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Small businesses struggle to help consumers seeking in-transit packages, refunds

Postal strike leaves big backlog of parcels

Marissa Galko

December 17, 2024

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Though most Canada Post workers are back on the job today, small businesses are still grappling with the setbacks brought on by the month-long strike. Stephanie Smith, vice-president at Shepherd’s Fashions with a location at Ottawa’s Trainyards, said the retailer has been “significantly impacted” by the strike, from sending online orders to receiving goods. Smith said her team switched couriers even before the strike began to minimize delays. “We made that change two weeks prior to the strike, although we did continue shipping with Canada Post. One week prior to the anticipated strike date, we made the switch 100 per cent because we didn't want any of our shipments being stuck in transit,” she said. As for Patti Taggart, owner of Tag Along Toys on Bank Street, she said the strike “affected her greatly,” forcing her to cancel 16 online orders. “I don’t get a ton of online orders, but I get enough. I cancelled 16 orders, which would translate to a few thousand dollars lost,” Taggart told OBJ. Business owners like Smith and Taggart said they have faced a number of frustrated customers looking for refunds. Christina Santini, director of national affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said the organization is happy the federal government intervened, but that it “hoped they would have done it much earlier.” She said business owners will have to communicate with their customers to mitigate issues. “The best thing that business owners with outstanding orders can do before bailing things out is to manage the relationship with the customers that have placed orders, to ensure that they understand that the (ordered product) is coming, but it’s beyond their control because of the strike,” Santini said. Though Smith says Shepherd’s anticipated delays with Canada Post, other couriers are also experiencing backlogs due to increased volume. Now, with customers frustrated with delivery delays for their online orders, Smith said she has spent countless hours calling the customer service teams for the different couriers that Shepherd’s uses, trying to figure out the status of their customer orders. “Our customer service team is inundated. I wish there was more we could do for our customers,” Smith said. “We’re so empathetic with what they’re going through because we’re all consumers, right? It’s just about listening to the customer and doing our best to reach out to the couriers on their behalf.” Taggart said her customers have been largely understanding but she will continue to reach out to reconcile the cancelled orders. Santini added that consumers will have to be patient with small business owners as they navigate next steps. She said the backlog of parcels created by the four-week strike means that “the holiday season will not likely be salvaged” for small businesses. “It’s not going to save four weeks of lost sales,” Santini said. Taggart said she will do her best to fulfil some out-of-town shipments so they get to the customer before the holidays. “There was a grandmother who was very desperate for something to go to Peterborough, so I really want to get it to her. I will see if I can use my Click and Ship, if not, I will walk over to the Shoppers Drug Mart and create the label myself and drop it off,” Taggart said. While shipping goods outside of the city in time for the holidays is looking bleak, both Shepherd’s Fashions and Tag Along Toys have been able to fulfill local shipments thanks to Ottawa-based last-mile delivery service Trexity. "The fight for small business survival isn't over just because the strike ended. These are real people, real families, who bet everything on themselves, and now they're being failed by a system that was supposed to support them," said Alok Ahuja, CEO and co-founder of Trexity, in a news release Tuesday. According to the news release, Trexity will offer same-day delivery services until Dec. 24 and provide “priority support for struggling small businesses.” Taggart said she will probably continue to do business with Canada Post, despite the inconveniences of the recent strike. “I love the convenience of them picking up my parcels and, I have to say, our Canada Post delivery guy is great. We build relationships with some of these guys, so that would be the only reason why I would go back,” Taggart said. Following a ministerial directive, the country's labour board ordered employees back on the job when it determined the two sides stood too far apart to reach a deal by year's end. Canada Post warned Tuesday that customers should expect delays as it works through backlogs and that holdups could persist into the new year. The first step involves "working through the mail and parcels trapped in the system" since the strike began on Nov. 15. Post offices will not take new letters and packages until Thursday, the Crown corporation said. – With files from The Canadian Press