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fergua3 · ‎07-04-2022

i just got home from the PO. I was told that the CP computer system is down nationwide. Has been all weekend and still is today. Apparently this was a planned update to the computer system. So no packages can be shipped anywhere. I could only buy Canadian stamps.

Am i being fed a line by the lady at the PO? What kind of major company has a planned 3 day shutddown of all services??

fergua3 · ‎07-05-2022

i never go to CP offices as they are incoveniently located, have long lines and lousy hours. I always go to a franchise (SD). What does that have to do with anything? Point is i can take packages to CP any day of the week, easily, and have it processed, picked up and taken to a sorting center (that includes Sat and Sun). That's the way business works now. Few businesses shut down for 2 days out of every 7. Decades ago that was the accepted norm, but not any more.

CP deliberately shutting down for days at a time for computer upgrades is not acceptable. They only do it because they have a monopoly and can get away with it.

And any time they do upgrades it takes much longer than they project. Last year when they introduced their new computer system it was 2 months before the thing worked properly. Up til it was, every week there was a least one or two days where my local PO couldn't process anything because the computer system wasn't working. This is not acceptable for a large corporation in the year 2022.

marnotom! · ‎07-05-2022

@fergua3 wrote:

i never go to CP offices as they are incoveniently located, have long lines and lousy hours. I always go to a franchise (SD). What does that have to do with anything? Point is i can take packages to CP any day of the week, easily, and have it processed, picked up and taken to a sorting center (that includes Sat and Sun). That's the way business works now. Few businesses shut down for 2 days out of every 7. Decades ago that was the accepted norm, but not any more.

CP deliberately shutting down for days at a time for computer upgrades is not acceptable. They only do it because they have a monopoly and can get away with it.

Sorry, I thought you understood now that the days that Canada Post was going to be "offline" were days that post offices would have been closed anyway: Canada Day and the Saturday and Sunday following it. I brought up the postal outlets because those may have been open at the franchise operator's discretion, but with the system down there's likely little more they could do but sell stamps.

The Monday service outage was unplanned and, quite frankly, could well have happened with another "large corporation in the year 2022."

reallynicestamps · ‎07-07-2022

CP does it because they have a monopoly on the postal system....

Well, actually....

With the exception of "first class" mail, CP does not have a monopoly.

"A postal monopoly (also called a reserved service area or exclusive privilege) simply gives a post office the exclusive right to deliver certain kinds of mail. For example, Canada Post has a monopoly or exclusive privilege to deliver letters. A letter is defined as "one or more messages or information in any form, the total mass of which, if any, does not exceed 500 g, whether or not enclosed in an envelope, that is intended for collection or for transmission or delivery to any addressee as one item..." https://www.cupw.ca/en/campaign/resources/postal-privatisation-and-deregulation-questions-and-answer...

UPS, FedEX, CanPar and dozens of other couriers are also allowed to deliver mail and parcels in Canada.

Purolator is partly owned by Canada Post.
This is also why couriers charge so much for delivering letters. They base all their rates on shipments being at least 500 grams, even those that obviously are not.

One dirty little secret of those couriers is that when a destination is unprofitable, they subcontract delivery to Canada Post.

Canada Post also has made a profit most years since they became a Crown Corporation (instead of a government Department) in 1981.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Post#Profitability

Those profits are turned over to their only shareholder-- Canada.

fergua3 · ‎07-07-2022

that's true, technically. But they essentially have a monopoly by virtue of the fact that couriers are unaffordable on anyting but high prices items. Canada Post's rates are high. Courier rates are absurd unless you're Amazon and can get special deals. The main problem with couriers is they only offer fast services, or super fast services. They avoid the less profitable, affordable slower services....and i thought couriers were not allowed to compete head to head with CP on certain types of package delivery services, giving CP a monopoly on those services?

reallynicestamps · ‎07-08-2022

Canada Post has a monopoly on letter mail.

Thus the high base price for courier mail. They are not allowed to have a competitive letter rate. Only the express shipping.

In exchange, Canada Post must deliver everywhere in Canada.

Parliament sets the rate for letter mail under 30 grams. I think Canada Post gets to set the price for heavier letters.

Canada Post is also a member of the Universal Postal Union which means it can offer very competitive international mailing rates, since it can use other postal services to complete overseas deliveries.

Competitive is not a synonym for cheap.

marnotom! · ‎07-08-2022

And now Rogers is down. What kind of communications company in the 21st century. . . ? 😋

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎07-08-2022

@marnotom! wrote:
And now Rogers is down. What kind of communications company in the 21st century. . . ? 😋

Also issues in AB with RBC and debit. As per note possibly connected to Rogers.

https://downdetector.ca/status/rbc/

-Lotz

fergua3 · ‎07-09-2022

Rogers is a big problem too. The second major outage in 2 years. The difference is there will be extreme accountability on Rogers. Rogers will face regulation changes, severe financial loss in compensating the millions of customers effected and this will almost certainly kill the Shaw merger.

With Canada Post outages, there are no consequences ....they are given a pass, even by some members of this board. 😋