@PurolatorInc I've had an extraordinarily frustrating experience for an "overnighted" envelope from Calgary to Toronto, which is now almost a week late.
@PurolatorInc Timeline: Sep. 10: my Mom pays $35 to overnight a birthday card to me in Toronto from her in Calgary. The saga begins.
@PurolatorInc Sep. 11th: after my Mom tells me she's sent my birthday card via Purolator the previous day, I immediately request via Purolator online chat to have my package's destination changed.
@PurolatorInc I would have liked to use the "Not available to receive your shipment?" function on the tracking site, but this leads to a "page not found" error, as it has for many months.
@PurolatorInc I ask that my package be redirected from my apartment to my SO's office, which is only seven minutes by car. The agent tells me this is no problem and gives me a confirmation number.
@PurolatorInc Sep. 12th: Purolator ignores my request and tries to deliver to my apartment. Of course, I'm not home. A missed delivery notice is left telling me my package is in North York.
@PurolatorInc Sep. 13th: when my package isn't delivered to my SO's office, I go looking in my apartment building's lobby, where I find the missed delivery notice from the day before telling me my package is now in North York.
@PurolatorInc Sep. 13th: Purolator calls at 8:30 p.m. and leaves a message saying that they can still redirect my package to my SO's office, as was promised two days before, but it will actually cost an extra $19.13.
@PurolatorInc The first agent I spoke to on Sep. 11 didn't tell me anything of this. She had, as I said, even given me a confirmation number to confirm my request succeeded.
@PurolatorInc Sep. 14th: I prepare to go to North York to retrieve my package myself, which is a 58-minute trip each way. Upon calling them, I find out they don't actually have my package.
@PurolatorInc Instead, my package was sent to the Etobicoke location. The last time I went there to retrieve a package, it took more than three hours out of my day.
@PurolatorInc Next, I call the 1-888 Purolator number. After explaining the problem to the agent, she tells me she can redirect the package, but repeats that it will cost me $19.
@PurolatorInc I ask her to waive this charge, given that I was not told of it on Sep. 11, the package is now 3 days late, and the new destination is only 7 minutes away. She agrees to do so.
@PurolatorInc That afternoon, Purolator calls and leaves a message. Again, it's someone telling me that they won't waive this charge, and I need to pay the extra $19 to redirect.
@PurolatorInc I call the 1-888 Purolator #, as requested. I spend 52 minutes on the call, much of which was me being on hold. Again, I lay out the situation.
@PurolatorInc I'm told repeatedly that I must pay to redirect, even though two previous agents told me I didn't. This seems obscene, given how badly Purolator has mishandled this package.
@PurolatorInc The agent tells me she's powerless to help me, and that my only options are to pay the $19 to redirect, or to find another depot.
@PurolatorInc She finally gives me a depot location that will "only" take an hour out of my day to go visit. The earliest my package can be sent there is Sep. 17. I accept.
@PurolatorInc So, whether I actually am able to receive my birthday card on Sep. 17 remains an unresolved question. Given the above, I'm certainly not holding my breath.
@PurolatorInc Let's take stock, shall we? My Mom paid $35 to "overnight" a birthday card from Calgary to Toronto. The earliest it will arrive now is Sep. 17, fully one week later.
@PurolatorInc I have made four phone calls / chat sessions to Purolator. Purolator has also left three messages on my answering service telling me they can't deliver on what I was promised.
@PurolatorInc Cumulatively, I've spent well over two hours dealing with this. I will need to spend another hour retrieving my package from your depot.
@PurolatorInc Two separate agents incorrectly promised me my package would be redirected at no charge. I suspect the second lied to me about waiving the charge, just to get me off the phone.
@PurolatorInc Somehow, it's fine to send my package to Etobicoke and expect me to retrieve it. The absolute best you can do after everything above is a depot in East York.
@PurolatorInc Yet redirecting my package from a downtown apartment to a downtown office 7 minutes away, with the request made before my package even arrived in Toronto, is unfathomable
@PurolatorInc All of this for an envelope, containing a birthday card, which my Mom spent $35 to send.
@PurolatorInc This isn't an isolated experience. For the last package Purolator sent me, I did actually have to go to Etobicoke to retrieve, which cost me 3 hours (and $7 in transit fare).
@PurolatorInc UPS missed packages are held at a store that's a two-minute walk. Canada Post missed packages are a 3-minute walk away.
@PurolatorInc Yet, somehow, Purolator will send me on three-hour expeditions if I happen not to be at home during business hours on weekdays to receive packages.
@PurolatorInc Couple this with customer service agents who are completely ignorant of company policy, powerless to help, and quite possibly intentionally misleading. Not to mention the broken package-tracking web site.
@PurolatorInc This has been the single most frustrating experience with any company I've had since moving to Toronto. I sincerely hope I never need to deal with your company ever again.
