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lifeintheknife · ‎10-09-2013

Of FIFTEEN postage label refunds that I have requested since 2008, I have received TWO refunds so far. (Yes, that's right, two out of fifteen.) All of the refunds were requested within the required 48 hours for label cancellation, and were valid - either the labels were detroyed, the buyer cancelled purchase or changed mailing address, etc...

I discovered this problem in May of 2012, and contacted PayPal, and was assured that the error was going to be corrected and I would receive my refund. (Specifially, the PayPal rep I communicated with said "I found that the refund has been on hold this whole time. I submitted a request to have it released or re-refunded") However, a year and a half later, no refund had been received.

To date, PayPal/Canada Post owes me almost $150 in unused postage.

I contacted PayPal Merchant Services this morning regarding the problem, and the excellent PayPal representative I spoke with did not seem surprised about the issue I was encountering. He stated that the problem lies directly with Canada Post and NOT PayPal. Canada Post wants to make sure the labels are never used, and then just never gets around to refunding the monies it seems... Super.

There is a happy lining to my tale - PayPal (not Canada Post) is supposed to issue me a refund. (They offered, I accepted.) The PayPal rep encouraged me to follow up with Canada Post about the problem however, and I am going to contact the ombudsman in regards to resolving this. Clearly this is not only happening to me, and the refund monies could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for seller's all over Canada.

I urge ALL seller's who have ever cancelled a Canada Post label via PayPal to make sure that they have received their money back. I did a search in my email for 'Shipping Cancellation" and came up with all of the related emails I required. If you are a non-email deleter like myself, you should be able to find the same.

If you do find you haven't received your refunds, no matter how old, contact PayPal Merchant Services AND Canada Post. The more time this takes the folks at PayPal & Canada Post to deal with upset customers, the more likely they are to correct the flawed system.

lifeintheknife · ‎10-09-2013

It should be noted that you CAN NOT complain to the Canada Post Ombudsman without a Service Ticket number from Canada Post. And believe me, I had to FIGHT to get Canada Post to open a Service Ticket on this issue. (I almost became THAT customer. The one that completely loses their .)

It took two lengthy calls to Canada Post to get *some* action on this matter this morning.

After my first phone call, the bewildered customer service rep tried to transfer me, and subsequently dumped my call. (I am giving her the benefit of the doubt anyway...)

My second call was a bit of a battle... I quite literally fought with the rep to get them to open a Service Ticket. (In fact, the only thing that got the gal to back down was me threatening to go the media stating that Canada Post REFUSED to open a Service Ticket for a valid complaint.) She relented, we both calmed down and found our better selves, and continued the conversation in a more dignified manner.

I was put through to a Canada Post Supervisor, who was excellent, and took extensive notes in order to resolve this problem. She genuinely seemed concerned about fixing this problem.

In theory, Canada Post will contact me within 5 business days to let me know where we go from here.

In the meantime, no refund has been received from PayPal yet...

maggiebvintage2010 · ‎10-09-2013

I recently contacted PayPal about the same issue. I had three refunds "pending", and actually only inquired about the oldest one. The customer service rep was excellent and thorough. She wrote me citing all 3 outstanding refunds, and said PayPal would refund me within 48 hours. It did take about 2 weeks longer than that, and when the refund came through, it was in the form of fee reversals from several transactions. When I saw these small amounts credited in my PayPal account, I added them up and came to the conclusion that this was my postage refund - there was no explanation from PayPal. Your post explains why PayPal did it this way - if Canada Post is not following through on their end, PayPal had to filnd an internal accounting solution for my refund.

If this is a widespread problem, and I suspect it is, we all need to be on the alert for the refunds. As a result of your post, I have set up a tracking system, and will contact PayPal each time an expected postage refund is not received within 90 days.

Thank you for brilnging this problem to everyone's attention.

purpleziggy434 · ‎10-10-2013

I may be from the old school ,I take all my packages to a postal outlet.This works very well for me .

aztecmcuprototyping · ‎10-10-2013

If I had to stand in line every day at the post office to buy postage for 10-15 parcels, I'd end up shooting myslef. Canda Post pisss me off no end and I have no desire to spend any 'quality time' with them.

