We want to hear from you—Canada Post labour disruptions

[happy_pigeon]

Hi all,

With Canada Post rotating strikes continuing for the third week with no indication of a resolution between Canada Post and CUPW, the eBay Canada team are looking to hear from Canadian sellers about the impact of the strikes on their business.

Feedback and examples from our seller community helps us to better advocate for you. If you're comfortable with sharing your experience, we want to hear from you, whether you've felt an impact from the postal labour disruptions or not.

Some members of my team (someone other than myself or Tyler) may reach out to you via PM for more information after you post in this thread. We look forward to hearing your stories!

[momcqueen]

I have three outbound orders on my desk right now.

One is destined to the USA.

Two is tracked domestic to Toronto.

Three is domestic lettermail (untracked) to rural Quebec.

I have spent a sleepless night trying to determine how to send them. Courier at a personal loss within Canada, and via freight-forwarder to the USA? Or take my chances with Canada Post?

Oh, and then there's this: I am officially behind on my bills coming due starting today because my sales performance this year in the holiday peak selling period has not kept pace where it should be as a toy-seller in Canada in November. Last year was lacklustre and nothing special but even so I cannot compare this year. Even that 20 per cent drop is enough to make the difference between paying my utility bills on time and not on time.

I'm not a small online seller for the sheer joy of it, my family of six is supported by self-employment with no health benefits whatsoever, and what I earn in sales on ebay is what pays my bills and allows me to buy things for my own four children. Like at Christmas. So, while I'm losing a thousand dollars in sales this during this two- to three-week period, union bosses said no to a $1000 signing bonus for their own workers like it's No Big Deal.

I'll take that $1000 for signing a contract offering better than anything I current have going on here or would even dare to wish to receive, thanks. 

Incredible! And not in a good way.

Should I ask Santa to pay my hydro bill this month? Right now, I cannot

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

According to the eBay Announcement of November 16th, 2018:

Despite the labour disruptions, eBay remains fully open for business and is focused on ensuring the best possible online shopping experience for our customers. Further, our seller community is showing incredible resilience and dedication in finding alternative solutions to continue to meet customer demands and expectations. However, while Canadian eBay shoppers will continue to find exceptional online value and selection—including market-leading deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday—some delays in receiving Black Friday and Cyber Monday purchases should be anticipated.

Could someone please point me in the direction of my Business as Usual store sign. Unable to locate. Also, could some turn on Canadian spell check. Labour does have a U in it.

-CM

[universal-solder]

So far no big impact. Many deliveries to Ontario are delayed, some arrived after about 3 weeks, but no big issue with customers. Only 3 (of about 500) within this time were complaining about missing shipments, but I was able calm them down and a short time later (means supt o 3 weeks, as already mentioned), they received their goods.

The bigger issue is, that I can not order from my suppliers, since Canada Post asked some hundred foreign postal services to hold back mail to Canada. I already had 2 suppliers they were only able to offer me much more expensive parcel services, since everything what goes through Canada Post can not be shipped anymore.

I never expected post service workers to be the smartest, and the strike proves me right. I bet that thousands of Canadian businesses take the opportunity to switch to FedEx, UPS, Purolator or DHL. No other postal or parcel service in North America is less reliable than Canada Post. Just saying.

[oldhousejunk]

Contacted Ebay this morning, who advised me to contact all buyers and send refunds, which I did to the tune of around $800.   She also advised to end all my listings, which all have bids - this is an all day job, since you have to cancel every bid on each item. 

Went to my local post office to get advice and they said they have no confidence that anything will arrive before Christmas.  By the end of the week they could stop accepting mail as the backlog has no more room for storage. 

Ebay you want to know how this strike is affecting me?  I'm shutting down my store, sending out refunds, closing shop and losing all my income for the month. 

Where are you EBAY !?  Why are you not advising us, or putting up notices about this!? 

The representative I spoke to this morning on the help line, wasn't aware of the strike, and I suggested they post something about it for buyers on ebay.com especially . She said she would let management know. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Here is a message I received earlier this morning from eBay. This, I believe would have been sent to anyone who has bought anything from a Canadian eBay seller. I'm thinking, not very proactive, under the circumstances.

You have recently made a purchase from a Canadian eBay seller and we are reaching out to let you know that shipping may take slightly longer than expected: Canada Post’s services are being impacted by rotating strikes that are leading to longer than usual delivery times. 

Given this situation, we are extending the timelines for eBay’s Money Back Guarantee, and we are asking you to be patient as you wait for your eBay delivery. 

We appreciate your understanding; should you have any questions please contact eBay Customer Service. 

Sincerely, 
The eBay Team

-CM

[oldhousejunk]

Well I guess its something - but I don't like the term "slightly longer" . How about MONTHS longer?! My US buyers even after they paid for the item were unaware of the strike or the delay and wanted a full refund immediately.

[pmlinne]

Our government will most likely form a committee to look into the options.   Of course, they won't work through the Christmas holidays.  (Are they even in session now?)   Once everything is settled, Trudeau will most likely apologize for the inconvenience the postal strikes has caused for everyone and have his picture taken with a postal worker.  

I recently saw a commercial for a store.   It suggested that going into their store to shop had so many advantages over on-line shopping.   Great marketing for them.  Of course, since I can't sell and ship my items,  I can't afford to buy from anyone else on-line or off. 

[emilyandpamela]

We were told to stay open "Business as usual" but it's not. I'm constantly dealing with "Where is my item?" messages. I have to close shop when I just upped my store level (prior to strike) and am getting no compensation from eBay for paying store fees when there's literally no point in using them.
What are you doing for us?

