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Shipping Policy

 Shipping Policy

25 Feb 2022

 Shipping Service

We use Canada Post as our exclusive domestic and international shipping service. We do this for several reasons:

  • Canada Post has extremely competitive commercial shipping rates.
  • If we used a courier shipping service such as UPS, DHL, or FEDEX for shipments outside of Canada, customers would get charged a brokerage fee to move the package across the international border. Canada Post does not charge a brokerage fee.
  • Canada Post is competitive on delivery speeds.

Tracking Numbers

We only offer Canada Post shipping options that provide a tracking number.  All of Canada Post’s tracking numbers are international so you can look up the tracking number on Canada Post or ANY OTHER tracking service website.  For example, the Canada Post tracking number on a package being delivered to the U.S. can be looked up on the United States Postal Service (USPS) tracking page on the USPS website.

International Shipments.

All of our international shipments leave Canada by air service.  Since we are located on the east coast of Canada, our international packages fly out of the Montreal International Airport arriving in the designated international airport for the country the package is being shipped to.

Once a package arrives in its destination country, it processes through customs.  Once it passes customs, the package is turned over to that country’s national postal service for in-country delivery.  For example, all packages headed to the U.S. arrive at John F. Kenndy (JFK) airport in New York.  Once through customs, the package is received by the United States Postal Service (USPS) at their Jamaica N.Y. postal distribution center just outside of JFK airport.  The package is then in the USPS system and is delivered to its final destination by USPS.

Shipping Times. 

We try very hard to fulfill every order within the next business day after it is placed.  We only ship on Mondays through Friday.  We do not ship on Canadian Federal or New Brunswick provincial holidays.

Canada Posts Advertised Delivery Times

International Deliveries (Not U.S.):  Once the package is received by Canada Post:

  • Tracked Packet International: 8-12 business days *
  • Xpresspost International: 5-8 business days * 

U.S. Deliveries: Once the package is received by Canada Post:

  •  Tracked Packet USA: 5-8 business days *
  • Xpresspost USA: 4-6 business days *

 *These times are not accurate during the Christmas holiday season (late November through December).

Out of Stock Item Shipping Delays.

You generally cannot purchase nor backorder an item from our online store that is out-of-stock; however, sometimes mistakes happen.   If there is an out-of-stock item in your purchase, we will hold your shipment until the item comes in or you tell us to cancel the out-of-stock item. 

Shipping Costs. 

Our order system is integrated with Canada Post’s commercial rate postal system.  Once you fill your cart and proceed to the address section of the checkout process, the system gives you the available Canada Post shipping options.  You select the rate you desire.  We DO NOT add any extra charges (e.g., handling or package material) to the Canada Post price.  To learn more about Canada Post’s commercial postal rates please see Canada Post commercial rates at:  https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/business.page

International Fees.

Your country's import duties, taxes (VAT) and fees are NEVER included in an item's price or our shipping prices.  We DO NOT collect nor are we responsible for any customs, taxes or fees on international shipments; they are the responsibility of the buyer at the time of delivery.  Note: U.S. customers DO NOT pay any international fees at the time of delivery due to trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada.

Combining Shipping

Many customers make multiple orders and then want us to combine the orders into one order to save on shipping rates.  There are a couple of things to know about combining shipments. 

  • Try and make your order all in one order verses multiple orders.
  • If you need to add to an existing order, contact us by phone so a customer service representative can add the item you want to the existing order, avoiding you creating a second order with additional shipping charges.
  • Canada Post, unlike many other postal systems primarily charges commercial postal rates by weight not size. So, unless your package is lightweight (less than 2 pounds / 1,000 grams) there is minimal postal rate savings by combining packages.
  • We ship very quickly so if you left something out of your order contact us immediately. If the package is already shipped, there is nothing we can do.
  • If you already have multiple orders in our system, our packers will automatically combine the orders IF THEY HAVE TIME to go through the administrative steps to do so. On a busy packing day, they may not have time to go through the package combination process.

When Things Do Not Go as Planned.

97% of our packages arrive on the time without issues. But as with everything, things can go wrong.  Below is a list of the common scenarios that cause package delays in the order of the most common to the least common scenario:

  1. The air shipping container the package is shipped in is identified by customs for further scrutiny at the arrival airport.
  2. The delivery country’s custom or postal system holds the package for collection of customs, taxes, or other fees. Note: this does not happen with packages delivered to the U.S. because of trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada.
  3. The package is mis-routed by the in-country postal service.
  4. The package is mis-routed to the wrong country by Canada Post.
  5. The package is delivered to the wrong final destination by the in-country postal service.
  6. The package is delayed in-route by an unidentified reason.
  7. The package was determined to be non-deliverable to the destination address and is returned to sender (us).

When any of these scenarios happen, we work with the customer to ensure their package is delivered to them.  Of note, the percent of our packages that are lost, never to be recovered is extremely low, at .0002% of all packages we have sent in the last three years. This super low lost rate is due to having every package tracked with an international tracking number.  Unfortunately, when a package is overdue many customers first thought is that the package is lost, when the package is most likely only delayed, not lost.

Solving Shipping Issues.

Once a package leaves our shop and is turned over to Canada Post we have no ability to influence the package at that point.  We cannot stop or change the delivery in any way.  Many customers think we can, but we cannot.  We just have to let the postal delivery system run its course. 

99% of the time if a package is delayed, time will solve the issue and the package will be delivered.  For unusually long delays, we work with customers to solve the issue.  In serious cases we may even ship a new package out, but then the customer must refuse acceptance of the original package when it finally arrives for delivery, that way the original package is returned to us.

For mis-delivered packages, the customer coordinates with their local postal service which almost always can track the package to the mis-delivered address and recover the package.

For the rare occasion when a package is truly lost, we send out a new duplicate package.

 

Special Shipping Requests:

If you have any special instructions or requests regarding shipping, please contact us at orders@robcosman.com and we will see what we can do. One of our major advantages is that we are a small company and we can pay attention to the small details of your order.