How long to wait for payment from a Canadian renter

[MMCD]

I'm in a bind here. I thought my renter was from California. Instead they are from Canada. They sent payment through Canada Post. It can be traced until it reached the US. Canada Post says there is no way to track it once it arrives in the US. US Post says that the Canadian tracking number can't be read in their machines. The check arrived somewhere in the US on 10/05. Now it is November and I still have no payment.

Has anybody else received payment from Canada through regular post? How long does it usually take? My parents Rx from Canada usually takes 4 - 5 weeks. Why would a check take that long? (No, the check has not been cashed yet.)

My heart says to wait but my brain says don't wait. This is a holiday reservation.

Any advice?

MMCD

 

[CarolAnnC]

I believe some people utilize Paypal for rental payments. You can also ask them to send funds via Western Union, and send back their check when it arrives.

 

[Fellowship9798]

I'm in a bind here. I thought my renter was from California. Instead they are from Canada. They sent payment through Canada Post. It can be traced until it reached the US. Canada Post says there is no way to track it once it arrives in the US. US Post says that the Canadian tracking number can't be read in their machines. The check arrived somewhere in the US on 10/05. Now it is November and I still have no payment.

Has anybody else received payment from Canada through regular post? How long does it usually take? My parents Rx from Canada usually takes 4 - 5 weeks. Why would a check take that long? (No, the check has not been cashed yet.)

My heart says to wait but my brain says don't wait. This is a holiday reservation.

Any advice?

MMCD

I'm Canadian and although I've never specifically tracked anything, regular letter mail from Canada to the US shouldn't take any more than 1 to 2 weeks on average (of course it is the postal system and strnge things can happen). If it's been a month and it was just a standard envelope, I would say something is definitely wrong here. Better get back to your renter and have him or her do something about it as I believe it's up to them to get payment to you in an efficient matter, not for you to wait and worry for a month. It's probably lost in the mail somwehere and the original check or other form of payment will need to be cancelled and resent, but that's just my guess. Do what seems right to you, but Canadian mail doesn't tank that long, at least not when I lived in Florida and my family mailed to me.

Good luck.

 

[CarolMN]

I agree with the other posters. My advice is to contact your renter and ask them to overnight payment (or use another suitable method for quick, guaranteed delivery). Your renter can stop payment on the other check - no way should a letter take a month to arrive. It's lost.

Best wishes-

 

[dianeschlicht]

I had similar problems with payments and items mailed from Canada when using Ebay. It seems to be customs that is the issue, and money and valuables get "lost". I even got a ring from Canada once that was an empty box. It was all taped up and had the customs stamp on it, but the ring ws missing. I would ask them to stop payment on any check and pay through Paypal. Much safer.

 

[disneyfan2005]

Hi the standard air mail is 7-10 business days.

There is not racking system but it is guaranteed for up to $100

You can send Express Post for alot of money which has a tracking number but takes 6 business days anyways

I am sure your mail will arrive shortly.

Thanks

 

[Yensid_MD]

Have them send the check overnight by Fedex or UPS or DHL or whatever carrier comes out of Canada, or let them know that you will have to cancel their reservation. They cant expect to get something for nothing. I realize it may be lost, but that is not your fault. You have executed your half of the agreement by getting the reservation, they need to fulfill their end of the contract and get you money.

 

[bavaria]

I live in Canada, work in the US, have addresses in both places. Believe me, Canada Post is NOT the same quick service as USPS.

I recently sent a letter to someone in Orlando and stupidly used Canada Post instead of USPS. The dog sled arrived exactly 7 days later (vs my USPS letters which usually take 1-3 days)

In future, I would request a quicker option. For the renter, however, using FedEx, DHL, etc does cost more as it's an international shipment. So long as you make your requirements clear, it's up to them to decide if they want to continue with the transaction.

Best of luck!

 

[MMCD]

Just to give you an update:

Registered mail between countries does not track once it crosses the border. It will track after the receiving post office receives the registered mail.

Express mail between countries does track from post office to post office on both sides of the country.

Also, I found out that registered mail between US and Canada takes longer than regular post mail because registered mail must be locked in a holding pen at each post office it travels through.

Since we agreed that the check is lost in the mail, my renter decided to UPS overnight another check. I usually insist on a maximum 2 day express payment but for some reason I agreed on using regular registered mail for this rental. Never again. The waiting is too frustrating.

BTW, when I was at my local post office, there was another registered letter sent from Canada. I was shown how it "traveled". It does not track which cities it went through except the originating location, the last Canadian post office prior to arriving the US, and my local post office. It looked like it went through 4 post offices in the US prior to reaching my local post office. This registered mail took a total of 10 days.

Now we will see how long it will take for my confirmation letter to reach my Canadian renter.

Thanks,

MMCD

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks for the update - I'm glad you were able to make contact with your Canadian renter.

I agree that it will be interesting to see how long it takes for the confirmation to reach him/her. Let us know if you ever find out, LOL.

Best wishes -

 

[dianeschlicht]

Wow! I've been off the board for awhile, and I am amazed this still isn't settled! Hope you get it done soon!

 

[hockey mom]

Before I purchased DVC I rented on 3 seperate occasions. All of my money orders were sent regular mail and were recieved within one week of sending. If you have not recieved something within a month then it got lost somehwere.

 

[jaysue]

Post should not take that long between our two countries - figure 10 days max is the norm

Cheers
jaysue

 

[Cinderpals]

This happened to me within the US. After 10 days without receiving payment, the renter went ahead and sent another check with delivery confirmation at least. I have never received the "1st check" which I was planning on sending back if/when it ever got here.