ottawa foodies

Okay, I'm a dumbass.

I ordered a bunch of vanilla beans and had them sent to the UPS Store in Ogdensburg thinking we would just slip over and pick them up. Maybe have a nice dinner across the border and make an afternoon of it.

Now ... finally ... it occurs to me that neither of us have a valid passport!

Idiot.

Can someone please help a foodie out? The package hasn't arrived yet, but it has shipped and is sitting in Rochester right now. It'll probably arrive there today. There's no rush, but sooner is better.

From their website:

Can Somebody Other Than Myself Pickup My Package?
Yes. In order to ensure that your package is secure The UPS Store staff will need to see a print out of your order information with the merchandise listed and ID. Customs will also need an invoice showing the value of the items that you declare.

oops. was there two days ago. You can do it with an enhanced driver's licence too, but not sure whether you can get one of those while you wait.

If I were already going I might consider it but definitely not making a special trip given the hours long wait there is likely to be at the UPS store.

On the weekend, you're looking at a 3-5 hour wait, not pretty. Blubarry, can you confirm what is what like two days ago on a weekday?

My wife is going down sometime in the next few days to pick up a package, if you PM me your details she doesn't mind picking it up for you - as long as you promise it's vanilla beans and not cocaine or firearms she's smuggling across the border.

I'll be going down after Christmas if you don't get it picked up before then.

I was there last Friday and we had a 5 hour wait. It's not just the number of people, but the number of packages people were picking up. And there is no organization of the packages except 1st initial of last name.

Thank you all. I assume that the extreme wait times are because of the time of year. This can certainly wait until after Christmas if it is a problem, but I'll touch base with Johnny first and see what happens.

You know, since you're already going. I certainly wouldn't ask anyone to do this just for me.

Obviously I'll pay the fees and throw in a nice bottle (or two) of product for your troubles.

Man you foodies need to start to use www.corp-ctr.com down in Ogdensburg for package pickups. Friendlier, cheaper, closer and faster.

K.

The long lineups were there in early November when I was there, and I don't recall them the same time last year. As krusty points out there are other alternatives you can use if you are just getting parcels. I can't use them for shipping my coffee, but most people can. Or if there is another place that will accept freight, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks krusty! I was overly excited to find the UPS Store and their service. I didn't even imagine that someone else was performing a similar service.

Oh, and perfect timing, I just found out that the fees are going up in July from $87 to $120 for a 5-year passport, but they'll also be offering the new 10-year e-passport for $160.

Decisions, decisions.

Oh hey, that place takes pallets! Sweet!

Cool...

hadn't ever heard of that one.

Very nice!

Boxers, I was in Oggie, but not at UPS, though I have heard at this time of year the wait can be hours. Last time I used UPS, in November, the store was full of snow tires that Canadians had bought and were waiting to be claimed. Even in November I had to wait half an hour, but no complaints about service or attitude.

And Krusty, you found someplace cheaper than $5 per package per week? wow!

Really, the only problem I see with corp-ctr is that they are only open M-F from 8-5 and 2 hours on Saturday, 10-12 (except holiday weekends).

The UPS Store is open M-F from 7:30-6 and S/S from 10-4.

If any of that makes a difference. I mean, it's an hour drive. If I can't get my act together so I can make a 2 hour window on Saturday morning then I shouldn't bother trying to run a small business. Then again, maybe I'm busy every Saturday.

It's nice that there are options. Thanks again, krusty.

I was down there last week or so and was in and out in 5 mins and have been using them for years. Price for a small package/box is $3.

I've used corp-ctr in the past too, great service and next to no line ups!

May I ask what you guys are ordering and why?

Anything that can't be shipped to Canada from the USA.

Well, my order this time is only 4 pounds of vanilla beans. Normally it's a lot more, but I can get them another time. I really need these ones right now. There is no USPS option if shipping to Canada, so shipping to Ogdensburg makes that portion a lot less. Also, if I pick it up and pay the duty myself I don't have to pay the outrageous brokerage fee. Overall, I think I'll save at least $50. Deduct travel time and gas and I still think I'd be ahead. If it was for a much larger order, well you can see the benefit.

