My Story: Canada Post lost my passport and COPR.

[iwasjeff]

Hello Forum.

I just wanted to share my experience with you and some tips.

I like many others, was lucky enough to get my application approved under FSW inland.

Everything was going very well as I received PPR in about 4~5 months from my AOR date and sent the passport for COPR very next day.

I was supposed to get my passport and COPR last friday. My tracking from Canada post said they were successively delivered and when I got home from work on Friday, there was no mail other than some bills from canada post.

I used Xpresspost and it was supposed to take 1 business day as I live in Ontario but Friday was already 2 business days.

So when I realized that my package didn't arrive, I instantly panicked, called Canada post at 5pm, and the customer representative told me, it takes up to 24 hour business day for the mail to get delivered.

I informed next door and a few houses in my neighborhood and explained my situation in case they accidentally received it. Then the weekend came, and it was one of the longest weekend of my life as I was waiting for Monday to come in hopes for the mail delivery.

My mom is currently visiting Canada and she called me at work around noon that the mailman already went by our neighborhood and there was no mail for us... which then I knew Canada post lost my mail.

I was so pissed with this situation, left work early and went straight to the post office in my town.

On the way to the office, I came across our mail man and inquired about it but he's attitude was pretty poor.

He says:

"well if it says delivered then it should've delivered. I don't know what I can do since I delivered it. I will check to see if post office has it but there isn't much I can do"

So I went to the post office, and explained the situation and they were pretty upset at the mailman. They said with Xpresspost, things like this shouldn't happen and they will look into it right away and contacted the supervisor in my town. I came home, contacted CIC for what my options are with the lost mail.

Well.. the operator from wasn't really helpful at all.


So I decided to go around my entire neighborhood in hopes to find my passport and COPR. At about 8 houses (I was still on my street), I saw a strange car pulled into my driveway. I then though "holy *censored word*, someone is returning the misdelivered package to me!". So I ran to my driveway but it was supervisors from Canada post. They were very concerned and kept apologizing. They ensured me that they sent crews to check all the mailboxes in my neighborhood in case of a misdelivery and haven't found it yet but will update as soon as anything chances.

I was very disappointed but I kept on going with my journey to find my mail..

I went door to door explaining situations to residents but I wasn't getting very lucky. Until the very last house ..

I was reaching for a doorbell and I could see a huge Xpresspost package sitting on their furniture unit via window beside their entrance door. I then looked in to see the names and THERE WAS MY NAME ON THE PACKAGE.

People weren't home at that time but I was able to get my package at the end of the day when I made another trip to their house. They lived in a completely different street with the same house number... duh.
Moreover, the person who lived there wasn't very friendly which makes me think that they had it since Friday but never bothered to contact me (my phone number and address is written on the package).

After 2 ~3 hours of anxious search, I was able to find my PACKAGE and Canada post delivered it to the wrong address..



I am just so thankful that I was able to get my mail back... and tomorrow I am going to the border to complete my landing...


So yes, these things happen so when you send passports to Ottawa, make sure you photocopy EVERYTHING in case of unfortunate incidents. Also when you send your prepaid Xpresspost, Make sure you request a signature for returning package as this forces them to come to your door or choose an option to "pick up at the office". This will significantly reduce any chances of it being mis delivered."


TL;DR: Canada post lost my package, delivered to the wrong address so I had to search my entire neighborhood before I was able to find it from someone else's house.

 

[maverick85]

This is scary. I hope my package gets delivered safely. I suppose with Canada post, we should take the option "Pickup from Post Office".

Happy that you found your package finally.. All the best for landing!

 

[Han]

OMG! Quite a situation, huh? :-X
Nice to hear that you found it. We think, we are done with this stressful situation once we get PPR, but that is not the end of the story!
Anyway, congrats for landing and I hope they don't loose your PR card!!

 

[Stressed!]

OMG! Can't believe this! But I am glad to hear you got your passport back. You would think at this point you shouldn't have any issues...but like they say its never over until its over.

Hope all goes well with landing. Can I ask where you are planning to do the landing?

 

[koolbone]

I have been a silent observer of this very helpful forum for months now. I got my PPR in December and sent my passport early January.
I just wanted to say this very same situation happened to me! I got an e-mail that my expresspost package had been delivered and signed for.
I was at work at that time. On checking the delivery report online, I saw that an unknown person had signed for my package. I immediately left work, rushed home and checked my mail box.
Lo and behold, it was empty! No Passport or COPR in sight.

