Adventures with the CBSA

[Conker]

Dear ASC, I currently have rage guy's face. Seriously, that's retarded.

So... I posted last week about the CBSA, and I've finally been able to talk with an agent.

They told me the gun in my package has been seized... so I was like WTF? I'm not stupid enough to order a gun from Hong Kong, there must be a mistake... I asked the agent to describe me what was the "gun" that got seized (maybe the shop made a mistake in the order?), and what she told me confirmed what I had doubts about... the "gun" is the gearbox.

I explained her that this isn't a gun, but a gearbox, and that I did check the appropiate memorandum which states that only gun replicas are prohibited -not gearboxes....

She then told me that she is aware of this, and that yes, GEARBOXES are explicitely prohibited from import !?!?!? I'm well aware that it's totally wrong, so I didn't really know what to say...

I asked her if there was any memorandum I could confirm that with, and she answered that she was going to release the rest of the package and send the gearbox to their weapons expert to determine what to do, and who would refer me the proper memorandum to back up her claims (if she was correct).

Does anyone have any info from previous situations that could have been similar, or any tips for me?

Thanks!
Conker

PS: imad

[ACCL]

oh shit seriously? I think im fucked. i ordered a gearbox too.....

[Conker]

Well I'm 99% sure that the girl is totally wrong and that this is just a wrongful interpretation.

Being that I'm in the province of Quebec and that this went thru the CYUL (Montreal, QC) customs, I can't say I'm surprised that they are much more firm against anything gun-related.

You should be OK in BC.

[thpethalK]

Whatcha sayin about BC? lol

I'm surprised your gearbox is being held...

[Assault Pioneer]

chances are when they arrive at the "weapons expert's" desk he'll open it up, take one look at it and go "wtf is this shit? this aint a weapon" and clear it immediatly, weather he knows anything about airsoft or not a gearbox is just a piston driver mechanism

[Conker]

The girl said that she knows what this is, that (I quote approximately) "this is the mecanism for a gun that shoots little plastic BBs, this is prohibited"...

So she knows it's not an actual gun, yet she still says it's prohibited

[Amos]

I forwarded this to some CBSA guys I know, they'll get a good laugh.

[L473ncy]

It should be fine. Once it gets to someone who actually knows their shit it should be released.

Wasn't it last year they were seizing gearboxes as "receivers".

[pusangani]

Yep last year I believe.

I love how they try to come off as knowing their stuff and being confident about it all, when they are actually wrong, stupid cow heheheh

[c3sk]

Conker,

Did you happen to get the agent's name or badge number? I would recommend you file a complaint with her superior. "Mistakes" like this shouldn't be swept under the rug. They should be taken care of immediately. The only way this will happen, is if the incident is reported to a superior for corrective action. She isn't going to report her own "Oops" on the job.

We order equipment in from the US all the time, if something like this happened with any of our electronics orders... I would be contacting said agent's superior for an earful.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

^^

What he said.. ignorance and stupidity should not be allowed to pass.

Get on the phone to her boss

[sortie39]

courage is just like love!
it must have hope for nourishment.

[HKGhost]

I'm sure it will be released after they realized that they can't fit a bullet into it.

[Captain Banzai]

Is there a trigger on it? (I'm still a huge airsoft noob)
I'd say that that was enough for the agent.

Not saying the agent was correct, probably thinking they were actually doing their job.

As was already mentioned, the weapon expert will open the box up go "WTF" and send it back.

[Yuu]

New person on the job? She needs to read CFC about what indicates a replica, and gearbox doesn't fit that category lol.