UPDATE: It looks like the claims in this post are false. See details in the COMMENTS.
Here’s the response we got back from Canada Post:
Over the holidays, a customer contacted us by email to ask us why private sector partners would be allowed to charge more for the same service provided by corporate offices. The reply they received contained misinformation and we would like our customers to know the facts – rates are the same at all Canada Post establishments both corporate and private sector partner locations.
It is very important to us that your customer experience is the same no matter where you choose to shop.
In fact, the agreement that Canada Post has with its private sector partners specifies that the maximum postal rates that they can charge are the Canada Post published rates. If a postal outlet charges prices that are over the Canada Post published rates, they are in violation of their contract. You should also know that the equipment used by private sector postal outlets is programmed with Canada Post’s published rates. Therefore, the rates should be the same no matter where you choose to get postal services.
We are very disappointed to hear of this experience and we are investigating the matter. If you have any questions or concerns about our rates, contact us at http://canadapost.ca/contactus
AND another response by email:
It is very important to us that the customer experience is the same no matter where our customers choose to shop.
With respect to the rates, all of our 6,000 automated post offices, corporate or dealer use the same Retail point-of-sale system software and corporate rating engine. Therefore they all charge the same rate for the same identical service.
Dealers cannot charge a higher rate for a postal service, as the system will not permit it and contractually they would be in default.
We will further investigate the matter that you brought to our attention.
Regards,
Pam Larose
Customer Service
Canada Post
==== original post from Jan 13th:
Postal rates in the Great White North were increased Jan. 11th.
I think we should avoid using Canada Post as much as possible. The pricing system they use is silly.
Not that prices are too high. My complaint is that there is no fairness to the pricing.
For example, in 2006 David Grant compared mailing costs for the same package:
Vancouver to Florida $6.65 Small Packet USA Surface
Vancouver to Florida $7.90 Small Packet USA Air
FedEx Ground Vancouver to Toronto $12.Vancouver to Toronto via Canada Post Regular Parcel is $10.34
Do those rates seem sensible to you? Who comes up with these pricing formulas?
More recently, a blogger mailed two identical packages via Canada Post, one week apart.
From a Canada Post postal outlet, cost was $11.74. Next week … a clerk at a Canada Post office said the $11.74 on the second package was not enough. He’d have to buy $6 more in postage.
WHAT!?
That story came in by email from George. It’s posted in the comments.
Veronika Strofski, Customer Service Canada Post, explains:
Only Canada Post Depots and Corporate Post Offices are obligated to follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by Canada Post. Any commercial and private establishment (e.g. convenience store or pharmacy) may charge extra fees as a convenience to their customers. It is at their discretion to apply additional service fees to products that they sell. We suggest visiting a Corporate Post Office in order to avoid paying additional service charges ….
Why haven’t I ever heard about these extra charges?
Seems those extra charges do not exist.
I’ll forward these complaints to Canada Post’s current Ombudsman: Ms. Nicole Goodfellow.
As at most bogus organizations, there’s no email contact. Only phone. Or mail. She really doesn’t want to hear from Canadians.
… On another page I found the address: ombud@ombudsman.postescanadapost.ca
I’ve still not heard back from the Ombudswoman. Who’s the Ombudsman for Ombudsmen?
Bottom line: In Canada, avoid snail mail. Do as much as possible online. Or by FAX.
Rick McCharles 
from a random blog:
” I learned something over Christmas that I feel compelled to share with you. This won’t change your life dramatically or help you survive the apocalypse but it will save you some $$$.
I recently mailed two identical packages via Canada Post one week apart. One would think that the postage should be exactly the same…well, let me tell you…
Pkg # 1 was mailed from an actual Canada Post postal outlet. Postage came to $11.74. Since I knew a second identical package would be mailed in about a week’s time, I bought sufficient postage for the second pkg while I was there.
