My Mk1 importing days may be on hold... :(

[ther at cox.net (Theron Ross)]

It has nothing to do with politics--unless you're saying that Clinton was
responsible for directing the Border Patrol & Customs to be complete A-holes
during the 90's when I was crossing the Mexican border.

Not all of them are pricks, but over 6 years of daily border crossing taught
me to hate those guys. But with a cooler head, I realize that they are just
poorly trained (like most working for any government agency) and to just
give a fake smile and be nice to all of them.

You think they're bad up in Canada? Give them *ANY* crap down here at the
Mexican border and they'll take your car apart. And they sure as hell won't
put it back together when they're through.

I always hoped that some news program like 60 Minutes would do a hidden
camera deal on them and show the whole country how completely unproffesional
they are. 'Course, what should I expect from those working for the
government?

--Theron


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <marc@getty.net>
To: "Allyn" <amalventano@sc.rr.com>
Cc: "Sciroccolist" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 8:19 PM
Subject: Re: My Mk1 importing days may be on hold... :(


>
> These folks think they report to nobody, don't bother with the who is your
> boss routine! The people they do report do don't give 1/2 a rats ass!
> Dispute handling is very slow (sometimes *YEARS*), and you often sit in a
> jail cell through this whole process.
>
> International travel is always dependent of the good graces of your host
> country. Right now the USA is not very gracefull unless you have an in
with
> W or his cronies. Next time you can tell them you were coming for an
> anti-abortion rally or a meeting to support drilling in the artic and they
> will let you through! ;-)
>
> Sorry to hear your trip got nix'ed Mark!
>
> BTW: My insurance company totaled my Benz today. :-(
>
>  -Marc
> Only a bunny truck
>
>
> Allyn writes:
>
> > Mark,
> >
> > some things you might be able to use as ammo before your next attempt:
> > - who do those customs people answer to? someone must surely be in
charge
> > of ensuring they keep civil rights in check... otherwise they could just
> > tell everyone to screw off and die.
> > - there *should* be some sort of dispute handling, other than having to
> > deal with someone accusing you of everything under the sun. knowing
their
> > procedure better then they do will usually halp you prevail (and its
> > usually not hard with a small bit of research).
> >
> > hth
> > Al
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark" <mardak@cogeco.ca>
> > To: "Sciroccolist" <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 10:11 PM
> > Subject: My Mk1 importing days may be on hold... :(
> >
> >
> >> I got burned for being a nice guy, and being honest...  Again...
> >>
> >> I guess most people get more cynical with age, but today didn't help...
> >>
> >> I was denied entry into the U.S. today on my way to help out Rhett and
> >> Tarra by towing her Mk2 from Daun's in Ohio to Iowa "on my way" to
> >> picking up a 75 track car I bought in Chicago.
> >>
> >> My biggest mistake was telling the border guard in the booth that I was
> >> "delivering a car for a friend" on my way to picking up my own car.  I
> >> should have just said I was picking up a car I bought on the internet -
> >> like I've done a bunch of times this year.  She immediately started
> >> thinking I was operating a towing business, and didn't want to hear
> >> anything about me basically doing it for fuel and hotel costs - more as
a
> >> favor to a fellow Scirocco fan than as a money making enterprise.
> >>
> >> So off to the immigration office I went.  After four (yes four!) hours
> >> standing (yes standing!) in a tiny, VERY crowed and smelly waiting area
I
> >> was "helped" by a customs official.  After explaining the story to her
> >> she asked what I did for a living - to which I replied that I was self
> >> employed.  Then she asked if I owned a house - to which I said that I
> >> rented an apartment.  She then concluded that I had no "ties" to
Canada,
> >> and why should she believe me that I won't just stay in the U.S.  I
> >> pointed out that I've already imported six vehicles this year alone,
and
> >> this trip was no different - I even gave her the fax confirmation of
the
> >> title I faxed to customs so I could import the car to Canada, and a
copy
> >> of the title itself signed over to me!
> >>
> >> It was very hard to remain calm, as her accusations got more and more
> >> obsurd as I answered her questions.  The last thing I needed was an
even
> >> bigger "X" beside my name so I kept my cool...
> >>
> >> Needless to say, I was turned around and basically not told anything
> >> about what I can do or bring next time I were to try and cross...  So,
> >> now I don't know what to do...  I have a car in Chicago bought and paid
> >> for, a deposit on another car, and Tarra's Mk2 still sitting in Ohio...
> >>
> >> I'm actually still dumbfounded...
> >>
> >> I think I'll try again after the long weekend and bring some
> >> documentation/receipts of jobs I've done recently, rent receipts, and
> >> receipts for a couple cars that I've sold.  Maybe I'll get an official
> >> with a bit more grey matter upstairs...  (Judging by the supervisor I
> >> spoke to that's highly unlikely though).
> >>
> >> Later,
> >>
> >> Mark - "perturbed"
> >> 75
> >> 75 - trapped in the windy city
> >> 80 S
> >> 81 S  x3
> >> 81 Caddy
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
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