[ypdc_dennis]

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@pmlinne wrote:

Our government will most likely form a committee to look into the options.

Are they even in session now?

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For the next four weeks parliament will be sitting (they were off last week).

https://www.ourcommons.ca/en/sitting-calendar

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

New one on me. I just received an email from a customer in Puerto Rico. They said they received their package (At least the package was received in the allotted timeframe). When they opened the package they said they received something I do not even sell. Waiting for a photo. Did something happen during the customs process out of my control?? If it's acceptable could send them a replacement but no way to get it there in a timely, affordable manner. How to resolve and not lose my shirt on a low-value transaction. No idea in Haiti!!! How will I get penalized by eBay, who knows?? This is another good reason why it can be helpful to include an eBay packing slip INSIDE the box marked customer copy.

-CM

[mrdutch1001]

Hubby has several shipments that are who knows where, some were shipped within Canada; others to the USA...ALL are "sitting somewhere"...tracking shows nothing beyond having left the originating post office. It seems anything shipped prior to Nov 10th was OK,  but after that date shipments got stuck . As far as I am concerned online selling for me is done for this year. Although I won't end my current listings as I don't expect anything to sell now anyway, I certainly won't be listing any additional items for the next 4-6 weeks...

[ricarmic]

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@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:

New one on me. I just received an email from a customer in Puerto Rico. They said they received their package (At least the package was received in the allotted timeframe). When they opened the package they said they received something I do not even sell. Waiting for a photo. Did something happen during the customs process out of my control?? If it's acceptable could send them a replacement but no way to get it there in a timely, affordable manner. How to resolve and not lose my shirt on a low-value transaction. No idea in Haiti!!! How will I get penalized by eBay, who knows?? This is another good reason why it can be helpful to include an eBay packing slip INSIDE the box marked customer copy.

-CM

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Be extra careful to make sure to explain what you shipped and who you are. I have over time had several situations where folks contact me by accident about something they purchased from someone else. Never hurts to politely check!

I've also had folks who've opened everything up and oops lost track of who's stuff came in who's package.

I've also had folks who've opened up the package and complained that they didn't get everything without opening the enclosure (I will pack several envelopes separately in the same plastic protective bag).

Hopefully yours turns out to be one of these in the end.....

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Thanks. Hope that is the case. I send them a message recently to follow up in case their parcel was delayed by postal situation.

-CM

[theoldestfart]

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@oldhousejunk wrote:
Well I guess its something - but I don't like the term "slightly longer" . How about MONTHS longer?! My US buyers even after they paid for the item were unaware of the strike or the delay and wanted a full refund immediately.

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Yep Bestbuy and Amazon have hidden two levels deep on a footnote link on their websites Newegg makes no mention whatsoever of the strike or delay in getting orders delivered. Just like Bestbuy, ebay hides any mention of shipping delays because of the postal strikes. They don't want to have their customers be informed up front and don't want to scare away any revenue streams.

[mbjtrading]

I'm just a small seller but I'll give my 2 cents anyway.  I ended all my listings. My sold items are facing delays and I don't trust E-bay to handle the situation should one arise with disgruntled buyers.  I don't want to list new items because everything I read from CP is saying they are backlogged until January 2019 and it's going to get worst as things get prolonged. And I get subpar service that is costly whenever I use them despite all their current faults. Remember when Oil/GAS rates skyrocketed to close to $150 a barrel and a "fuel surcharge" was added to the CP shipping bill? Why am I still paying for it when rates went down again?  I was talking to someone I knew in the USA and my "Fuel Surcharge" was what about what it would cost them to send the exact same package across their country. It's ridiculous.

Not to mention I have hundreds of $ worth of purchased goods stuck somewhere in the country on a trailer or perhaps stuck in a foreign warehouse because Canada has closed its border to international mail.  I'm going to have to find some other avenue to bring in money if something isn't done.

[katlover1952]

You are likely right about Trudeau. Selfies are about all he is good for! The government should have been more proactive in this from the get go. Was obvious it was going to be a problem with the Christmas season.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@mbjtrading wrote:

... when Oil/GAS rates skyrocketed to close to $150 a barrel and a "fuel surcharge" was added to the CP shipping bill? Why am I still paying for it when rates went down again?  

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The Canada Post fuel surcharge is adjusted monthly.

Base rate is 83 cents per litre of diesel (below that there is no surcharge).

...

Priority International uses the same index as FedEx (starting at $1.47us per gallon of jet fuel)

https://www.canadapost.ca/web/en/kb/details.page?article=fuel_surcharges_on_m

-..-

[zee-chan]

Never have I been so reassured by a positive feedback left by a buyer! This is for an order mailed small packet air on Nov 9 to the US. Hopefully the other package that was mailed on the same day is also in the US buyer's hand 😃

[fergua3]

Canada Post's 'first in-first out' processing strategy is working wonders.  I've had several recent packages shipped incredibly fast.  One was received the next day (Toronto to Oakville).  It's a short distance, but considering it had to go through the Gateway facility where the backlog is the worst by far, it shows that from this point forward at least, the Christmas season can be salvaged.

Downside is that the packages already stuck in the backlog (ie the 600 trailers full) probably won't get delivered for many weeks yet.  But at least from this point, as long as CUPW doesn't ramp up rotating strikes again, Christmas can be saved.

[ricarmic]

Hi! I haven't had my morning coffee yet, but I think what you are describing is last in first out (ie the newest stuff to be received is forwarded first).

If they are doing first in first out, then the stuff on the trailers would be going out before the stuff that just came in.....