When it came time to mail Pkg #2 I happened to be closer to a franchised postal outlet in a nearby retail shopping mail so I planned to drop pkg #2 off at the franchised CP outlet. When I handed the pkg to the clerk to be put in the outbound mail bag, I was informed that I did not have sufficient postage attached. The clerk proceeded to inform me that I needed to purchase and additional $6 worth of stamps if I planned to have “them” submit my pkg to Canada Post for delivery. After explaining how I knew exactly what the postage should be, the clerk offered some lame excuse that CP is unionized and they can say and do anything with impunity and if I wished to mail that pkg at that outlet, I needed to purchase more stamps.
I told the clerk they were out to lunch and took back my package and headed to the “real” CP outlet to raise hell…Much to my surprise, the CP employee took my package, weighed it and tossed it in the mail bag ready for transport to the sorting facility to be sent on its way. I was informed the amount of postage attached was sufficient and that was that.
The Truth comes out:
Still perplexed by what I was told by the franchised location, I fired off an email to CP for clarification. The reply I received is reprinted below.
The summary: Real CP outlets charge postage for packages at the published Canada Post rates. Franchise locations can charge whatever they like. If you regularly mail packages at franchise locations you are probably paying too much. Franchise locations are found in shopping malls, drug stores and private businesses everywhere. From now on, all of my mailing will be done from a real Canada Post location.
Thank you for your message to Canada Post.
A postal outlet is not a federal government agency and is not owned or managed by Canada Post. For example if the postal outlet is within grocery store or pharmacy it would follow the stores working hours, therefore if the store must be closed, so will the postal outlet inside.
Only Canada Post Depots and Corporate Post Offices are obligated to follow the price of stamps and postal products that are legislated by Canada Post. Any commercial and private establishment may charge extra fees as a convenience to their customers. It is at their discretion to apply additional service fees to products that they sell. We suggest visiting a Corporate Post Office in order to avoid paying additional service charges that corner stores or other establishment may implement on their products.
Regards,
Veronika Strofski
Customer Service “
There actually is a posibility that the postage rates had changed since they bought the postage for the second parcel. It is not the postal clerk’s fault. The people who work in outlets are rarely even employed by Canada Post. They are employed by the store in which the outlet exists. The last thing they care about is ripping you off. The computer tells them a price, and as far as they know, that is the correct price. They don’t even work directly for Canada Post.
My email to the Ombudsman
ombud@ombudsman.postescanadapost.ca
THis is the first I’ve heard about mark-ups at some branches of Canada Post.
https://rickmccharles.com/2010/01/13/ripped-off-by-canada-post/
What is Canada Post doing to communicate this fact?
Why not have a website compare prices for different products across the nation?
Or are you happy they continue to keep those mark-ups quiet and confidential?
Rick McCharles
Calgary
—
This whole thing sounds like an Internet hoax.
What I don’t understand is — how can these small outlets selectively change the price on certain items? It’s not like they change the price of first class letters or even things which would cost in the range of $2-$3 and less where the price is something that people would be familiar with. It seems only large size things like parcels have a discrepancy (sometimes huge).
Is there some component to the Canada Post software they use which says “universally increase the price of everything over $5.00 by 10-20% or whatever”?
Let’s face it, the people running these sub-post-offices are not exactly rocket scientists.
I am employed by a Canada Post franchise and we cannot set our own rates. We have exactly the same rates as a Canada Post corporate office. We DO NOT and CANNOT add extra charges onto any Canada Post products. We have signed contract with Canada Post that forbids us to charge extra fees. We follow all Canada Post rules and regulations that are the same as the corporate offices and our computer systems have all the same info as the corporate office.
Do not believe this blog because it is untrue.
As far as I know they all run under the same system “ROSS’…and that system is not controlled by the private outlet. I doubt the pricing can be altered. It sounds like a hoax to me. It may possibly be an untrained worker in the private outlet who just doesn’t know the correct rate…or how to get it. These people are often under-trained and are essentially cheap labour for Canada Post. I will go out on a limb and say there are NO differences in prices between corporate and private postal outlets.
Thanks guys. I think you are right. Looks like this is one of those internet hoaxes that gets circulated.
