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[fosterb]

So it's the new year and it's time for OLPC to get serious about Canada and give us some real ship dates, or explain, in extreme detail, what continues to hold up shipments to Canada. (Yes, I'm aware they claim Jan/Feb dates. As we get closer they must be able to provide more details.) That is my expectation from OLPC in exchange for my continued support of the G1G1 program.

I noticed something interesting. The "shipping information" page has changed to remove, "Shipments to Canada will be in early 2008." It has reverted to say that "shipment dates apply to U.S. delivery addresses only. We will post a delivery schedule for Canada as soon as those dates are determined."

Say what? Are we going back in time? I don't think so. I'm guessing somebody was just lazy and used an old template.

[imogmo]

Although I have not heard anything official from OLPC, I have noticed that they recently charged my CC an additional $35 which I am assuming is the extra fees involved in shipping to Canada. It would be nice to know why they charged my card but i ma hopeful that this means the computer will be on it's way shortly.

[Albemarle]

The extra charge is probably PST & GST.
I think? the purchase price covered shipping.
Look at the bright side - 1% less GST now that it's the new year!

[jmdeschamps]

I haven't been charged for the extra 35$   :-(  so i'm not getting one soon

imogmo, are you a day 1 giver ?  and from which part of Canada are you?

Thanks

[ylsf]

We should only get charged GST for it to come into canada, not the PST..... Also, the GST should be based on the value of teh goods ($200 usd) not on the $200 donation! (i.e. $200 vs. $400 total).  I paid via paypal so I don't know how they are going to charge paypal people extra.....

[imogmo]

I'm in Toronto and I did call in my order on Nov 12, however my confirmation email from OLPC notes my donation date as Nov 22. I'm not sure what that means but hopefully there will be good news soon. I have had to pay GST and PST for items shipped to me from south of the border so I wouldn't be surprised if that is what the charge is about. Regardless if it is shipping or taxes, I do find it a little strange that they posted a charge without my authorization. Perhaps it is worth a call....I will let you know what I find out.

[Albemarle]

We should only get charged GST for it to come into canada, not the PST..... Also, the GST should be based on the value of teh goods ($200 usd) not on the $200 donation! (i.e. $200 vs. $400 total).  I paid via paypal so I don't know how they are going to charge paypal people extra.....

Unfortunately you are legally responsible to pay PST as well when you import items.
In Ontario it is collected when you pay GST.
Before Ontario had an arrangement with the federal gov't, you didn't pay the PST as they had no mechanism to collect it. But, at least in theory, it was still owing.
Of course in the Maritimes and Quebec the taxes are combined (HST & QST).

I paid Paypal with a credit card so that's probably how they can get the extra $.
I don't want OLPC to lose on every Canadian donor! Kind of defeats the G1G1 concept, doesn't it?

[alfie]

I found this last week on Craig's List from Vancouver, BC.

IT Assistant to www.laptop.org Project
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply to: [email protected]
Date: 2007-12-26, 4:01PM PST


IT assistant to to a California foundation scaling and facilitating One Laptop Per Child laptops to children in the developing world.

Immediate two week opening beginning this evening. Duties include integration tasks such as sharing Outlook 2007 between multiple computers ,Salesforce.com to Outlook, Google Calendar to Outlook. Additional needs: renting and configuring servers, installing and configuring Sharepoint and troubleshooting software issues on Vista and XP computers.

If you are a black belt proven problem solver, have a flexible schedule and are comfortable in a fast paced environment I'd like to hear from you.

Passport required as there is possible 3 day travel to Mountain View, California second week of January. This position will be filled in less than 24 hours so reply immediately if interested.


*   Location: Downtown Vancouver
*   Compensation: $130 per day cash
*   Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
*   Please, no phone calls about this job!
*   Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

PostingID: 520058753

[Julianna]

Umm... are they allowed (legally) to just tack on charges without notifying us? I'm a Paypal payer too, and to my knowledge, they can't unilaterally impose another charge on my account without authorization (for CC payments too...).

[jshebib]

this is still bs.  I want free trade or something to kick in right now.  Ship the computer that I paid for now.  I am a first day buyer and this is bs.  They aren't responsible for collecting GST/PST .... they should just ship it and if I have to pay customs then fine.

[admdvs]

I might be missing the boat here, but i assume that the delays in the order is not to them having trouble shipping each unit from USA to Canada, but from them shipping the container full of PCS directly to canada.  they did mention 4,000 PCs where ordered (as of about Dec 20?). so i'm assuming the real number is closer to 5,000 PCs...  It would be much cheaper for them to ship the to Vancouver or Toronto, then ship the via within canada from there.

I would guess that the magic Feb 15th date is the date at which the container arrives in the Canadian city, then canada post (or Canada-FEDex) will take over from there. There won't be any duty charged directly to us from the delivery company.. but they OLPC might need to charge use GST/PST (becuase they forgot?)... 

BTW... I ordered two of them.. the one to my USA address got reshipped to me and arrived on the weekend.. this little guy is worth the wait -- BUT is a real pain in the a** to use if you don't care about the kiddie software and are not that familar with linux.  It's full of bugs which will eventually be fixed.  you can easily read USB drives via the linux shell but you pretty much have to reboot if you swap a drive from within journal applet.

[Directive0]

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired of living vicariously through other peoples first impressions of the XO.  I want mine.   

[Julianna]

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired of living vicariously through other peoples first impressions of the XO.  I want mine.   

Ha! Ditto. I'm as green as the laptop from seeing all the forum and blog postings of people hacking theirs.

[saskboy]

There are additional problems with shipping to Canada. Aside from tax, there are recycle levies on computers, at least in SK, and AB to name a couple. If they come from the states, there shouldn't be duty, but FedEx shipping would mean brokerage fees (unless you waive FedEx as your broker {I don't remember how to do this}, and import it yourself at the nearest border office. The Packing and Shipping board on eBay might be able to explain this, as I've never tried that method.

[fosterb]

I would agree with you, but I find it hard to believe they could have miscalculated months! Even so the real problem for me is that nobody is communicating again. They all plead ignorance. I've tried to get answers. No responses with any details. Either via e-mail, the OLPC wiki (http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Ask_OLPC_a_Question_about_Give_1_Get_1#General_responses_to_shipping_issues), another forum, or... I had a last one I forgot!

Oh yeah, http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/shipping-information.php!

Bah. I don't understand why they don't just let us know how things are going if they are requesting our patience.