Canada Post New MANDATORY SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT On Labels With $100+ Additional Insurance

[intimewithmusic]

Hi All

Re: ALL LABELS WITH $100+ ADDED INSURANCE (except XpressPost which it has alway required a signature. ) I ran into this today with an Expedited Domestic Parcel valued at $325. 

   According to James, a Canada Post technical advisor who confirmed it with the CP Small Business Department,

   "As of June 14, 2021 their new policy is to automatically apply the Signature "Option" to all shipments that have insurance added if the total value exceeds $199.99."

   If you go through the label creation process on Snap Ship everything is normal until you get to the 4th step which is selecting the preffered service. If you select Expedited Parcel and then declare the total value  of $200 or more the option for "SIGNATURE" will be automatically selected without you knowing. The check box is filled in and grayed out so you cannot uncheck it. It will stay that way through to Check Out.

   You will be charged $1.75 for the signature. Your customer will have to provide a signature upon delivery. This means they will likely have to go to the Post Office to get it. Many locations do not home deliver items with a request for signature. They will leave a card for pickup instead. I recommend you notify your buyers as this could cause a big inconvenience at their end particualrily if they live a long distance from their outlet. 

 The issue is with Snap Ship online labels. I asked if he knew if this was universal with Ebay and Shippo. He couldn't say. If it is the word "SIGNATURE" will appear in large letters near the top right side of your labels if you declared the total shipment value above $199.99. 

  If anyone else has details on whether Ebay & Shippo are synched in with this could you please make a comment?

   This time of year post offices are getting busy. A lot of buyers will be inconvenienced if they have to stand in lines waiting to sign for a $200 package. To avoid bad feedback the buyer should know this before they pay at checkout. It would be nice if Ebay automatically advised them at the time of purchase. If not it might be a good idea to message your customer before shipping or even better, add it right into your listings. The problem is it would have to be in ALL of your listings to be clear in the combined shipment purchases. 

   Thanks!

ITWM

[femmefan1946]

@dinomitesalesI think you work for Canada Post, have you heard about this?

At a guess, carriers are worried about their personal liability since Canada Post has deemed that the carrier's word that the item was delivered was good enough. Which has always sounded sketchey to me-- with no bad thoughts about the carriers.

Does it apply to exported shipments? Our American customers seem to find going to the Post Office terribly onerous, perhaps because they have nothing like the postal outlets in the back of the drug store open to all hours.

It would require the seller to promote it as a Feature and not a Bug. Telling the customer that this is added "For Your Protection" against porch theft. 

It also protects sellers against phoney Not Delivered attempts. The tracking number is our defence, but having to ask for the package at the PO should discourage those who might think to try it on.

Sellers will have to pay attention and add that $1.75 as a handling fee if listings  are valued over $199.

We went to our Postal Outlet yesterday (Thursday) and the drug store was closed -along with the outlet- for a "planned Hydro outage".  Just a sign on the door. We were a little miffed. However the world did not end and the post box was still right there. DH had to go back this morning to pickup his parcel though.

[intimewithmusic]

Hi.    Neither of the two CP tech reps had heard of this before I phoned them. I spent a very long time on hold while James clarified it through the Small Bus Dept. I sent a larger shipment to the USA a few weeks ago via Exp Parcel without this happening however, in that case I used Shippo and purchased the added insurance through Shipsurance. No signature was required. 

   According to James, Canada Post printed the new policy in their June 14 Policies Update which should be on their website. 

[dinomitesales]

This has been in effect for a long while now - years? Definitely prior to June 2021. I mean, it was a thing pre-pandemic before they stopped collecting signatures. Maybe people just forgot it was a thing because it's been so long since signature service was even being offered on parcels?

But yea, nothing new in my eyes. Greater than $200 a signature is automatically added. Whenever someone asked for $200 insurance at the counter I would just ask them if they'd be okay with $199.99 because otherwise it was going to cost them an extra $1.75 for a signature haha.

It's just for domestic parcels. There are no international services offered by Canada Post that have a signature option at a separate charge.

I don't know specifically how this works with Shippo and other third-party label platforms, but it's an inherent part of Canada Post's API so I'd have to imagine it works just the same as it would with Snap Ship.

[dinomitesales]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

   According to James, a Canada Post technical advisor who confirmed it with the CP Small Business Department,

   "As of June 14, 2021 their new policy is to automatically apply the Signature "Option" to all shipments that have insurance added if the total value exceeds $199.99."

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At first I thought you were quoting some article you read, but after re-reading your post I think you're referring to an actual chat conversation you were having with someone named James at Canada Post.

