Kroon Harness for 944 Turbo

[NCGermerican]

Can't you just remove the connector from the harness? It is not difficult to do.

I thought the same thing. It's not that hard to just remove it and would have made for a much smaller package to ship over. My original harness is already pretty smoked, so I would have even been fine just cutting all the wires at the connector and sending that to them if they wanted to verify the wires at the connector....

[AudiSport]

For what it's worth, I also received a bill after the fact from UPS. I wrote to Kroon to ask if it was legit, and if they needed me to pay it, and they didn't seem to have much info about it. UPS was pretty aggressive about collecting, without being specific about what it was actually for -- and said they'd send it to collections, etc., but I simply did not pay on principle. I had no contractual obligation to pay any such fee, and they have no taxing authority, so I just said no. Eventually they went away. I wasn't trying to get away with anything but I felt they were trying to bully me into collecting money, without any right to do so...

This just happened to me last fall.... I ordered a trigger wheel kit from 928-244 in Netherlands. UPS charged me a $160 tariff duty on it and said they wouldn't deliver unless it was paid. The entire package was $300.. excessive.

I attempted multiple times to contact UPS on it before and after the delivery as I paid it with Paypal just to make sure the package wasn't returned as that would have been worse.....

With no UPS response to this day. I filed a dispute on paypal and they refunded me the fee.

[Tom]

For what it's worth, I also received a bill after the fact from UPS. I wrote to Kroon to ask if it was legit, and if they needed me to pay it, and they didn't seem to have much info about it. UPS was pretty aggressive about collecting, without being specific about what it was actually for -- and said they'd send it to collections, etc., but I simply did not pay on principle. I had no contractual obligation to pay any such fee, and they have no taxing authority, so I just said no. Eventually they went away. I wasn't trying to get away with anything but I felt they were trying to bully me into collecting money, without any right to do so...

This just happened to me last fall.... I ordered a trigger wheel kit from 928-244 in Netherlands. UPS charged me a $160 tariff duty on it and said they wouldn't deliver unless it was paid. The entire package was $300.. excessive.

I attempted multiple times to contact UPS on it before and after the delivery as I paid it with Paypal just to make sure the package wasn't returned as that would have been worse.....

With no UPS response to this day. I filed a dispute on paypal and they refunded me the fee.

Well, honestly, if they'd actually have to pay a $160 tariff, this sounds like a slightly better way for them to handle it. An even better way would be to make the cost clear before you place an order.... Worse, it was never clear to me if the fee was a straight pass-through -- or if it included UPS service charges for dealing with the fees (and I got the sense it was the latter). At least this way you got the option to say no. In my case, they claimed to pay a similar fee without contacting me about it until after the fact, then insisted I owed them the money. Seemed to me the whole thing was surprisingly mis-managed for an international shipper of their size. Maybe they finally realized they had no collection rights against recipients, so changed their process to what you experienced.

[AudiSport]

For what it's worth, I also received a bill after the fact from UPS. I wrote to Kroon to ask if it was legit, and if they needed me to pay it, and they didn't seem to have much info about it. UPS was pretty aggressive about collecting, without being specific about what it was actually for -- and said they'd send it to collections, etc., but I simply did not pay on principle. I had no contractual obligation to pay any such fee, and they have no taxing authority, so I just said no. Eventually they went away. I wasn't trying to get away with anything but I felt they were trying to bully me into collecting money, without any right to do so...

This just happened to me last fall.... I ordered a trigger wheel kit from 928-244 in Netherlands. UPS charged me a $160 tariff duty on it and said they wouldn't deliver unless it was paid. The entire package was $300.. excessive.

I attempted multiple times to contact UPS on it before and after the delivery as I paid it with Paypal just to make sure the package wasn't returned as that would have been worse.....

With no UPS response to this day. I filed a dispute on paypal and they refunded me the fee.

Well, honestly, if they'd actually have to pay a $160 tariff, this sounds like a slightly better way for them to handle it. An even better way would be to make the cost clear before you place an order.... Worse, it was never clear to me if the fee was a straight pass-through -- or if it included UPS service charges for dealing with the fees (and I got the sense it was the latter). At least this way you got the option to say no. In my case, they claimed to pay a similar fee without contacting me about it until after the fact, then insisted I owed them the money. Seemed to me the whole thing was surprisingly mis-managed for an international shipper of their size. Maybe they finally realized they had no collection rights against recipients, so changed their process to what you experienced.

