Ever Had A Mail Order Item Searched (Or Seized) By The Feds?
postmaster @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 3:56 pm
... sometimes when i've purchased DVDs from the U.S. when the box arrives i find out it's been opened up, inspected and then re-sealed by federal officials. the government puts a little note on the box in which they provide a summary of what you've purchased. i bought a bunch of movies that the federal government classified as "porn" but they weren't porn, they were european art films!
... and to make the intrusion even worse, while the federal government is illegally breaching my privacy by looking at harmless items i've purchased, actual criminal mail fraud (credit card scams, land title scams, court order scams, bank fraud scams, etc.) all pass through the canadian mail system and get to my mailbox without obstruction!
... anyone else encounter similar hassles by the government?
Unsound @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:18 pm
Yeah, this one time they searched my bags when I came back from Amsterdam. I had some cigs that needed duty paid on them, but really...c'mon, there are people out there bringing real drugs into Canada all the time and they hassled me?!?!
postmaster @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:24 pm
... any idea what the reason is for why they open up and inspect private mail? and this doesn't happen every time i purchase something from the states, just occasionally ...
Public_Domain @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:27 pm
Nope... Unless they're really good at resealing them and not mentioning it, not one of my packaged has been tampered with.
Which is nice, I guess. Hard to do something illegal with a poster or a book.
peck420 @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:32 pm
I have had it occur on small electronic parts, not any big electronics, just small electronic parts.
I think that if they can't ID the item through a scan, they open it up, but that is purely speculation on my part.
postmaster @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:35 pm
... but to put the label "porn" on a package is so degrading. i was so humiliated when i picked up the item from the post office knowing that the postal worker could see the label. what is the purpose of openly declaring that the videos were pornographic? i don't get it at all ...
... canada post has serious problems ...
Hyack @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:37 pm
postmaster postmaster:
... but to put the label "porn" on a package is so degrading. i was so humiliated when i picked up the item from the post office knowing that the postal worker could see the label. what is the purpose of openly declaring that the videos were pornographic? i don't get it at all ...
... canada post has serious problems ...
... canada post has serious problems ...
I would advise you to read your PMs.
Public_Domain @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:39 pm
I really wonder how curious they are about the term "gift", which is what seems to mostly be used for things like pins, patches, posters, and a few books i have... I would think they'd be more weary of such a broad non-descriptor. Maybe my packages are too small for them to give a shit, though some of the books are at least a couple pounds
jeff744 @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:43 pm
postmaster postmaster:
... sometimes when i've purchased DVDs from the U.S. when the box arrives i find out it's been opened up, inspected and then re-sealed by federal officials. the government puts a little note on the box in which they provide a summary of what you've purchased. i bought a bunch of movies that the federal government classified as "porn" but they weren't porn, they were european art films!
... and to make the intrusion even worse, while the federal government is illegally breaching my privacy by looking at harmless items i've purchased, actual criminal mail fraud (credit card scams, land title scams, court order scams, bank fraud scams, etc.) all pass through the canadian mail system and get to my mailbox without obstruction!
... anyone else encounter similar hassles by the government?
... and to make the intrusion even worse, while the federal government is illegally breaching my privacy by looking at harmless items i've purchased, actual criminal mail fraud (credit card scams, land title scams, court order scams, bank fraud scams, etc.) all pass through the canadian mail system and get to my mailbox without obstruction!
... anyone else encounter similar hassles by the government?
They do have a legal right to check them, they do it all the time to check for illegal goods. What is legal in one country may not be legal in ours.
Public_Domain @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:43 pm
(Not to be impolite) I'm surprised you care about the porn label... Do you let your friends know about your website?
postmaster @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:46 pm
Hyack Hyack:
postmaster postmaster:
... but to put the label "porn" on a package is so degrading. i was so humiliated when i picked up the item from the post office knowing that the postal worker could see the label. what is the purpose of openly declaring that the videos were pornographic? i don't get it at all ...
... canada post has serious problems ...
... canada post has serious problems ...
I would advise you to read your PMs.
... hi Hyack. read your message and sent you one in return ...
Hyack @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:49 pm
And one right back at ya!
postmaster @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 4:59 pm
Public_Domain Public_Domain:
(Not to be impolite) I'm surprised you care about the porn label... Do you let your friends know about your website?
... what's my website got to do with the cruddy canadian mail system?
Public_Domain @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:01 pm
Nothing, just seems you're not exactly one who's embarrassed easily, is all, 
herbie @ Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:08 pm
Made a fake stamp in graphics class back in 70's. Showed a cartoon Mountie steaming open a letter.
A friend mailed a letter with one instead of a real stamp. His girlfriend in Toronto got it unopened.
Inside were 3 Zig-Zags he'd soaked in hash oil....
Once got a software bundle 16 weeks later in the mail. They'd opened it, assessed 2c per floppy disk duty and attached a customs bill for 12c.