Dancing with Canada Post
OK, it’s time for a little substantive information here based on my conversations with Canada Post. I made careful notes during these conversations, so everything here is based on those notes and, bizarre as some of them sound, I have not made up anything.
One thing is clear to me: The people I have been talking to either honestly do not know what is going on, or they know but have been instructed not to tell the customers anything. I cannot get the name or contact information for anyone higher up the ladder, and despite repeated promises that my concerns would be made known further up the ladder and that I would be called if there was any new information, I have yet to receive a call from anyone at Canada Post that was not the direct result of a message I’ve left for my main contact.
I have spoken to two people at Canada Post in Richmond, and one person at a call centre. I tried to speak to a third person in Richmond, but apparently that person was sick at the time and so my message was given to one of the other two people I had already talked to. It was my understanding that this third person was the direct superior of the other two, but I’ve been assured that this third person is as much in the dark about what is happening, why it’s happening and what the plan for the future is as the two people under him. (I apologise for the awkwardness of not using names, but these are representatives of Canada Post and, for now at least, I’m not interested in pointing fingers and saying, “He/she said…”.) There have been several references in conversations to “delivery services officers”, but I have not been able to speak to any of these mythical people, and they seem to refuse to give any information to the people that I have been talking to.
Some of the quotes below offer some interesting insight into the way people at Canada Post think, and are worth reading on their own without my interpreting them and putting things into my own words.
The first inkling
This story starts several months ago, before the official notice that the Airport Postal Outlet was closing down. On Friday, October 31st, 2008, I tried to renew my mail box at the retail outlet on Westminster Highway near the intersection with Number Three Road. As any “retail” customer of the APO will know, the management of the boxes at the APO has been problematic (to put it politely) for years, as the APO seems to be the bastard child (to put it not-so-politely) that nobody wants to take any responsibility for. On this particular occasion, however, there was a new twist: The computer system would not allow my box to be renewed because, apparently, it wasn’t in the system. A helpful clerk eventually suggested that I leave a cheque and she would somehow manually renew my box later in the day. I did so, and she was successful. A computer-generated receipt was later delivered to my mail box.
However, before I left, this clerk told me that Canada Post are “trying to close down the airport boxes”, something that was news to me. So I then went to the “Richmond delivery centre” at the corner of River Road and Cambie to get more information. I was told that the person who would be able to answer my questions was not there, so I was given that person’s phone number. That person is the person I have since talked to the most about this issue, even though, ironically, he is not in charge of the retail customers.
Reasons for the closure
You can read the quotes below for the streams of consciousness in which the following reasons are contained:
- The RCMP want the boxes closed for security reasons
- The Olympics want the boxes closed for security reasons.
- Canada Post is undergoing a modernisation programme, and under that programme all PO boxes are being eliminated and the new software no longer recognises PO boxes.
- The purpose of the APO is to serve business at the airport, not the “retail” customers who “don’t belong there”.
- The federal government, the City of Richmond and the Vancouver Airport Authority cannot come to an agreement over what to do about the mail boxes.
- Canada Post might stop delivering to the airport.
- There is “no mail delivery at the airport at all”.
- 9/11.
- The APO is dangerous.
- The RCMP and the Vancouver Airport Authority might not “want any mail going close to the airport during the Olympics or in the future”.
- Canada Post is “fighting with Vancouver Airport Authority”.
- People don’t address mail to businesses at the airport properly and the Vancouver Airport Authority stopped taking delivery of improperly-addressed mail, telling Canada Post that it was their problem.
Select items from my notes, presented as-is rather than trying to weave all of this into a long and boring narrative
I’m just going to present these notes pretty much verbatim from the notes I made during and after the phone conversations I’ve had with Canada Post. As you can see, they are rife with contradictions in certain areas. If something doesn’t make sense to you, please remember that this is not a mistake on my part, but just that I am reporting exactly what I’ve been told at different times. I have bolded some of the more consistent inconsistencies.
You’ll also see a constant refrain here, summarised as follows: “I’m just as much in the dark as you are. I don’t know what’s going to happen.” I find it truly amazing that a corporation the size of Canada Post cannot articulate what their plans are mere weeks from now.
