I placed the order on Nov. 26.
Yes, ideally I should have made the order sooner, knowing that Canada Post was on strike.
But my mom sent me a stealthy email on Nov. 25 with two shirts my dad really wanted for Christmas from his favourite store: UNTUCKit. Although sometimes Mark’s Work Wearhouse carries stock from UNTUCKit in their stores, I didn’t think this was the case at the Mark’s locations in Simcoe County to try to find it in person.
What’s the worst that could happen, I thought. Surely with Canada Post workers striking for two weeks already, online retailers would have made alternate arrangements by now.
My heart dropped to my stomach when I placed the order and checked the estimated delivery time. “Awaiting tracking information from Canada Post,” said the tracking information.
Crap.
For about a week, I mulled over in my mind what this meant while checking daily to see if the status changed. Did they just THROW the parcel at the locked doors of a Canada Post outlet and figured their part of the job was done?
Would I ever see this parcel?
To put my mind to rest, my more level-headed husband suggested it wouldn’t hurt to just contact customer service and check with them to see what was going on, before it got to be too late for them to do anything about it.
I emailed. I was as sweet as a Christmas cookie, I promise!
Within a day, a customer service representative gave me an update. She said UNTUCKit was looking into alternative options for delivery, and she would know more in the coming days. I told her I would wait and if there was no update by the week of Dec. 20, I would change the shipping address on the order to send it to my dad direct. I know he wanted those shirts this year, and I'd rather he get them late than not at all.
Then, I waited.
By Dec. 15, there was still no change on the shipping information. I contacted customer service again to inform them of this, to change the shipping address, and to ask if the company could provide any kind of discount on my order as I felt it was a problem that was easily foreseen.
On Dec. 16, my parcel arrived, delivered by Purolator.
The same customer service representative emailed me three days later to say they had received confirmation that it was delivered, but she wanted to check in to make sure I received it. She also said a 10 per cent discount would be applied to my order for my trouble.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! And he might be in the form of an UNTUCKit customer service employee named Keila.
Overall, I support Canada Post workers in their quest to get a raise after 20 years of no pay increase. Everyone deserves a raise. The costs of everything are going up. Why not parcel and mail delivery?
Is it ideal that it’s happened during the holiday season? Of course not. But this year it pushed me to go out to more stores again in-person, which was a refreshing change after the pandemic years pushed us all inside and online.
The Christmas music, bustling shoppers, the joy I felt when I came across something I KNEW would be perfect for my mom, sister-in-law or husband, was something I hadn’t felt in a while.
And for the few things I had no choice but to order online, my experiences turned out to be positive there too.
Happy holidays to all of our readers. I hope your season is bright, surrounded by those you love the most.
Jessica Owen is a reporter with CollingwoodToday.
