Medical-test results, bills, cheques about to expire… good thing there wasn’t anything important in there Winnipeg woman paid Canada Post for year of mail forwarding from old address in La Salle, but got just three months of it
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Vonda Plett doesn’t have cancer, but if she did she might not have known for months because of Canada Post.
Plett paid the Crown corporation for a year’s worth of mail forwarding from her former home in La Salle to her new one in Winnipeg.
But the company inexplicably stopped sending her forwarded mail after about three months.
Plett and her husband discovered the problem only after the people who bought the La Salle house forwarded almost 10 months worth of mail to them and, among the dozens of letters, was one from CancerCare Manitoba.
“Fortunately, the tests were negative, but what if they had found something?” Plett said Monday.
“I wouldn’t have been aware of it for months. I‘m very annoyed and frustrated. I felt like I was doing everything right on my side. It would have been better if they hadn’t forwarded any mail at all, because I would have looked into it. I trusted them.
“It’s not the job of the person, who bought our house to forward our mail, but I’m glad they did.”
“I felt like I was doing everything right on my side. It would have been better if they hadn’t forwarded any mail at all, because I would have looked into it. I trusted them.”–Vonda Plett
Besides the medical test results, the stack of mail also included cheques — some about to expire — as well as bills, tax-related materials and a municipal tax assessment and bill.
Canada Post offers its mail forwarding service for people moving or temporarily relocating to a new address.
“Rest assured you’re not missing infrequent mailings such as tax slips, licenses or health card renewals,” the postal service states on its website.
Canada Post offers mail forwarding for either 12 months at a cost of $92.50, or four months for $60.50, if the resident is moving within the province and not returning to their original address.
If it is only a temporary move, Canada Post offers a three-month forwarding service for $57.
Plett went online before the couple sold their house in February 2022 to request their mail be redirected starting March 2, 2022 and expiring this year on March 1. With tax, she paid $103.16.
JEFF / MCINTOSH / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Vonda Plett said they were receiving forwarded mail, and contacting the senders with a change of address, through the months, but didn’t realize a large volume of mail had never been forwarded.
She said they were receiving forwarded mail, and contacting the senders with a change of address, through the months, but didn’t realize a large volume of mail had never been forwarded until the owner of their old home couriered two large packages.
After three calls to Canada Post, Plett said she finally spoke with a manager who told her their records showed about 200 pieces of mail had been forwarded until May 14, 2022, but nothing since then.
Plett said she asked for a full refund for the year of service they didn’t receive, as well as another free year to make sure they knew what mail wasn’t being received at their new address. Canada Post offered only a 50 per cent refund for the year they paid for.
“(They said) “you have to pay for the service you did get” but I said I didn’t even get half a year of service. I wanted them to extend the service to rectify the mess they created (but) I was told this would “absolutely not” be an option.”
Canada Post told the Free Press it is looking into the issue and hopes to have a response Tuesday.
“(They said) “you have to pay for the service you did get” but I said I didn’t even get half a year of service. I wanted them to extend the service to rectify the mess they created (but) I was told this would “absolutely not” be an option.”–Vonda Plett
Matthew Aitken, president of the Canadian Postal Workers Union Local 856 in Winnipeg, says it appears a mistake was made by Canada Post.
“It could be a keystroke error,” Aitken said. “I haven’t heard of it being widespread so it must be an individual customer issue.”
Aitken said mail will be forwarded and delivered by either postal carriers going door-to-door or to larger community mailboxes, but, if there is no forwarding address on envelopes, the carriers have to deliver the mail to the address marked on the envelope.
“We deliver to addresses, not names,” he said. “We cannot know where everybody lives, but we know where the address is. When mail forwarding expires, you don’t have any option but to deliver to the address.”
Plett said besides her own mail, the bundle of undelivered mail also included letters to La Salle neighbours delivered by mistake to her former address.
“Clearly, this is not about a few dollars being refunded,” she said. “It is about Canada Post being held responsible for not providing a critical service as promised or doing everything they can to fix a problem that they created,” she said.
“It is also about warning others to not assume that their mail is, in fact, being forwarded.”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.
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History
Updated on Monday, March 13, 2023 9:03 PM CDT: Fixes spelling of Plett
