizens is totally ridiculous and unacceptable. If you do anything that is not considered within the "norm" then you are under suspicion of some major offence. I was told by customs that the only places I can go for a weekend from Vancouver is to Seattle or Victoria. (I actually have been amazed by how little people in Vancouver travel, but it is a damp backwater in the middle of nowhere!).
I am off to MEX for a couple of days tonight to check out the new W - I am glad I am connecting in YYZ as I know I would be in secondary on the return if it were YVR.
For comparison, my wife recently got a British passport and used it to enter the UK (She is also Canadian). What was involved? She held it open at the photo page and walked in! A sign of a civilised country.....

ohbahsan

wow that's one big fscked up situation they put you into. why isn't "chill out" a satisfactory answer???

i used to be routinely hassled at YVR customs, so now all my asia flights connect through the states. i find YUL customs to be pretty cool ^

YYZC2

If you think these Canada Customs is tough on the front lines, try working with these wingnuts behind the scenes.

We had one genius who wanted a specific baggage container unloaded from a recently arrived A330 before any other - we informed him that since it was in the very back of a very full forward container hold, it would be the third can out at best. He told us if we didn't do what he told us to do, he could get the cops to tell us again.

Don't even get me started on the started on the summer temps, fresh out of first year at community college, who put on a pair of cargo pants, black boots and a badge and think they're God.

daniellam

I find that when flying into YVR direct from Asia, they (Canada Customs/Immigration) tend to ask you more personal questions, and questions such as "why did you go to Bangkok?", or "why did you fly first class?", or "what do you parents do for a living?". I am a Canadian Citizen, don't I have the right to enter my own country without being asked so many questions as if I am some kind of wanted criminal? I have received much better treatment even in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K. where I am not even a citizen or resident there!

This really pisses me off!!

They even seem to have this idea that if you are young and fly first class on CX that you must be some kind of high profile gang member dealing drugs and be on some kind of search warrant, thus treating you like a suspected criminal. (They've got it all wrong! The only reason why I sometimes fly to YVR direct from Asia is because of the "discounted" first class fares on CX available from Vancouver through discounters).

Wait until they see my ticket for Vancouver/New York/Caracas, Venezuela/New York/Vancouver (cheaper to buy F class than just YVR/New York/YVR)!! -Perhaps they might subject me to a cavity search.

The only times I haven't been subject to this kind of scrutiny by the folks at YVR is when I flew HKG-LHR-YVR or HKG-SFO-YVR instead of HKG-YVR.

B747-437B

If you are a Canadian citizen or PR, they are not permitted to send you to immigration once they have established that your travel documents and status are valid.

The fact that they did this implies that either there were questions about your status, or else that you were entering as a foreign citizen.

Have a look at the CIC Field Manual about POE Examinations for more details about this. I've found CIC in YVR to be very helpful (as opposed to Customs) if you go talk to them.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/manuals-guides/...enf/enf04e.pdf

I'm sure one of our resident lawyers can provide more details too.

shore9

correct me if I'm wrong but if they go thru your personal files on your laptop, without a warrent, is that not illegal. Somebody should raise their voice in the community, I believe these people seem to enjoy the power they are given. Kind of like some of the people I work with, they're the same level as me, get paid the same too, but because they've been a manager somewhere else and are 20 years older than me they feel they can tell me what to do. I refuse to help them in any way, and the boss is only 27, he takes my side, its hillarious. You should write a letter to the government or something.

Shareholder

It is really an issue of citizenship and which passport was used to enter the country. A non-Canadian can be subject to any degree of scrutiny they wish to apply. A Canadian can seek recourse if not allowed back into his/her country. I think we need more details before making a judgement. But there guys are GOD and can do what they please if they want. Sorry to read the extreme degree of interrogation, but it does not pay to be flippant with them.

Lee A Carney

Ferrari, why don't you just get a CANPASS? That way you avoid the preliminary interview altogether.

Minicooperman

Choose your battles carefully, Ferrari.

As I have posted before, I have a real problem with the questions/attitudes of some of those d!ckheads.

But since I have started being SOOOO polite and respectful that I want to puke, I have had no problems at all.

Most of them just have small thingy's and want to feel important.

A bit sad really.

MCM.

Ken hAAmer

In such a situation, I suspect I would have invited him to "call the cops" and request a supervisor.

As for Ferrari's situation, it wasn't that long ago that several Asian tourists were jailed for most of a week because the customs agent was too stupid to know that there some 12+ jurisdictions in the US known as "Ottawa" and too lazy/incompetent to check. It's unfortunate that for cases of gross incompetance such as that that there aren't serious consequences for the agent in question.