Auction lots delivered to bidder despite wrong address on cover

By Jesse Robitaille

Whether it’s a delivery complaint, a stamp subject disappointment or the dreaded pen cancellation, Canada Post is no stranger to criticism.

That’s why a Toronto collector decided to share his story about the “remarkable” service – complete with a postal history twist – he received from the Crown corporation last fall.

“Every now and then, when somebody does something right, it’s important to praise,” said postal historian Garfield Portch, whose story begins with the annual online auction hosted by the Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain (CPSGB).

Portch, a long-time CPSGB member, won several lots in the group’s October sale, which was held while he was in the middle of a move. After he moved from his home on Prince George Drive to a high-rise condominium about six kilometres away, Portch’s pieces of postal history were delivered to his old address.

“Somehow, my recent change of address was not communicated to the folks sending lots out, and my package was mailed to my old home that I sold in the spring,” he said, adding he didn’t file a forwarding notice with Canada Post.

Despite the logistical challenge, his old address was crossed out on the cover, which was then delivered to his new condo on Burnhanthorpe Road – all without a forwarding address or any indication of his new residence.

“Somebody working in Etobicoke Station A has done a great service in conjunction with the letter carrier to get this correspondence to me,” added Portch, who’s the president and chair of Toronto’s Vincent Graves Greene Philatelic Research Foundation.

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