I’ll take down the post … if Canada Post replies to my inquiry. Officially.
The Ombudsman: Ms. Nicole Goodfellow did not reply.
What are the odds Canada Post will get back to me?
Hi, I would recommend that you do NOT take this post down … it would be very beneficial if people could see that it is (supposedly) a hoax. This Veronika Strofski at Canada Post Customer Service seems to be a real person, since you can find other references to her by doing a Google Search, but if someone was manufacturing a hoax, they could have just cut and pasted her name…
Hey RickMc,
They may get back to you…give it a while. It might come in your mail box — the one in front of your house. So, in approx 6 – 10 business days it might be found in amongst that pile of MLA & pizza flyers.
I agree with Mr. Mike. But as a recommendation, send this query to Snopes. That’s what a lot of people use to check the validity of info e-mails.
Thanks Rox. I checked Snopes. No listing for this issue.
And I emailed Canada Post customer relations directly. I’ll leave the post up until I get something official in writing from them.
When and if I do get something concrete, I’ll update the post and debunk the criticism.
I found a snopes article citing this:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/stamps/postalcenter.asp
Strangely, part of article discusses sending U.S. mail from USPS vs postal/courier stores… which seems to be quite off topic in regards to the original email going around.
Thanks Voon.
… But I’m going to do my own investigation next time I need ship a parcel.
I have tracked the original posting to this URL:
http://ontariopreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/12/intersting-bit-of-practical-trivia.html
and have confirmed with the poster that this was an original message, not something that was sent to them.
Reading between the lines in the poster’s original e-mail to Canada Post near the bottom of the original post, it is pretty obvious what happened.
If you send something that will fit through a 20mm slot in this plastic “card” at the post office, you can send it as First Class Mail (in Canada) or Letter Post (to USA or international destinations). This can be much cheaper than sending the item as a parcel.
The poster sent one item in this manner which was relatively “cheap” (though I can’t figure out what would have cost $11.74, even as a heavier item — I have asked for more details). This item obviously fit through the 20mm slot. See the following WWW pages for further information:
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/CPcanada-e.asp
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/CPusa-e.asp
http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/CPinter-e.asp
The poster had a second similar item, but it was not packed in exactly the same way, so, as a result, it would NOT fit through this 20mm slot. As a result, this item did not qualify for the cheap rate and had to go at the “normal” rate which was more expensive.
For example, if you send a CD, a DVD or a thin paperback book within Canada, it will cost you whatever the first class rate is (in the range of $2-$3.25 plus tax). If it will not fit in this 20mm slot, the price will soar to $7 to $15 or more, depending if you want to send the item to some large center like Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal, or some out of the way location like Inuvik or Kuujjuaq, Quebec.
The solution to this inequity would have been to repack the second item in EXACTLY the same manner as the first one.
No one was trying to rip this person off, they were just following Canada Post’s own “rules.”
I have often encountered sub-post-office employees who won’t even put the item through the slot if they think it will fit there. On the other hand, I have had an employee tell me that the item has to be able to fall through this slot (not be pushed through) in order to quality for the cheap postage rate.
As far as the response from the Canada Post customer service woman that suggests sub-post-offices can charge amounts not in the computer is concerned, I don’t know … as I stated earlier, I don’t understand the logic of how the sub-post-offices can charge more. Hopefully we will hear from them soon.
Great sleuthing.
I’m still waiting to hear back OFFICIALLY from Canada Post.
… holding my breathe.
I consistently have issues with our Canada Post facility, regarding items going thru their mail slot. I recently got back a slew of parcels that had $5 in stamps on them and the Canada Post customer service person, said if they don’t go thru the mail slot it is regular parcel post. They actually will go thru mail slot but what they do is push the first part thru and not the rest of package and say wont go thru. Here they are obsessed with this mail slot cheaper to send UPS as they want over $20 parcel post as they measure and weigh and squeeze what they can out of you.