Savings aside there are also many things that xx company simply won't ship outside of the USA.

They just don't want the headache. (can't blame them)

So some of us fanatics get the stuff shipped to a USA address and then go pick the stuff up.

The free shipping to USA is also a bonus - especially when it would be $100 plus to an 'International' destination. (plus duty/brokerage/taxes etc.)

Many things are just not available in Canukistan - so go to the source, get it shipped for free and go pick it up.

Tree Pug, 1 pound of coffee shipped from Hawaii costs almost $40 in shipping and fees to Canada, which I can save if I ship to UPS. And the aforementioned tires; Best price in Ottawa for mine was over $1200 and in Massena I got them for $625. That's why UPS was full of snow tires for Canada I'm sure. Lodge enamelled cast iron dutch oven here, lowest price over $100 and I got mine for $50 online in the US. It pays to compare prices.

ottawatiresdirect.com has really great prices on tires

Another alternative for parcel pick up in Ogdensburg is:

Roethel's Parcel Service
1801 Ford Street
Ogdensburg, NY 13669
1-315-393-4770

Same prices as UPS. Great people and service, never crowded. A bonus is a nice pub/restaurant one block away called "The Place". Decent food, healthy portions and friendly staff.

FWIW

Wait until after Christmas if you can. We were there a couple of weeks ago and waited for five hours; I can't even imagine what the lineups must be like now.

Sigh... I don't think we'll be doing that again until they figure out how to organize themselves better. It was a great little secret while it lasted!

Alright, Plan B.

With me, Plan B usually involves fire, but in this case I hope we can forego that.
;)

Message sent to lovetoeat. If anyone else can help me to cover this sometime soon, please let me know.

Freshkate...the trick is to not wait until the pre Christmas rush. I go many times throughout the year and usually have at most 2 or 3 people in front of me. And if you can't get there right away it's only an additional $5 for the second week.

I'm a fan of the UPS store, tho i may try the others mentioned upthread.

I'll usually coordinate a few deliveries of things that cannot be shipped into Canada without obscene delivery charges, by example certain coffees, small appliances, clothes/shoes from US based online vendors who can't ship to Canada.

Have to agree with blu, avoid the hell of the pre/post xmas rush and there's barely any wait.

Back to your original problem Rizak, it is pretty quick and easy to get an enhanced Ontario driver's license to cross the border by car. You could have easily had it by now had you begun the process when you posted this. Just look online for details and check the online calendar for when you can book an interview. The paperwork is simple enough - fill out 3 forms and book your interview. Go in, answer a few simple questions, then wait for your license to arrive in the mail.

I did it back in the summer and it was extremely painless

My two cents on border crossing identification: I strongly vote for going for a 10 year passport over an Enhanced Drivers Licence. For approximately 80 bucks more you can travel to other countries too and not just walk/drive/paddle to the U.S. over that decade. :)
Also, not a fan of the embedded radio-frequency identification chips that are in EDLs that broadcast your information wirelessly. No thanks.

A passport.
I hope you got your beans Rizak.

As much as it pains me to say this (and it really does), zym is right. I've filled out the forms and have an appointment at City hall tomorrow morning. I may have my new licence by the following weekend if all goes well.

I would love to get the 10 year passport, but they aren't available for another 6 months and I can't wait that long. I mean, I could if I didn't get the EDL. In fact, I still could. Hell, it's only money. Or, I could wait until my licence needs renewing and then just get the regular and apply for a passport. Many options.

The EDL is issued with a RFID blocking shield that you are advised to keep the card in unless asked for. The new enhanced 5 and 10 year passport have RFID in them as well, but the pages around the chip block the signal so it can only be read if the page is open.

Mmmmmmm. Beans.

Now I can try out some of those neat restaurants I keep hearing about.

I'd bet my next paycheque that new passports have RFID chips in them too

They do... but they are all blocked unless being presented.