Yes, the lack of transparency was my issue. 928-944 parts didn't know about the charges. But their customs form claimed aluminum products. And was 40% tariff. But finished car parts are suppose to be 25%... But UPS's failure to respond was their issue. So I guess my word of advice on international orders is make sure you have a way to dispute the charges

[Tom]

This just happened to me last fall.... I ordered a trigger wheel kit from 928-244 in Netherlands. UPS charged me a $160 tariff duty on it and said they wouldn't deliver unless it was paid. The entire package was $300.. excessive.

I attempted multiple times to contact UPS on it before and after the delivery as I paid it with Paypal just to make sure the package wasn't returned as that would have been worse.....

With no UPS response to this day. I filed a dispute on paypal and they refunded me the fee.

Well, honestly, if they'd actually have to pay a $160 tariff, this sounds like a slightly better way for them to handle it. An even better way would be to make the cost clear before you place an order.... Worse, it was never clear to me if the fee was a straight pass-through -- or if it included UPS service charges for dealing with the fees (and I got the sense it was the latter). At least this way you got the option to say no. In my case, they claimed to pay a similar fee without contacting me about it until after the fact, then insisted I owed them the money. Seemed to me the whole thing was surprisingly mis-managed for an international shipper of their size. Maybe they finally realized they had no collection rights against recipients, so changed their process to what you experienced.

Yes, the lack of transparency was my issue. 928-944 parts didn't know about the charges. But their customs form claimed aluminum products. And was 40% tariff. But finished car parts are suppose to be 25%... But UPS's failure to respond was their issue. So I guess my word of advice on international orders is make sure you have a way to dispute the charges

In my recent experience with international orders, my suggestion is to use DHL. They are all geared up to handle it cheaper and faster than the others, with without the surprises...

[NCGermerican]

Just as an update for timing, Kroon received my old harness on Wednesday, 1/7. So shipping from Raleigh to the NL took about 5 calendar days. Gerard at Kroon said that my harness is ready to ship, but they are getting snowstorms so it may not go out until Monday. I selected UPS Worldwide Express Plus, so we'll have to see the difference between "Express" and "Express Plus".

[Latitude48]

[In my recent experience with international orders, my suggestion is to use DHL. They are all geared up to handle it cheaper and faster than the others, with without the surprises...

I've ordered Euro parts for my Golf R from e-acca in Latvia. They always ship via FedEx, and depending on the cost, FedEx has always sent me an invoice for duty or mechandise processing fee. In addition, FedEx charges a $13 disbursement fee; UPS charges $14. Getting the Euro matrix headlights and Euro tailights was a bit of a hassle as I had to fill out Customs form HS-7 prior to delivery. I guess in retrospect I should have questioned the fees. I've also recently gotten some custom VW emblems from Mazor Design in Germany and they were shipped via DHL Paket International Premium with no duty charges, so maybe Mazor covers that on their end. Same for the Storch VE MAF for the S2; no import duty.

Edit: the higher invoice items from e-acca were purchased pre-tariff changes.

[fasterfaster]

[In my recent experience with international orders, my suggestion is to use DHL. They are all geared up to handle it cheaper and faster than the others, with without the surprises...

I've ordered Euro parts for my Golf R from e-acca in Latvia. They always ship via FedEx, and depending on the cost, FedEx has always sent me an invoice for duty or mechandise processing fee. In addition, FedEx charges a $13 disbursement fee; UPS charges $14. Getting the Euro matrix headlights and Euro tailights was a bit of a hassle as I had to fill out Customs form HS-7 prior to delivery. I guess in retrospect I should have questioned the fees. I've also recently gotten some custom VW emblems from Mazor Design in Germany and they were shipped via DHL Paket International Premium with no duty charges, so maybe Mazor covers that on their end. Same for the Storch VE MAF for the S2; no import duty.

I'm currently battling a $180 duties bill from Fedex on a 120euro alternator from Germany. They applied a sum of 3 different duties when only one should have been applied, and they applied it to the total invoice (195 euro incl 75euro shipping). To make it worse, because the bill is below $200, they charge a processing fee of up to $150 if they reject my dispute. I feel like I'm being held hostage and have no control over the outcome.

[Latitude48]

Question for @NCGermerican: in your YouTube videos your 951 is supported by QuickJacks. Since there isn't an approved jacking point in the front that lines up with the one in the rear, how are you supporting the vehicle without damaging the floor? The attached image shows the not-approved location with the red arrow.

[ROB III]

@Latitude48
Great question as I've looked at QuickJack but always stopped due to the issue you just pointed out.
Thank you