Hi,
I’ve already got a reply from Canada Post and this is a hoax. I also agree that you should leave this post up and just ammend it to say you know it is a hoax. Here is the reply:
Thank you for your message to Canada Post.
It is very important to us that the customer experience is the same no matter where our customers choose to shop.
With respect to the rates, all of our 6,000 automated post offices, corporate or dealer use the same Retail point-of-sale system software and corporate rating engine. Therefore they all charge the same rate for the same identical service.
Dealers cannot charge a higher rate for a postal service, as the system will not permit it and contractually they would be in default.
We will further investigate the matter that you brought to our attention.
Thank you for your continued service.
Regards,
Pamella Larose
Customer Service
Canada Post
Over the holidays, a customer contacted us by email to ask us why private sector partners would be allowed to charge more for the same service provided by corporate offices. The reply they received contained misinformation and we would like our customers to know the facts – rates are the same at all Canada Post establishments both corporate and private sector partner locations.
It is very important to us that your customer experience is the same no matter where you choose to shop.
In fact, the agreement that Canada Post has with its private sector partners specifies that the maximum postal rates that they can charge are the Canada Post published rates. If a postal outlet charges prices that are over the Canada Post published rates, they are in violation of their contract. You should also know that the equipment used by private sector postal outlets is programmed with Canada Post’s published rates. Therefore, the rates should be the same no matter where you choose to get postal services.
We are very disappointed to hear of this experience and we are investigating the matter. If you have any questions or concerns about our rates, contact us at http://canadapost.ca/contactus
I’m the original author of the text complaining about Canada Post.
I sincerely apologize for echoing unsubstantiated stories.
We’re convinced they are not true. The correction was reposted here:
To reiterate what I posted earlier, this is NOT a hoax. The reason the person got different rates was because the packages were NOT identical. One of them qualified as a lower rate due to its size. The other was slightly larger than the size allowed for this low price rate, therefore it had to be sent at a higher rate. The person who originally complained about this seemingly did not understand the reason for this difference.
This does not fix the dictionary definition of “hoax” which is “an act intended to trick or dupe.”
Granted there are some semantics about whether this is a “hoax” or not but the email my wife received is the same one in the section above. Clearly the email sender wrote about “two identical packages”. They also wrote a reply they reportedly got from a Canada Post employee saying that charging different rates was acceptable. Whether this was “intended” to dupe people or not seems like splitting hairs at this point. The email contains false statements and, unfortunately, now that it is out there this email will make the rounds for months, and likely years, to come. How many people will continue to be duped by it and bad mouth Canada Post in the process (note: I am *not* a Canada Post employee)?
In news related, but unrelated to this, I have a beef about US Post – USPS. I sent a package home to Saskatoon from Las Vegas. Paid an exorbitant amount – $24 – for a photo album. It was to be there in 5 – 7 days. 4 weeks later it arrived.
Terrific service.
I’m going to start using FedEx for parcels. It’s far more reliable for not much more money.
The reason the photo album took 4 weeks to arrive is probably because it got stuck in Canada Customs, despite the delivery timeframe you were quoted by USPS. I ordered some CD prior to Christmas, and it took 3 weeks and 1 day to get to me. This is not normal, it would usually take less than 2 weeks.
If you want to ship packages within Canada, you might also want to check out CanPar.
I agree that this looks like a hoax where someone intentionally tries to deceive people or the messages are like a freight train out of control thanks to no one questioning them.
The only thing that is up in the air at the moment is the original comment from the Canada Post customer service employee (quoted at the other blog — see link below) who suggested that the sub-post-offices were within their right to charge more, which has been disproven.
Looks like the Canada Post customer service people who responded to queries via THIS blog are also on the case at the OTHER blog where the whole issue originated, and they are trying to straighten things out.
