Canada Post is OUTRAGEOUS

[nancyschina]

Hi;
I just need to vent for a minute. I sold a Swarovski figurine on ebay for $325 US. The buyer is from Australia. In order to package the figurine, plaque and stand safely, it required a box with the dimensions of 30X32X40 cm. It weighed under 3 KG. To ship Canada Post Xpresspost was $149.24!!! The same package can be shipped USPS (who still don't use dimensions, only weight according to their website) to Australia by air with full insurance and tracking, for under $50!! The buyer only agreed to pay that amount of shipping after I sent him to the Canada Post website so he could see that I was not joking about the cost. That's it for me. I will not sell any more items overseas that weigh more than 2 kg.
Thanks for listening (reading)
Nancy

[whoscloset]

I stopped selling overseas long ago. More cost and headaches than it's worth.
Monique

Himalayan Salt Lamps - A Guide to Purchasing

[treasure-pot]

It's a vent we all share Nancy.

Canada Post may well find in the coming years that their exorbitant rates and poor service will force legislators to open the door to competition. They need look no further than the dominant position that Bell had in the local and long-distance telephone service markets.

When that day happens, the corporation will get a very rude awakening as to the degree of anger that exists amongst small business owners and eBay sellers. By burying their heads in the sand and ignoring the furor that is building, they will face the same lack of loyalty from customers that Bell did.

Our only consolation for now is the reasonable assurance that their day will come.

Bill treasure-pot

[whoscloset]

I hope you are right Bill, but Canada Post is a Crown Corp and Bell wasn't.
Monique

Himalayan Salt Lamps - A Guide to Purchasing

[treasure-pot]

That's true Monique, but did any of us think 20 years ago that Bell's monopoly of telephone service would be assailable? With politicians finding it harder and harder to get re-elected based on promises they never keep, small business people in Canada, at some point, are just going to ensure that it becomes a serious election issue.

I can dream, can't I? lol

Bill treasure-pot

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

Hi Nancy,

I have been selling a lot of Swarovski pieces and I find for speed and cost, Purolator does me right.

I typically ship in 30cm x 30cm x 30cm boxes and can get them to Australia for about $40 with insurance.

You should be aware however, while all shipping companies will insure figurines and collectibles, they don't willingly insure crystal. If you happen to lose one you should be ok but if one ends up broken you're probably out of luck... unless you are creative.

The good thing about Swarovski is the containers themselves can usually withstand nuclear war before you even do anything to them 🙂 My client threw (he says dropped I say threw) a large piece (Maxi Dolphin) about 6 feet in my store when he was bringing it in. We opened the box and you would never know anything happened to it.

[tobyshitzu]

The problem is...its already wide open to competition for everything except non priority letters, and we still have high rates. Their monoply service is the part with good rates.

[katiusciav]

Canada Post may well find in the coming years that their exorbitant rates and poor service will force legislators to open the door to competition. They need look no further than the dominant position that Bell had in the local and long-distance telephone service markets.

i reeeeeeeeally hope this will happen, in fact, i can TASTE the anticipation and satisfaction if it does happen.
i know what you mean nancy, sometimes i calculate rates on cp's webpage, and i have to go back, i'm sure i must have made a mistake...i probably put in 1000 llbs instead of 10llbs...nope its right, and yup, i've also offered to cx's to look at the calculation page just so they know i'm not screwing them.
canada post should be really ashamed of themselves.

although, i could be wrong, but recent experience with them leads me to believe they MAY be starting to change a little, i called in yesterday to enquire about a package i sent two weeks ago to the states, expedited. i didn't use the webpage, i wanted to speak with someone to see if they have more info than i get on the screen (that it's still in my city, which would just enrage my cx)...well, he went and opened a claim for me, without even asking! i told him i was shocked, that i've never had a cp agent voluntarily open a claim when an expedited parcel is ONE DAY late! he said "we're starting to change that"...also, i'm finding their claims process for lost/damaged items a little easier, quicker with a better rate of reimbursements. i had a cp agent on the phone reimburse my full cost + shipping for a glass lamp...they normally don't insure glass, but she did it for me.

maybe i'm daydreaming or seriously undergoing some wishful thinking here, but i'm hoping cp is starting to catch wind of the many disgruntled cx's out there going to their competitors...

[recped]

Canada Post may well find in the coming years that their exorbitant rates and poor service will force legislators to open the door to competition. They need look no further than the dominant position that Bell had in the local and long-distance telephone service markets.

Canada Post has plenty of competition, UPS, FedEx, DHL to name a few.

The ONLY thing that CP has a monopoly on is standard Lettermail.

FYI, as of May 17th USPS International rates will be rising dramatically and dimensional weight will also come into effect. No doubt they will still be cheaper than CP but the difference will be much smaller.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

[whoscloset]

The ONLY thing that CP has a monopoly on is standard Lettermail.

Not true. None of the courier companies are allowed to compete with them on basic ground service in ANY form...lettermail, packages, etc. UPS will actually give me a larger discount on their expedited service within Canada than their basic service for this very reason.
Monique

Himalayan Salt Lamps - A Guide to Purchasing

[tobyshitzu]

"None of the courier companies are allowed to compete with them on basic ground service in ANY form.."

They can compete on ANYTHING except non priority letters. (they have to charge 3x CPs rate for letters which makes it unviable). The postal act restricts competition on letter that is rate capped domestically. Quite reasonable with what would happen if that wasn't the case.

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-10/bo-ga:l_I-gb:s_14//en#anchorbo-ga:l_I-gb:s_14

[tobyshitzu]

(2) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring any person to transmit by post any newspaper, magazine, book, catalogue or goods.

[whoscloset]

I'll be happy to admit I'm wrong if you actually cite a statute that is relevent to the discussion.
Monique

Himalayan Salt Lamps - A Guide to Purchasing

[cartoonsinabox]

Actually we have been using another company for over 3 years that competes with Canada Post and has excellent rates for international and USA (does not ship into Canada). They are faster and have cheaper rates. If anyone is ever interested in getting more information please email me and will get you there contact information. I stoped using Canada Post because of high rates and sometimes slow service but only use inside Canada because of canadian reglementations.

Frederic