Latest news with #lostpassport
CBC
19-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Purolator lost London, Ont., woman's passport then offered her a $100 gift card — she wants it found
A London, Ont., woman says Purolator lost her former Indian passport while it was en route to a consulate office in Brampton, and after months of not being able to locate it, the courier service closed her case and offered her a $100 Amazon gift card for the inconvenience. Jaya Chevendra, 62, said the document had legal and sentimental value, and its loss has jeopardized her plans of retiring in India and having citizenship rights. She believes Purolator's financial compensation dodges accountability for the distress caused by the error. "There was no extension of wanting to help make this right in any shape or form, except throw a few dollars at me because I was out a few dollars," she said. "The financial portion is irrelevant in this case. It is a critical document and I have no other document that would replace it." In early 2024, Chevendra — who was born in India and has been a Canadian citizen for decades — applied for an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) that allows her benefits including the ability to open a bank account and buy property in India, which does not allow dual citizenship. To obtain an OCI, she had to surrender the Indian passport issued to her in 1980. She sent it to BLS India Visa Application Centre's Brampton office using Canada Post's registered mail service, which ensures a signature upon delivery, a mailing receipt and tracking information. BLS sent it back to her, stating it doesn't accept packages from Canada Post and directed Chevendra to use Purolator instead. In September, Chevendra created an OCI application for a friend and sent off both passports together through Purolator. Her friend's package was delivered by Oct. 2, but Chevendra's was last seen in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke and couldn't be tracked after that. Missing packages 'rare occurrence,' says Purolator BLS couldn't be reached for comment, but its website says Purolator is its third-party logistics company and its system platform is "integrated with BLS to track any Application's Life Cycle Status from 'Receiving at BLS' to 'Delivery from BLS.'" The website said BLS cannot track applications coming through other mail services. In a statement to CBC News, Purolator said it cannot comment on individual customers' packages, but once a customer reaches out to its support team, Purolator initiates a trace investigation and searches its facilities. If a package still isn't found, customers can start a claims process. "Purolator makes every effort to ensure that packages are delivered on time. However, issues do at times arise, either because of the way the shipment is tendered by the shipper or during the delivery process, which can prevent a package from being successfully delivered," the statement said. "While it is a very rare occurrence, we sincerely regret when a package goes missing." For months, Chevendra said, she followed up with both BLS and Purolator, but neither company had any idea where the package went. She said she wrote a letter to Purolator expressing concern and asking for more support to help find her passport. "There's a lot of identifying information about me, my address, my signature is on every single document in that envelope, and so I'm really concerned about identity theft. I stated my concern about that and it was not addressed in their letter back to me," she said. "It's appalling that they can be so dismissive of something so important. They took responsibility for that package when they accepted the money and said they would deliver it. They failed to deliver it and I don't feel they're doing nearly enough to make it right." Chevendra showed CBC an email thread with a Purolator customer relations employee, who apologized to her and explained the company's thorough search, which included a check of its records dating back to September 2024 and BLS's records using her Indian passport, but to no avail. The employee acknowledged Chevendra's frustration and offered to cover the cost of her $51 bank draft, plus a $100 Amazon gift card as a gesture of apology. Shipping important documents 'always risky': expert In using courier services, there's always a chance items can go missing, despite signed contracts and regulations, according to Ken Whitehurst, executive director of Consumers Council of Canada, a volunteer non-profit. "Transferring a document that is unique is always going to be risky because things will go wrong in any system that's large scale with documents," he said. The decline of in-person customer services means more people are left to figure out next steps on their own, said Whitehurst, calling it a "buyer beware world," with increasing risks. "As people flock to convenience, governments reduce their service locations and don't have to offer them face-to-face services, but ultimately that can prove very problematic because of exactly this kind of situation where there's a loss of custody of something very important," he said. Customers in contracts can take action based on the terms or conditions for delivery and compensation for non-delivery. They can also look into taking the merchant to small claims court to seek damages, said Whitehurst. In Chevendra's case, she's calling on Purolator and BLS to locate her passport or find an alternative way for her to get her an OCI. "They need to make it right and that means they need to talk to higher-ups and do all the running around because at this point, I don't know what to do. They're the ones that have my passport — it has to be somewhere."
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
I landed in China and wasn't allowed to leave the airport after making a shock discovery in my bag... 18 hours later I was on a flight home to Australia
A young woman has shared her horror experience after being stranded in an airport in China for 18 hours and then flying back to Australia because she lost her passport. Maddi Healey's passport went missing on a flight from Sydney to Guangzhou earlier this month as she was embarking on her dream holiday. Her and a friend were looking forward to visiting the world famous Great Wall of China but she didn't get out of the airport. Her holiday was over after she couldn't find her passport when she got to the customs desk. 'We turned the bag inside out and searched my friend's bag. It was not there,' she told Yahoo. 'I then noticed a decent-sized rip in the top of my backpack that was not there before leaving for China. 'Something didn't feel right. By this point, my friend and I had to make the tough decision as to whether or not she would continue the trip solo in the hope that I would recover my passport and meet up with her. We said our goodbyes.' The 20-year-old was then forced to wait for 18 hours without internet or power access. She said she was given very little information on what would happen to her and the Australian embassy couldn't help because she hadn't gone through customs. 'About seven hours in a lovely man who was working at the international desk came over and offered his help. He sat with me and booked me a ticket back to Sydney. I ended up paying $660,' Maddi said. 'I believe that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten home the way I did and in such a timely manner. I was in complete despair, filled with fear and frustration.' Maddi told fellow Aussie travellers to keep their passports 'strapped to you at all times'. 'Don't assume everyone has the same level of respect for your belongings. Have all your documents photographed and saved in your phone,' she said. 'I was extremely disheartened that I was missing out on a trip that I had dreamt of for years.' Maddi also said there needed to be more services to help Aussies who are not yet in a country, but have left the plane. 'Being unable to be helped by the embassy due to a matter of metres is really hard. I hope no one else has to experience this during their travels,' she said. There has been a substantial increase in the number of Australian passports stolen, with 1,942 reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade between 2023 and 2024. It was a 28 per cent increase compared to the previous year. In December, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) released its 2023-24 Consular State of Play report, which showed how many Aussies needed consular assistance and crisis support overseas. DFAT responded to 9,067 consular assistance cases over the period which was a seven per cent increase from the previous year. The country where Australians needed the most hekp overseas was Thailand, with 827 consular cases. China recorded 309 cases.
