eBay

westernstargifts · ‎09-09-2010

We had to go out of town today. A payment came in at the last minute so I quickly packaged the order and took it with me. I mailed it from a small town. It's a good thing I knew what it should cost because the Post Office employee was going to charge me the Small Packet rate for a Light Packet item. The "Small Packet" label confused her.

It makes you wonder how many people are overcharged for shipping when even the Post Office employees don't know the difference between Light and Small Packet.

Judy

nonstopchatter · ‎09-09-2010

Light packet is relatively new compared to small package...so a small town office...its doesn't surprise me. Sadly there is nothing in the way of comprehensive training available to the postal workers in the outlets. As for the real post offices...I see no good excuse.

westernstargifts · ‎09-09-2010

I don't know how long Light Packet has been around but I have been using it for almost 4 years so they have had plenty of time to learn about it.

When I first started selling on eBay I dealt with a postal outlet in a 7-Eleven store. That was a nightmare. Now I get the best treatment (i.e. DH does) from the postal outlet in a local business and stationery store. They have very well trained staff, not to mention the fact that they will give some Light Packet packages "the push" to get them through the letter slot....;-)

bcbeautiful · ‎09-10-2010

They have very well trained staff, not to mention the fact that they will give some Light Packet packages "the push" to get them through the letter slot....

I have a great P.O. I work with, also. At first when we snuck a few through the slot , the staff was concerned the letters would be returned and they might get in trouble, But been doing it for a few years and have never had one come back for insufficient P.O.

Now even when I say that one is too thck, they just wink and let it go.

nonstopchatter · ‎09-10-2010

My outlet is great too. But I certainly understand how new stuff gets missed when Canada Post does no training of new staff. None at all. The older staff train the new ones....so if the old staff didn't get the message on something...its not passed along. I've been to some terrible outlets in several different cities. It pays to shop around.

marcopoloca · ‎09-10-2010

The size restriction from Canada Post is absurd, while the postage rate kept going up every year the stingy 5 mm to 20 mm has not changed for century; Usps seem to be lot more generous.

There's no training at the outlet so Canada Post can still claim to be the expert to warrant their $30+ hourly rate with full benefits and pension (with limited office hour access). The outlet has much friendlier service, way better & longer hours and the clerks there work as hard if not harder than the post people but they get only minimum wages 😞

dipmicro · ‎09-10-2010

The size restriction from Canada Post is absurd, while the postage rate kept going up every year the stingy 5 mm to 20 mm has not changed for century; Usps seem to be lot more generous.

There's no training at the outlet so Canada Post can still claim to be the expert to warrant their $30+ hourly rate with full benefits and pension (with limited office hour access). The outlet has much friendlier service, way better & longer hours and the clerks there work as hard if not harder than the post people but they get only minimum wages 😞

Tell me about the stupid restriction. Go to my website and search for DE3558 and see the big red message under product information. I have several low cost products that I cannot reasonably ship from Canada.

Usually I just drop my mail fully prepared at CanadaPost. Once in a while I have >0.2g letter, they need to put meter on it, the guy moans "you are making me work". It annoys me but I know he is joking. Some people are annoying when they joke.

On the other hand, there is always someone shipping Small Packet and filling it up and taking 5min of everyone's time or someone who cannot decide for a minute what pattern of stamp to put on their letter and they are perfectly fine with it.

I find USPS much more professional and clerks trained to be business-like and efficient. CanadaPost is probably run by some hippies.

cumos55 · ‎09-10-2010

Canada Post outlets are franchise operations...

The employees are not employed by Canada Post but by the company that holds the franchise.

parent_family · ‎09-10-2010

I use an outlet. The owner is the one running the P.O.
She is very good...exceptional! As a small business owner herself, she really understands business.
She is always looking for ways to assist her "eBayers".