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Chugmaster · 01-23-2013, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeg

The OP is displaying a very naive understanding of McMaster-Carr's business. As easy as the Internet makes it to place an order with a company in a foreign country, this doesn't guarantee that it's easy for that company to fulfill the order. There's more involved in selling to a foreign buyer than just running a credit card, loading up the box, and dropping it off at FedEx. For the types of equipment McM-C sells---industrial equipment, chemicals, handling supplies, etc, they have responsibilities for exporting* and record-keeping that they can't just ignore. Even though not every item is subject to this scrutiny, they have to have a procedure to determine that for every item.

Do you really think they're refusing business just to screw with a foreigner?

The only people who are naive here are the Mcmaster-Carr reps. If they had of explained to me exactly what you just did, they would still have my respect.

I did not imply that they were prejudice because I'm Canadian, but rather that they were just brushing me off and not provided a reason.

As for spoofing my location, why would I try to get around the rules to give a company money if they don't appreciate my business?

aquenne · 01-23-2013, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeg

Yes, I know that. That's why I said, "for those in Canada," not, "for those asking for products to be shipped to Canada."

The OP is displaying a very naive understanding of McMaster-Carr's business. As easy as the Internet makes it to place an order with a company in a foreign country, this doesn't guarantee that it's easy for that company to fulfill the order. There's more involved in selling to a foreign buyer than just running a credit card, loading up the box, and dropping it off at FedEx. For the types of equipment McM-C sells---industrial equipment, chemicals, handling supplies, etc, they have responsibilities for exporting* and record-keeping that they can't just ignore. Even though not every item is subject to this scrutiny, they have to have a procedure to determine that for every item.

Do you really think they're refusing business just to screw with a foreigner?

Edit:
* - Note that export rules can apply even for a domestic shipment if they know the end-recipient is foreign. Since they know that he's coming from a foreign IP, they have to follow those rules.

I dont think you understand the issue. He was shipping to a US address. From Mcmaster carr's perspective, they are shipping within the US. There is no other "complexities".

And btw, McMaster carr ships to Canada, just not to personal addresses. My company orders from them all the time.

**tchamber** · 01-23-2013, 04:30 PM

With international proxies etc. it's naive for a company to determine someones location using IP addresses. I had a similar issue yesterday where a company rejected my transaction because they thought I was in France based on my IP address, which wasn't the case as I was in Virginia and logged onto my work VPN which accesses the internet via a gateway in Paris (the company I work for is owned by France Telecom).

In any case the retailer should make their international ordering policy crystal clear on their website so as to not have to deal with pissed off customers.

Huff360 · 01-23-2013, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kombat

If you're paying by credit card, the bank takes care of the exchange conversion anyway.

They may handle it, but they charge a nice fee to go along with that service. That fee would not be worked into the price you paid unless there was a "Canadian upcharge."

Quote:

Originally Posted by kombat

Please read the OP. Nobody was asking them to ship to Canada. The OP was trying to ship to a US address, but McMaster-Carr refused the order because the OP's IP address revealed he was using a computer in Canada.

I read the OP and I see nowhere that it mentioned anything about IP addresses. Did they actually do that, or did he put
Billing Address: Canada
Shipping Address: US

Huff360 · 01-23-2013, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquenne

From Mcmaster carr's perspective, they are shipping within the US. There is no other "complexities".

Sorry, it's not that simple. The seller can be held liable for "further export" that violates the law. Meaning that if I know you are going to send it to Canada and I sell it to you (in the US) anyway, I am still liable.

***Yooper*** · 01-23-2013, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huff360

Sorry, it's not that simple. The seller can be held liable for "further export" that violates the law. Meaning that if I know you are going to send it to Canada and I sell it to you (in the US) anyway, I am still liable.

Right. That was the issue with the US Soldier in Germany. He was coming home, and wanted it for then but McMaster-Carr wouldn't let him buy it anyway.

If I buy a ton of industrial parts, and then move them to Nicaragua, McMaster-Carr can be held liable for the "further export" of those parts if they sold them to me with my Nicaragua billing address/email, even if I had them shipped to the US.

I'm certain that McMaster-Carr just doesn't want the headaches of dealing with international law for individuals. That's why they have their policy.

Luckily, they aren't the only company in the world so buyers do have other options.

**whoaru99** · 01-23-2013, 05:45 PM

^^^
Right, and a credit card order from outside the USA with a ship-to address in the USA is probably a red flag in the system for that very reason.

**naiek** · 01-23-2013, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huff360

I read the OP and I see nowhere that it mentioned anything about IP addresses. Did they actually do that, or did he put
Billing Address: Canada
Shipping Address: US

Beat me to it. The reason stated in the OP was pretty clear

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chugmaster

This decision also applies to orders shipping within the United States, because it is based on the final destination of the items.

**kombat** · 01-23-2013, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huff360

They may handle it, but they charge a nice fee to go along with that service. That fee would not be worked into the price you paid unless there was a "Canadian upcharge."

Any time I buy anything in US funds with my Canadian Visa, the currency exchange fee is passed on to me (in the form of a considerably higher-than-market exchange rate). As I understand it, the merchant still pays their 2% (or whatever) merchant fee, and that doesn't change simply because the cardholder pays his bill with Canadian funds every month.

**KurtB** · 01-23-2013, 06:39 PM

Chugmaster - I agree with you that their shipping policy should be more clear on their website.

Yooper (and a few others) nailed what probably happened.

Items were being purchased by somebody out of the US. Regardless of the items or where it was initially being shipped to, the vendor did not want to mess with the problems of knowing that it most likely was going to be exported to a different country.

Many of the items that McMaster-Carr sells may not be approved for export.

Could they just flag those items in their system? Probably, but instead they have decided to simply not ship to new customers outside the US. Especially one that is personal instead of corporate. I know that McMaster-Carr does ship to Canada, but as explained in their email, only to existing customers (that probably have the correct paperwork already on file to keep the US Government happy).

There are a couple of ways that McMaster-Carr could tell you lived outside of the US and had intentions of taking the package over the border.
1. Your credit card billing address.
2. The address of where the item as being shipped. Many "industrial" merchants flag the addresses of the "hold" points along the US/Canada and US/Mexico border in their system.

In this case, if #1 didn't immediately kick the order, 1+2 did.

Next time, if you really want the parts from McMaster-Carr, have somebody that lives in the US make the purchase, and have it shipped to the address that matches their billing address for the credit card (home address). Then drive down and get the package, or have them re-box it and ship it to you.

Here is what I really don't understand about this entire situation...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chugmaster

My advice to Canadians: You can find most brewing parts on Amazon.com at a better price than Mcmaster-Carr. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THEM.

If you could find the parts for less money at Amazon as you indicated, why were you going through McMaster-Carr in the first place?