Canada Post and Inbound Registered Mail

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I would like to share my experience receiving registered mail from overseas. First of all, the mail arriving to the east coast (through Mississauga or Montreal) always gets processed much faster. Letters sent from Europe or Middle East arrive in 10-14 days, sometimes even sooner. On the other hand, mail coming from Southeast Asia or Australia always takes much longer to arrive, 3-5 weeks. The mail is processed in Richmond, BC, and some letters get opened and inspected by CBSA. Does anyone know if the delays are at customs or are Canada Post's fault?

Also, as of mid-August, Canada Post stopped tracking inbound registered mail. Instead of tracking information I now see: "Tracking Number: *****. 
We were not able to find any results. There is no information available for this international item. Tracking by Canada Post is not a feature for this product". The last sentence essentially means that the letter is in the system, it is in Canada, but it is not being tracked. Apparently, it is how things are going to be from now on. This is very frustrating, as I now have no way of knowing where the letter is and when it will arrive. I do not even know if registered mail is still treated as such and the addressee signature is required.

Incidentally, Canada Post just lost a registered letter sent to me by a collector from Singapore. According to tracking results (just before the tracking was discontinued), the letter arrived to Canada over 6 weeks ago. I called Canada Post, they confirmed that, but told me that the sender needs to take care of this and open a case with his postal service. They will not take responsibility even though the letter was lost in Canada. I do not want to burden my trading partner with this problem and will have to accept the loss. Has anyone had similar experience with Canada Post?

Registered mail isn't worth it. What's the point of it if it's not tracked? Even if it were tracked and lost, Canada Post will not cover losses if the shipment contains bank notes. Bank notes are specifically excluded from all of Canada Post's loss coverage policies.

Registered mail isn't worth it. What's the point of it if it's not tracked? Even if it were tracked and lost, Canada Post will not cover losses if the shipment contains bank notes. Bank notes are specifically excluded from all of Canada Post's loss coverage policies.

I do not have to be honest as to what the contents are. I had a registered letter with banknotes sent to a Central American country once, and it was lost. I told Canada Post the letter contained stamps and got the maximum refund of $46 which partially covered the price of the banknotes.

I do agree that using registered mail becomes pointless if it is not tracked. CP will track letters sent from Canada or within Canada, but not the letters sent from other countries. It's really ridiculous.

Canada Post just lost a registered letter sent to me by a collector from Singapore. According to tracking results (just before the tracking was discontinued), the letter arrived to Canada over 6 weeks ago.

Good news, the letter finally arrived today. The 7 weeks of waiting (which includes 6 weeks of sitting somewhere on the West Coast) marks a new record.

They heard you, and were making notes.

(tongue in  cheek)

K.

Wait until Christmas season....You will be wishing for only a 7 week delay.