Has anyone else had problems with Canada Post small packets not getting to their destination?

[katlover1952]

I recently had one returned totally trashed and have also had another buyer indicate that he has not received his parcel which was mailed on Dec. 5th. I try to ship as cheaply as possible so use the small packet air USA rather than the much more expensive tracked & insured. I have also had a third person indicate they did not receive theirs although they seemed concerned that it had been stolen from the neighbourhood as she had several missing ones. I always purchase my shipping labels from the Post Office through Paypal. It really does seem unfair that the seller is responsible when parcels get lost in the mail - after all we have proof of postage what more can we do than mail it promptly. I have refunded the purchase price to the buyer with the missing item but did not refund the postage costs - mostly because this was how I was dealt with as a buyer when an item did not show up. Is that standard practice or are sellers supposed to refund the postage as well. If we have to refund the postage can we get it back from the Post Office. Seems very unfair to sellers if we have to refund postage we as well as the item price. I am starting to rethink using this untracked uninsured mail delivery but with the price of it am not sure if buyers would even pay it. Thoughts and experience of other sellers would be appreciated. Thanks,

[bestchoicebrand]

Shipping within Canada is very-very-very sloooow, from side to side usually takes up to 3 weeks! Sometime longer than international....

Packages never disappear into thin air, most likely impatient buyer or wrong address.  

[alpha814kat]

Hello eBayer

   Like yourself I wanted to ship at the lowest cost possible but the risk is TOO high from Canada to US / worldwide.  It's wiser to have less sales, than loose money on product that gets damaged/ lost/  stolen.  So I concluded that while it was very costly, I would NOT ship without a tracking on each shipment.  Yes it costs more but at least your customer can not claim you did not ship the item.  I found that customers in Canada must be given their tracking number and they go to website:  www.canadapost.ca  While those from the US must go to both Canada website while product is still in Canada.  But once it ships to US, they have to go to www.trackingnumber.org and put in their number.  It clearly shows where the package is.  BUT key is that you MUST always get tracking on your package.  Otherwise you have zero proof that you sent a package  and it left the post office you were at.    Having said that, you may want to call the Canada post support and put in a formal complaint.  800-267-1177.  Put in a complaint on ALL damages regardless.  You still paid for them to safely ship your product and if they have questionable carriers, they will not realize it unless you demand explainations.  ALWAYS keep your receipts for every shipment. You may want to take a photo of each package you ship at their counter while they put postage on it.  Don't get mad, get even !  Everything in todays world is supply and demand and everyone wants to make a quick buck with little work expended.  Between the cost of eBay fees, shipping cost with tracking and then the packaging / boxes.  It's impossible to use the auction mode and therefore fixed is the only option where you can control cost.  I have also found that the calculator does NOT work for Canada.  So I am forced to drive to the post office twice.  Once to get a total cost estimate and the second to mail the package assuming the customer is willing to pay high price for shipment.  So GAS costs are another loss. Risk for NOT doing it this way is to find that even if you measure,  have metric weight the cost will NOT be the same as they claim on the www.canadapost.ca website.  Therefore forcing you to again not track the item OR loose money when you have to pay more for the tracking cost.  What I was told is that they charge for every 500g.  So even if your package is 100grams, you will be charged for 500g at a time.  The only way around that loss is if your customers combines their shipments in the same size package.  So hopefully this information is helpful to you.  Will it allow lower cost shipments NO!

  You need to get small package - air tracked and remember  to aLWAYS take the package in for your cost before giving a final cost to a customer....including those in Canada!

Sandi

[femmefan1946]

I recently had one returned totally trashed

First contact your buyer and explain the problem. Attach a photo of the trashed parcel if you can , showing her address.

Then PHONE Canada Post and talk to the nice ladies in New Brunswick. If CP damaged the parcel, they should at least be responsible for returning your postage cost.

But ask for the cost of the item as well. It would be handy in these negotiations to know your actual cost for the item (including eBay and PP fees) but start by asking for the selling price. Easier to go down than up.

It's not likely to work with no insurance, but if you don't ask they can\t say yes.

