I am disowning Canada Post!

[erikages]

I love Canada Post and United States Postal Service!! As someone who orders stuff from all over the place, I find the two state postal services to be the best whenever it comes to border issues.

It's the major courier companies that drive me insane. UPS is the worst: absurd delays and charges for cross border stuff. I don't mind paying GST, but the customs charges are absurd. So when I'm buying stuff, I try to insist that US companies use USPS, which then gets transferred to Canada Post and delivered - fast, easy, and no customs charges.

Then again, I've never had bad luck -- with the exception of couriers.

BTW: I once had to deliver a poster to a client in Ottawa. They needed it the next day. Unbelievably, I paid $700 to FEDEX a tube overnight for guaranteed delivery by 10am the next day. Imagine: $700 for a 5 pound poster tube. Anyway, much to my horror FEDEX "contracted out" this highly specialized service to various subcontracted couriers, none of whom were accountable. Short and sweet: one of the contracted couriers missed a connection in Calgary; then another missed a pick up in Ottawa. The $300 poster (now $1,000) reached my Ottawa client 2 days later -- long after it was needed. This fiasco began with UPS, with whom I'd paid a reasonable $90 the day before for the same package, but the courier "forgot to pick it up." This is when I turned to FEDEX to rescue me.

Give me Canada Post any day -- or any two days.

[christyf5]

Ah yes you've got me there. I'd take Canada Post over UPS anytime. I've received 3 shipments via UPS one fish shipment which was supposed to arrive before noon and never arrived until almost 7pm (I had to phone the head office as our local one closes at 5, on a friday before the long weekend, only to have the girl tell me that if it hadn't been delivered by now it would likely be delivered Tuesday, I promptly replied that it was live fish and she was most helpful after that, she must have been fish friendly ). The other two have been online orders of various things and jeez they arrived in the worst shape, like a forklift had driven through the boxes and they'd been rolled down a hill several times and possibly been in the worst UPS delivery truck accident ever

[fishoholic]

I personally have never had a problem with Canada Post. I even managed (much to my shock) to get my Dad in Ont. his Christmas present on time.

I was so sure it wouldn't get there on time I called my Dad and explained to him that he might not get his gift by Christmas but hopefully he would get it before New Years. I sent it express post Friday afternoon Dec.21 and he got it Mon. Dec.24 on Christmas eve no less! Needless to say I was impressed.

[littlesilvermax]

I have never had a problem delivering with Canada Post.

I like them better for the minimal $5 cross border fees.

Be careful for a couple of things:

-if you order something from the states and it gets damaged, each Canada Post will blame USPS and vice versa, and you may be screwed.

-they say they tried to deliver things (but sometimes don't cause they are lazy) About 5 times now I have seen the post man deliver a notice to our group mailbox about 4 homes away, then I check the tracking number on-line and it said an attempted delivery was made but no one was at home (WRONG, I was there watching him, no attempted delivery was made)! Then I have to go to the PO to pick it up. What a lazy ...................

[michika]

I never have problems getting stuff across the boarder. My problem mostly lies in the "attempted" delivery issues, and the absurd amount of times that they loose my packages.

[Parker]

I'm trying to finish up a claim for an item I rec'ed damaged and I can't get it shipped out to be inspected! I have the forms and the broken package and for some strange reason I have to ship them to Toronto.. they don't have inspectors in Edmonton? The worst part is the postal outlet employees don't know how to ship if or give me a tracking number. They asked me who's paying for the shipping, huh? You damaged it, and it says right on my forms no further postage fees will be charged!