Friday, October 31st, 2008:
- Then the computer said that the box was not in the system and it wouldn’t let her renew it OR rent it anew.
- During the course of the conversation, she indicated that Canada Post are “trying to close down the airport boxes”, something that is news to me.
Thursday, November 6th, 2008:
“My personal recommendation to you would be to get a box somewhere else. That’s my personal recommendation.” Later he upgraded that to a “strong recommendation”.
- APO kiosk is under-utilised. Only about 70 boxes being used out of 400.
- The purpose of the kiosk, when it was built about 12 years ago, was to serve the tenants (businesses) at YVR.
- Have run into a whole mess of problems with the fact that the kiosk is on federal land, the airport authority has authority over the property, the City of Richmond could not assign addresses.
- Have been advised not to renew any boxes that have expired.
- Kiosk was built after the franchise running the old retail outlet, where the boxes were located in one of the cargo buildings on Miller Road, was closed.
- Head office in Ottawa is involved, something to do with updates in their computer system.
“It is under-utilised, I don’t know what the future is for the kiosk. There is issues like after 9/11… I don’t know how are we going to be delivering the airport? Are we not? With the Olympics coming along, I don’t know what the RCMP, what stand they will take. Would they want the kiosk there? Is it, you know, is it dangerous to have it there? So there’s all sorts of problems surrounding this right now. So, again, as I said, I’m not… I don’t want to give you any false promises. I can say yes, you’re good for another year, but, what’s going to happen after that, I don’t know. And the reason I’m sharing this information with you is maybe you should, as I said, think of another location or something that works best for you because, if worst comes to worst and RCMP and Vancouver Airport Authority agree on this and they say, ‘Oh it’s dangerous and we don’t want any mail going close to the airport during the Olympics or in the future,’ if that’s what they agree upon then it means that we will have to follow their demand and… I don’t know whether we’re going to demolish it or what’s going to happen.”
“With the new computer system that kicked in about four months ago, the directive that I’ve received from head office now is they want us to assign physical addresses to all these customers, at least for the 70 customers that are left at the kiosk, because the new system does not recognise PO boxes. Which is funny… I mean, this is information I’m just sharing with you. […] I don’t know who designed the software, the new software does not recognise PO boxes, and that’s what I’ve been told from Ottawa, and I can confirm that on my computer’s screen here.”
“This land has only Vancouver Airport Authority. Therefore City of Richmond cannot assign any addresses. So we’re fighting with Vancouver Airport Authority right now to see what we can do. Can we get a civic address? What’s going to happen with respect to the Olympics? What the RCMP has to say about all this? And whatnot and whatnot and whatnot. If it was easy as… if I’m dealing with the City of Richmond and I have a new building coming up and I say, ‘Hey, I need a civic address for this building,’ and they say, ‘OK, there’s your address,’ done deal. I don’t worry about that. But the City of Richmond would not assign addresses at the airport. It’s federal land, and only Vancouver Airport Authority has authority out there. So I’m in between two different bodies and I’m trying to orchestrate that, and it’s taking a lot of my time. I mean, I’ve been working on this for quite a few months now. And people… my managers are getting anxious. We want to solve the problem.”
- Other customers have expressed that they would like to keep their boxes.
Thursday, April 16th, 2009:
- Other people involved: delivery services officer. They’re doing the organising and planning.
- Issue started with kiosk being built to serve the tenants at the airport.
“At some point things went overboard and boxes were getting rented there [presumably to people who are not airport tenants], etc., etc. Right now there’s no mail delivery at the airport at all, and we found ourselves in a big mess. The intention here is to fix all this.”
“Since you do not belong at the airport,” I should choose a mail box at another postal outlet.
- There is a retail postal outlet in the 7-11 in the terminal.
- I’m not the only one calling and expressing concern.
- People concerned about the logistics — parking — of having a box at the outlet in the terminal.
- Does not know if there is going to be a replacement for the kiosk.
- He is focused on the fact that I “do not belong at the airport”, and I took him up on that, asking if I’m “not allowed” to have a box at the airport.
