BristolUK

Not from Canada Post though. We all know I get favourable delivery from them

I'm wondering if it's worth it for diabetic test strips which are a fraction of the Canadian cost down south. They really have it stitched up on Amazon US.

There were about 2000 search results the other day and I noticed an option to just get results where delivery to Canada was possible.

2000 dropped to 50.

Some of those 50 would still not deliver here.

Of the remainder, they either had cheapish strips (not as cheap as those in the 2000) but no compatible machine or a machine but no strips except the 10 sample with the machine.

The best I could do was a machine matching strips for about $65 (after conversion and mailing costs) but the machine would take two months.

I can get age 55+ discount at Lawtons pharmacy on Wednesdays where the $85 price comes down to $68, so not that much cheaper on the handful of Amazon options that will deliver here.

Some strips can be had for $15US on Amazon. Stitch up

scrubbedexpat091

We buy my wife's CPAP stuff on Amazon US, and it's dirt cheap compared to what the prices in Canada are.

One item runs between $65-$75 in Canada in local currency. US price $20 USD or around $25 Canadian. Add in $5 in gas, and $3 to the parcel place, and there is still significant savings.

Shirtback

A blast from the past: that 23/3 letter? It just turned up back at the sender's address in London UK. With 3 "return to sender" stamps & an Ontario postmark on it.

Other recent mail to & from here to NYC seems to be winging its merry way safely in 3-5 days.

Souvy

My office recently sent me an 'overnight' FedEx package. London to Ottawa. Not that hard.

It took a week.

The tracking was amusing. 'Any other US states you want to fit in on the way?'

Shirtback

It's not just Canada Post that's unfathomable!

I've received a package today, sent early May from London UK. It appears to have visited Sweden on the way . The package is intact, in its original wrapping, inside a Swedish post office bag with the correct address recopied onto it.

Partially discharged

Got a new UK passport....sent on a Wednesday from Durham to somewhere near Heathrow, then left on a flight to Cincinnatti, then a flight to Montreal, then truck/van/some sort of vehicle to Ottawa and then delivered in a DHL van to my house in Ottawa on a Friday about lunchtime.

scrubbedexpat091

Been waiting on an xpress post package since last week. Mailed on Wed still not here. Certainly not express. Lol

Picked a parcel up in the US Monday. Was mailed from New Jersey on Saturday arrived Sumas, WA Monday.

Crazy how fast USPS is and that was not sent express mail either.

Shirtback

Letter sent last Friday from NYC, & small parcel sent Monday from NYC (same PO, neither were sent express), both arrived here yesterday morning. I was rather taken aback at the parcel arriving so fast!!

I mailed a letter/card from here yonks ago to Ontario: it never arrived, nor did it come back to me

SchnookoLoly

Nope, never arrived.

AdrianR

<Muttley>
"ShashanfashanrashanShoppersDrugMart!"
</M>

So, over the last few weeks there have been a slew of voicemails on my phone from, according to the caller ID, Shoppers Drug Mart (although they didn't identify themselves in the message). These calls have become ever-more insistent and strident, finally threatening to return the consignment they have to its point of origin.

Hmmmm. I'm not expecting anything. I haven't ordered anything online in the last 4 months. What could it be? Go to the local Shoppers. "No sir", they tell me, "we have nothing for you."

"Then why do you keep calling me?" I ask.
"Well, we call our customers to warn them that we're holding something for them - that's probably why we called", I'm told.
"But you just said you had nothing for me" - patience is wearing thin.
"Well, if you have the card the mail carrier left we could check to be certain"
Gritted teeth-time, "I don't have a card - you're calling ME to tell me there's a package for collection. So is there or isn't there?"
"No sir - nothing with your name".

Go home - having left phone there while out - to find voicemail from the very Shoppers DM I was just at. "Just calling to let you know we're returning your package as you haven't collected it". Realize they were calling the wrong phone number and now someone, somewhere has been denied. <sigh>

Snowy560

Hi I haven't read through this thread but am hoping this is the right place to ask for reassurance that the following is completely normal. I am expecting 2 things from the UK:

1. device from UK bank to activate for secure banking (sent early August)
2. Pair of shoes I bought off Ebay UK sent registered 8 August but only trackable to when it got to Canada

and

3. Copy of my mother's b/c from Gibraltar (sent around 2 Aug) also registered and only trackable to when it got to Canada.

Nothing has yet arrived in BC. Is this "normal"?

Thank you!

BristolUK

In Jsmth321's experience it sounds like it.
In mine, no.
Although the shoes could be held up at customs I suppose.

Snowy560

Thanks.

I find it so annoying you can't track once it leaves the UK!

scrubbedexpat091

Canada Post can be idiotically slow when it comes to international mail.

The articles are mostly on shipments from China, but in my experience letters/parcels from the US can take a month or more if sent regular mail, so I wouldn't be surprised if mail from Europe is taking just as long.

Sometimes I get things from the US quickly within a week, sometimes it takes a month to 6 weeks, no consistency at all if sent by post.

Canada Post reveals it is the reason for lengthy parcel delays | CTV Calgary News

Surge in e-shopping blamed for Canada Post delivery delays - British Columbia - CBC News


Even though Canada doesn't track a slew of international mail, the USPS website still gets updates during the trip through Canada, Canada Post however doesn't provide the info, so maybe check the UK Post website or a 3rd party website and see if there is any updates of any sort.

BristolUK

Stuff my mum sends takes a week. Mail from the tax and pensions office takes a day or two longer as it seems to get routed via France, Holland or Sweden - another example of privatisation I assume - or Malaysia like the last one did, although I think that was a mistake and it took two months.