See http://ontariopreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/12/intersting-bit-of-practical-trivia.html and subsequent comments.
re: posting by Mr.Mike
I work for a Canada Post Corporate Outlet, and you are a little confused by the rating system. Standard letter mail (approximately business letter size and up to approximately 23cm by 32cm) can be sent at first class rates (by the way, all letter mail in Canada is first class) as long as it is machineable. The slot measures whether it is able to be sorted by machine (as long as it has nothing lumpy and/or breakable inside. Please, people, stop putting pens and other lumpy things inside paper business letter envelopes! Use a padded envelope!) If it is larger than the 20 mm slot, or is smaller than the 20 mm slot but weighs more than 500 grams, then it is considered a parcel, is not machineable, and requires more handling to get it to its destination. Cost is determined by weight, dimension, and destination. For example, the exact same parcel may cost you $6 to mail within the city, $8 or $9 to mail within the province, or $13 to get it across Canada. Remember, the further it goes, the more it costs us to get it there! As for the US small packet rates, I believe there is an agreement with USPS for those postal rates. Just as an aside, people who have lived in the US and are mailing something in Canada are always exclaiming how expensive things are to mail here. Hello! There are what, about 400 million people living in the US to spread the cost around, while there are about 40 million people in Canada, with a land mass that is actually larger than the US, and people living in remote locations who like to get mail too! Of course things are going to cost more when sometimes the only way to get mail and supplies to someone is by helicopter (yes, there are locations that get stuff brought in by helicopter).
And so, yes, $11.74 is an absolutely normal rate for a small to normal package that is going from one side of Canada to the other, or a larger package that might just be going one province over.
And yes, Fred is right, the franchised outlets at the small stores couldn’t charge more because of how the systems are set up. They have the same operating systems and scales that we have at the corporate outlet.
The person who wrote the email was possibly charged more because of human error, or because the prices went up in January, or it is just a person trying to scare people into making sure Canada Post doesn’t end up being privatized. (Note at the beginning where is says, “how’s this for privatization?”.
Hi, Vonda. Thanks for your posting.
I don’t know if your comments about being “confused” are directed specifically at me, but I am probably the least “confused” of anyone posting here. In fact, I was able to determine exactly what caused the person to suggest Canada Post was ripping people off.
The original posting was not done here. It was done at http://ontariopreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/12/intersting-bit-of-practical-trivia.html by someone called “Sparrow.” (For sake of argument, I am going to assume that Sparrow is a “she.”)
If you read the original posting at this site carefully, you can see exactly what caused this problem.
Sparrow had two packages which she thought were “identical,” but they really were not.
She took the first one to a real Canada Post office, and it managed to pass through the infamous 20mm slot. Therefore it qualified for “cheaper” postage (though I still don’t understand what would have cost $11.74 for something going through this slot).
She then took her second “identical” package to a sub-post-office (franchise) where it did NOT fit through the 20mm slot because it was just a teeeeny bit thicker (perhaps due to being packed in a “lumpy” way, to use your term).
As a result, the second package did not qualify for the “cheap” postage and had to be sent at the more expensive rate.
In other words, no one was trying to rip Sparrow off. They were merely following Canada Post’s own rules as far as dimensions of the package were concerned.
The 20 mm packet slot is not the only indicator of price. If an item fits through the slot it is not automatically fit to send for the standard letter mail rate. As I mentioned, if it weighs 500 grams or more, even if it does fit through the 20 mm slot, it will cost you the parcel rate, which in this case appears to be $11.74, although I did not see anywhere on “Sparrow’s” page where she indicated a weight. I think there were just some mistakes made somewhere along the line. I don’t understand why she would purchase the postage a week ahead if she was taking it into the post office anyway, instead of just dropping it into a red letter box on the street.
Part of the problem (assuming that the second outlet was not attempting to add inappropriate charges) seems to be that the clerk was unable to explain the difference and blamed it on the fact that Canada Post is “unionized”. If the clerk had said “I don’t know why you were charged the lower price for the previous package, but I can tell you that based on these factors this is the correct Canada Post rate” the customer might have been mollified.
