More reports of apparent mail tampering and missing gift cards

Two Calgary families say they have received cards in the mail in recent weeks that appear to have been sliced open, the gift cards sent by families now missing.

The two families do not know each other.

Kat MacAulay said a card for her husband's birthday was mailed from Cape Breton at the same time and place as a card for her niece in Halifax. Both cards contained gift certificates from MacAulay's parents.

"We had had a heads up that a card that was sent to my niece who lives on the other side of the country had been tampered with," she said.

"I noticed that there was a slit down the side of the card," said MacAulay.  "It was obvious that it was a perfect nice X-Acto slit down the side."

Martha MacDonnell said her mother sent her a card for her birthday, mailed from Shubenacadie Nova Scotia. The card also held a $50 gift certificate. Like MacAulay, the envelope had a precise slit down one side. The birthday card was intact. The gift certificate never arrived.

"I would like to see that they take this seriously because it seems like it's not an isolated incident," MacDonnell said.

Martha MacDonnell said her mother sent her a card for her birthday, mailed from Shubenacadie Nova Scotia. The card also held a $50 gift certificate. Like MacAulay, the envelope had a precise slit down one side. The birthday card was intact. The gift certificate never arrived.

Both women contacted Canada Post to report the incidents, both said they initially received a quick reply stating their service ticket had been closed. There was no compensation or further investigation.

Canada Post did not respond to our questions Tuesday but in a statement earlier this month responding to a similar complaint, said one possible explanation was the cards got caught in a sorting conveyor.

The other complaint, which aired May 10, was nearly identical, with a birthday card for a six-year-old originally mailed from Prince Edward Island.

But the "mechanical damage" explanation doesn't seem plausible to either MacDonnell or MacAulay.

"(Although) it's not impossible, I find it difficult to believe in this case that that happened," MacAulay said.

"I think that basically someone opened my mail and took the gift card," said MacDonnell.