- He said I am, but then proceeded to say that the kiosk was intended strictly for tenants at the airport, and they don’t pay for their boxes.
- When the retail outlet that was at the airport shut down years ago, the retail customers with boxes, apparently, should not have been moved to the kiosk.
- Kiosk is the “designated free mode of delivery” for the airport tenants.
- Delivery services officers are in charge or running delivery to airport tenants.
“Also there’s other issues with respect to security at the airport. With the Olympics coming along, do they want to have people there wandering around with parcels and mail delivery, or not?”
Will have to change my address for sure, “because those numbers will disappear.”
- Other issues in the surrounding area: People have a CMB (community mail box) site, but it’s hosted at the kiosk, so maybe there will be a new site, and if they put up a new site I might have the option to be there. Regardless, he says my address will change.
- I confirmed that this is all happening in the next 5 or 6 weeks, and his response was “apparently yes”, but it’s all a “guessing game” for him because he doesn’t know what’s happening.
- Says I’m welcome to call him in the future for more information. “It’s no secret.”
- There have been a lot of complaints from the tenants at the airport.
- Says that the delivery services officers have been apprised of the customers’ concerns.
- Met with the Vancouver Airport Authority a couple of weeks back about this issue.
- Says that at Toronto Airport there is a building that’s run by Canada Post, and all the mail is delivered there.
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009:
“My interpretation of it is….”
- Not his decision. Decision made by the delivery people, not him in the retail section.
- Don’t deliver to a lot of businesses at the airport.
- A lot of people address mail to businesses at the airport without using a full address — e.g., “XYZ Company, Vancouver Airport, BC, Canada”.
- This mail used to be delivered to the YVR mail room — presumably a mail room operated by the Airport Authority — and they used to deliver it, but a few years ago YVR stopped doing this and told Canada Post that it was up to them to deliver it.
“Not going to provide delivery to the airport anymore.”
Advising people that they must rent a mail box from a retail outlet. “That’s the proper way.”
- Are not planning to implement any sort of replacement for the APO.
- Cannot tell me what is being done for businesses at the airport, but says that if a business has a physical address, mail is delivered to it.
- Send in change-of-address notification they will ensure that six months of redirection is provided for free.
- Will provide a “normal refund” for unused rental.
- Doesn’t know what the “refund structure” is.
- Normally don’t provided 100% refunds; says that I pay for 10 months and get 2 free, although I am not aware if this as I have simply paid an annual fee.
- Plans were made five years ago for changes, but were continually put off.
Thursday, April 30th, 2009:
- Quite a few tenants are concerned.
- The kiosk is going to be dismantled
“Are they going to put a new site up there? Very good possibility. At this point I have no such information.”
- Customers have expressed a concern about parking if they get a mail box at the 7-11 in the terminal.
- Says again that it’s not his decision, and that it’s the delivery services officers.
“At this point, still, I don’t have any confirmation from Delivery Services telling me this is what’s happening. I’m still left in the dark, pretty much, and so are my customers.”
- Says he will call me with new information if I want. Said I would like that. He says he is compiling a file of concerned customers.
- The kiosk is not necessarily losing money. “The problem is bigger than that.”
- Ten years ago there was no delivery at the airport, and the kiosk was supposed to handle that. However, they “did not take into consideration the growth of the airport”.
“Personal contact items are not deliverable at the airport.”
- Agrees that the kiosk could be picked up and moved.
“Right now Canada Post is executing… we have started a modernisation project of Canada Post. So right now, at this point, the new system, for whatever reason, which seems really stupid to me, I mean, I know it’s going to sound stupid, but for whatever reason, the computer system that they have designed, I don’t know who that is, which company, whatever, it would not be able to take PO boxes anymore. So for this address there, at the kiosk, right, like at the airport, we don’t have an option to put those boxes into the system. […] But, as I said, the system doesn’t recognise it. It absolutely blows my mind.“
- There are 400 tenants.
“The answer I got was no so, I didn’t want to… I mean, I’ve asked questions several times, then, there comes a point that, you know, I shouldn’t be asking anymore. So, that’s what it is, and as I said, I mean, sounds really stupid, absolutely, but there’s nothing I can do at this point.”
