Submitted by Al…
Something to consider with the upcoming holiday season. This may surprise you…
I recently mailed two identical packages via Canada Post one week apart. One would think that the postage would be exactly the same... guess again! Package # 1 was mailed from an actual Canada Post Office. 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 package while I was there. When it came time to mail package #2, I went to the post office in a Shopper's Drug Mart. I handed the package to the clerk to be put in the outbound mail bag, but was informed that I did not have sufficient postage attached. The clerk told me that I needed to add an additional $6postage. Surprised, I explained how I had mailed a similar package a week earlier for that exact amount. The clerk offered some lame excuse that either I was mistaken or there must have been an error made. If I wished to mail that package from Shopper's, then I needed to purchase more postage. I knew I was not mistaken, so I wanted to find out exactly where the “error” was being made. I took back my package and headed to the "real" Canada Post. Much to my surprise, the clerk there took my package, weighed it, and tossed it into the mail bag, ready to go. The Truth Comes Out:
Perplexed by this, I fired off an email to Canada Post for clarification. This is the reply I got from them: 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. So remember, if you regularly mail packages at franchise locations, you are probably paying too much. From now on, all of my mailing will be done from official Canada Post locations.
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