Best Buy Eyeglasses review: excessive shipping charges

I purchased a Burberry frame priced at 169.99 USD, and paid 16.95 USD for shipping to Canada with UPS Ground Service as stated on the company's website.

When I received the product I had to pay additional 50 CAD to UPS, 8.50 CAD were for the standard Goods and Service Tax (GST) and the remaining 41 CAD ! were for brokerage fees to UPS in addition to the shipping fees already paid to BestBuyEyeGlasses. The Canadian Border Services Agency does not charge duty of prescription eyeglass frames.

I called BestBuyEyeGlasses.com to inquire about the additional brokerage fee charged by UPS and questioned them if they were aware about the extra fees I had to pay. The customer service representative first tried to convince me that it was duty and taxes, I stated that on the UPS invoice it clearly states that it is a brokerage fee. I had already spoken to UPS and the Canada Border Services Agency and had a good understanding regarding the fees. UPS had also informed me that by choosing UPS ground service, BestBuyEyeGlasses acquired unnecessary brokerage fees on my behalf and should have sent the product by air instead.

To make a long story short, the three customer service representatives from BestBuyEyeGlasses (and their manager) were unhelpful and uninformed. The manager informed me that they were aware about the brokerage fee and therefore has a statement on the web page indicating that the purchase could be subject to brokerage fees. Interestingly enough they did not consider important to state the amount of the brokerage fee on their web site and choose the most expensive mode of shipping.

I requested to speak to the owner of the company, but the customer service representative told me that she did not know who the owner was.

BestBuyEyeGlasses also omitted to sign the Certificate of Authenticity and the Certificate of Guarantee, which invalidates the 24-month warranty on the frame. This also raises questions about the authenticity of the product that I received.

In summary I would not recommend this company to anyone purchasing eyeglasses from Canada.