# out of us purchase?



## andy02 (Nov 14, 2002)

who bought a bike outside the us and where did you buy it? Was it worth it?


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## toast (Jan 6, 2005)

*I did.*



andy02 said:


> who bought a bike outside the us and where did you buy it? Was it worth it?


Maestro. Yes.
There were some pains involved. UPS tried to charge me 15% import tax. They also broke the rear derailuer in transit, as well as misplacing the bike for a day. You also need to know all your sizes, as you won't see Mike in person. Not for a newbie.

Saved tons, but shipping and shipping case add a good deal back.
But, much cheaper and the paint scheme that I have wanted for years at no extra charge. US dealers can only get paint schemes for the past two years through the distributor, with a $300 up charge.


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## andy02 (Nov 14, 2002)

Thanks for the info but I don't think they are around anymore? Or they don't have a current website


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## toast (Jan 6, 2005)

*Link*



andy02 said:


> Thanks for the info but I don't think they are around anymore? Or they don't have a current website


http://www.maestro-uk.com

Mike was still in business about 3 hours ago when I spoke to him.


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## andy02 (Nov 14, 2002)

MAybe it is just his website is down. But I get redirected to this when I try to go https://www1.btwebworld.com/webworld/removed_site.html




toast said:


> http://www.maestro-uk.com
> 
> Mike was still in business about 3 hours ago when I spoke to him.


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## T-shirt (Aug 15, 2004)

*andy02,

Whoa, you are right, his site is down. He sent me an email reply last Monday; here is his email address: [email protected]

Thanks,
Tshirt*


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## lpdjshaw (Aug 8, 2004)

andy02 said:


> who bought a bike outside the us and where did you buy it? Was it worth it?



I also bought my C50 from Mike in the UK. Saved about $1000 compared to buying locally. As you will read all throughout this site everybody who has dealt with Mike has nothing but good to say about him. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another Colnago from him (except my wife would divorce me, although that would give me more time to ride, but then again,...I better stop here).
Go for it!


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## KATZRKOL (Mar 4, 2004)

*TotalCycling*



andy02 said:


> who bought a bike outside the us and where did you buy it? Was it worth it?


That's where I bought mine. Maestro is awsome, but didn't have the size I needed at the time. I'd NEVER buy a Colnago in the US out of self respect. One importer is a monoply, and they bend you over on the price. Additionally, they aren't too good at warranty claims either. So first choice, Maestro UK second Totalcycling.


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## Max-Q (Feb 6, 2004)

I bought my C-50 from Maestro last year. He was a pleasure to deal with. If I ever were to buy another Colnago it definately would be from Mike. I saved tons of money and I have a 5 year warranty. 

My experience with UPS was great. It arrived to the sort facility in my city on time and I drove up there myself and picked it up the next morning. I didn't want to have to wait for the truck to deliver it to my house.  The box was in perfect shape and they did charge me the import tax. 

Maestro is the ONLY way to go when buying a Colnago.


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## T-shirt (Aug 15, 2004)

*Yikes*

*toast,

So what happened with the import tax? Did UPS end up charging you or did they let it go?

Thanks,
Tshirt*


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## toast (Jan 6, 2005)

*The rest of the story*



T-shirt said:


> *So what happened with the import tax? Did UPS end up charging you or did they let it go?
> *


The short answer is, I got a refund check yesterday for many hundreds of $s from UPS, so in the end I paid the 3.8% (3.7%?) import tax that Mike mentioned, and you should expect to do the same. (it might take some work)
(This pertains to a complete bike, at some point the UPS lady mentioned that frame only was different. Do some research, but that may not be taxed, which might be why people say that UPS sometimes lets them go, or frames may be at yet another rate and UPS actually does screw up...)

The long story, and details, as I know them, which may (or may not) be made up or correct, and might help someone in the future...
UPS is supposed to act as an agent and collect tax on stuff they import. As far as I can tell, a lady in Philly looked at the packing slip total charge, took a tarriff chart, and multiplied the GBP price on the packing slip times the highest "cycle" rate 15.x% (for motorcycles?) on the chart and (correctly) converted it to US Dollars. Then she put a big sticker on the case that told the UPS driver to collect a BIG check before giving me the bike.

I randomly happened to be home when the bike arrived, and the driver told me I had to write him a BIG check if I wanted the bike. When I told him he was on drugs and the tarriff couldn't be that BIG, he said that UPS had nothing to do with the charge, and I needed to contact customs if the charge wasn't right (NOT true). After a lot of cellphone calls, the driver picked up the bike and started to walk away, so I gave him the check, since it is rare for me to be around during the day time.
Later in the day, when I finally spoke to the UPS import lady in person, she told me since the packing slip only said cycle, she charged me the basic cycle fee of 15%. She then read me the other cycle categories she had. Last but not least, "Cycles-other-other" is a bike with wheels under 625mm and weight under 8Kg. (Tariff Code 8712 00 50 00)
"That's it!"
"Well it says the weight is 18kg" 
"That is bike and box weight! If it weighed 18kg, I wouldn't be paying that much money and have it shipped from England!"

She told me I shouldn't have paid the driver, (lady, you don't know how long I have been waiting for this bike) and there would be at least an $80 fee to file a refund request with customs. I remained as polite as possible, and insisted that they couldn't have cashed the check yet and sent it to customs, so there must be another way. Her supervisor "overheard her" and they finally decided that they could just cut me a refund check for the difference, which would arrive in 4-6 weeks.

So, I got charged tax on the shipping fee, insurance, and box, but at that point, I wasn't going to argue another $20.
My helpful comment would be to have Mike put on a more detailed packing slip, and write that the tax rate should be whatever and a specific amount. (The UPS lady blamed the shipper for improper documentation a couple of times. My gut feeling is that they would have charged me anything printed on the box.)

Finally, yes, there is a much easier alternative! Let Tri-altair do the import for you, charge you for the free custom paint (oh wait, they said you couldn't even get LX11) add in their middle man charge, and you don't have to deal with UPS!


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## T-shirt (Aug 15, 2004)

*Thanks*

*toast,

Thank you very much. You gave a lot of very useful information. That will help me and I'm sure it will help other people too.

What an ordeal; that would have been a huge expense. I'm glad you were able to get most of your money back.

Thanks for the information,
Tshirt *


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## T-shirt (Aug 15, 2004)

*Maestro's back!*

*Yay! Maestro's site is back up and running.*

http://www.maestro-uk.com/


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