Canada Post has told customers for weeks now that it’s delivering parcels at “record levels” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there appears to be no end in sight to the delays.
Complaints about delayed deliveries from the company are abundant online. Some customers describe waiting weeks for items being sent inter-province, while others describe lengthy customer service call wait times and even offer to pick it up at processing facilities themselves.
Aware of the backlog, Marie Labelle chose to pay for expedited shipping for two parcels.
She ordered a package of coffees and teas from British Columbia on May 20 and a parcel of reptile food and supplies from Oshawa, Ont., on May 21. Both were supposed to be expedited to her home in Quebec at an additional cost of more than $20 each, she said.
“So they should have been here before the beginning of June,” Labelle said.
“I used the tracking tool to follow the progress, and as soon as the arrival date appeared for the one from Ontario, it changed to ‘date pending’ again. I got an email from Canada Post about the one from B.C. having a ‘processing error’ and to expect delays.”
Labelle said she’s still waiting for both packages. When she called about the orders, it was futile.
“Customer service was… short, to put it politely,” she said. “I was pretty much cut off and told that they can’t tell me anything more than what’s on the website.”
Labelle said the items were small and that she’s ordered them before, so the hefty delay felt odd.
She asked about being reimbursed for the expedited shipping fee — since the packages did not, in fact, arrive within three to five business days — but says she was told “they don’t reimburse.”
According to its policy online, customers can request a refund for late deliveries, but only if it meets certain criteria.
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Canada Post told Global News in a statement that “expedited services are still treated on an expedited basis and therefore move through the system much quicker” but that the overloaded situation still applies.
1:58 Union for Canadian postal workers expresses COVID-19 safety concerns
Union for Canadian postal workers expresses COVID-19 safety concerns
“It’s frustrating,” Labelle said. “We’ve ordered with FedEx or UPS and received deliveries within a quick time frame, so I don’t know what Canada Post is doing.”
The Crown corporation described the COVID-19 crisis as a “challenging period.” Those challenges are two-fold.
While Canadians are “doing their part by staying at home,” online orders have only gone up, said spokesperson Jon Hamilton. As the stay-at-home recommendations have lingered, the volume of orders has collided with the size of the orders.
“We’re seeing people sit at home and say, ‘Well, I could use a new patio set or barbecue.’ So we’re seeing bulkier items, heavier items,” he told Global News Winnipeg on May 29, adding that those types of deliveries often require more employees and more time.
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On top of that, physical-distancing protocols at processing facilities and other centres have slowed output. The measures are not only enforced to protect workers but customers, Hamilton said.
“We have 21 processing plants across the country. We’ve put it into facilities that were never designed to keep people more than two metres apart. Very few people develop a processing plant to do that,” he said.
Shifts have changed, and tape lines the floor where employees are to work and stand, he said. Parcel sorting areas that would normally have up to four employees working may now only have one or two.
“But it does add extra time,” he said. “It’s just taking longer to process because of the measures in place. That creates backlogs across all facilities across the country, not just one or two.”
Amy Booker of Stouffville, Ont., is part of that backlog. She had to get creative when recently ordering an item from a company in the United States.
She placed an order for a flea and tick product for her horses in early April but had it sent to a friend’s house in Parsonsfield, Maine, because the company wasn’t shipping to Canada during the pandemic. Once it arrived in Maine, her friend shipped it to Canada on May 4.
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2:27 COVID-19 Roundup: Canada Post urges shoppers to be patient, DBIA cancels Taste of Downtown
COVID-19 Roundup: Canada Post urges shoppers to be patient, DBIA cancels Taste of Downtown
Booker said her friend filled out all the appropriate customs forms to have the item successfully shipped across the border. The item, along with fees and shipping, came at a cost of more than $200.
It’s been three weeks since it was sent off, and there’s no sign of it, she said.
She contacted Canada Post about the delay and claims she was told it was still stuck at the border as of Friday. She believes it may now be at a processing facility in Mississauga, Ont., but can’t be certain because the tracking page hasn’t been updated.
“Basically, if it gets here, it gets here,” she said. “Goodness knows where it actually is.”
Booker said she put the order in early, knowing not only COVID-19’s impacts on deliveries but how important the item is for her horses.
“It’s to help prevent ticks. It’s not just an article of clothing,” she said.
“I understand the holdup to an extent with the pandemic. That being said, I’m sure the influx of packages is not much different than the Christmas holidays.”
Booker is nearly right.
Record parcel delivery
During Christmas, especially after Cyber Monday and Black Friday, Canada Post says it will see days where two million packages are delivered.
On May 19 alone, it hit an all-time, one-day record of 2.1 million parcels delivered to Canadians.
“That’s roughly three times the norm for this time of year,” a spokesperson told Global News in an email.
For packages coming from the U.S., “delays should be expected,” they said.
“We’re receiving more than 50 per cent the usual amount of parcels from the U.S. than this time of the year, with delays occurring before they even reach us.”
Canada Post says it is taking a “pre-Christmas” approach to keep up -— delivering on weekends, running processing facilities 24-7 and “utilizing significant voluntary overtime with thousands of trained temporary employees.”
But ultimately, it’s hard to pinpoint reasons for delays, Canada Post said.
“A delay could be different for every parcel depending on the route they take, or not occur at all,” the spokesperson said. “If people are seeing an item pause at one location, it means it is in cue (sic) in a trailer waiting to come into the facility for processing.”
If you haven’t seen a package yet, Hamilton said patience is key.
“Follow your items online. You might see them take a different route as we try to move to another facility that can handle the capacity and move quicker,” he said. “We apologize for the delays, but they’re for very good reasons.”
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
