Fun With Customs...The Adventure Continues

After a day of rest, I now have the strength to venture out to LCBO and customs. I start at LCBO (the Canadian Liquor Control Board) because of my wine. For some strange reason, they are located in the giant UPS building. Why a UPS employee is responsible for this, I have no idea, but I'm in a new country, so I'm not questioning much. She tells me that I do not qualify for the $1.25 a bottle since it is only for returning Canadians or immigrants with a work permit # as proof.

Ok, so what are my options. She tells me I have 2 options. 1) Provide Customs with a complete list of the bottles. That means $ I paid, winery, grape, year, and % alcohol. If I cannot provide that complete information, a customs agent can come out (at my expense) and open the boxes, record that information. Then the value of the wine will be based on what the agent says it is worth, not what I actually paid for it. And then I pay 125% duty + other taxes.

Option #2 is to have customs destroy all the wine. Which kills me. Honestly, there are only about 4 bottles in there that I really care about. Yet again, my moving company screwed me. If they had told me about this, I would have made the list before it was packed, given away most of the bottles, or had a big party before leaving. I will be adding this to the list of things I complain about to Mayflower.

Resigned to the fact that the wine will be destroyed (rather than given away to someone who would enjoy it), I head to the new customs office, at 4525 Dixie Rd. I'm driving, and I don't see 4525. So, I swing back around. There's 4505 and then 4567. No 4525. I call the moving company - they have no idea. I call the number the first customs office gave me - it's a personal voicemail. I call the first customs office - it's also just a voicemail. I go into 4505 - they have no idea. I go into 4567 - they have no idea. I drive around to a building behind them - they have no idea.

Great. Then I remembered that the LCBO lady said she used to work in this building, so I called her. She gave me some landmarks. I find the building. Here's why I missed it - 1) wrong address 2) the name customs gave me is "Interport Sufferance Truck terminal". The sign on the building says "CF".

So, I go in. I hand my papers over and, as I suspected, the gentleman told me I need to be at the original customs place, not this one. Fine, I ask him for his name and number, and head back to the original place.

I find it this time no problem. I walk in and go up to the agent and tell him my sob story. I show him where on the form it says the 496 and then the 495. He asks about the wine, I tell him it's 10-12 bottles and he asks me a few questions about my house and moving. I think things are going smoothly, when he asks me to have a seat as he needs to speak with his superiors about this. So, I go sit down and try to stay calm. I even pull something out of my purse and start reading. I look over and there are now 4 agents in his little cube looking at my stuff. He calls me back over and asks for some proof of residency. I offer him the contract on my condo - his face lights up. He reads it, tells me I am allowed a 1-time exception from duty (which I knew and is why i brought in so much stuff - and I told him that), that if I sell anything within the first year, I need to let them know so I will pay duty on it, and that I cannot bring anything back and forth across the border. I say ok. He stamps it and I leave. The wine has made it through and my stuff is cleared!