RFID chips in licences and passports do not "broadcast" information wirelessly. The chips are powered and read at a close range (spec is no farther than 10cm in the USA, I expect Canada is the same) by magnetic fields.

You can put your tinfoil hats away.

Actually the ones on the new Ontario license are not the close range ones they are the long range ones intended for marking things in warehouses so they can be read from 10 meters away or so. I recall hearing a program on the radio about it a few years ago - the company that makes the chips even recommended the short range ones to Ontario and told them the warehouse ones were not the right ones to put in a license, but that is the one they put in anyway

Just wait till it's mandatory to have RFID chips installed in humans ... at birth !

Heed my words.

Just one more reason to have your babies born at home. No accidental switching at birth (unless other women are birthing in your home), and no RFID chips implanted in your off spring.

We did home birth with #3 child and would definitely prefer it for any future offspring as well ...

EDIT: how's that for thread-drift? :-)

I went to City Hall this morning to get processed through the system. No problems. I had all the forms and all the proper ID with me and was done in about 15 minutes.

However, it'll take 3 weeks before it is couriered to my home.

Still looking. Thanks to those who have offered. I'll be contacting you.

Hi
Im canadian and work in ottawa daily, if anyone is interested
let me know and id be willing to bring it down to ottawa
And receive in my house in ogdensburg are.
Small fee would be required depending on the
Size and cost.

Followup: My license is being delivered by courier today, so that's 2 weeks. Not too shabby. I guess I'll be making that drive this weekend! I've checked with trackogdensburg.com to make sure my package is still there. I have my tracking number and a credit card. I suppose I should change some money before I go in case I want to stop and eat something. Which I will. I'll probably be there for a few hours.

Any recommendations for shopping or eating in the area immediate to the bridge? I know there's already a thread about restaurants in that area. Just asking to see if there are any new ones or favourites.

That dirty gringo mexican place is pretty good but does not serve beer unfortunately.

JWRECK across the street from the UPS strip mall does a mean sub.

I strongly disagree on JWRECK ... but to each their own. I found it pretty disgusting but my boys loved it

To keep it on topic how about we take further food discussions back to the original thread

Forum - Restaurant recommendations for Ogdensburg/Canton?

Just as a final note on this, I made the trip today and found it really helpful.

I was only charged $5, no matter than they had the package almost a month.

Getting to the border and speaking to the lovely border guard behind the desk, I was told that the item I was transporting could be taken across without paying any tax! It fit into a special category of ingredients that is not processed, so no tax. If the vanilla beans were powdered or ground, then they would have been.

She then gave me a number to call so I could apply for an importation number so I could get into their system if I'm planning to do this regularly. Hells yeah!

So, let's do a tally on this venture:
+ lower shipping fees by at least $20 to the border.
+ no brokerage fee (minimum $25).
+ no tax (about $50 per previous order).
- $5 storage fee.
- $20 in gas.
- 2 hours total time.

Sorted.

When calling that number, I need to remember to ask if I can use the importation number to bypass customs and simply have it shipped to me so I don't even need to make that trip.

Sometimes doing something the hard way will teach you a thing or two.

You need to do the paperwork for importing commercially but it is pretty easy to do. I figured it out the hard way. Sometimes the border guards coming back into Canada are happy to help you figure it out as a commercial importer, and sometimes not. But it is adamantly not their job to help you - so tough luck if you get one of the fussy ones. But yeah, as a basic food stuff there is nothing to pay to bring it in (category 49 or 59 or something like that - I can look it up).

And yes, you can get it shipped directly as long as you do the paperwork in advance and then give the appropriate paperwork to the shipper to include with the shipment. I have not done that yet but you can definitely do it. '

When doing it in person you come into the building (the new commercial building if during regular weekday business hours, or the non-commercial building if weekends or after hours) and sit at a computer and do your paperwork there. Print it out and bring it to the counter and then smile and wave when they say you don't have to pay anything (just like coffee :-))