eBay

fergua3 · ‎04-30-2022

i mailed a package with a destination within the city of Toronto. In fact the buyer lives just 7.4km away from the Post Office i mailed the package. I expected it to be delivered it a day or two.

Instead of the package being processed at Mississauga like always, it is now in Stoney Creek, over 100km away and has been sitting there wthout moving for 3 days.

The buyer is very upset and i'm afraid i'm about to lose $200. The only time i've seen packages go to Stoney Creek instead of Mississauga was during Covid when parts of Miss Gateway were closed down and Stoney Creek was used as a back up facility. But i can find no info of problems at Gateway. Anything i can do?

msau4301 · ‎04-30-2022

Hello,

I'm in Oakville so my packages pass through Mississauga as well. I had several go out this week without any problems. I do know however from past experience that I have had items get to Kitchener or Georgetown quicker than Toronto. With Toronto being such a major center we tend to think it would be quicker but that isn't always the case. Also with tracking I've seen some screw ups so you can't always trust the tracking itself.

About a month ago I had a package going to Toronto, right downtown to some huge condo and the buyer wanted to make sure "the buzzer code" was on the package (it was), so I was little more nervous and watching tracking (shouldn't have!) because it showed it never even left Mississauga, in fact it showed it was "delivered to your front porch" in Mississauga! I called Canada Post customer service thinking I wanted some answers before the buyer contacted me but she said the same thing showed for her and to wait a few days, sometimes there's a mix up and package info can be switched it should be corrected later. Next day I heard from buyer and it had been delivered safe and sound. The tracking never did update the correct way. You could try calling Customer Service for CP as they sometimes can see something we can't but they should know about any re-routes. I don't know if they answer on the weekend though?! Good luck!

fergua3 · ‎04-30-2022

thanks for the reply. Tracking has updated. The package went to London, Ont, then Mississauga and is now at the Scarborough distribution center, which is where it should be for delivery.

So after doing the grand tour of southern Ontario, the package is where it belongs. BTW i shipped a package to California the same day as this package and the California package was delivered today. The intra Toronto package should be delivered Monday.

msau4301 · ‎04-30-2022

I've seen the same thing! US packages getting there quicker than something 90 minutes away! Definitely US destinations that have been quicker than Ontario to B.C., I have one on route to Alberta that hasn't budged in five days, had one get to New York in two. No way to know how it will go. Glad to hear the Toronto one you were worried about is almost there! 🙂

reallynicestamps · ‎05-01-2022

Stoney Creek is Hamilton.

Mississauga is practically next door, not 100km away. About a half hour drive, if traffic is reasonable.

And as you say, the Stoney Creek plant is sometimes used when Gateway gets backed up.

What date did you mail the package?

What is the last estimated delivery date that eBay gave your customer?

Has that date passed?

Has the customer opened a Claim?

Keep in mind that tracking shows where the parcel was the last time the bar code was read, not where it is now.

Your customer is not going to get his parcel on the weekend. Monday? Maybe. It could be in the carrier's bin now, waiting for him to start his shift at 7 am.

fergua3 · ‎05-01-2022

Stoney Creek is 91km from the buyer's address and 87km from the Post Office i mailed the package which is what i was referring to. Both are about 30km from Mississauga Gateway. Mississauga is 57km from Stoney Creek. Not what i'd call next door but maybe you live in farm country. 🙂

From Stoney Creek, the package went to London, Ont, 2 hours in the wrong direction. However, as mentioned above i expect it will be delivered Monday. It was on quite an adventure, considering the Post Office it was mailed at was 4km from the buyer's delivery address.

ricarmic · ‎05-02-2022

I don't profess to know all the internal intricacies but as I understand it stuff gets shunted off to the automagic sorting centres, nobody looks at it again until it's being sorted at the final destination.

So for example if I send a a letter to my neighbour, and don't tell the PM in my wee rural PO here it's "local" it goes off to London (40 mins away) or most likely Mississauga (2 hours away) before it comes back.... all for the sake of automagic sorting "efficiency".....

Depending on staffing levels which are probably widly fluctuating in the larger centres due to COVID, stuff gets rerouted to other more functional centres to alleviate backlog, which could be what happened here.

reallynicestamps · ‎05-03-2022

I believe what we should take away from this is:

DON'T LOOK AT TRACKING UNLESS THE CUSTOMER COMPLAINS.

We can't do anything to make it move faster.

The "spoke and hub" delivery system is considered to be a Best Practice for shippers, even though common sense does not understand it.

If the buyer is 4 km away, you could have chosen to walk it over, giving you three hours of healthy excercise. 😎

fergua3 · ‎05-03-2022

the buyer did complain. He actually requested pick up after he bought but i do not offer pick ups, both because of some bad experiences i had in my early days of ebay selling when doing pick ups/meetings and also because i want proof of delivery and only tracking gives proof of delivery.

He reluctantly agreed that i could ship it to him via CP. I wasn't worried as i fully expected it would arrive in 1-2 days like almost always happens. This package ended up taking 10 days.

dinomitesales · ‎05-05-2022

@fergua3 wrote:
... and also because i want proof of delivery and only tracking gives proof of delivery.

Not entirely true. These days, if Local Pickup is selected the buyer is given a QR code as well as a 6 digit passcode. When meeting in person you (the seller) would scan their QR code into the transaction on the app, or enter the passcode if scanning isn't possible. This marks the transaction as complete and is basically the same as a tracking number stating "Delivered".