Ship Indictment Issue: visual aids

[momcqueen]

So, I had another Shippo inducting issue.

It reaffirms my belief the problem is not necessarily with Shippo but with postal counter employees who haven't been adequately trained in how to accept a Shippo-originated parcel. I always use the same postal counter, and one month ago, I had a problem with my first domestic-bound Shippo label printed but the postal manager was able to work it out as a 'supplier account' shipment which she says she had to figure out on her own via trial and error because the Canada Post Corporation's retail help desk was the opposite of helpful. (Background: http://announcements.ebay.ca/2017/06/30/8023/)

Anyway, my tale begins yesterday morning when I hastily packed an order and took it to the postal counter on my way out-of-town for a day at the in-law's cabin.

I handed my parcel to the one of the longer-term part-timers and gave her my now-standard Shippo-spiel. "This is a Shippo-genenerated postage label. You know I sell on ebay* and Shippo is their new postage partner. The postage for this is prepaid, online. You have to originate this as a Supplier Account. I don't think you'll be able to print me an acceptance scan receipt for it, though**."

H, the regular part-timer, clicks six times and prints me a receipt. "No, it looks like one printed."

Me, taking it and stuffing it into my wallet. "Okay, cool. That's new, thanks."

*Obvious due to my parcels being covered in ebay-branded shipping tape.

** I've made such a stink about getting acceptance scan receipts in the past, it's the one thing the postal counter employees remember about me and they will now die trying to print one.

And away I go, down the road. I'm a passenger in the vehicle and there are a lot of corn fields along the way so eventually I get bored and start looking at random things on my iPhone including the Canada Post app where I track incoming and outgoing items. I notice that the parcel I just deposited at the postal counter hasn't been logged as originated yet. "Hmm, that's strange," I say to myself and look for the first time at the receipt she handed me. 

'Customer to pay counter rates' and 'call the toll-free number to cancel the original what-now'? 

I call back to the postal counter because I am one of those jerk customers who has them on speed dial.

I explain to H that I've just looked at the receipt she provided because the order doesn't show as originated the way it normally would after acceptance. She agrees there is a problem now that she can see when she pulls up the tracking number and takes my advice to call the CPC Retail Help Desk. Within an hour of my call to her, it shows as Originated the way it should, so clearly she was able to be guided through the process, or stumbled into it on second attempt herself. 

The point of my thread is not 'everyone is stupid' or 'Shippo is stupid' or 'Canada Post employees are dummies' but rather a cautionary message to verify your shipments have actually been originated after you hand them over at the postal counter. Some sellers have been told outright at the postal counter to take their Shippo-generated parcels back because they won't be accepted, now you know there is a possibility it will be accepted only to have problems surface later.

Had I not noticed this and continued on my merry way, I don't know what the outcome would have been. My first concern is meeting my same-day dispatch guarantee. My second concern is that it would be delayed en route to the buyer due to confusion along the road as to whether postal had, indeed, been paid for it. Would it arrive at the buyer's doorstep COD? That would go over like a lead balloon. Would it be charged to my Small Business account? I don't have that arrangement setup so maybe it would be returned. I don't know, and hope never to find out. 

Remember: check your tracking to confirm your Shippo-generated-postage parcel has been originated as it should after dropping it off. 

[pjcdn2005]

Good post, thank you MJ.

Since CP did warn us that we would have to pay shortages through PP there's a chance that they would bill Shippo since they are the supplier and they in turn would bill PP. Hopefully things will get straightened out soon and we will never have to find out for sure because everything will work as it should!  🙂

[momcqueen]

Yes, it seems like this inducting issue adds an unnecessary level of worry to mailing a package.

The eBay Announcement about it said that the Shippo labels could be pitched straight into a street box so, in theory, any weird inducting issue shouldn't affect Delivery. In theory. My problem with that is on-time dispatch guarantees. Say I did that instead of taking it inside, I'd have no way of proving I dispatched within my handling time if it took three days to reach its first scan somewhere.

[pjcdn2005]

Usually if the package has a trackable bar code I will bring it inside so I know that and when it is scanned. But I have dropped those type of packages in the box and they are scanned later that evening at the sorting center in Calgary.

There has only been one time when I've checked and it wasn't scanned the same evening.

When you check your tracking, do they always scan it at the sorting center in Wpg and is it the same night...assuming that it has been dropped off in time?  I know that you love risk (tongue in cheek) so you could try one package that was not same day shipping in the outside box. I suspect that because the sorting center is in your city that you would get a scan that same day.  Sometimes the line up in the outlet here is crazy long and it was just isn't worthwhile for me to wait.

[thestuffofchris]

I used to be one of those people who took everything in to a postal outlet. The last time I had a package with a label (this was pre-Shippo) I dropped it in a red box to see how it went. It actually ended up being scanned in the sorting facility here in Edmonton a couple hours earlier than if I took it to the post office (generally my PO drop-offs get scanned around 10-11PM, this was scanned between 8-9PM). The different pick-up times (red box is 5 PM, PO is 7 PM) may have played a factor. The fact that the nearest red box is maybe a 5 minute walk compared to a 10-15 minute drive to the post office also made the decision to switch easier (and I go for daily walks, so I'm not really even going out of my way).

Obviously I can't say this would be the same experience in Winnipeg, but as PJ says, it might be worth a shot (on a shipment you would consider low-risk) just to see what happens.