eBay

concerned4all · ‎07-07-2016

It's been awhile since I've purchased anything from the US using the Global shipping program. Unfortunately, most US sellers are using the GSP now so we as buyers have no choice.

Does anyone know who will be handling the items once in Canada? It used to be Canpar then Canada Post. Since there will be no postal service as of Monday, I am wondering which carrier the parcels will be handed over to for delivery in Canada?

Thank you.

femmefan1946 · ‎07-07-2016

We can only hope that Pitney Bowes (GSP) has a plan.

Or that Deepak Chopra formerly of PB and now president of Canada Post reminded his old colleagues that they should have one.

Most shipments were being delivered by Canada Post with CanPar and once or twice FedEx being mentioned. However, when we see mention of any GSP shipment, it is usually a complaint or a problem.

So cross all your fingers and toes.

marnotom! · ‎07-07-2016

@concerned4all wrote:

Does anyone know who will be handling the items once in Canada? It used to be Canpar then Canada Post. Since there will be no postal service as of Monday, I am wondering which carrier the parcels will be handed over to for delivery in Canada?

It's not a matter of "used to". The choice of carrier is up to the logistics company that handles the item once it reaches Canada. As subcontractors for Pitney Bowes, it's up to those companies to come up with appropriate plans for dealing with GSP items.

momcqueen · ‎07-07-2016

Is it safe to assume in the present and/or near future it won't be Canada Post but rather a courier? If I was a buyer, I'd want that assurance. As a seller too. Since I'd handed by order over to a company that is supposed to specialize in getting things delivered, I'd hope they'd utilize a company still delivery parcels and not on a work stoppage.

concerned4all · ‎07-07-2016

I'm surprised that Ebay has not informed us as to who will be delivering items from the GSP. The banner is there informing us of a possible disruption in postal service but not the GSP.

You would think they would let everyone know and at least try to reassure us that GSP items will be delivered. Considering this service is outrageously expensive. There should be contingencies in place.

marnotom! · ‎07-07-2016

@mjwl2006 wrote:

Is it safe to assume in the present and/or near future it won't be Canada Post but rather a courier? If I was a buyer, I'd want that assurance. As a seller too. Since I'd handed by order over to a company that is supposed to specialize in getting things delivered, I'd hope they'd utilize a company still delivery parcels and not on a work stoppage.

Pitney Bowes pushes more paper around than it pushes parcels around. They're the ringmaster of a multi-ring circus of freight carriers, logistics companies and subcontractors. It's considered the "importer of record" of a GSP item and they're the party to whom that their delivery agents answer.

Since there are likely a number of players responsible for getting the item from the border entry point to its final destination, you can't make any sort of assumptions as to how any one particular player is handling the prospect of a Canada Post service disruption.

Having said that, most of these companies have probably been around for a while and know the drill.

For what it's worth, I received an email from well.ca saying that in anticipation of a disruption in Canada Post's delivery services, they'd switched over from CP to UPS and encouraged customers with PO boxes to modify their delivery address. It will be interesting to find out how those in rural/remote areas not served by UPS will take this news.

Last week, my wife made a purchase from an online retailer who's delivered by Express Mail in the past. Yesterday, her package showed up on our doorstep delivered by Purolator. The return address on the shipping label was that of Purolator's freight division, so it was likely handled in a similar manner as the GSP.

Usually, her shipments from this online retailer get assessed taxes and duties by CBSA, but there was no customs form or information on this particular package (just like a GSP shipment). Either somebody's taking the hit for the taxes/duty/brokerage/etc. or else we're going to get a lovely bill delivered to us in the next little while.

marnotom! · ‎07-07-2016

@concerned4all wrote:

I'm surprised that Ebay has not informed us as to who will be delivering items from the GSP. The banner is there informing us of a possible disruption in postal service but not the GSP.

As noted above, there are a number of possible players responsible for getting a GSP item from their border entry point to their final destination. eBay probably doesn't know who they are as they don't operate the Global Shipping Program. It would be up to Pitney Bowes to relay this information somehow, and, heck, they might not know all the players involved either, depending on the nature of relationship between PB, the freight carriers from Kentucky, and the companies that process and sub-contract out transport of GSP packages within Canada.

@concerned4all wrote:

You would think they would let everyone know and at least try to reassure us that GSP items will be delivered. Considering this service is outrageously expensive. There should be contingencies in place.

As the companies responsible for processing and sub-contracting out shipping the item within Canada are based in Canada, they're likely keenly aware of the situation with Canada Post and CUPW and have back-up plans in place if they're heavily reliant on Canada Post.

Yes, the service can be expensive for items that can be shipped pretty easily as oversized letters, but nobody is forcing you to buy an item shipped through the GSP. There's a two-letter word that can save you a lot of money, and it starts with "N".