Canada Post

[mbarrick]

Everyone likes to slag Canada Post, but for a change I am going to laud them. I have a package (my new lens) on the way from New York. I was given a USPS tracking number. For the past several days the USPS tracking has ended at "Arrived Abroad" and that's it. On a lark I decided to go to the Canada Post website and enter the United States Postal Service tracking number -- and it worked! It not only shows the item being received in Canada and passing through customs (it was released from customs this morning), but shows the full trace back through the U.S. Postal system as well. Because the U.S. steps shown all say "International item...", it is probably fair to assume this also works for items from any foreign country that offers mail tracking, so that once items are received in Canada from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, or where-ever and are no longer being tracked by the country of origin, you can enter the foreign tracking number at Canada Post's website and continue to track it. That is pretty damn useful!

Comments

[sovietnimrod.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with you there - Canada Post is amazingly enough actually getting slowly better year by year. With them going to full digital at the end of 2006, service should improve even more.

It's quiet yet common knowledge that they had some huge inside fraud and theft problems with staff around four or five years ago. I heard through reliable work sources (namely my CP-rep at the time) that at the main post office downtown (the one by the library) an internal theft ring pocketed somewhere between $1,000,000 and $1,400,000 dollars from birthday cards before getting caught. A pleasant side affect to all of this is that in their need to improve security, the process and technological changes have improved service.

[nicosian.livejournal.com]

I can't laud them.

They've biffed delivery on me too many times this year, by first not delivering a rather important expresspost that they usually deliver, and sending it back to the supplier. Now, an order of soap molds I wanted intime to do halloween stock and placed order and shipped first week of sept?

No where.

I'll laud them when they lose less than 4 packages of mine in a year.

[valerian.livejournal.com]

I gotta laud them too, as far as service goes (pricing is a different matter however). Only once that I know of, out of shipping more than a thousand items in the past year & a half, to destinations all over the world, has anyone ever reported they never got their item. I realize part of the responsibility lies in the hands of the local carrier, but it isn't going to get to the local carrier if CP and Canada Customs don't work well together.

Plus their free online shipping service is a freaking godsend for me (not to mention my small business discount)!!

[seymour-glass.livejournal.com]

yeh purolator courier is the same...they deal with dhl in the states and if you look your number up through dhl it just says arrived in canada or whatever...but if you go to purolator courier it traces the whole history...

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

But couriers cost a lot more when shipping across the border. You pay for their customs brokers and it usually it takes as long or longer to clear customs, not to mention that Purolator are dicks about missed drop-offs. They won't deliver to the nearest location, but rather you have to go to Richmond if they miss you. *Massive* pain in the ass. For that reason alone I always try to get USPS/Canada Post shipping so that stuff shows up at the neighbourhood postal outlet a block away.

[seymour-glass.livejournal.com]

when i've dealt with purolator it's because the company shipped through them so i didn't pay...i didn't have any customs fees, but i have had with ups...they suck...purolator will drop off at the downtown location, they have for me...or they'll redirect if you call them...