ME production problems, delivery problems or Canada post?

Yesterday I also received ME issues 4582 and 4583 together. No sign of 76,77,78,79, or 81 yet. I also received MEW 266 at the beginning of the week, but still no sign of 264 or 265.

I also have not yet received the ME replacement issues 4576,77,78 & 79 that were sent on March 14th but hopefully those will get here soon.

It is odd that both John and myself in Canada and Raymond in Australia all received issues 4582 and 4583 simultaneously and on the same day, this would indicate that there is some sort of problem on the MyTime Media side.

On the other hand I have not received any issues of EIM since the 5th of Jan, not even the replacement issue that they sent me on March 5th. Which would indicate a problem with Canada Post unless of course EIM also use Air Business for their overseas fulfillment in which case we can point the finger of blame directly at Air Business.

Either way Canada Post are not blameless, because neither MyTime-Media nor Air-Business have had anything to do with the now 7 items of mail I am still missing from various places in Europe.

So, it seems to me, that Canadian subscribers have been hit by the unfortunate coincidence of problems at MyTime-Media/Air-Business and Canada Post simultaneously.
It is frustrating.
Clive

I received ME 4583 yesterday and 4582 today. Still no sign of 77, 78, 79, 80, or 81.

MEW 266 arrived yesterday. Still no 265.

Just a note to say we have long been aware of the problems Raymond has had. Although we occasionally get reports of missing issues for other Australian readers, it doesn't seem to be an Australia-wide problem.

Clearly there is a problem with Canada post and I have 'escalated it'.

Can I encourage everyone with a problem to email a list of missing issues to customer services and copy it to me using the email I gave above.

Thanks

Neil

On a brighter note, the April issue of MEW arrived here in North Queensland on Monday April 9, two weeks ahead of the average delivery time over the past couple of years. I was quite impressed they got it to me before the pointers to the next month's edition have been posted on this website. Makes me feel like I'm reading the "current" edition. Usually when the new pointers are posted online I know it's time to start looking out for the previous issue to arrive.

Quite enjoyed the article on building full size locos. Nice work if you can get it!

I've had a reply - it seems that a number of our other titles have had problems with Canadian distribution as well.

Air Business have in turn responded to MyTimeMedia that the issue is a problem with Canada Post.

We are somewhat at a loss about what to do as there isn't really a practical alternative.

Neil

I know Google result numbers are unreliable evidence but:

Canada Post delivery problems - 3,680,000 hits

Royal Mail delivery problems - 888,000 hits

Hmm...

I am still missing issues 4577, 4579, 4581. In addition an EIM is in arrears.

The good thought is that the erstwhile boss of Canada Post is now in charge at the Royal Mail. What hope for our deliveries if she brings the Royal Mail to Canada post standards?

DaveT

That's pretty old news actually. Moya Greene went to Royal Mail in 2010. Canada Post wasn't bad during her reign .... not bad at all in fact. All their current problems stem from the guy (Chopra) who took over from her and it's been a steady slide downhill ever since. Particularly for home-delivery .... it seems apparent that his aim is to get rid of it altogether.

I have two friends that work for Canada Post, one works in a local post office and the other works in a massive sorting plant in Toronto. Neither know each other. They both tell exactly the same stories about Mr Chopra. Short version is that no one likes him personally as he is extremely pushy and harsh with staff in private, and does not seem to care about people, also that he speaks a continuous stream of bla bla bla from the top with no concrete instructions or meaningful messages to anybody. In front of TV cameras he's Mr Nice Guy. Not much wonder motivation of staff is as low as possible. No excuse for iffy postal service though. I've worked in lots of firms in industry where management was iffy but what got done in the toolroom and in the factory was top notch work that made good profits for many years. Everyone under management level were real professionals, right down to the guys sweeping the floors.

Neil - maybe you should get on the blower to Mr Chopra and tune him in, especially since your 3,680,000 ME and MEW subscribers/readers in Canada have complained already.....

Or maybe all 200 ME and MEW subscribers/readers in Canada complained 18,400 times each......

I'll get my coat and toque now.....

Another update. Just received MEW # 264 in this AMs mail. Inner paper insert post marked Budapest Hungary and a paper label on the plastic wrapper from Prague Cz. Still missing 265.

John

Edited By John Purdy on 13/04/2018 18:39:51

I'm ashamed to admit I had to look that up

Neil

Chopra seems to have left the CEO office now. But he still seems to have a powerful command of corporate BS speak. He held forth on LinkedIn recently, lest anyone miss out on his wisdom:

"As I reflect on my 7-year transformative journey of leading Canada Post (One of the oldest and largest institutions) during one of its most disruptive periods in history, a few lessons stand-out:

1. Building a new sense of purpose by drawing from an organization’s deep history creates the strongest emotional employee engagement. This was at the core of Canada Post becoming one of the top Brands and Canada’s #1 parcel delivery company.