The next couple of days were the most stressful of my PR adventure so far, trying to track the missing package.
Canada Post were next to useless in helping out, even telling me they "just don't know what happened to the package" and if I didn't see the package by mid-February, I should file a claim to be compensated.
I was like, are these people insane? This is my international passport that contains several visas and also my COPR, something that has been extremely tasking and emotionally frustrating to get! How do you put a price on that?

To make matters worse, I live in St. John's, Newfoundland and we had a snow storm that week.
It was an absolute nightmare for me, going to neighbor's houses in the heavy snow, knocking on their doors to find out if anyone had signed for my package "accidentally", even though my name is long, non-English, and difficult-to-mistake for a Canadian's.

To cut the long story short, I eventually managed to track my package. It was delivered to the Canada Revenue Agency tax office on the next street to mine, and the silly people at the tax office saw my name on the package BUT still signed for it, opened my package, and then sent it to their mail room, where it was "stored".
I don't understand what use a foreign passport would be to anyone who worked at the tax office and why on earth they would want to open a package addressed to someone else on the next street.
In any case, I was just too relieved to get my passport and COPR that I didn't even ask any more questions.

So, as the OP has stated, it may be a better idea to just have them deliver it at the Post Office and then go pick it up from there.
All the best everyone!

 

[Marija1888]

So scary! Still waiting for our COPR papers to get back and this scares me. To them it's just a piece of mail and they just don't care, so irresponsible.

 

[iwasjeff]

OMG! Can't believe this! But I am glad to hear you got your passport back. You would think at this point you shouldn't have any issues...but like they say its never over until its over.

Hope all goes well with landing. Can I ask where you are planning to do the landing?

Hello, I am going to do my landing at Fort Erie, ON.

 

[Phil89]

OMG!!! And they charge 40 bucks for this nightmare. I am glad it ended well for you guys! So scared now.

 

[Ottawa-applicant]

That’s not the first time Canada post have done such a thing.
Good on you buddy, you actually searched for your package rather than waiting. Now good luck landing

 

[maverick85]

There should ideally be an option to collect passports from a local CIC office. Countries like US/India have VFS which takes responsibility of handling your passports. Such a service should be there in Canada as well especially for handling important documents like Passports.

 

[Hansdza]

Speaking about Canada post.
My passport should have been delivered this morning according to the online tracking it sez out for delivery at 8.19 but one hour later at 9.10 am it sez Item rescheduled for delivery next business day. I called canada post office that serves my area to ask what the heck is going on with the delivery, the lady on the phone didn't sound very happy with my question. She said wait till tomorrow, or you can file complain to Canada Post Central. WTF...

I personally know somebody who lost her passport when she applied her PGWP and visa 2 yrs ago, Canada post LOST her passport sent from Ottawa with Visa attached on it and cannot trace it back. So they ended up paying her $100 bucks for the headache they caused to her. And that's the best they can do. So again WTF..

 

[wildemam]

Man, from my experience with Canada post, It is pretty obvious, though not provable, that the package went to your house and then was picked up by some kid or so.

In case of a package with docs, ALWAYS ASK FOR SIGNATURE. THAT IS CLEARLY NOT AN OPTION.

 

[iwasjeff]

Man, from my experience with Canada post, It is pretty obvious, though not provable, that the package went to your house and then was picked up by some kid or so.

In case of a package with docs, ALWAYS ASK FOR SIGNATURE. THAT IS CLEARLY NOT AN OPTION.

No, it wasn't picked up by some kid - the mailman delivered to a wrong address, put my package in someone else's community mailbox. EVEN ASKING FOR A SIGNATURE, it still can be mis-delivered. There is no way of completely preventing these types of human error but you can definitely reduce them.

 

[ceedly]

Incredible! I'm delighted your story had a happy ending but if it wasn't for your perseverance, you'd probably never have found it - imagine the hassle that would have been.

Congratulations on getting your PR - it all worked out in the end and it definitely gave you a good story to tell. You probably made a few new friends in your neighborhood too

 

[Eucalyptus]

Congrats on getting PR! ;D

Happy that it worked out in the end and thank you for sharing your story! Now I know to keep an eye out when it is my turn!