- Believes he’ll have an answer to what the situation will be, regardless of that answer is, next week.
Friday, May 8th, 2009:
Conversation with someone in Richmond:
- Still no new news from the delivery services officers.
- Quite a few calls from customers.
“We’re just left completely in the dark.”
- Says that he has had a lot of calls this week on the issue and the powers that be (my term) know that there is a lot of concern about the closing of the APO.
- Will call me the moment he knows something.
Conversation with customer service at a call centre somewhere:
- In the course of the conversation he said that they usually give at least a month’s notice of closures.
- I said that I had more than a month’s notice, so my quarrel is not with the amount of notice, but that I am not getting anywhere finding out why the APO is being closed and what options I may have other than the ones I have been given.
- Suggested that the lease at the airport is probably up and the airport has “kicked” Canada Post out of there.
“He [the retail business manager] probably knows what the answer is, but just doesn’t want to give you what the answer really is because you probably wouldn’t like it.”
Told him that I’ve been told that one of the reasons for the closure is that there is a modernisation programme and that all PO boxes are being eliminated as a result. His response: “Wow! OK, that’s not true. I can tell you the last one’s not true. That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know why we’d get rid of PO boxes. That’s kind of backwards. […] It sounds like everybody there has absolutely no idea what’s going on which, kind of doesn’t surprise me at the same time.”
“What I’ve done… the fact that you’re only given a month notice… which I completely agree with you is not the greatest. I get that. I don’t understand why they do this, especially to someone whose had the box for any length of time, like it’s… can’t say like you’re like, ‘Hey, you have a month, go and change absolutely everything you’ve ever dealt with,’ … which is kind of ridiculous. So I’ll forward this onto someone, and I’ll put in the notes that you have been talking to the retail business manager and that he’s clueless as to what’s actually going on.”
Conversation with someone in Richmond:
- Doesn’t know what other information he can possibly provide me with.
“There’s no one else to talk to.”
- Emphasises that I’m not the only one in this situation, as there are another hundred tenants in the same boat — Lufthansa, British Airways, etc.
- Essentially he sounded annoyed, and almost condescendingly said that he, xxxx and xxxxx are the only sources of information and they will tell me when there is something new to tell me, apparently with little concern that there are only three weeks before the APO is scheduled to close.
- Left a message for xxxxx xxxxx, a/the Delivery Services Officer asking for more information, but he has not returned his call.
- Says it’s something for “the professionals” to resolve.
“Right now it’s all talk. […] There was rumours, right… I cannot confirm this because, as I said, it’s not laid out in stone, right… there was rumours that they going to put up another site at the same place, where the kiosk is.”
- Had a call from British Airways this morning, and talked to Lufthansa a few days ago.
- Talked to the “Zone Manager” and the “Director”, but is not getting information from them.
- Seriously doubts that I will have no options on May 31st.
- After he finishes talking to me he’s going to try and talk to the “Delivery Services Officer Manager”.
“This has been going on, believe me, this has been going on for a while, right. They’re been going back and forth with Vancouver Airport Authority. It’s not… there’s lot of people involved. There’s security people involved. There’s Vancouver Airport Authority involved. There’s Olympics coming along. They’re worried about security. Where is this mail going to go? Where is those personal-contact items going to go? Etc., etc.”
- Says he’s still in the same boat as me, still waiting for information.
- Will send my “concern” to the manager of delivery services officers, and will request an answer from her.
- Says it’s like a full-time job just dealing with this, but has other work to do on top of this.
Phone conversations
This is a list of phone conversations I have had, not counting messages left:
- November 6th, 2008: 17 minutes
- April 16th, 2009: 11 minutes
- April 28th, 2009: 15 minutes
- April 30th, 2009: 11 minutes
- May 8th, 2009: 3 calls totalling 26 minutes
- Total: 1 hour and 20 minutes of my time and the time of Canada Post managers wasted
Conclusion
All of the above is for the record. There is no conclusion yet, other than that I can conclude that Canada Post either doesn’t know what they are doing, or they do know what they are doing but refuse to tell their customers what is going to happen to their mail delivery come June 1st.
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