I can almost assure you that "James" simply did a search on the CPC website (or Google), got this page here, and that's where the June 14, 2021 date came from lol (note the last time that page was updated). Like I said above, the mandatory signature above $200 thing has been in place for a long time now. Next time I'm at work I can see if I can find the original notice, but it was definitely many years ago.

If you don't regularly ship domestic Canadian parcels with insurance value greater than $200 through Canada Post then I see how this could be a surprise the first time you notice it.

[pjcdn2005]

I also remember it going into effect a few years ago.  It wouldn't affect Shippo as I think that any extra insurance purchased there is sold through a 3rd party insurance company, not Canada Post.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@dinomitesales wrote:

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

   According to James, a Canada Post technical advisor who confirmed it with the CP Small Business Department,

   "As of June 14, 2021 their new policy is to automatically apply the Signature "Option" to all shipments that have insurance added if the total value exceeds $199.99."

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At first I thought you were quoting some article you read, but after re-reading your post I think you're referring to an actual chat conversation you were having with someone named James at Canada Post.

I can almost assure you that "James" simply did a search on the CPC website (or Google), got this page here, and that's where the June 14, 2021 date came from lol (note the last time that page was updated). Like I said above, the mandatory signature above $200 thing has been in place for a long time now. Next time I'm at work I can see if I can find the original notice, but it was definitely many years ago.

If you don't regularly ship domestic Canadian parcels with insurance value greater than $200 through Canada Post then I see how this could be a surprise the first time you notice it.

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It's been awhile shipping anything but the available added options definitely vary between eBay Labels and Shippo. Passed those descrepancies to Label Team months ago but has been crickets for follow up. Shippo compares very closely(options/applicable charges) to Snapship.

-Lotz

[intimewithmusic]

Hi @dinomitesales 

  Thank you for your input. Here are some more details. I will follow up more tomorrow as I have a bad case of "sore screen eyes" . Too long at the monitor today.... I'll try to be brief to fill in the blanks. 

• It was actually not a chat with James at Canada Post. I spent about an hour on the phone with him and another rep whose name I didn't register.  James was speaking verbally to the Small Business team.
• Before today I'd heard CP was procurring signatures contrary to previous Covid restrictions on that which is correct but they haven't yet started in all locations. 
• When I shipped my item I didn't notice the signature box had been filled in and locked by CP. I saw it on the label at the post office. (For newcomers this is a domestic Exp Parcel shipment) 
• On return, thinking it was a gliche, I contacted CP tech support by telephone at Canada Post.  The first agent told me the issue was not supposed to happen. She asked me to run a test.  To do that I had to go back to the warehouse.
• I ran the test and contacted them again. This time James came on the phone. He troubleshooted and gave me the above info. 

   Some things you pointed out could have a bearing. Most of my sales are international. I've insured domestics before with Snap Ship but usually larger ones where I needed a signature. What I understand you to be saying is that other than Xpresspost this has been CP's policy for years. Is that right?

   If so I'm baffled as to why I was put through all that. I told them I was an Ebay  Seller and I would pass the word he agreed.  Am I a victim of incompetence?  From what you've said this might be the result of mistakes on behalf of Canada Post? Possibly the "tech support team" should have passed me on directly to the Small Business Team. 

  He told me it applied to everything except Xpresspost which caused some panic.  I just filled out a shipment to the USA via Tracked Packet and the issue did not reoccur. Frustrating!

   Reminds me of Steve Martin's line in the movie "Roxanne". "If a fire breaks out, whatever you do, DON'T call the Fire Department"!

  Thank you!

IT

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Signing and picking up at nearby postal outlet has been a thing for a few years now.  I mean, as a seller, this offers better seller protection as we wouldn't have to worry about porch thieves... 

[femmefan1946]

That's been my attitude. The Americans seem to get very whiny about picking up at the PO and perhaps that has something to do with comparitively short hours -- or short staffing leading to long lineups-- or being American.

Hmm.

I made a QAD check and the USPS office I found had 8:30-6pm hours except for Sunday (closed) and early (3pm) closing on Saturdays.

This compares to my closest Post Office which is closed all weekend and open 9-5 weekdays. But the postal outlet is open 8:30 -6pm  with shorter hours on weekends. I'm urban, and both are within walking distance - about 1-1.5km.

[pjcdn2005]

You wouldn't see it on Tracked Packet as it is valid only for domestic sales. 

I'm not sure about it not applying to Xpresspost.  There is mention on the link that @dinomitesales provided that extra insurance can't be bought for flat rate boxes and Xpresspost Certified. I have no idea what xpresspost certified is but as I'm sure that you can buy extra insurance for Xpresspost, you would charged for a signature if the package was insured for $200+.

