The UPS Airport Tour
29 October 2013
Lynn
We have been waiting for parts for the windlass, and have had to order three different kits from three different suppliers. Lofrans, we may like your windlass, but your lines of supply for parts is pathetic. The bearing replacement kit wasn’t even sourced from a Lofrans supplier, but a bearings supply company in the U.S. The bearings company was nice, and had what we needed, but they insisted on shipping by UPS. {{sigh}}
Maybe other people have had great success with UPS, but I am not able to count myself in that number. We were frustrated with them when we were in Puerto Rico, and our first encounter with them in Grenada was far from stellar (they delivered it to a chandlery that would accept packages, but they left no identifying markers on it to let the store know whose it was). A friend was called twice in one morning and told that his package had arrived, but when he got to the warehouse, was informed that the plane wasn’t due to arrive for at least another hour, and his package was on that plane. Eventually he got what he needed, but not without a runaround.
The first inclination that UPS was not going to be easy on us this time was when the bearing company called us and said that the address we gave them wasn’t acceptable. Strange, FedEx and DHL are okay with “For Pickup” at the office, but UPS wouldn’t allow that. Okay, use the marina’s address (and use 00000 as the zip code to keep them happy). I knew that the parts would never be delivered straight to the marina, so that was a red herring.
This morning, one of the dockmasters arrived at the boat with a sheaf of papers for us. It was from UPS/LIAT (LIAT is the abominable local airline that does the work for UPS in the Eastern Caribbean). Our parts were on island, but were being held at a bonded warehouse at the airport. I took out invoice to the Customs office here at the marina and got a C-14 (this lets us pay only 2.5% import costs for boat things). I grabbed my wallet, backpack and bike and pedalled out to the airport (yeah, I have a bike again, and it is big enough for me, too!).
“Good morning! Could you please direct me to where I might find ASG?” I followed the directions to the far end of the terminal to the fenced in and high security area where the runway access, VIP parking, and bonded warehouses are located. The very nice security guard notified me that I had to go to the main Security Office to get a pass to access the area. He also let me know not to be in a rush, as they were closed until 1:00 for lunch.
Fortunately, on my ride to the airport, I had noticed that Latta and Frank were still selling “doubles” so I had picked up one each for Ken and I. I bought a drink and enjoyed my lunch in a shady spot with a nice breeze. After a meander through the small airport, I wandered back to the Security Office and surrendered my driver’s license in exchange for the security pass.
I wheeled my bike back to the gate by the warehouse. After a bit of waiting and idle chatter, the guard figured that they (the warehouse staff) would probably be ready for me. I was admitted into the forbidden zone!
The guys were very nice, and we did what we could until the Customs officer arrived back from his lunch. ASG has nothing to do with LIAT or UPS, as it is a subsidiary of the Airport Authority, which may explain their efficiency. The Customs officer was very nice, and seemed to actually feel bad for me when he said that if I wanted to use the C-14 (and therefore pay much less duty), I would have to have a broker do it all for me. If I bit the bullet and paid the full 26.5%, I could do a shortened version of the paperwork myself. Thinking it over had me realize that a broker would cost me as much as what I would save, and it would probably waste a day. Okay, let’s get ’er done.
Officer Brimes did what he had to do, and told me I had to pay the bonded warehouse $5.50 ECD for “stamps” (it ends up they really are postage stamps, and is an easy way for the government to ensure that certain fees are paid for paperwork). He then smiled and apologised for what I was going to have to go through next. I had to go through the security gates into the departure area (which my security pass would allow), go through the x-ray machine, and walk to the Customs area where the arriving passengers make their claims. I smiled back and responded “I don’t blame the messenger, you just have to follow the rules” and started on the next part of this odyssey.
No problem with security (“please wear the badge higher up”, so apparently clipping it to my belt loop wasn’t acceptable) as I didn’t set the alarms off going through the metal detector, and my bag was acceptable. I was then escorted through a “Must be Escorted” door to the Arrivals Customs hall.
The Customs officer there was very nice as well, and she had me taken care of, and paid up, in good time. I departed through the “normal” doors and walked back to the warehouse. There, Officer Brimes took over again and made sure that my package was found promptly and that everything was taken care of. He was very attentive, and I am pretty sure that he went a little above and beyond his job requirements for me. We chatted about Hashing (he hasn’t been yet) and he now has our phone number to enquire about when and where they will be; it is not like I was going to shut him down on that, although I was darned tempted to give him the Hash Master’s number!
Bearings safely tucked into the backpack, I rolled my bike back to the main Security Office where I relinquished the pass and once again took possession of my driver’s license. I hopped aboard my two-wheeled transport and headed back to the boat. The previous week, I was in and out of Fedex in 10 minutes or less getting windlass parts, but thanks to UPS, I got an informal, but high security, tour of the Maurice Bishop International Airport that, not including having to wait for them to open, took about 45 minutes. And the trek out to the airport instead of a quick jaunt down the road. Gee, I'm glad you insisted on a real address, not just a "For Pickup".