I have found rates charged by Canada Post to be outrageously expensive. In 2008,I had the misfortune of receiving nealy 60% of my out going Christmas Cards
returned to me, with the attached label “Insuficient Postatge.” When I purchased these cards I noticed they were quite wide across, short in length, I asked the individual at the Postal Outlet if they would be
acceptable with regular Postage and I was told “Yes”
I asked before I actually bought the cards (Outlet in Shoppers Drugs–Regina,Sask.) Imagine my disappointment when nearly all of my cards were returned. I went to the Postal Outlet to re-send the cards with additional postage only to find out they required another 0.52 CENTS To re-mail them. I was very surprised–I did not re-stamp them or bother to mail them again. No letters were enclosed in these Christmas cards—since I dropped the cards through the mail slot and had no trouble, why did Canada Post not send them on?? I guess Canada Post does not have any intention of implementing the Christmas Spirit!!
This was a very expensive experience for me, as not only did the cards not get to the recipient, I had the nasty experience of expense of the cards–plus the stamps. What is the problem?? Express Post has risen it’s prices to a ridiculous level as well. Why is this?? Since the mail carrier vehicle has many, many letters and parcels on board, I cannot understand why a light parcel sent on the Winnipeg costs upwards of $20.00. Please fill me in.
On that issue, they are GUILTY as charged.
We must have some of the most expensive postal rates in the world.
If you had to pay more money for your Christmas cards based on the fact you were misinformed, you should have brought this to Canada Post’s attention, who might have taken steps to correct the misinformation on the part of the clerks you dealt with. Did you do this?
As far as your complaint about Expresspost is concerned, if you are in Regina and want to send a package to Winnipeg which is a “small parcel,” which I assume means something relatively small, you could use Expresspost Prepaid envelopes, which are on sale at sub-post offices as well as the regular ones. These cost between $9 and $12.50 plus tax. The cheaper of the two is the “Standard” size which can accommodate even a hardcover book, for example.
If you have a package weighing .495 kg which is 15cm x 25cm x 2cm going from Vancouver to Toronto, this will cost $11.82, according to the online “Find a Rate.” If you make the height only 1 cm, it is the same price … ditto for 3 cm.
If you increase the weight to .525 kg, the prices are still the same.
You would think that the online “Find a Rate” calculator would know the difference between the parcel rate and the “first class” rate, but it does not. (I don’t know why someone would intentionally want to send a package as a parcel when they could send it for a few bucks.)
It certainly is a mystery as to why the price of the postage for this item was $11.74, which is very high.
Canada Post themselves added to the confusion, assuming the quoted reply from their customer service employee Veronika Strofski is legitimate. If you do a Google search on her name, she is seemingly a real person who replied to other CP queries — for example, see http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?p=553344.
In response to this “ripoff” issue, she said “Any commercial and private establishment may charge extra fees as a convenience to their customers.”
let me start by saying that we the people are the grassroots of this world, we all live in together.. we should control operate whats in the best interest of the people not a small group who say they are special but rather everyone and everyone should be able to take part..
that said I have noticed in the last few years a steady decline in the mail sevice provided by canada post the last two packages from the usa were ripped and torn and plastic bags now covered them with info abour web and phone number to complain. also that canada post is concerned with things get damaged and that we are continuing to seek new methods to reduce the occurances. now I read about private stamp sellers or bad info about canada post right here on your site. I was reading today how harper who has been padding the hill with neo con christians who sound alot like Nazi’s and is trying to push a Finance bill through that includes selling off parts of canada post, as in Privatise. germany russia sound simlare? so now health care, energy, post sounds alot like selling off the crown the peoples dwindling birth right.. Iam wondering if the same tatics used by thacher and other such neo cons to break the unions to sell off the People’s wealth and is this being employed here or is it a matter that canada post is realy getting bad.. it seems odd all my life I can think of 5 times untill the last few years and its a weekly thing slow damage misdirected.
maybe Iam just reading to much into this.
Peace and Love
Hi. I have seen several versions of the original e-mail, both on blogs and forwarded to my email. The details seem to change a little with each version I see, although the bulk of the text is identical. Likewise, the contents and wording of “Veronika Strofski’s Reply” also change with each version. I just want to help put to rest the lies that disturbed the proverbial wasps’ nest.
