Toronto man disputes Canada Post’s claim that ‘security issues’ are partly to blame for missed deliveries

A Toronto resident says that over the past several months he’s received multiple missed delivery notices from Canada Post despite being at home and close enough to hear a knock at the door.

Greg Hopkins told CBC News on Wednesday that he started noticing the failed deliveries in December at his house in the Eglinton Avenue West and Jane Street area.

Hopkins said he would wait for deliveries a little more than a metre-and-a-half away from his door, and has tried changing delivery locations from his front door to his side door to see if it helps.

“Most of the time, I’d be by the window not seeing anybody coming up or hearing any knocks and I would get an email saying that, ‘Your delivery has been attempted. Sorry you weren’t available,'” said Hopkins.

He said this happened eight to 10 times over the course of a couple of months.

“If I’m here then that is annoying because I’m kind of like waiting a little bit for it and it seems like they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said.

The homeowner said he got in contact with Canada Post in June after another failed delivery notice and was told that drivers have deemed his property as unsafe.

“I asked why it was unsafe and they said they couldn’t explain that,” he said.

Hopkins explained he tried to get a response from more senior Canada Post staff but said he was told that since the area was tagged as unsafe no complaint could be filed.

Canada Post responds

In an email to CBC News, Canada Post’s director of media relations, Phil Legault, said no safety issues had been reported for Hopkins’s address.

But in subsequent emails, Legault claimed the delivery agent did in fact knock on Hopkins’s door and that due to “security issues in the neighbourhood,” the delivery agent determined it was best to bring the parcel to the post office.

“A delivery notice card is left rather than leaving an item on the doorstep because the front door is too close to the street and items would be visible to passersby,” he wrote.

Legault also explained that what Hopkins describes as a side door is actually considered a back door, and that Canada Post does not deliver items to any entrance where its delivery agents are not visible from the street.

CBC asked Legault what the specific security issues were in Hopkins’s neighbourhood, and asked if Canada Post looks into disputes over whether a delivery agent has checked to see if a customer is at home,

He did not respond.

Hopkins said he is frustrated that the company didn’t explain the situation to him and that he finds it very unlikely he’d miss someone while he is at home.

He isn’t the only Torontonian who has had problems with Canada Post’s delivery service.

“I was home and they said they rang my buzzer but they didn’t. I don’t know. I was a bit pissed off,” said Jack Sullivan.

Another resident also told CBC News she’s been home when her delivery was supposed to arrive and that instead of hearing a doorbell, she got a delivery notice slip.

“I’m leaving and then I’ll see the notice,” said Jenny Lee.

Hopkins said he is still waiting for an explanation.

“They stonewalled me a lot,” he said.

“The most frustrating thing is that they just didn’t want to do anything to explain it or let me know why they’ve chosen that course.”

Canada Post told CBC News that while it regrets the inconvenience caused by this situation, delivery agents are committed to getting every parcel to all customers as directly and quickly as possible.

“If the customer is not home, the delivery agents can make a judgment call if they believe it’s best to leave a pick-up card to go to the post office,” Canada Post said in a statement.

In the meantime, Hopkins said he’s got few options.

“If you’re ordering things, I mean, it it’s up to the shipper how they deliver things, so there’s nothing I can really do with that,” he said.