Canadapost shipping labels and customer service

[#1]

Canadapost sent an email out that they are accepting new shipments today (19th), but the Etsy shipping labels are still not available.  Why are we not getting a firm date from Etsy?  I tried to create a shipment VIA the Canadapost website and the quote was $5 more.  I've tried to have customer service call me since yesterday, but an error message keeps coming up.  Is anyone else getting these error messages?  

[bohemians]

It might be possible that domestic Canadian mail is moving faster than international because some of the backlog is still in countries of origin that didn't want the uncertainty of transport and/or storage in Canada.

There's also the chance that there is more also backlog coming through customs as they would have had nowhere to forward it to once it was cleared.

Edited 

@bradgoodell Just curious ... does your tracking say where (location) your Nov. 12 package has been hung up since the 15th?

[TexanGifts]

I sent a package to Canada on 11/11 and it still hasn’t arrived.  The last tracking shows peocessed through Chicago…on way to destination.  The customer is unhappy.  I paid $47 for shipping.  Will I be out the products worth $150 and the shipping of $47 if the customer files a complaint?  This is exactly why Etsy isn’t allowing shipping to Canada yet.

[MrsDsHandKnits]

It is very possible that your shipment to a Canadian destination is still in the backlog of mail at the sortation facility...

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Canada was letting oversea sellers buy and ship up to 2 weeks after they started the strike,

there are warehouses full of parcels, and they are massive warehouses

they say expect delays well into the new year

[bohemians]

“Canada was letting overseas sellers buy and ship …” ??

Overseas sellers couldn’t have purchased their postage from Canada post if they were shipping from outside Canada.

ETA … Items from foreign countries items were not only held back in their countries of origin - they also have the added delay of the backlog of going through customs inspection before being released to Canada Post.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Royal Mail buys the canada leg of delivery from Canada Post

and Canada Post were letting Royal mail buy and ship to them, up to 2 weeks after the strike started
.... so sellers, in fact anyone, could purchase the labels for canada Post to do the final delivery, even though they were on strike.

Then Canada post refused to let Royal mail buy any more postal labels, and refused to accept any more post .... as Canada post warehouses were full

[bohemians]

If I were sending something to the UK, I would purchase from Canada Post and they would be the entity I made the transaction with. 

[bohemians]

CP says “ For international mail and parcels, customers should continue to expect delays into early 2025”

So hopefully not well into the new year.

[RetroNouveauAndMore]

agreed, why does a company in Ireland figure they have the authority to withhold shipping labels in another country. Etsy is forgetting that WE PAY THEM for this shipping app. We are due a credit on our fees. 

[dippeldiundscribble]

@RetroNouveauAndMore 

Do you think that sellers in countries where Etsy shipping labels are not available at all should also receive a credit on their fees?

After all, they pay the same fees and have never received special rates on shipping labels.

[PoochandTabby]

@RetroNouveauAndMore

Etsy doesn't owe you anything in this situation. You had the ability to use Canada Post's website or go to the counter to buy labels and you chose not to.

If Etsy didn't want to make labels available on their site, citing the backlog that Canada Post advised about, then that was their decision.

Just like you not using alternatives to buy the labels that were readily available elsewhere. That was your decision. Are your customers owed a credit on their purchases from you then?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@RetroNouveauAndMore 

all sellers , in all countries, can buy whatever labels, from any shipper, they want in their county

etsy also gives sellers the option, in 4 countries, of buying through them as a broker, but it is an option only, and much more limited than buying elsewhere.

as you are in canada, your contract is with etsy inc, in USA, not Ireland

[Prerafdesigns]

my conclusion

parcels within Canada seem to be moving 

international post like me, who posted something from Australia to Canada on the 18th November which still hasn't been delivered, not ok.

I'm worried that that my parcel has been crushed in all the backlog of international parcels

so, if you want to get more parcels in the system, and then the customer complaining it is late and also damaged, buy a label other ways, as suggested by @PoochandTabby

I think Etsy is doing the right thing by us sellers

yes, to using different carriers

[BoudoirPrive]

Has anyone else been dinged by Etsy for late delivery of parcels to Canada during the recent industrial strike action?  I had one late delivery to Canada and have lost my smooth dispatch badge.  Personally, I feel that's a tad unfair.

[BagmakerSupply]

@BoudoirPrive: Star Seller is based on SHIPPED not delivered.

If you are unable to ship by the scheduled ship by date, your options are to use a different courier, extend the ship by date, or cancel the order.

If you feel you shipped on time, then you need to check the applicable CSV file on your Customer Service Stats page (last review period for February star) to see what Etsy thinks is late or otherwise has something wrong with it.

This is an older thread which an Etsy moderator may close, so if there still an issue you may want to consider starting a new one.

[BoudoirPrive]

@BagmakerSupply 

Many thanks for your thoughts and I appreciate that it is an older thread.  I could not ship nor deliver on time as, like many other sellers, I was waiting for the industrial action to end and shipping to start up again.  I moved  my dispatch times out, but  it clearly wasn't  long  enough. Using a courier would not  have been cost effective. I  offered my buyer a cancellation and refund, but she was willing to wait.  I still think it's  unfair  to penalise  sellers  for something which is out of their control.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

It was completely in your control,

you just didn't want to use the options available to you

Etsy has never liked sellers keeping the money and not shipping within the date they set and/or reset once, , it is high risk for them, and we will get dinged for it

[BoudoirPrive]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

What options?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

stop selling to Canada as soon as the strike is announced

for all orders received, put the ship date out if the seller agrees

if they were still on strike at the ship date, or you did not put it out, use another shipper, or cancel

[BoudoirPrive]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

I deleted Canada from my delivery profiles, however, like a lot of sellers, I did not do this immediately, as many of us thought that the industrial action would be over far sooner.  I also pushed the shipping date out as far as I could, but the strike continued after that date.  I offered to cancel and refund the order, but the buyer said that she was happy to wait, so a courier would have been an unnecessary expense.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

you must have missed the last bit....

if they were still on strike at the ship date, or you did not put it out, use another shipper, or cancel

[LastCentury]

Who cares if the buyer is ok with shipping way later than scheduled? That is not good for you! Take care of your own business first.

Cancel the order and kindly let them know why, tease them with a 10% coupon to come back when the coast is cleared for shipping. (IF the item is still available.)

I can't wait to see what happens if Canada Post decides to go on strike again in May. fingers crossed!

[BoudoirPrive]

@CraftyCornishMaids 

@LastCentury 

As previously stated, I did push the date out as far as I could and  kept the buyer informed. She did not want the order cancelled and was happy  to wait.  Had she not have been, then that would have been a different matter.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@BoudoirPrive 

you have choices

you pushed them to the limits,

so at the end, you had choices, the one you chose, was to be dinged

your options, your choice

[LastCentury]

@BoudoirPrive If my plane is going down, I'll be putting my oxygen mask on first just like the attendants tell you to do.

Same goes for business. If the transaction is going to suck the life out of me or my shop - transaction cancelled! - with the nice message details I mentioned earlier.