My biggest pet peeve - Give us your money and YOU do the work... | GTAMotorcycle.com

My biggest pet peeve - Give us your money and YOU do the work...

Jampy00

Jampy00

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I'll start this thread with a disclaimer and some context.

Disclaimer:
This issue might seem petty and to be fair it probably is, but in my defense it seems to be happening with any large company you do business with.

Context:
I'm a small business as such my time (at times) is very valuable to me, I expect a fair return on my efforts to provide good products and services.
99.9% of my product is shipped across Canada. I use many services for this but the main one is Canada Post and I have not received any complaints from customers in regards to their services. In order to have any courier pick up I have to call them in. I do this online and with Canada Post I use my credit card to pay the pick up fee.
I do not have an account with terms or any open credit with them.

Lately I have been receiving a PAST DUE invoice (from OCT) from them for the amount of 3.96 at first I assumed it was simply an error as I do not have an account.
The the invoice kept showing up. So I contact them to get the matter sorted out. After going through a menu system and waiting about 10 minutes I get an agent I explain the situation and state that I'd like to clear this matter up. They state I should check with my bank to ensure a payment was made, I then explain again that this is for 3.96 and I am not concerned who's error it is, just that I want to either have them remove the charge or I'll simply pay it. They then explain they cannot take a one time payment and I have to sign up for a authorized payment plan. I say sure, lets do it. After about 30 minutes they can't set it up and ask that I call back. I'm a little ****** but whatever.

Next day. I call back and have to go through the exact same procedure and time frame and again they can't (for what ever reason) set it it and ask if I'd call back again.
At this time I refuse and calmy explain this matter is in regards to 3.96 and if it continues I will be charging them for my time to resolve this matter. I will not be calling back and consider this issue closed. The agent agrees and states they will email me when the matter is resolved. I expect to get a 3.96 invoice for the rest of my life..

Now, this complaint is not directly at Canada Post. Just how big businesses are set up to maximize profits all while the customer is also their unpaid workforce having to resolve petty issues and expenses. It is the "convenience fee" at bank machines that charges you (the customer) to do part of the tellers job's

"Canada’s big banks have made over $57 billion in profits. They are celebrating this windfall by paying out $19 billion in bonuses to their executives. Meanwhile, transaction fees and other bank charges continue to rise." Source: Despite Record Profits for Canada’s Big Banks, Customer Fees Keep Going Up
 
I think it was a mistake offering to pay, which seems to be what took you down that rabbit hole. With no account with Canada Post, it would otherwise have been on OCT's onus to prove you owed anything. Let them do the work.

Also, if you can deal with it by email, even better.
 
Relax said:
I think it was a mistake offering to pay, which seems to be what took you down that rabbit hole. With no account with Canada Post, it would otherwise have been on OCT's onus to prove you owed anything. Let them do the work.

Also, if you can deal with it by email, even better.
Click to expand...

I think "OCT" means October?

3.96 is not a lot of money.. and IMO.. spending more than a few minutes trying to sort it out.. would be wasting more money than just paying it.
 
raginduck said:
I think "OCT" means October?

3.96 is not a lot of money.. and IMO.. spending more than a few minutes trying to sort it out.. would be wasting more money than just paying it.
Click to expand...

LOL, I thought that was a collection agency. In any case, it's cost a couple days effort to try to pay it apparently.
 
raginduck said:
I think "OCT" means October?

3.96 is not a lot of money.. and IMO.. spending more than a few minutes trying to sort it out.. would be wasting more money than just paying it.
Click to expand...
Yes, OCT is October.
Overall I disputed the charge, perhaps I did not make that point clear enough.
But being such a small amount I was hoping to just resolve the issue so I would no longer have to waste time dealing with it.
Sadly this was not the case.. That was the point of the thread was just how difficult it can be to resolve small issues with large companies.
 
Jampy00 said:
Yes, OCT is October.
Overall I disputed the charge, perhaps I did not make that point clear enough.
But being such a small amount I was hoping to just resolve the issue so I would no longer have to waste time dealing with it.
Sadly this was not the case.. That was the point of the thread was just how difficult it can be to resolve small issues with large companies.
Click to expand...
My wife is trying to transfer her pension. She is supposed to send forms to a huge pension company to initiate. They don't make it super easy to find out where/who to send the forms too. Launching confidential paperwork at a generic office fax number seems like it may end up in a spiral where it may have been forwarded or may not have but you don't have anyone you can follow up with.
 
Umm don't expect Canada Post to be that sophisticated and purposely putting the charge on you indirectly. You are dealing with incompetence which is rampant there. Do agree there is a nickle and dime approached to how business are setup to take advantage of customers who don't pay attention to these little fees which can add up quickly. Some of this has been discussed in the inflation thread, and as usual nothing the average person can do, since our Gov has no teeth to set things right for us. Also look at the Tim Hortons issue 🤷‍♂️
 
sburns said:
Umm don't expect Canada Post to be that sophisticated and purposely putting the charge on you indirectly.
Click to expand...
Never did
 
GreyGhost said:
My wife is trying to transfer her pension. She is supposed to send forms to a huge pension company to initiate. They don't make it super easy to find out where/who to send the forms too. Launching confidential paperwork at a generic office fax number seems like it may end up in a spiral where it may have been forwarded or may not have but you don't have anyone you can follow up with.
Click to expand...
Agreed, we are switching over our mortgage this year. While not overly complicated it is still the "get this, this, this, this and that" run around...
 