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-10-2013

@purpleziggy434 wrote:
I may be from the old school ,I take all my packages to a postal outlet.This works very well for me .

Printing labels on Paypal is much less stressful for me, plus the expedited package, tracked packet and xpresspost rates are less expensive on Paypal.

lifeintheknife · ‎10-10-2013

Canada Post did in fact get back to me yesterday. The very helpful Customer Service rep could only go so far though - she got a stalemate from the higher ups, who refused to admit any errors on their part. Canada Post of course blamed PayPal and suggested I call them. Which of course, I did.

PayPal once more said the same thing, and frankly, I believe them. According to PayPal this is an ongoing problem with Canada Post, and it has been addressed repeatedly in the past. The problem lies directly with Canada Post not approving the refunds. Not for any valid reason of course - just pure laziness as far as I can tell.

As to the $150 credit that PayPal was going to apply to my account - well, somehow they forced Canada Post to finally approve THREE of my THIRTEEN outstanding refunds due - one from August, one from June & one from APRIL. A far cry from the total amount due to me, but at least a start. And I fully intend to keep fighting for the remaining TEN refunds outstanding.

I will call PayPal again tomorrow and see if they can put more pressure on Canada Post for the remaining amounts due.

And I will be filing a lenghy complaint with the ombudsman at Canada Post, which will include a large amount of paperwork. I've done the work on my end - now I'd like to see Canada Post do theirs. They are clearly aware of the problem, and completely unwilling to admit to it or fix it. That needs to change.

(If I was getting an hourly wage for this battle at this point, it would be less than minimum at this point.)

stopchick · ‎11-09-2013

Good work if you can get it. I have tried many times to print labels on PP and get blank pages so I have to VOID the label which is a never ending process. A much better method for any one who is an egghead at PP is to not charge for the label until the person has OKAYED that the label had printed. In my book you don't charge for something you haven't received. Are you listening PAYPAL?

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

Oscar Wilde

Anonymous · ‎11-18-2013

Hurray for you!!

Canada Post loathes to refund to anyone at anytime, that is why?

I am also owed some $$$ by PayPal/Canada Post.

Actually it is Canada Post NOT PayPal that has to refund to anyone via PayPal Shipping. I did received a notification saying that "Canada Post has approved the refund...." one time some years ago, so I knew it is Canada Post not PayPal that have to refund to anyone.

I'd better check my pile of papers to check how much $$$ Canada Post via PayPal owes me and then I will call Canada Post to demand for the refunds.

I like using PayPal Shipping as it is ideal for me as I am mobility limited and there is no way on earth that I can go to a post office and stand in line and then having to deal with the clerks who often give me wrong information and what more PayPal offers discounts and I can play around to check for postage rates, etc.

Looking forward to see your problems solved real soon. Hurray to you again!!

@lifeintheknife wrote:
Canada Post did in fact get back to me yesterday. The very helpful Customer Service rep could only go so far though - she got a stalemate from the higher ups, who refused to admit any errors on their part. Canada Post of course blamed PayPal and suggested I call them. Which of course, I did.

PayPal once more said the same thing, and frankly, I believe them. According to PayPal this is an ongoing problem with Canada Post, and it has been addressed repeatedly in the past. The problem lies directly with Canada Post not approving the refunds. Not for any valid reason of course - just pure laziness as far as I can tell.

As to the $150 credit that PayPal was going to apply to my account - well, somehow they forced Canada Post to finally approve THREE of my THIRTEEN outstanding refunds due - one from August, one from June & one from APRIL. A far cry from the total amount due to me, but at least a start. And I fully intend to keep fighting for the remaining TEN refunds outstanding.

I will call PayPal again tomorrow and see if they can put more pressure on Canada Post for the remaining amounts due.

And I will be filing a lenghy complaint with the ombudsman at Canada Post, which will include a large amount of paperwork. I've done the work on my end - now I'd like to see Canada Post do theirs. They are clearly aware of the problem, and completely unwilling to admit to it or fix it. That needs to change.

(If I was getting an hourly wage for this battle at this point, it would be less than minimum at this point.)