No mail delivery for a week!

I had thought maybe we had seen the last of the letters to the editor surrounding Canada Post's incompetency and lack of customer service to the public after the longtalked about change of address and problems with delivery regarding such. This was followed by the apparent deeming of sections of Torbram Road to be "unsafe" for mailbox delivery, followed by the setup of a decrepit old mail superbox at Torbram and King for the offending sections (which the wrong keys were delivered initially for and all the neighbours had to deliver one another's mail by hand).

I thought for sure that this would have to be the end to my headaches with Canada Post. I begrudgingly have been driving daily to pick up my mail at the boxes. While not happy about the situation at night and during peak traffic times, I realized I had to live with it.

December 29, however, my father and I stopped together to get our mail. It was my birthday and I anticipated some birthday cards. Lo and behold, the boxes had been pushed by someone into the ditch. My father and I made our way into the ditch and checked to see if mail had been delivered before the vandalism occurred, but there was no mail in either box for us. In fact, my lock was missing altogether and the hasp for my mailbox was now broken off. I called Canada Post as soon as I got home, inquiring as to where I might be able to locate my mail and to advise them that the mailboxes were in the ditch (although surely they already knew since the mail carrier should have already come and gone long before we happened upon things). Unsure what time Canada Post management gets to leave on Friday afternoons, I didn't receive a phone call back from them that day. I grumbled a bit to myself, but was sure I would receive a phone call Tuesday (after the long weekend) to clear things up.

Tuesday came and went with no mail and return phone call, so I called again on Tuesday afternoon and left another message requesting to know how the matter of my mail delivery was going to be rectified.

Wednesday morning, my phone calls were finally returned, although I was unable to ascertain the gentleman's name. He wasn't particularly helpful and actually seemed to be a bit perturbed with me for asking why I hadn't received mail delivery as he pointed out that the mail carriers are strictly forbidden to deliver to boxes that don't have a lock. I pointed out to him that I no longer have a hasp or a lock and asked him to please send a new lock out. He said he'd take care of things. I asked again if I could expect mail delivery that day and he indicated that I would.

Went to check my mail Wednesday (Jan. 3) - what a surprise - still no mail, no hasp, no lock, no phone calls.

Left another message Thursday, indicating that it has now been a full week since I've had mail delivery and that I'm getting a little frustrated that no one returns my calls or is placing any importance on letting me know where a week's worth of my mail is.

As of Jan. 10 I did, in fact, receive my mail to my door, but with no guarantee that the mailbox would be fixed. Therefore, after waiting for more than a week for mail delivery, I will probably still have to go and pick up my mail from the post office until they fix my mailbox hasp as I was told. I got door delivery to "make up for" not receiving my mail since Dec. 28.

I have absolutely no idea why no one can return my phone calls and what the big problem is in restarting mail delivery to me. There are plenty of empty boxes that my mail could be delivered to. In addition, if delivery to the superbox wasn't feasible, would it not be common sense to contact me and tell me where I could pick it up (perhaps at the post office) or actually deliver it to my door? It baffles me that customer service is considered a priority for the majority of businesses, yet a huge corporation like Canada Post clearly doesn't value their customers whatsoever. I'm just one piddly customer to them, I suppose, and it really doesn't matter if I get my mail in an orderly and timely fashion.

Jacqueline Bennett