Canada Post retail and franchise locations DO NOT charge higher rates for postage, and doing so would be in violation of their corporate partnership contracts.
Here is another take on what may have happened. Human error in one of three forms:
1. The store clerk’s measurements of the package differed from those made by the clerk at the main branch. One of these two people measured incorrectly.
2. The measurements were the same, but one of the two clerks entered those measurements incorrectly into the postage calculator on the computer.
3. The measurements were the same and were entered correctly, but the store clerk failed to offer the lowest-price option. Many options exist for people mailing parcels within Canada (Expedited, Xpresspost, Priority, etc) and sometimes these fill the computer screen. In such a case, you’d have to scroll down to find “Regular Parcel”. The clerk may have been rushed or inattentive and failed to select the correct option, instead quoting a higher price.
None of these three hypothesized scenarios involve a franchise location charging a premium for an identical service.
Full disclosure– I am employed as a postal clerk in a franchise location, and do my best every day to find the *right* solution for each customer mailing a parcel. Our location’s profits come from the repeat business of satisfied customers who appreciate our expertise and customer service, not from fudged numbers or illegal price-gouging.
Consistent or not, I find Canada Post parcel rates to be very high compared to the US Postal Service, and the service is much slower.
Here lies a great opportunity for users to compare courier rates and find alternatives to save and provide service.
I have been downsizing my mail use for years now. I do not mail anything and if I get mail–I make changes to the net. So has the general public. Wake up.
Postal workers are going by way of the dinosaurs.
Maybe postal workers will disappear…but I doubt it. Canada Post still turns a profit (without government subsidies) and has for many years. While Canada Post claims its letter mail is dropping I wonder about other services. I do some shopping online (and have bought and sold using ebay) and find that the majority of products are still shipped via Canada Post.
I don’t think it was the fact that letter mail wasn’t being delivered that caused the Conservatives to legislate new terms and conditions for postal workers. No doubt they were feeling a lot of pressure from their business supporters who were having to find alternative, and sometimes more costly, ways to deliver products.
I would like to add that Canada Post discriminates against people in rural areas. This is the third time, I received a card, customer no home for delivery and thus I have to drive into town to get my parcel. What a clever way to cut costs…. don’t even bother to have a guy and a truck to deliver, just put a card in the mailbox and make the person do their work for them! It is an obvious scam. Today they said I wasn’t available to receive a package at 8:29 AM. I was outside burning a brush pile right at the road from 7:30 to 9:30, absolutely no vehicle drove near my place! I’m glad to say I try to use UPS for all my parcels as they are efficient and DO make attempts to deliver. Unfortunately, the person who paid to have a parcel delivered to me is ripped off by Canada Post. Next time use a good courier company!!
Hopefully you are not using UPS to have packages from the USA delivered to you, you will end up with a massive brokerage charge.
Before you believe some random email, do some research! The same email goes around about the U.S postal service and that Veronika something does not exist at Canada Post. Basic information. Check your facts before you freak out!
So is that to say that the Canadian public is overcharged for postal services no matter where they go regardless of whether it is a unionized Canada Post Office or a private postal outlet paying their people a few bucks over minimum wages? We don’t forget that postal workers are only scheduled to “work” for 68% of the time (according to the Montreal Economic Institute review aired on BNN) that they are generously paid, and I don’t even wanna know how “productive” the top-heavy management employees are.
In my life experience, Unionized employees have always been less efficient and better paid / work unit than non-Union.
I don’t think we can afford that inefficiency.
Could you give some examples from your “life experiences”, Rick? The Montreal Economic Institute headed by lawyer Michel Kelly-Gagnon is hardly “impartial”. He and the economists there make a pretty good living by representing the interests of the people/companies that make donations to support the “institute”
No comment, Peter.
I’ve forgotten what got me so upset.
I almost never use Canada Post these days.