I feel sick. Canada Post whole bunch of missing / item not received.

[velvetfinch]

I mailed out a whole ton of items on Oct 3 and 4th.  Due to the obvious expense of tracking I opt to use discount postage stamps to save money - I've done this for years with seldom an issue.

Well this lot of shipments in early October, almost all of them have mysteriously disappeared, not shown up, a few have shown up very late.  I don't know what the heck is going on??? I'm thinking a Canada Post plane or truck went up in flames or someone at the Post Office stole the whole lot (unlikely)

Has anyone else experienced an unusual amount of lost packages lately?  I guess there is nothing I can do, I have no proof of postage purchase as I used stamps.  Is there even any point of contacting CP about this?

I just feel sick about it.

[ladybug2785]

How many actually went missing from that day? Also how many were sent out that day?

[velvetfinch]

I sent out about 25, and about 16 of them were either extremely late or still have not turned up.  I don't even have a full count yet because a lot of these people are still patiently waiting and have not demanded refunds yet.  I started doing some refunds yesterday as people were (understandably) getting tired of waiting.

[reallynicestamps]

Holey Moley!

Definitely have a chat with your postmaster.

That's a lot of complaints from one mailing.

I'd be thinking a bag was not properly emptied at the terminus (or not properly filled at the outlet/mailbox) and some parcels didn't actually enter the mailstream for days, perhaps a week or more.

And if you decide to write a letter asking for a refund on postage, add a cc to your shiny new MP. They will want to make a good impression this early on.

[velvetfinch]

But, because I used postage stamps do I have any recourse at all?  I mean I can't even prove that I mailed anything at this point as there are no receipts 😞

[momcqueen]

You really should contact Canada Post know of your problem with this particular day's shipment in as much detail as is possible. Even if they can't actually DO anything for you now, they could in theory investigate so that it doesn't happen again. Worst case scenario: what if the guy driving the truck that day went straight home instead of to the depot and made himself a Merry Christmas? No seller can afford to have THAT kind of thing happen more than once. I'm not saying that's what happened here but......  

[momcqueen · Accepted solution]

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@velvetfinch wrote:

But, because I used postage stamps do I have any recourse at all?  I mean I can't even prove that I mailed anything at this point as there are no receipts 😞

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That is my concern for you. If it is a bar coded Small Packets Airmail parcel, you can get a Proof of Shipment receipt at the counter. If you walked to the counter and bought postage, you can show someone that at least, 'Look! I bought postage!' A canny thief (maybe someone got into the mailbag or mailbox) will know which letters or packets or parcels are least likely to be 'missed'. Absolutely, you are out-of-pocket on this and that is incredibly unfortunate but don't go quietly into that good night, make as big a stink about it as you can and even talk to law enforcement if possible. That is too huge a bundle of parcels to lose quietly. If a truck went up in flames, so be it. That is an accident and hopefully no one would be hurt. If someone has sticky fingers along the line, that is another matter entirely. Good luck to you. Let us know what you learn later if you think of it. 

[velvetfinch]

You make very good points.  I will contact Canada Post about this and let everyone know the outcome, if any. Thank you

[femmefan1946]

Well you have your invoices, which you can print off to show the PM.

And as mentioned if you were buying stamps (or shipping labels) across the counter, you would have those receipts.

And copies of your customer complaints.

But the point is not just to get financial relief.

When we use untracked and uninsured services we sacrifice that possiblity in favour of a low cost.

So many items lost or late points to a serious problem, possibly in that PO, possibly in the postal outlet you use, possibly downstream at the terminal.

A personnel problem, or a mailbox that is getting overlooked, or careless emptying of the bags that bring parcels to the terminal. Who knows?

If others are also questioning the PM, something might be done.

Even if you are the only one complaining bringing your concerns forward, you are helping the PO to offer better service to all customers.

[sylviebee]

I had the strangest experience ever with CPO.

I bought an item from Calgary and in the past his shipments have taken 3 days to arrive.  I'm in Ontario.

