Ship Happens — Local services in Sumas

I do not recommend using this service.

With the world in its current state, I can more then understand and sympathize for business’ struggling to operate - with reduced hours and employees.

However, my experience with this company has proven to be so unprofessional, as a business owner myself, to the point where there is no excuse to how this business has been operating.

In January 2021, I had ordered two packages to be delivered to Ship Happens. I am a resident of Canada, so I had initially reached out to this company to ensure they would in fact be able to ship my packages to me from their location. I inquired via email and heard back the next day - ensuring it is doable, and to reach out when I get the delivery notifications.

Fast forward to February 4th, when both my packages were delivered in the early afternoon. I got the official email they received my packages the following day, so as instructed I reached out to the company. Today is February 25th and I’ve received nothing back from this company, not a returned email, or even an email ensuring their functioning but to expect delays. Nowhere on their website, or their automated delivery email does it say anything about this - which is extremely inconvenient, again as a business owner trying to get essential supplies to operate..

I have been calling early in the week, and closer to the end at different times in attempt to reach someone, when the call ends with a screech and no voicemail system. On February 9th, I was connected to woman whom ensured me “they’re very busy, haha” and will “get to me when they get to me”.

When I was deciding wether or not to use this company I was confident it would be a clean and easy process as majority of reviews seem to be good, however I wish I was advised against it. All it takes is a banner on your website, or an automated response on your company email to inform customers of this. If someone had reached out, or replied to an email ensuring they are working on I never would have thought twice about the wait time. It’s not knowing, or informing anyone of what is going on that I find unprofessional

Until they’re able to figure out how to operate under these circumstances I would recommend against using this service, unless you’re in no rush for your packages and are okay with having no idea as to what’s going on...

I thought I'd share a recent experience with Ship Happens, but first some background. I've been using their service since the early 2000's. I've had occasion to use one of the other establishments in Sumas, and in my opinion no one is any better.

I've seen customers show up with no tracking number, no email from Ship Happens or no idea except they feel it should be in by now. I am not kidding. I've only ever seen SH(ship happens) make an honest attempt to help, even rude or demanding customers.

Some other reviews mention not liking the hours, but it is what it is. Closing at 6pm and 3pm on Saturday lets the employees have a life, on the rare occasion I saw a long weekend coming up I simply planned around it with my shipping times.

My latest experience was this Saturday morning when I showed up to find out that the town of Sumas was without power due to a rain/flood situation south of town. SH had opened anyway to serve the customers that had shown up for the 9 am opening time. They had no lights, and could only accept cash(obviously) and serve customers that had an email from SH(which has the location of the item on their shelves).

They were searching for packages IN THE DARK, and doing a fine job of it, announcing that they had to close by 9:30am due to the power outage. This is way above and beyond. They were within their rights to not open, or immediately close since they couldn't accept debit or credit or operate their computer stocking system. This kind of service is rare, and I'd recommend...

We’ve been going here consistently since about 2005. They’re always friendly and helpful, and have never lost one of our packages. I remember one time, years ago, Largest Online Retailer split our order up into 5 packages instead of the expected 2, and the staff of SH only charged us for 3, without us even having to ask. That excellent customer service made us loyal for long time.

I consider the prices to be fair (as long as they remain at $4 CAD per package and it doesn’t go up).

The downside is definitely the hours of operation- only open until 6pm on weekdays and only 3pm on Saturdays, as well as always being closed Sundays. When you work full time, and combine that with trying to avoid the intermittent long lineups at the Sumas border, it can be hard to make it in within those limited time windows. Really wish they were open Sundays or, at the very least, until 6pm on Saturdays. We have been looking into the other options in Sumas due to this.

Another downside is that they seem to never answer their phone. Over the 15 years of patronizing them we’ve called around 5-6 times and not once did they answer our call. No respond to...