832 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

buy them now when the price is ~$0.63 per stamp they'll still be good four years later when the cost is $0.72 or whatnot. It's nice not to have to fidget with and buy $0.01 or $0.05 cent stamps just to send a letter.

 

Ah, it's going to $0.85 this March, for multipacks, and $1.00 for singles.

[Mike K.]

$0.85!!!??? What in the hell?

 

I wonder what small parcel shipments will jump to. Already it's $7.80 minimum for a small parcel destined to anywhere in the US (meanwhile it's nearly $14 to ship across Canada!). Thankfully USPS has its costs reigned in.

 

It actually costs more to ship a parcel to Vancouver than it does to Florida. Unreal.

[sebberry]

Such a sudden and drastic change in operations must mean that they've been putting off anticipating and dealing with declining revenues for years.  This is more of an "Oh crap" response than a "we need to plan for future demand changes" one. 

[VicHockeyFan]

I notice that the downtown post office, after their move, does not have the self-serve machines for sending letters and parcels.  For about 6 weeks they had a girl assisting people with the self-serve machines in the old location, showing them how to operate the.  

 

Then they just gave up.

[Bingo]

So we will soon be able to say with much delight "Your cheque is in the mail, somewhere" 

and also save a ton of money on Christmas Cards.  Bah humbug anyways!

[LJ]

The unions will fight this tooth and nail because it is all contractors servicing the cluster boxes not union members.

 

Remember when "postal strike" struck fear in the hearts of the population, now it is basically a non entity.

[sebberry]

I'm not worried, CIBC still regularly accepts cheques via carrier pigeon for my LOC payment.

 

I just hope carrier pigeon prices don't go up. 

[VicHockeyFan]

The unions will fight this tooth and nail because it is all contractors servicing the cluster boxes not union members.

 

They have no legal position to fight, they have no union contract terms to prevent it.  15,000 union members are expected to retire or leave in the next 5 years, so the reduction of 6-8k will not be severe.  

 

Get this, the average age of current workers is 48.  Ouch!  Bet that's the oldest workforce of any major company in this country.

[G-Man]

Only announced yesterday and I am already bored of this story. Does anyone actually care about this? I mean I cannot remember the last time I got anything of note in the mail. I assume they will still be delivering parcels to the door so that is all that really matters right?

[VicHockeyFan]

Only announced yesterday and I am already bored of this story. Does anyone actually care about this? I mean I cannot remember the last time I got anything of note in the mail. I assume they will still be delivering parcels to the door so that is all that really matters right?

 

Me too.  All the people on the radio talk-shows wondering how seniors and disabled will deal with that.  I wish we could give them the respect they deserve.  

 

Seniors get groceries, they get milk, they get their medicine now, they will cope!  This is urban areas only, they also have neighbours, good neighbours help neighbours.  If they are so infirm they barely move from the home, then they usually have care attendants, or they are in a care home that will still have central mail drop-off.

 

Let's give our seniors credit!

[jonny]

The only people who care are opposition MPs who want to ignore the changes in our society and want to "save jobs" through heavy subsidization.

 

My grandparents in rural Alberta have had the "end-of-the-street-mailbox" for as long as I can remember. My 86 year old grandfather still manages to go down the street and collect his mail, nearly every single day.

[VicHockeyFan]

The only people who care are opposition MPs who want to ignore the changes in our society and want to "save jobs" through heavy subsidization.

 

You should have heard Murray Rankin this morning, he's brutal.

[sebberry]

So why is USPS doing OK but Canada Post has to make this radical shift? 

[VicHockeyFan]

My grandparents in rural Alberta have had the "end-of-the-street-mailbox" for as long as I can remember. My 86 year old grandfather still manages to go down the street and collect his mail, nearly every single day.

 

Look, the same people that get all their bills in the mail, also write cheques (then send outgoing mail from a mailbox), or go to the bank to pay them.  People are WAY more mobile than we give them credit for.  Those that can't go get their mail at the end of the street also can't go get groceries, so they arrange for that.  They'll get by.

[Holden West]

Here's a tip for everyone to save money if you mail out invoices or what have you. Go out and purchase one or two stamp spindles. They'll run you about $60 for 100 of them but the nice thing is they're valued with the letter "P" which means if you buy them now when the price is ~$0.63 per stamp they'll still be good four years later when the cost is $0.72 or whatnot. It's nice not to have to fidget with and buy $0.01 or $0.05 cent stamps just to send a letter.

 

Foiled!

 

Canada Post says effective immediately, "the sale of new permanent or 'P' stamps will be suspended until the transition is successfully completed."

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...tamps-1.2461524

[sebberry]

That's OK, I have 9 P stamps left.  That should last me several years.

 

That and the carrier pigeons I'm training.

[VicHockeyFan]

^ ^ Really, they suspected that much hoarding?  That might have been a nice cash injection.

[eseedhouse]

The same package costs about $1 to ship from China!

USPS is a bad example as technically they are insolvent.

 

But if they were allowed to run their pension fund like a normal business does in the USA they would be making a profit each year.

[jonny]

So why is USPS doing OK but Canada Post has to make this radical shift? 

 

It's not and has been cutting back as well (to loud criticism). Demand for mail has also plummeted, they recently defaulted on future retiree health benefit costs and has cut back service from six days a week to five.

[jklymak]

^ Yeah, USPS is in huge trouble.