810 replies to this topic

[sebberry]

Finally got my referendum package today. It's been completed and is back in the mail already.

I wonder how long it will take the carrier pigeons to deliver it back to where it came from

[Mike K.]

Canada Post will be vacating its flagship Victoria store in the 700-block of Yates and moving to a new location immediately across the street in the groundfloor of the Studio 4 building. The move is expected sometime in March.

The main branch has been in its current location for as long as I can remember.

[Baro]

Why are they moving? Do they need more/less space?

[VicHockeyFan]

Why are they moving? Do they need more/less space?

They can't possibly need more space, it's embarrassing how empty that place is. No regular retailer could afford to have so little goods per sq. ft.

[Mike K.]

And the tills are far too close to the main door resulting in too little space for lining up when things get busy.

By the looks of it the new space is smaller than the current space.

[VicHockeyFan]

And the tills are far too close to the main door resulting in too little space for lining up when things get busy.

Well, they could fix that, make a line(s) east-west, instead of just the one perpendicular to the counter, like banks do.

[sebberry]

How busy does it get in there?

I rarely need to "do business" at the post office, and when I do it's just to drop off a package that I've already prepared a shipping label for on the CP website.

[VicHockeyFan]

How busy does it get in there?

10 or more lined up sometimes. Mostly people mailing packages. Ya, they could go through the Canada Post website and figure out the postage on their own, then buy stamps at their drugstore, and drop it in the mailbox, but instead they plunk the thing on the counter and get the staff to work it out.

[sebberry]

Ya, they could go through the Canada Post website and figure out the postage on their own, then buy stamps at their drugstore,

Buy stamps?

[Mike K.]

Shipping parcels is more involved than mailing a letter. Post offices serve a valuable service.

[sebberry]

I have no doubt they do and I'm sure a lot of people are either uncomfortable with it or simply unaware that you can prepare the mailing label and pay for the shipping right on Canada Post's website.

[G-Man]

THe strange thing is that there is another Canada Post office across the street at Shoppers.

[LJ]

Shipping parcels is more involved than mailing a letter. Post offices serve a valuable service.

Yeah, but you don't need to go to the actual post office to ship a parcel, you go to virtually any drug store or grocery store and they all have a post desk in them that can do everything the post office itself can.

Would you go to the motor vehicle office if you could get your license renewed at any ICBC outlet? I wouldn't.

I remember when people when into the MV office to get insurance, what a nightmare if you actually had to conduct business with the MV branch.

[Mike K.]

Of course, but a small Canada Post kiosk is still a post office staffed with people.

A big service post offices provide are PO boxes and now that I realize it I'm at the post office almost every day to check the box. When a parcel too big to fit into the box or a letter requiring a signature is received you queue up in the line with a card and the rep brings out the item.

[Powerforward]

I have no doubt they do and I'm sure a lot of people are either uncomfortable with it or simply unaware that you can prepare the mailing label and pay for the shipping right on Canada Post's website.

If you sell on eBay you can also pay for and print a shipping label via Paypal.

[LJ]

Of course, but a small Canada Post kiosk is still a post office staffed with people.

A big service post offices provide are PO boxes and now that I realize it I'm at the post office almost every day to check the box. When a parcel too big to fit into the box or a letter requiring a signature is received you queue up in the line with a card and the rep brings out the item.

Well some of the drug stores etc. also have post boxes, I'm just sayin that there is no real need for a post office with it's high priced help when you can get contractors to do it for a lot less and at more convenient locations.

[VicHockeyFan]

There are self-serve letter and parcel stations in the main post office on Yates now. I'm not sure where you throw the big parcel after it's weighed (and measured?) but the stations look pretty skookum.

[Holden West]

There are self-serve letter and parcel stations in the main post office on Yates now. I'm not sure where you throw the big parcel after it's weighed (and measured?) but the stations look pretty skookum.

The Vancouver post office has fancy laser scanners that accurately measure packages. The technology will probably find its way here eventually.

The drawback with self service checkouts is you need a dedicated staffer to assist customers. This is fine at Safeway when you have lots of self-service terminals. But at the post office where you only have two staffers, having one helping with an automated check-out seems counter productive. I can see two employees running their butts off while number three sits on a stool waiting for someone to use the kiosks.

[VicHockeyFan]

The Vancouver post office has fancy laser scanners that accurately measure packages. The technology will probably find its way here eventually.

The ones here have a water-displacement tank that VERY accurately measures the total volume of the package (less the water infiltrating the package). Very accurate, and a real test of your water-tight wrapping ability. j/k.

[cakeman]

So who else has received this asinine letter from Canada Post regarding our refusal to accept unaddressed mail?

Huh, I had it here to pull points off of, but my wife appears to have 'tidied' for me.

Ah, internet to the rescue.




I love their bullet points..

Coupons - yeah, thanks, but the companies I want to deal with.. Im on their mailing (or e-mailing) lists. I dont need any more envelopes full of coupons of questionable value for Sears Carpet Cleaning.

Catalogues - Oh, Ive heard of those.. So how do I use it to check stock, current pricing and keyword search? Oh, wait, I'll just use the website.

Fundraising Appeals - thanks, but with how charities pawn off our contact info, they've all already got my name and #, unfortunately.

Muni notices - Dont know why they couldnt drop those off anyways, if the municipality decides its important enough to tell me about something.

Product Samples - Oh gee, can I please get a single sample of some over-perfumed cleaning product?

.. just out of frame in the picture is a note to the effect of "This letter, like most unaddressed mail, is recycleable!"

... sure, I suppose. But you've wasted the energy and materials producing, printing, shipping, delivering, picking up and rendering down product I didnt want in the first place.

Anyone have a contrary opinion?

cakes..