rd1981

I sent a legal sized envelope to the Canadian High Commission in London just over a week ago with requested documents such as passport photos and a few pieces of paper such as a passport copy. I used the registered option so that I could track the envelope. I was not asked to complete any customs declarations and as far as I know I don't need to for letters of no monetary value.

The letter got to the UK pretty quick but since the 27th August, the tracking status says 'The item has arrived in the UK' with no movement. When I enter the tracking number on the Royal Mail, it says the number is not recognised.
This makes me think it's being held up by customs and hasn't even entered the Royal Mail's system yet. Anyone have any similar experience with this? Should I be worried and re-send with Fedex?

I will most definitely will not use Canada Post for something like this in the future. Lesson Learned!

Simon Legree

Why blame Canada Post ? They got your package into the UK system "pretty quick" as you say. It's the good old British postal system's problem. Could it be that the current, ongoing privatization of the Post Office is creating chaos ? I wonder. However, as much as I despise Canada Post, you can't hang this one on them.

AlliF

Had exactly this situation last month.
Phone Canada Post and get them to check their system manually - in our case nobody had bothered updating the online system and it had been delivered several days prior. In fact even weeks later when out of curiosity I entered the tracking number it was still claiming the item was on hold.
The online tracking is a total waste of money IMO.

On the way back the item (just an envelope with a photo in it) sat in Toronto for 10 days. I'm convinced it was because it was registered post but the value was nil they took more interest in it. When I phoned about that one the post office worker said it had been in customs but was probably being transferred from customs to them, she didn't know where it was
Almost identical items we sent regular mail took 4 days to get there - express post 10 days.
Hopefully your stuff has been delivered safe and sound..

rd1981

Oh no I wasn't blaming them for this, I should rephrase that to mean not using them for important mail delivery. I don't think I would have the same problem using Fedex expedited service as it seems that by using Canada Post, my mail has gone in the general mail pile in the customs holding area. When I've sent docs with fedex, you fill out a form re: customs and the tracking system is much better. They do have a habit of opening the mail in the US though before sending on but it wouldn't be sat somewhere collecting dust.

rd1981

Eek! If only I'd have known, I wouldn't have bothered using them. Thanks for that. I'll give them a call and hopefully it's the same situation as what you describe. By the sounds of it, they are fine for regular mail at least.

Aviator

The Royal Mail is now run by the ex head of Canada Post, so pretty soon the services will be on a par!

rd1981

Great News!

I just checked Royal Mail...it now says this "Your item, posted on 27/08/14 with reference xxxxx was delivered in WEST PDO on 02/09/14"

So it's in a Birmingham delivery office right now!

colchar

Does the Royal Mail allow you to track things from Canada Post? I know the USPS does, but does the RM?

And if it is being held by Customs, how is that Canada Post's fault?

rd1981

See my reply above ^^^ Never has this problem with Fedex/UPS. It seems for a good, reliable tracking & expedited service, Canada Post system I.e postal carrier x to postal carrier y via customs is not recommended for tracking status, speed of service and peace of mind is what I'm saying. I stated I will not use Canada Post for this TYPE of mail delivery again.

scrubbedexpat091

If you need speed and reliability then UPS and Fedex is the way to go since the package for one stays in the same network, and their system is built for speed and there is a reason they charge more generally.

Postal services involve several layers of different agencies and services, so as a result the speed and reliability will suffer, as postal services also do not generally operate their own aircraft they rely on scheduled airline flights which also slows the process down.

The most amusing thing about Canada Post is, I can mail something Xpresspost to Texas, and it got their faster then the item going to Toronto also mailed Xpresspost, but the package to Texas only spent 1 day in Canada, once in the US it move along very quickly.

haggis88

It definitely works the other way round...i tracked an RM package through Canadaposts website last week