Tracking, my ass!

Is it just me, or is Canada Post's package tracking useless? On Friday, I ordered a portable DVD player, which was shipped on Monday from Mississauga, Ontario as an Expedited Parcel. According to shipping standards, that means there'll be an attempted delivery this coming Monday and I should have it in my hands Monday night.

On to the tracking rant. I've used Purolator many times before, and their tracking system is pretty nice. It's updated all the time; everytime the package is scanned. In the simple case of shipping from Vancouver (which I've done often), I'll have updates saying:
- shipping details have been entered into the computers,
- it's been received at the warehouse,
- it's being sorted,
- it's in transit to Victoria,
- it's at the depot,
- it's on the truck for delivery,
- delivery failed because I wasn't home,
- it's back at the depot,
- it's ready for pickup, and finally
- it's been picked up and here is the signature.
That sounds really verbose, and possibly overkill, but many of those messages are combined, as they happen almost simultaneously. All of this is updated nearly realtime, so there's only a few minutes delay between the actual action and the tracking page being updated. It's perfect for someone as impatient as I am when I'm waiting for a new toy (or toys) to play with.

Now compare that to Canada Post's tracking. The package was shipped Monday. Surprisingly, Monday night the tracking page was updated with two events:
- 'shipping details electronically submitted' at 16:26, and
- 'item accepted and entered into sortation plant' at 20:26.
Four hours apart and only one update, as both events showed up at the same time. It's now Thursday. Have there been any more updates? Of course not. If this was Purolator, I would have been notified that my package had made its way through their sorting, left the depot, and was in transit... possibily passing through one or more depots along the way. Grrrr. At the bottom of the page, they even have a note saying

Please note that this is the most up to date information available in our system. Our telephone agents have access to the same information presented here.

Not a very useful system.

Anyway, from previous experience, I'm going to guess that I will eventually get all my updates... AFTER I already have my package. Last time, once I had my package, I checked the tracking and it had something like half a dozen more events. Half of these events were related to attempted deliveries and me picking up the package. The other half were events dating back SEVERAL DAYS, updating that the package had left their depot, was in transit, had arrived at various depots, etc, etc. Sound familiar? Sound like stuff that would be useful for tracking? Sound like stuff Purolator updates you with all the time? Sound like stuff that's no longer relevant since I have my package? Exactly. Stupid Canada Post.

I want my DVD player.

That is all.