A three-time veteran of loan procedures, TRU student Bill Tucker wasn’t concerned when he mailed away his documents at the end of December.

But the failure of Canada Post to deliver his package to the National Student Loans Centre in Mississauga, Ont., meant Tucker needed to beg and borrow from the university and live on the edge of poverty for several weeks.

While his original documents have yet to be found, Tucker was relieved on Wednesday when his student loan finally came through, after he filed documents a second time. The first package could not be located by the Crown corporation.

Tucker said he understands that mail may go missing occasionally but he’s frustrated with what he said is abysmal service from Canada Post.

Beginning in mid-January, “I started getting worried and making phone calls,” he said.

“National Student Loans started saying they hadn’t received the master student loan agreement yet.”

The procedure for submitting loan documents is specific, with students required to present ID, including a Social Insurance Number at the post office to verify identity.

After the package was mailed and didn’t arrive at National Student Loans, Tucker said Canada Post agreed to start an investigation.

“They said, ‘We’ll call you back in 48 hours.’

“No one ever called back.”

A Canada Post spokesman who was not familiar with the investigation said mail is scanned throughout the system, making it easier to determine where packages go astray. Sometimes parcels may be missed through a scanner or it malfunctions.

Typical causes of missing mail are incorrect addresses or postal codes as well as mail delivered to incorrect addresses.

The spokesman said lost mail claims are given an incident file and each is treated seriously. He could not explain the failure to follow up by Canada Post officials.

Tucker said beyond a reference number for his complaint “they gave me absolutely nothing.”

When he ran out of money the second-year computing science student successfully obtained loans from TRU to tide him over until his loan arrived.

With the loan in hand this week, Tucker said the crisis has passed. But he remains unhappy with the service from Canada Post and is concerned about the potential for identity theft should his documents fall into the wrong hands.