Bloorcourt Stationery & Post

The owner cleaned his ear with his pinky while I was signing for my package today. Barf.

I came here with a ton of things to scan and a backcheck to complete for a potential employer. I’d never been through that process before, and the guy who works there took the time to explain the process to me.
He scanned all the items I had, and put them onto my USB drive for me. What I appreciated the most was that he made sure I could see he deleted all my scanned files from their computer afterwards, and deleted them permanently from the recycle bin. It’s something I would have asked for anyway, but he was already on top of it!

i dread having to go to this place. if you have to send something go to the post office at bloor/​ossington, especially if you are in a hurry. to say the man at the counter is thorough is an understatement. it is frustratingly slow and much worse when there is a line. the man is generally polite with his words but condescending in tone. there is a process. don’t mess it up.

If you’ve experienced poor customer services here, don’t just write a review, call Canada Post and file a complaint. It only takes a few minutes and you might actually help to achieve something. Here’s CP’s toll free number: 1−866−607−6301
Canada Post licenses these post office franchisees and they could give that contract to someone who wants to operate this business instead.
I did all my shipping last year from the new Canada Post office at Bloor and Ossington, which is great. It’s very clean in there, the staff are of normal temperament, and the wait is never long.
Here’s my Bloorcourt S&P Survival Guide, should you find that dreaded Bloorcourt slip at your door. I’ve lifted a lot from the Soup Nazi here.
With as little motion and character expression as possible, follow these rules:
Step 1 — Go when the line is shorter (3 people or less) and their fuse will be longer.
Step 2 — Approach counter only after last customer has stepped out of way or departed.
Step 3 — State «picking up» and nothing else.
Step 4 — Have your ID ready in advance and present it now. Have back up ID ready. While you’re at it, bring your birth certificate, deed to your house, and a credit report. You never know and you certainly don’t want to have to return!
Step 5 — Shut up and wait while your ID is examined, package looked up, and retrieved.
Step 6 — Examine the package yourself, sign (and pay if you have to) for it.
Step 7 — Step to the side. Whatever you do, don’t waste their time with needless formalities and pleasantries.
Step 8 — Exit promptly. Don’t touch anything on your way out!
If you don’t think you can follow this guide, you can call Canada Post and make a case for them to re-​deliver the package to your door. This worked once for me when a friend shipped a package to my place while she was living abroad, before I planned to visit her. She didn’t put c/​o on the label, so it was just her name and of course BSC refused to give to me even though it was my exact address.
A couple of the positive reviewers blame the customers for the treatment they receive. Interesting that they do not deny seeing the owners behave inappropriately, but excuse that behaviour because «they had it coming.»

Now I’ll be honest. I have only been here twice, having lived in the neighbourhood for almost 3 years so I’ll try to be as nice as I possibly can with this review. The first occasion I had the pleasure of dealing with Bloorcourt Stationery & Post was to pickup a passport which had been sent to me by courier and I had missed the delivery. Needless to say, the person behind the counter (a young man) bust my balls every which way he could before I could get my passport handed over. As I did not have any valid drivers license at the time, he requested my passport (which was in the envelope) and so the Mexican standoff began. After persuading him several times that the only other valid ID that they can accept is in the package I am waiting to pickup and after offering more than enough alternative identification, he handed over the goods. That was nothing compared to today however.
Imagine the worst day in work ever. A complete bitch of a day. Then cycling home in the blazing heat in rush-​hour traffic and THEN, at the last minute getting home and see a missed delivery on a letter. Then to make it worse, I realised it was for pickup at Bloorcourt Stationery & Post. Holy fuck. So I go down there on bike, to pickup and I see what I presume to be a husband and wife duo behind the counter. YOU ARE NOT ALLOW BIKES IN HERE he yells at me, as I stand there patiently, covered in sweat. I’m sorry, I apologised to the man, but I was in a rush home from work and I didn’t have time to lock my bike up. He looked at me as if I had taken a huge shit all over his store. He then began to ramble on about how we are all in a rush and I should have some respect for his ‘company policy’!! I apologised again being as sincere as I could and he still rambled on shouting at me as I left «I’m sure you wont bring your bike in here again». I hope I never miss another parcel again. This place is the absolute fucking worst!

Like many other people, I dread having to come here to pick up a package. I’ve been here many times and have never had a pleasant experience. Very long wait times with only one employee working. The employees are almost argumentative over checking ID, etc… I hope the new Canada Post store at Bloor/​Ossington opens soon and I can pick up packages there.

