Opinion - I solved the mystery of the disappearing Amazon order

Stu Salkeld

I’m not a huge fan of online shopping, but it’s hard to argue the convenience of it all. Not everything working people need in our modern lives is available in or fairly priced locally. Unfortunately sometimes we’re forced to look elsewhere.

Amazon’s Prime membership is a pretty decent deal; for about $100 a year you get free shipping on items you buy directly from Amazon (however not everything available on Amazon is actually sold by Amazon). But sometimes Prime isn’t all it’s talked up to be. Especially when Canada Post and its union are butting heads (again).

Last fall I noticed an odd occurrence with my Amazon Prime membership. One of the options I regularly use, the option to have an Amazon parcel available for pick-up at the Stettler Post office, wasn’t available. Huh. Strange. This was right around the time CUPW went on strike. After job action ended, I noticed Amazon's delivery options went back to normal. Weird.

Jump to last week when I checked the status on a $75 order I made through my Amazon prime membership. Upon checking, I learned abruptly and unceremoniously the order was cancelled (but not by me). No explanation, no nothing. Mysteriously cancelled. Huh. Weird.

Then I noticed the Stettler Post Office was no longer a delivery destination. In fact, I learned even if I simply wanted the item delivered to my home address (which is out of the question due to porch pirates) the estimated delivery date was July 19. Strangely, if I selected an Amazon drop-off location in Red Deer delivery date was estimated for within the next 24 hours. Huh. Strange. Six week delivery for Stettler, 24 hour delivery for Red Deer for Amazon Prime members. Weird. Also, my default delivery address was changed to a location in Balzac. Same town Amazon has a huge warehouse in. Huh. Weird.

Then I checked the news and heard an update on Canada Post and CUPW’s recent showdown. You should remember, gentle reader, Amazon uses Canada Post to deliver some parcels especially in rural areas. Hmmmm. You know, I’m a journalist and in college they trained me as a detective.

Snooping around a little to see if any other rural Albertans were having the same issue with their Amazon Prime membership, the pieces began to fall into place.

The following is copied from a Reddit discussion, one of the most recent (but there were plenty to choose from): (from user ThatDonkeyLooksCold) “Hi. I ordered this a week ago. I need it ASAP for a project. I contacted Amazon on May 14, they said it would ship within 24-48 hours. It didn't. I contacted Amazon again on May 16, they said it would ship within 24-48 hours. Again, it didn't. It's now been a week since I ordered this. I live in a small town and can't get it locally. Canada Post is probably going on strike this week and if you guys had actually shipped it when I ordered it, it would have been here by now. Pretty obvious that Amazon is delaying deliveries while they wait and see what happens with Canada Post. Completely unacceptable.”

(user FreeIndependent470) “I'm also remote, and everything on Amazon says the same thing, order and we'll email you when we have a shipping date. Things ship at 13 days because at 14 days it automatically cancels orders, apparently. This has been happening here since mid April. Amazon support has been absolutely useless, saying they have no info and to order again. The ones that canceled after 14 days, they kept saying I must have canceled it, and there's no info on their side. I'm guessing it's happening to anyone who has Canada Post as a last leg of the delivery.”

(user Lolth5) “Seven orders in the last month all canceled here in Labrador. Man this is frustrating and they will not change carries to do deliveries in Labrador. I thought Canada Post said they aren't stopping and still carrying out the work as negotiations continue?”...and so forth. I’m sure any reader of average intelligence can surmise exactly what’s happening here. When we sign up for a service like Amazon Prime, if the company isn’t going to follow through on the rules they themselves set, at least be open and honest with us about it.

-copyright 2025 The Rural Alberta Report