Help! My mail is being held hostage

A North York woman is speaking out after outgoing mail she’d been inserting into a Canada Post mailbox went uncollected for months.

Cheryl Smith lives in a highrise apartment building and has used the mailbox, located in her lobby, without issue for years.

“I work two days a week from home, so I depend on this mailbox to send out important contracts and cheques to pay invoices for my company.”

But then her company began getting unpaid notices for invoices she had been sending out.

“I went to investigate and looked at the mailbox closer and noticed it was full of undelivered mail, like envelopes were sticking out of the slot it was so full.”

Smith estimates the mail had been piling up for several weeks.

“So I reached out to Canada Post and filed a complaint, waited a week and nothing happened.”

Smith filed a second complaint and then a sign was placed on the mailbox stating it was out of service.

“But the envelopes were still inside, so they still did not collect the mail,” Smith said. There are contracts and other important stuff in there. I just need help in getting it sorted out.”

After reaching out to Speakers Corner, we reached out to Canada Post.

“We can confirm that due to a broken key in the master lock, collection, and delivery to the building’s parcel locker was suspended,” a spokesperson tells CityNews.

But why did it take so long to fix the problem and alert customers? The out-of-order sign was put up only after Smith complained and several weeks after the mail had been sitting there uncollected.

“Unfortunately, there were serious communication missteps,” the spokesperson said. “Staffing changes led to a delay in the repair process and advising customers that outgoing mail inside the parcel locker was inaccessible.”

Shortly after Smith spoke with us, Canada Post confirmed they had fixed the problem and the contents have been emptied and are on the way to be delivered. 

Canada Post said they’ve issued apologies and will be discussing ways to make it right with Smith, which she’s happy about, but frustrated she had to wait this long.

“Look, they do incredible service, and we appreciate them. But when the service is not being done, there’s a lot of consequences to all of that.”

If you have an issue, story, or question you’d like us to look into, reach out here.