Ontario woman distressed Purolator lost her passport. She was offered $100 gift card as goodwill gesture

Isha Bhargava · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 19, 2025 9:53 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 19

A London, Ont., pistillate says Purolator mislaid her former Indian passport portion it was en way to a consulate bureau successful Brampton, and aft months of not being capable to find it, the courier work closed her lawsuit and offered her a $100 Amazon acquisition paper for the inconvenience.

Jaya Chevendra, 62, said the papers had ineligible and sentimental value, and its nonaccomplishment has jeopardized her plans of retiring successful India and having citizenship rights. She said she turned down the acquisition certificate offer, and believes Purolator's fiscal compensation dodges accountability for the distress caused by the error.

"There was nary hold of wanting to assistance marque this close successful immoderate signifier oregon form, but propulsion a fewer dollars astatine maine due to the fact that I was retired a fewer dollars," she said. "The fiscal information is irrelevant successful this case. It is simply a captious papers and I person nary different papers that would regenerate it."

In aboriginal 2024, Chevendra — who was calved successful India and has been a Canadian national for decades — applied for an Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) that allows her benefits including the quality to open a slope relationship and buy property successful India, which does not allow dual citizenship. 

To get an OCI, she had to surrender the Indian passport issued to her successful 1980. She sent it to BLS India Visa Application Centre's Brampton bureau utilizing Canada Post's registered message service, which ensures a signature upon delivery, a mailing receipt and tracking information.

BLS sent it backmost to her, stating it doesn't judge packages from Canada Post and directed Chevendra to usage Purolator instead. In September, Chevendra created an OCI application for a friend and sent disconnected some passports together done Purolator. Her friend's bundle was delivered by Oct. 2, but Chevendra's was past seen successful the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke and couldn't beryllium tracked aft that. 

Missing packages 'rare occurrence,' says Purolator

BLS couldn't beryllium reached for comment, but its website says Purolator is its third-party logistics institution and its strategy level is "integrated with BLS to way immoderate Application's Life Cycle Status from 'Receiving astatine BLS' to 'Delivery from BLS.'"

The website said BLS cannot way applications coming done different message services.

In a connection to CBC News, Purolator said it cannot remark on individual customers' packages, but erstwhile a customer reaches retired to its enactment team, Purolator initiates a hint probe and searches its facilities. If a bundle inactive isn't found, customers tin commencement a claims process. 

"Purolator makes each effort to guarantee that packages are delivered connected time. However, issues bash astatine times arise, either due to the fact that of the mode the shipment is tendered by the shipper or during the transportation process, which tin forestall a bundle from being successfully delivered," the connection said. "While it is simply a precise uncommon occurrence, we sincerely regret erstwhile a bundle goes missing."

After this nonfiction was published, a Purolator representative contacted CBC News to accidental the acquisition card was offered arsenic a motion of goodwill.

For months, Chevendra said, she followed up with some BLS and Purolator, but neither company had immoderate thought wherever the bundle went. She said she wrote a letter to Purolator expressing interest and asking for much enactment to assistance find her passport.

"There's a batch of identifying accusation astir me, my address, my signature is connected each azygous papers successful that envelope, and truthful I'm truly acrophobic astir individuality theft. I stated my interest astir that and it was not addressed successful their missive backmost to me," she said. 

"It's appalling that they tin beryllium truthful dismissive of thing truthful important. They took work for that bundle erstwhile they accepted the wealth and said they would present it. They failed to present it and I don't consciousness they're doing astir capable to marque it right."

Chevendra showed CBC an email thread with a Purolator lawsuit relations employee, who apologized to her and explained the company's thorough search, which included a cheque of its records dating backmost to September 2024 and BLS's records utilizing her Indian passport, but to nary avail. 

The worker acknowledged Chevendra's vexation and offered to screen the outgo of her $51 slope draft, positive a $100 Amazon acquisition paper arsenic a motion of apology.

Shipping important documents 'always risky': expert

In utilizing courier services, there's ever a accidental items tin spell missing, despite signed contracts and regulations, according to Ken Whitehurst, enforcement manager of Consumers Council of Canada, a unpaid non-profit. 

"Transferring a papers that is unsocial is ever going to beryllium risky due to the fact that things volition spell incorrect successful immoderate strategy that's ample standard with documents," helium said.

The diminution of in-person lawsuit services means more radical are near to fig retired adjacent steps connected their own, said Whitehurst, calling it a "buyer beware world," with expanding risks.

"As radical flock to convenience, governments trim their work locations and don't person to connection them face-to-face services, but yet that tin beryllium precise problematic due to the fact that of precisely this benignant of concern wherever there's a nonaccomplishment of custody of thing precise important," helium said.

Customers in contracts tin instrumentality enactment based connected the presumption oregon conditions for transportation and compensation for non-delivery. They tin besides look into taking the merchant to small claims tribunal to seek damages, said Whitehurst. 

In Chevendra's case, she's calling connected Purolator and BLS to find her passport oregon find an alternate mode for her to get her an OCI. 

"They request to marque it close and that means they request to talk to higher-ups and bash each the moving astir due to the fact that astatine this point, I don't cognize what to do. They're the ones that person my passport — it has to beryllium somewhere."