2. The idea that "only a small group of smart people can develop the next big thing" is largely a myth. Create the right conditions (we did that through a Leadership development program called LEAD), and watch ordinary people do extraordinary things.

3. Big things will always get more attention, so pay attention to the little things because detail is an orphan that no one with big titles likes to own.

4. Much of the business decisions end up arguing EITHER-OR, I learned the power of AND! The smartest business decisions turned out to be ones that included ideas from the opposing side.

5. Let every success and every failure be a lesson, neither should be celebrated at the expense of the other.

6. Always remember: Institutions are bigger than individuals! (Thanks Noeline for sharing this picture of my good-bye at HO)"

He has taken to describing himself as "e-Commerce Evangelist, Former Canada Post CEO, Independent Director".

Murray

Bandersnatch is fortunate indeed having home delivery of mail. A lot of us have to harness up the dog team and sleigh a few kilometers to a lonely tin box by the trail side to collect our mail.

However the problem does not lie with the local post office who give excellent service but with the main receiving centers. The problem started, for me, in January this year and is indicative of a new protocol for prioritizing mail. Bulk magazines obviously being given the lowest rating. Do them when ever you get to them.

I see no hope of improvement. My efforts over many years to get the Economist on time have never succeeded.

A solution is to have a digital sub, which I have, but it is not as nice as the paper version.

Just to be clear, David (and I probably wasn't) when I said:

"Particularly for home-delivery .... it seems apparent that his aim is to get rid of it altogether."

What I meant was delivery of private mail altogether - not simply pushing people into street-corner (or elsewhere) mailboxes. My "fortune" arises from living in a large city and that CP hadn't got around to our remote mailboxes yet when the Conservative government went out and the incoming government put the brakes on that stuff.

Looky here!

Just received issue 4579 by way of Hungary. It may have travel the eastern route to Canada via Asia and across the Pacific, across Canada to Montreal and back to me in BC.

A frustrating situation to which ME have offered no solution. Not good.

David,

It may seem bewildering in Canada, but the movement of goods across Europe for grouping before intercontinental transport is the way European systems work. It's not unknown for UK-UK parcels to travel via the European mainland sometimes. Places like Hungary and Poland are not uncivilised backwaters...

We have looked into this an the delays are squarely with Canada Post, not with getting the magazines to Canada.

Yesterday was a bit of a red letter day for the postal service. I arrived home from work to find both ME issue 4579 and MEW 264 waiting in my letterbox (no sign yet of ME's 4576 to 4578 but there is always hope).
I guess that the folks at Canada Post must be slow readers, because that seems to be the only rational explanation for the 2 month delay in delivery.

And yes, I am absolutely sure that Canada Post are partially if not completely to blame for the current situation. I am still waiting for the Jan and Feb issues of EIM from an unrelated publisher and even more tellingly, three registered items posted from various places in Europe took over 2 months to reach me, and in each case i could track the items to Canada so I know with 100% certainty that the delay was due to Canada post.

Clive

Neil,

You may sense increasing frustration with the late delivery of your magazines. Your attitude that it's Canada Post "end of story" does not help solve the problem.

Has your organization or your contractors talked to Canada Post about the problem?

When I complain to the Economist about late delivery they take it up with Canada Post and the service does improve for a short time.

I think that your contractors are always attempting to minimize their costs. There is no penalty for slow delivery so they ship by what ever means is available as long as it is lowest cost.

We poor colonials suffer from Canada Post shipping our local mail 600 km to Vancouver for sorting and then back for delivery. The truck travels any way, the fact that it takes three or four days to receive a letter from the next town to us is irrelevant to Canada Post. Your contractors are playing the same game with the same effect of slowing down delivery and may not be wholly responsible for the delays but are certainly partially responsible.

I look forward to more robust efforts on the magazines part to solve the delivery problem.

If the problem is with Canada post and it does seem to be the main one then the only way MTM could solve it would be to send the individual mags by another courier which I'm sure would put a substantial premium on the cost which I doubt many will want to pay.

I'm sure the shipping company can track their consignments and if they are getting to Canada withing the required time which from what Neil says seems to be true then there is not much MTM can do about the fact that they are left sitting in a Canadian warehouse for weeks.

It's now 19 Apr. and I just got ME #4577 (5 Jan.) in the post this AM via Hungary then Czech.   Got #4582 and 83 a week ago so maybe there's hope for the rest of the missing issues as well.  Too bad Canada Post doesn't stamp mail with the date they receive it.   We would then all know where the problem lies.    But I guess that will never happen as it would show just how inefficient they might really be!!!

John

Edited By John Purdy on 19/04/2018 19:01:54

Edited By John Purdy on 19/04/2018 19:06:47