Pincher, I'm assuming that you are a Canadian. A third party shipper in the US picks up your package from B&H, not Purolator. This third party shipper/courier service ships the package to the closest border crossing and hands off the package to Purolator. Between the time the package left B&H and got to the border was American thanksgiving and there would be at least a one day delay. I'm not certain the value of what the lens you bought, but if it was more than $1600 cdn, then Canada Customs places an automatic 24-48 hour delay so that Purolator, your customs broker, can provide Canada Customs the nafta certificate and Customs is satisfied with the contents of the package. Apparently, Canada Customs have a real mental block about camera lenses with a value greater than $1600.
The first scan that Purolator does on your package would be at least 48 hours from the time it left B&H and the time the package is received at the border by Purolator. BTW, scaning packages is not realtime and apears on the Puolator site 24 hours after the scan. The next scan is when it reaches Purolators sort facility in Toronto. The third scan is when it reaches the delivery depot. The last scan is when it is on the truck for delievery. Total time could be upwards of 4 business days. BTW, Purlator does not process packages on the weekend
The alternative is to buy the lens from Adorama and Adorama does not collect the HST at time of purchase and hands the package to Fedex or UPS and charges you $30-$50 and you pay the driver at your door the HST, and various shipping and brokerage fees which could run the shipping bill upto $75 or more. The cost to ship from B&H to Canada for your lens probably was $15 which I think is a great deal. Your experience sounds pretty normal.
