Monday, March 22, 2021

I had several cards to get in the mail today, a library book to return and one to pick up. When the cards were ready I set out for the two errands.

When I went to the drive-by mailboxes at the post office the slot for packages (which I generally use rather than the letter slot) was jammed and wouldn’t open completely. It was the same story on the second one. Fortunately everything was able to fit through the letter slot.

When I got to the library I realized that I had forgotten the book that was to be returned. I picked up the new book and I know I have a few days before the other book is really due.

When I came home I thought I should let the post office know about the mail box. I found a local number online and called; press 1 for the directory, 2 for customer service and 3 for the supervisor. I picked #2 but the message just told me to call a 1-800 number which I knew wouldn’t be local. There was no way back to the main menu so I dialed again and picked #3 for the supervisor. No one answered, I got a message that no one was available to take me call, but there was no way to leave a message.

I went to the website for Canada Post and noticed they had a Chat option but they also had a virtual assistant. I tried with that but all it wanted was my name and address, whether I was the sender or the receiver and then the address for whichever of those I wasn’t. So I gave up and decided I’d try the Chat section. After about half an hour of searching I found the Chat area again but all it did was give me the 1-800 number.

So I braved the 1-800 number and waited on the phone as “due to the high volume of calls” they couldn’t answer the phone. There were a series of questions and numbers to press before I got into the actual queue for support.

The fellow I was talking to was very hard to understand. He wanted my address and when I gave it to him he wanted me to start over with my postal code and then the address and my name. I did as he wanted and was finally able to tell him what the issue was. There were more questions (what colour was the mailbox, what was the address of the post office, was it a maintenance or security issue, etc.). I’m sure every time he didn’t know what else to do he asked for the address again.

After more than an hour of futzing around I told him I was going to hang up and he asked me for my name, which I already gave him, and then he wanted me to spell it. Leave it to say that the call did not end well and I have no idea whether or not they reported the problem to the post office. Next time I will get out of the car and go inside to report the problem; even with a line-up outside as there was today it would have been faster.

We may never get mail delivered again but I’m okay with that as long as I never have to call Canada Post.

I worked off my frustration on some weeds in the yard this afternoon. The orange bush is wonderful and I couldn’t help but work my way down that side of the yard just so I could enjoy the smell. I hung clothes out on the line (a sure sign of Spring) and in my weeding I see that the peonies are starting to send up shoots.