Hartington Residents Frustrated By Canada Post Changeover

Jeff Green | Sep 04, 2024

Last Friday, August 31st, Linda Stewart went to get the mail from her box at the Hartington Post office for the last time.

The outlet was set to close on September 1st. Earlier in the week, temporary boxes had been installed in front of the church building across the road.

Earlier in the week, Valerie Chartrand, of Canada Post media relations, told the Frontenac News via email at that the closing of the Hartington post office occurred for “reasons beyond our control.”

She added that “postal services offered in Hartington will be temporarily interrupted as the post office located on Road 38 will close at the end of day on Friday, August 30. A notice has been posted to inform customers. We remain committed to the residents of Hartington. We are currently looking to fill the postmaster position and find a new location within the community to host a post office.

However, as Linda S, the post office was effectively already shut down.

“When I got there, there was a crew pulling everything apart, and they told they were vacating the premises by the end of the day. I asked about my mail, and they said it had been boxed up and sent to Inverary.”

Valerie Chartrand also told the news that “community mailboxes will be temporarily installed to allow customers to pick up mail and parcels. More information about the temporary community mailboxes and their location will be provided in the next few days when the boxes are installed. Customers who rented a post office box at this outlet received a letter informing them of their options and next steps. They are also offered a free change of address service for one year.”

While the temporary boxes have been installed across the road from the now former Hartington Post Office in front of the church property.

“But we need keys to access the boxes, and we have been told that in order to get the key we need to go to the Inverary Post Office with identification to claim the key. But I phoned over there and they do not have the keys yet, and will not have them available until Wednesday (September 4th)

As the Frontenac News reported last week, services for Hartington residents are being offered out of the Inverary Post Office, located 22km away, and not the Sydenham or Verona Post offices, which are much closer.

“Items carded for pick up will be available at the Inverary Post Office at 4048 Perth Road. The post office is open Monday to Friday from 8 am to noon and 1 pm to 5:30 pm and Saturdays from 9 am to noon. Customers must provide a valid government-issued photo identification when picking up their items,” said Valere Chartrand.

“This is not the way too treat customers,” said Linda Stewart. “At the very least the post office in Hartington should have remained open until the end of August, as they promised. Now my mail has been taken to Inverary, so I cannot get it, and the box can only be opened with a key, that is not available to me. It’s a mess.

The News has also learned that the owner of the building housing the Hartington Post Office made a request, at least two months ago, that the post office space be trimmed. They will be selling beer and wine as part of the convenience store at that location starting this month.

Canada Post did not respond directly to the request, instead deciding to quit the location, and announce their decision via a letter on the door of the post office, in mid August.