The reason that the service is relatively cheap is that there is no insurance.

 another buyer indicate that he has not received his parcel which was mailed on Dec. 5th

You can schmooze him about the weather both here and in the States, but be prepared to refund.

Whether you believe him or not.

And don't wait until he makes a PP claim. That is worse than just paying up. Seriously.

(Third case) although they seemed concerned that it had been stolen from the neighbourhood as she had several missing ones.

If it weren't for bad luck, you's have no luck at all.

Again, schmooze. Sympathize. Tell your customer to report the possible thefts to her local postmaster. And ask for the PO theft report number. Sometimes the complaint disappears when you ask for confirmation.

But be prepared to refund.

. Is that standard practice or are sellers supposed to refund the postage as well

The buyer is meant to be 'made whole". So the entire payment should be refunded. But if your buyer is not complaining don't push it.

In spite of your run of bad luck, the postal system does do its job quite well. We can cover ourselves against the occasional loss or damage claim with either thirdparty or self insurance.

There is a company called shipsurance which will insure one-off packages. I use a company that does annual contracts called Hugh Wood Insurance, but we are also insuring a B&M business that includes fire, water, theft and injury in the shop and when we travel to shows as well as postal losses.

And then there is self-insurance or Cookie Jar Insurance, which just means adding a few pennies to every shipping charge (or asking price) to cover the cost of an occasional loss. When you get a claim, you pay it from all those virtual pennies in the Virtual Cookie Jar.

Oh and white space is your friend. Blocks of solid text are hard to read.

[pacificwinds6875]

Small Packet International / USA Air (Canada Post) does not have tracking and some (not so nice) people know that.  They "claim" that they never received it.  You have NO proof they did or did not and guess who's then awarded their PayPal transaction in full?  You just lost product and the shipping cost.

I've been BURNED to the tune of $500 by a very nasty little person in an international country that knew all the loop holes......well so do I now!  Sometimes I do offer this service to VERY trusted customers or on items that are inexpensive or I have LOTS of.  But never on expensive or rare items - just never!  I'd rather lose a sale than to be "taken" by a scammer.

[linda_canadian_nurse]

If you purchase your shipping label from Canada Post using Paypal, not only is it cheaper then buying postage at the post office, but then the package is covered under the Paypal protection plan. Have your customer send their complaint to the resolution center and then your response to their complaint is that you purchased the shipping label using Paypal and therefore the missing package is covered under their insurance policy.

[cousinquiller]

Actually, PayPal's insurance is more complicated than that. Yes, you must use the shipping address that PayPal provided. But in order for a seller to file a claim, s/he must first provide proof of delivery of the parcel, as provided by the shipper (e.g., Canada Post). From PayPal: "Proof of Delivery is online or physical documentation from a shipping company that includes the date the item was delivered and the item’s status as delivered."

The only way you can meet this requirement is to ship by a method that includes parcel tracking, as it's the only way that you can later prove that a parcel was delivered. And as we all know, sending parcels by this method is expensive, especially if you're shipping overseas..

[gwenbccanada]

As far as I am concerned if we are going to send something small package air we may as well just throw it in the garbage and forget about it.  There is no guarantee it will get there.  I foolishly trusted the postal service to deliver a package for me, it was an 

iPhone.  It didn't get to where it was going and I had to refund the buyer including postage almost $400.  Live and learn I guess.  I won't be doing much more shipping as the costs are too high and anything that is affordable, well you take the chance of it not getting there and there is no accountability on the post office's part.

[goldhold2004]

I have been told by Canada Post employee's that they are making piles of these small shipments. They bring in a crew to sort them once in  a while. It seems wrong to me that they do not go through the normal system for regular delivery.   Goldhold2004 Calgary Canada.

[javalover2014]

Of course the seller is responsible for any shipment that's lost or damaged (including shipping costs) !Should the buyer be responsible? Listen the proper way to cover yourself as a seller is to use the cheapest shipping method that has insurance against loss or damage.If you're too cheap to do that then you have no grounds to gripe if something goes wrong.You shouldn't be selling, plain and simple.