Si vous êtes dans le quartier et vous avez un colis à expédier, de grâce né venez pas ici. Il y a un bureau de poste 200 m plus loin. Ici c’est un couple désagréable qui tiennent la boutique: brusques, toujours en train de s’engueuler dans une autre langue.
Lui se prend pour le robocop de la poste: ses gestes flamboyants vous rappelleront les cérémonies de fermeture de la frontière Indo-​Pakistanaise sans pour autant être utiles ou productifs. Vlan je t’arrache un bout de plastique ici, vlan je te colle un timbre comme on cloue une ardoise et vlan je te balance le débiteur automatique pour cartes à puces …

Until today, I’ve had reasonably alright experiences at this place — just picking up packages.
But that all changed today.
I was sending a lock back to Kryptonite. The fella told me to grab the $ 1.82 package. So I did. And I filled it out.
Then we put the lock in — the package was too small — the lock stuck out by 3 inches.
My fault obviously — I should’ve checked the size before I filled out the envelope.
But his wife (I assume) said, rather accusatory, «You grabbed the wrong package!»
I responded, «Sorry. I just grabbed the one he told me to get.»
Now…here’s where it gets interesting.
Rather then tell me to get a bigger envelope, she proceeded to try to package the lock anyway and it was looking like a right, bloody mess. I wonder why she didn’t ask me to get another package? Well, she didn’t want to have to absorb the COST (even though I wouldn’t have thought twice about buying another one.) She felt responsible I guess for the envelope and rather than package it properly, she tried to save two dollars and do a ridiculous job mailing a package with the lock sticking out the end by 3 inches.
So when I saw this, it just rubbed me the wrong way. So I grabbed another package and told them to repackage it and that I didn’t want to pay for it, because I’d only followed his instructions.
They didn’t like this. And protested. He said he was only trying to help and that he figured I’d be ‘smart’ enough to check the package on my own.
I said, ‘Wow. So now you’re insulting my intelligence?‘
Then he proceeded to deny he’d ever said the offending remark.
Arseholes! Both of them.
Avoid.

I’m willing to bet that those people who were treated «rudely» started the interaction on a rude note. I’ve been using this postal outlet for years and have had nothing but pleasant service by the husband and wife team… but I am always pleasant with them. Sure, sometimes the line ups overwhelm them and sometimes people make mistakes (god forbid!) but they are quick to correct them in a sincerely apologetic manner. To people complaining about having to show proper ID — they’re just doing their job and following the rules set by Canada Post. Come prepared, don’t take it out on them!

I have used this post office twice and been quite happy with the service.
Although they are understaffed at peak times, the man who works there has always taken the time to explain the best shipping options for me (express, overnight, etc.). I have found that he tries to be very efficient and patient. I am not sure about the other employees — although one time I was there another employee was lurking around and not offering to help any customers.

Despite all the negative reviews I’ve only had good experiences for the handful of times I’ve used this post office. The gentleman behind the counter is very efficient and helpful and tries to get out on your way as quickly as possible.
Sure he was rude to another customer once while I was there, but the customer started out being an ass in the first place and deserved the tongue lashing he got from the owner.

Worst customer service experience of my life!
The woman behind the post counter was actually clipping her nails and despite my waiting patiently she finished all 10 fingers before even acknowledging me. Absolutely f*ing gross.

These people are MEAN! As you take your place in line you start to dread your turn as you witness the service reps barking orders and chastising anyone silly enough to try to buy stamps or send mail here. The way they talk to people makes me cringe.
I do not know why I have to go here to pick up my parcels when the actual post office is only around the corner. The people who work at the actual post office are NICE. I go to the actual post office for all other post-​related business but unfortunately all parcels end up in this hell hole.
Going here to pick up a parcel is like entering a Monty Python skit — a tiresome, bureaucratic pretzel.
On this last occasion a fellow customer helped me out and signed for my parcel because they would not accept my ID — it is not on their list. Apparently I cannot pick up my own mail but anyone with a driver’s license can.
The behind-​the-​counter guy did read us the entire parcel-​pick-​up rule book so that was a nice bonus.

If you live in the ‘hood and missed signing for a package, this is the place you will be sent to pick it up. Which is funny considering the big huge fancy post office is just a block away, but for some reason they have the racket on picking up packages that have had missed deliveries.
This is a nice little postal outlet, the lines are usually short and the staff very pleasant. They have some fun items like postcards and your usual mail supplies, as well as some photo developing and other services. I generally only go in when I need to pick something up or when the line at the big post office is too long.
They seem to have a few things on sale there that are a bit overpriced for sort of generic/​outdated novelty mailers and such, but I think if you’re there with a specific purpose you won’t likely be sucked in by them anyway.