CP says buyer's address doesn't exist

[jonafree_66]

Just sold an item, went to ship it and the CP rep said I should confirm the address because it doesn't exist in their system. I've messaged the buyer to confirm their shipping address, but I had a question: If they say that is their address and it turns out to be bogus, am I screwed? Or will the buyer confirming the address cover me?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@jonafree_66 

A starting point for you.

• Google the address or do a reverse lookup at the canadapost website.
• It's also possible its a new account and they switched a zero with oh or vice versa.
• Or a new address that's not in the system yet. It happens.
• Last resort....You can also just message the customer to confirm its correct.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/postalcode/fpc.jsf

-Lotz

[ricarmic]

I am 95% sure I've shipped to addresses that they can't locate.

My PM tells me it can't be found, so we default to the address as provided by the buyer (I'm assuming the PM has a way to manually override whatever is blocking them and putting in what I have on the package, I can't see what they're typing on the screen).

None of them have been lost.

Just like every other system out there, there will be glitches or problems, and as Lotz says, remember this is a "bot" that is doing the confirming, any little thing that's not quite right it won't be able to infer, as a person can.

PS if the PO is checking the address, then I'm assuming you're sending tracked. If you send tracked to the address provided to PAYPAL you are covered whether or not it is bogus. If the buyer changes the address, then you have a problem, tracked or not because it doesn't match the payment address.

PSPS I'm 100% sure some of the foreign addresses can't be found, the one I sent to Lebanon (expresspost) had things like "by the ritz hotel" that for sure won't be in their system! Very much to my surprise the Lebanon one arrived!

[cumos55]

Search the postal code on Canada Post... to determine the address

Search the address on Canada Post to determine the postal code

Sometimes a postal code will be changed because the number of residences  covered by a postal code has increased.  This has happened to me   and buyer finally told me the postal code had changed

Do a search for the address on Mapquest.... Done many times

Do a search for  the address on Google,  click on street view,  and then view the residence on Google Maps.

I once had a strange address in New York City... and within minutes  I was  standing in front of the house.... Google Maps was used.

I once mailed a parcel to Ottawa and it came back as  ... not found.....  but it was real    ! ! ! ! 

as my search proved.....  Buyer was refunded.....  transaction was cancelled because of address problems.   Buyer was unhappy...

[needsmorerobots]

I've had such an experience. I was told an address in the United States didn't exist. I told them it did and I that located it using Google Maps. Canada Post sent the package in the end and I received no angry e-mails thankfully.

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

Ah, this happened to us a few years back. We sold to a Museum on the Ontario / Quebec border. The Postal Code was wonky as was the Province. To post we:

- googled the location to verify its existence
- checked the official location on public pages (we were lucky it was an institution). found it had multiple addresses listed, none of which matched our buyers
- contacted the buyer directly informing them that according to CPC they don't exists and if they are CERTAIN the address is correct - they were certain. This showed direct evidence within the eBay system of the extend of measures taken to verify prior to post
- contacted CPC and asked why the location doesn't validate. I can't recall now the reason but it appeared to be a farily common issue, something to do with delivery address variations vs official address designations
- recontacted the buyer stating as they are certain the address listed is correct it shall be posted to that address as is required by eBay and that, should there be any issues with the successful delivery of the item, they are aware they shall be required to pay for postage should the item be return undeliverable (as a record within the eBay system)
- post the item using tracking, insurance, and signature confirmation

Luckily, all panned out well and the Museum was thrilled 🙂

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

One I had recently, the address included a street address and PO Box. The postal code attached  belonged to PO Box but system was reading the street address first causing a conflict. Once the street address was removed all was good in the world. They preferred picking up at the Post Office.

-Lotz

[rosscd57]

Put it on Google Earth street view and take a look at the building - it may give you some insight.

[scott.morrow]

My address exists in the world, it exists in Google and a map quest and my GPS. My township assures me THEY accept the address, they say it’s the address in the official 911 database. But it doesn’t exist for Canada Post. I have a street address smack-dab in the center of my city. My house is 40 years old, and is on the ONLY Main Street in town. It has a big house number on it.

Yet - when I attempt to renew my health card or drivers licence or order a pizza or just about anything else NOT Canada Post delivered, my address comes up invalid because they all use the screwed up Canada Post address database, which doesn’t contain my home address. I can’t order bloody pizza to a PO Box! 

4 hours wasted, on hold with my municipality office, then Service Ontario, then a FULL HOUR on hold at Canada Post, only for them to tell me “Nope, you’ve been involuntarily issued a PO Box. THAT’s your official address!” So thanks to Canada Post, I cannot even change my address online, which is by law, to be done within 6 days of the move. Ha! Instead I have to drive 80km to a Service Ontario office where apparently, THEY don’t bother to validate your address. Their system apparently allows them to put ANYTHING in, whether it exists in Canada Posts’s database or not. If THEY don’t care about address accuracy, why are they forcing it on us?

Canada Post is the ABSOLUTE WORST corporation on the planet to try to actually SOLVE problems. 

 - Nonexistent Ontario Resident

[ypdc_dennis]

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@scott.morrow wrote:

My address exists in the world, it exists in Google and a map quest and my GPS. My township assures me THEY accept the address, they say it’s the address in the official 911 database. But it doesn’t exist for Canada Post. I have a street address smack-dab in the center of my city. My house is 40 years old, and is on the ONLY Main Street in town. It has a big house number on it.

 - Nonexistent Ontario Resident

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