[intimewithmusic]

Hi. Thank you. I haven't verified it yet but the rep said "The mandatory signature did not apply to Xpresspost because Xpost always requires a signature. " After selling since 2013 it's odd this is the 1st time this came up. I suppose it's because I used Shippo. For domestic orders I prefer not to have two seperate insurers so this time I used Snap Ship. 

[intimewithmusic]

   I understand you're saying Canada Post deliveries valued above $200 have had to be signed for  historically. I didn't know that.  CP has declined obtaining signatures for home deliveries until now. The procedure is resuming one location at a time. So this means those packages had to be picked up and signed for at an outlet.

    A few weeks back I waited for the man in front of me to pick up his package. He told the clerk he moved here from Quebec.  The package was addressed to Kelowna. She asked him for two pieces of ID specifically something with his local address. He didn't have anything local. What little ID he did have from Quebec was sketchy. (No photo). No permanent addy. She scolded him and then gave him the package just the same.  He could have taken the card from a porch. 

   Back when there were no postal outlets going into the post office wasn't much different than entering a police station or a bank. They actually had Wanted posters on bulliten boards. All the clerks knew the book.  Times have changed.

[dinomitesales]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

• Before today I'd heard CP was procurring signatures contrary to previous Covid restrictions on that which is correct but they haven't yet started in all locations. 

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You are correct that they are once again collecting signatures. I believe this went into affect on August 23rd. There's no reason why this wouldn't be a nation-wide directive, so any locations NOT properly collecting signatures are doing so against Canada Post's instructions.

What I understand you to be saying is that other than Xpresspost this has been CP's policy for years. Is that right?

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That is correct. Although it works the same for Xpresspost. The only domestic service offered by Canada Post that includes a signature free of charge is Priority. Maybe they were thinking of Xpresspost USA? That service includes a signature free of charge.

If so I'm baffled as to why I was put through all that. I told them I was an Ebay  Seller and I would pass the word he agreed.  Am I a victim of incompetence?  From what you've said this might be the result of mistakes on behalf of Canada Post? Possibly the "tech support team" should have passed me on directly to the Small Business Team. 

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Oh, 100% this is due to incompetence on their part. Just shows you how their reps don't even understand the rules of their own services. It's sad when someone like me, who isn't even an official employee of Canada Post (I'm employed by Shoppers Drug Mart because I work in an authorized dealer location) knows more about Canada Post than the people that are paid (much more than me, might I add) to represent the company in an official capacity.

I had an issue where a signature wasn't collected on a Registered Letter I sent out about a month ago (policy is that Registered Letters MUST  be carded for delivery at the post office and a hard-copy signature MUST be collected) and I think I cycled through 4 different reps on the Canada Post chat before I found someone who actually acknowledged the failure of their delivery agent and provided me with a refund for the service.

[dinomitesales · Accepted solution]

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@intimewithmusic wrote:

Hi. Thank you. I haven't verified it yet but the rep said "The mandatory signature did not apply to Xpresspost because Xpost always requires a signature. " After selling since 2013 it's odd this is the 1st time this came up. I suppose it's because I used Shippo. For domestic orders I prefer not to have two seperate insurers so this time I used Snap Ship. 

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lol what, of course it also applies to domestic Xpresspost. This guy clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

Like I said above, the only service where that statement would be accurate is on Xpresspost USA.

Like @pjcdn2005 said above, this may not be a thing on Shippo after all because I guess they deal with their own third-party insurance above the $100 included by Canada Post by default. So yeah, maybe that's why you didn't notice this before.

[intimewithmusic]

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@dinomitesales wrote:

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This guy clearly had no idea what he was talking about.

Hi. I feel like the boy who cried wolf! I've chalked this up to something that has slipped past me for the 9 years since I started on eBay. I never bought labels direct until last year. always Shippo, Paypal etc. 

I can't take credit for this. The credit goes to...

• The first CP support person I called (whose name I didn't get) . She even gave me a service ticket number.
• The second support person I phoned. After he investigated James told me this was a brand new policy.
• The CP counter clerk at the postal outlet. She told me she knew nothing about mandatory insurance over $199 on domestic. Must be knew.
• The Canada Post website rate tool. See for yourselves. Try it out. It lists a "Signature" as an "Option".  It doesn't mention unilatteraly applying the "option" at an extra charge and package redirection. Enter a shipments dimensions. enter an insured value of $200. Watch what happens on the left.  I don't know what dictionary CP uses. Most don't define "options" as mandatory choices.

  This cost me a half day but  I learned something new.  I hope a few others will too. I'm chalking this up to coincidences and staff training issues. I appologize if I have wasted time for the readers who were already aware of this. The all around moral is clear.

   Beware of who you trust. (Including govt representatives.)

  Thank you for your input and clarity!

IT

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