Shipping first class through USPS

[slym2none]

Ah, gotcha!

 

(thumbs u

 

 

 

-slym

[Aweandlorder]

Lets get the facts straight:

First class is not BAD, albeit what some people are saying here, if you chose first class your buyer will still receive the shipment, just as he/she will express.. Its just that express allows you to keep track of your package and (obviously) gets there faster. The notion that first class doesnt work or works half a*s based on 1 or 2 bad transactions in a thousand is just misleading. It could happen with express as well.. sh*t happens!

shipping a hulk 181? sure, use express.

Shipping an Xforce #1?.. Take a wild guess!

[UncannyMike]

I am not saying it is bad by any means. It is a great inexpensive way to ship cheap books. I just wanted to warn a few people that like myself that were shipping books out this way and were possibly told by their local post office that this was the only way to ship, that there was an alternative way to ship.

[loadstone]

Once it leaves the US there there is no way of knowing that it is secured. International Registers entering the US are thrown in with the Priority mail. Express is still held out seperate.

 

So, this isn't true?

 

all the flat rate i send have tracking, you must not be doing it right.

 

It tracks until it gets in the hands of the Canadian PO, then nothing.

 

That's on USPS's website. If you put your tracking # into www.canadapost.ca it should show the rest of the journey.

 

:shrug:

 

 

 

-slym

 

I was tracking a package to Canada from US I sent recently. 2 days ago it showed up as International Dispatch Ready on USPS and departing country of origin in Canadapost and on the Canadapost site it showed a grey "Accepted" status meaning it has received a Canadian label but not yet processed or received by the Canadian PO. It said when a blue "Accepted" status appears it will be considered received and processed by the Canadian PO. However, I checked today and the Canadapost.ca site says record not found for the tracking number but USPS indicates it is Out of Foreign Customs in Canada. Does this mean the old tracking number is void and it has received some unknown Canadian tracking number or has it not yet been fully processed and should resume tracking for the old number once it goes out for delivery? Very odd.

[slym2none]

Where's a Canadian that works for their postal system when we need one?

 

 

 

 

-slym

[loadstone]

Ok so I've got an update on this.

 

Slym inspired me to contact a Canadian postal worker or similar.

I checked today on Canadapost.ca and it still shows as an unknown or invalid tracking number so I decided to give our postal friends to the north a call. Canadapost support 1-866-607-6301 or 416-979-8822 (outside Canada)

Residential:

Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET

Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. ET

 

Commercial:

Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. ET

 

UPDATED: It now gives me the same answers using the automated feature:

Option 1: English, Option 1: residential, Option 1: track a package, then entered the tracking # - automated response that this is an inbound international package that cannot be tracked using this automated feature.

Option 1: English, Option 1: residential, Option 2: item not yet delivered entered the tracking # - rautomated response that this is an inbound international package that cannot be tracked using this automated feature.

Option 0: customer service representative: wating...

while waiting I looked it up again on USPS.com and it shows an update of the package as now having arrived at the post office in Canada but not which one.

 

First-Class Package International Service | Arrival at Post Office | July 8, 2013, 6:34 am | CANADA

 

...Dave from Canadapost.ca support: answered.

I told him I briefly saw updates on Canadapost.ca and now it's showing as invalid. I gave him the USPS tracking # and he was able to see that it arrived at the local Post Office of the city for the recipient and should be out for delivery today. he was also able to tell me the missing points along the way that never showed up on USPS or Canadapost sites. He said you can call anytime to the support number I listed above and request updates and they'll be happy to help.

 

He confirmed that its status should still appear on Canadapost.ca but not sure why it no longer shows any updates or shows as invalid. It's possible that the system has not received the updates and that later today or tomorrow it may be updated. He also stated that if anyone ever needs to run a trace on a lost or missing package, it would have to be done/requested from the postal service in the country of origin (i.e. USPS) and they would perform a formal request to Canadapost and receive all detailed info.

 

I asked if Priority or Global Express provides any better or guaranteed tracking for Canadapost and he replied that Priority USPS shipments may be assumed by FedEx once they leave the country of origin but not certain for sure but that First-Class International Package and any USPS packages with tracking should appear and be trackable via Canadapost.ca using the USPS tracking #. I'll update later today or tomorrow if anything shows up. Looks good so far though.

[slym2none]

Nice work!

 

 

 

 

-slym

[loadstone]

Update:

 

So nothing last night on either site but I checked again this morning and I found 2 additional entries the last of which being pretty definitive of the situation on USPS.com However, nothing yet on Canadapost.ca which is kind of annoying.

 

Addressee not available - Addressee advised to pick up the item | July 8, 2013, 11:59 am | CANADA

 

Arrival at Post Office | July 8, 2013, 8:35 am | CANADA

 

So as of yesterday at 11:59am the package was out for delivery but since the addressee was not home, it is now sitting in the local PO awaiting pickup. Looks like USPS.com does provide full tracking on its status albeit 18 hours behind. I'm going to message the recipient to verify if they've received the notice and will have a chance to pick it up to confirm if/when it finally says delivered. It will sit there for 15 days and then be returned if no one comes to pick it up. I hope this experience helps others out in knowing what to expect and how to get information on their packages sent to Canada. Unless anything crazy happens or drama ensues we should be able to close the book on this one.

 

[Aweandlorder]

This comic book lot was shipped on July 1st.. 1 week later its in its destination in Canada.. Gotta love USPS 1st class.. OK??

 

[UncannyMike]

Awesome research for the thread. Anyone think we should have this stickies to the top of maybe the sale forums so others can avoid as many troubles as they can through mistake that others have made first.