Hi everyone,
I've enjoyed reading the discussions on the impending Canada Post changes, but haven't seen any posts on actual use of the Tracked Packet service. I thought I would share my experience as objectively as possible. Sorry if this is a bit lengthy...
Week of January 7
Sold a smaller <1kg item to a customer in the USA who wanted low-cost shipping. I informed him that I could ship by Small Packet Ground now, or for a few dollars more ship by the new Tracked Packet service on the 14th to give him tracking (since it supposedly would be available directly through Canada Post, even if not through eBay/PayPal). He elected to wait and pay the few dollars more for Tracked Packet.
January 14
I was excited to check out the new service, so I went to CP's Electronic Shipping Tools (using my Venture One number) first thing in the morning. There it was, tracked packet! After choosing the shipping method though, the system errored out. I called CP tech support and they were aware of the issue, and said they were working on it. It would be fixed in a few hours.
After lunch, I tried again and it worked perfectly. Label printed, package dropped off at the post office. Labels are a goofy custom size too, not a half page, not a quarter page, so now we have to buy custom labels from someone... Hopefully PayPal will continue to use an even half-page when they're up and running!
January 18
Late Friday night, customer contacts me, the tracking number he paid and waited for is not working. On the case, I tried the number on the Canada Post website, the CP iPhone app, and the USPS website. Three different answers. CP website - number does not exist. CP app - Item has been delivered(!). USPS website - Item has been accepted at a Canadian Post Office, nothing else in the week since. I told the customer I was on it and would contact CP on Saturday morning when they reopened.
January 19
Called CP customer service around 9am (which simply hangs up on you if you call before 10am, which is when they actually open, as I discovered). Called back after 10am and got answer number 4 - item is undeliverable and being returned to sender. WHAT?!? They said it could be for any number of reasons, label damaged, etc. Never happened to me before, all my items are packed well, labels are covered with clear tape so they can't be easily damaged or removed, so this seemed unlikely to me. They said it could take up to 5 business days to get back to me. Obviously Mr. Customer would not be happy with the extra time it would take for me to get the item back and reship!
Not satisfied, I called the CP website technical help desk to find out if Tracked Packet was truly up and running. I was able to speak with someone very helpful, who flat out said it is NOT YET AVAILABLE!! It is an error on their part that the service shows up in their software at all, and the service would not be available until February 11th (a date we've seen before), and that I would get a refund since it is their mistake (we'll see...).
So I asked if Tracked Packet was available to purchase for Venture One customers directly at the post office; he thought so but did not know, and transfered me to the general customer service since he said they would know (lol). Someone picked up the phone, and after much holding and deliberation with their colleagues, they didn't know anything. They did not know that Tracked Packet did not work online, they did not know if if could be used at the post office directly. They said go to a post office and ask, or try calling back later. Since eBay states the service will not be available in PO's until Feb. 11, I'm guessing the answer is "no" anyway.
Final Comments
Like many others, I am deeply discouraged by the changes, as most items I sell are in the $40-$80 range, under 1kg, perfect for Small Packet. However I do have to file claims 1-2 times a year (possibly unrelated, but a big CP theft ring was busted at my local facility recently 😞 ), so insurance is a must. Rates for small items under 250g have more than doubled to the USA compared to Small Packet Ground. Internationally, rates have more than quadrupled using the same parameters but with Small Packet Air. eBay's example is laughable; $40 to ship a DVD to Europe!! Who's going to pay $40 for a $10 item? Oh well, there are many other things I would like to say, but again I'm trying to stay as objective as possible...
Thanks for reading if you made it to the end, I'd love to hear others' experiences!
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