This time several weeks passed and I was sure my package was lost.

A few days ago it arrived and had been opened by US customs.

It had been shipped letter mail.

Somehow it went to the States and for some reason that must have triggered something and they opened my mail and that's how I know it went to the States.

How odd is that?

[velvetfinch]

very odd - I hope something like that has happened to my stuff and I get it back eventually!

[momcqueen]

That would be a salvageable outcome.

[femmefan1946]

A few days ago it arrived and had been opened by US customs.

It had been shipped letter mail.

Our auction house once had a (very expensive) lot sent to Moscow Russia instead of Moscow Idaho.

Priority Post .

We got it back and the customer thought it hilarious. (He got the original package with all the postal markings inside a new package. Philatelists like that sort of postal history.)

Whew.

[rose-dee]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

Our auction house once had a (very expensive) lot sent to Moscow Russia instead of Moscow Idaho.

Priority Post .

We got it back and the customer thought it hilarious. (He got the original package with all the postal markings inside a new package. Philatelists like that sort of postal history.)

Whew.

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I can understand getting Moscow, Russia mixed up with Moscow, Idaho (or London, Ontario with London, England), especially if this was years ago before postal codes were in regular use by everybody.  

But having an item from Calgary get to Kitchener, Ontario via the U.S.?  It makes no sense, although I have seen more than one other seller mention on these boards that domestic items have been mysteriously routed through the United States, or have gone on a circuitous little walkabout to other destinations before finally reaching the intended recipient. 

I had to smile at your story though -- only a philatelist customer would forgive such a misadventure, and with good humour too.  

[ricarmic]

This summer I had a $800 box go to South Africa instead of Saudi Arabia. (the country code for Saudi Arabia is SA, South Africa's is ZA although one wonders at how that could happen since it is supposed to be machines making all the decisions now....).

As well my (philatelist) Saudi Arabian customer was beyond awesome about it, it did eventually find its way to him although I worried about 6 years off my life while it bounced around in South Africa....

[femmefan1946]

Nope -- 21st century problems.

[momcqueen]

The people who work behind my postal counter think: (a) 'UK is an abbreviation for what province, maybe Yukon?' (b) Milan is a city in California and (c) New South Wales a part of Great Britain. This is all with the postage-label-bearing package in their actual hands stating United Kingdom, Italy and Australia, respectively.

[milezero]

Clearly Canada Post has a bee in their bonnet over fake stamps, or reused stamps. 

Probably some enterprising folks with different "cultural norms" have discovered yet another weakness in how us North Americans do things and are exploiting it.

Or it could just be that Canada Post doesn't like people using up old stamps or discount postage and has decided to unofficially "lean on" those shipments to discourage people from using them. 

Wrong you say?  Sure, but when do right and wrong have anything to do with profits?

[pierrelebel]

"Probably some enterprising folks with different "cultural norms" have discovered yet another weakness in how us North Americans do things and are exploiting it."

English is a second language to me and I am not sure I understand the exact meaning of your words.

Could you please reword your message using words clearly expressing your view on the subject.

[pjcdn2005]

Clearly Canada Post has a bee in their bonnet over fake stamps, or reused stamps. 

Considering stamps are supposed to be for one time use only I can see why they would have a problem with someone reusing stamps. I'm fairly sure that a theatre would have 'a bee in their bonnet' over a fake movie ticket and if someone tried using one ticket for two different movies.

Both my husband and I use old stamps that have never been used and we've never had a problem with CP so I'm not sure why you say that CP is  discouraging the use of them. Is it because some parcels with stamps went missing? If so, I don't see the correlation.

[momcqueen]

I know next-to-nothing about stamps so I preface this question with that: how does a post office KNOW if the stamp has been used if there is no cancellation mark on it? Do they spray it with a substance only visible under black light like cat urine on someone's denim pants at the glo-bowling game? The moral of that story is don't leave your laundry on the floor if you have an angry cat.