TK4 said:
I owed CRA $2.89, I was tempted to mail it to them in loose change.
Click to expand...
That kind of stupidity is where government really exposes their weakness. If you get a reassessment and it is small in either direction (say $10), it should just get waived. Processing the rebate/payment will vastly exceed the value of the reassessment.
 
Jampy00 said:
Agreed, we are switching over our mortgage this year. While not overly complicated it is still the "get this, this, this, this and that" run around...
Click to expand...
It took six months to get the information required from Company A by Company B. Never ended up getting everything but close enough. Company B took a few months to reply with numbers (transferring defined contribution to defined benefit so not a straight dollar for dollar swap). Now have forms completed and submitted to Company B but Company A needs some of the forms to initiate the transfer and they must come from my wife not Company B. %*&^show.
 
GreyGhost said:
That kind of stupidity is where government really exposes their weakness. If you get a reassessment and it is small in either direction (say $10), it should just get waived. Processing the rebate/payment will vastly exceed the value of the reassessment.
Click to expand...
I would agree but apply it to bureaucracy in general.
Example:
Had a corporate T&E Mastercard, as part my job, tied to one of the big American banks many years ago. Somehow it got a $0.50 credit applied to it.
Left that job 3 years ago and the account was closed.
Since that time, I have received by USPS airmail every month, a letter advising me of my fifty cent credit. They must have spent well over 50 USD in letters by this point, and it has become my monthly amusement when I visit the mailbox.
 
Wind Shear said:
Since that time, I have received by USPS airmail every month, a letter advising me of my fifty cent credit. They must have spent well over 50 USD in letters by this point, and it has become my monthly amusement when I visit the mailbox.
Click to expand...
My wife gets the same thing from something she closed out at the bank (10yrs ago) and 3 times a year she gets a statement in the mail to show it still has 1 cent in it. Sadly it is the customer that ends up paying for all this stupidity. She has contacted them countless times to close it out (for a 2nd time) each time they say it is done and a few months later another statement.. The amount of wasted time is monumental..
 
Jampy00 said:
I'll start this thread with a disclaimer and some context.

Disclaimer:
This issue might seem petty and to be fair it probably is, but in my defense it seems to be happening with any large company you do business with.

Context:
I'm a small business as such my time (at times) is very valuable to me, I expect a fair return on my efforts to provide good products and services.
99.9% of my product is shipped across Canada. I use many services for this but the main one is Canada Post and I have not received any complaints from customers in regards to their services. In order to have any courier pick up I have to call them in. I do this online and with Canada Post I use my credit card to pay the pick up fee.
I do not have an account with terms or any open credit with them.

Lately I have been receiving a PAST DUE invoice (from OCT) from them for the amount of 3.96 at first I assumed it was simply an error as I do not have an account.
The the invoice kept showing up. So I contact them to get the matter sorted out. After going through a menu system and waiting about 10 minutes I get an agent I explain the situation and state that I'd like to clear this matter up. They state I should check with my bank to ensure a payment was made, I then explain again that this is for 3.96 and I am not concerned who's error it is, just that I want to either have them remove the charge or I'll simply pay it. They then explain they cannot take a one time payment and I have to sign up for a authorized payment plan. I say sure, lets do it. After about 30 minutes they can't set it up and ask that I call back. I'm a little ****** but whatever.

Next day. I call back and have to go through the exact same procedure and time frame and again they can't (for what ever reason) set it it and ask if I'd call back again.
At this time I refuse and calmy explain this matter is in regards to 3.96 and if it continues I will be charging them for my time to resolve this matter. I will not be calling back and consider this issue closed. The agent agrees and states they will email me when the matter is resolved. I expect to get a 3.96 invoice for the rest of my life..

Now, this complaint is not directly at Canada Post. Just how big businesses are set up to maximize profits all while the customer is also their unpaid workforce having to resolve petty issues and expenses. It is the "convenience fee" at bank machines that charges you (the customer) to do part of the tellers job's

"Canada’s big banks have made over $57 billion in profits. They are celebrating this windfall by paying out $19 billion in bonuses to their executives. Meanwhile, transaction fees and other bank charges continue to rise." Source: Despite Record Profits for Canada’s Big Banks, Customer Fees Keep Going Up
Click to expand...

If you want incredibly good shipping rates through couriers that’s all done online, become a CFIA member and you get preferential access and rates through ShipTime. Their rates are unbelievably good and it’s all billed through your credit card. They act as a broker for all the major courier companies.
 
Katatonic said:
If you want incredibly good shipping rates through couriers that’s all done online, become a CFIA member and you get preferential access and rates through ShipTime. Their rates are unbelievably good and it’s all billed through your credit card. They act as a broker for all the major courier companies.
Click to expand...
I think the CFIA I am thinking of is different than the one you mean. What is CFIA?

EDIT:
Pretty sure you mean CFIB which makes a lot more sense.
 
GreyGhost said:
I think the CFIA I am thinking of is different than the one you mean. What is CFIA?

EDIT:
Pretty sure you mean CFIB which makes a lot more sense.
Click to expand...

LOL
Yes, I meant CFIB.

CFIA is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which I deal with on a regular basis.
 
Katatonic said:
If you want incredibly good shipping rates through couriers that’s all done online, become a CFIA member and you get preferential access and rates through ShipTime. Their rates are unbelievably good and it’s all billed through your credit card. They act as a broker for all the major courier companies.
Click to expand...
Freightcom is similar but even less expensive in my experience.

Sent from the future
 
The bigger the company the harder to get a simple solution. Same with a very small company, often the guy is wearing too many hats and getting nothing done .


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
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