Parks Canada Annual Pass Voucher, eh?

Since 2003 we've been visiting the Canadian Rockies each year. At some point, we got on a Parks Canada list to fill out the occasional on-line survey of parks users. Then, it turned out that I was a winner in a drawing among survey responders: in March 2008 I received a voucher good until March 31, 2009 for a Family/Group Annual National Park Pass. The pass is required for entry into any of 27 Canadian national parks, and it's substantial: an annual pass for a family is C$136.40 in 2009. Hey, I won something!


But wait. We had been to Canada in September 2007, and purchased a pass, which was going to be valid until the end of September 2008. We already had a pass. So we used our existing pass that year, and starting upon our return I contacted Parks Canada to see if there was any chance to get an extension of that voucher from March to July of 2009. Over the course of two or three months I sent two or three emails to the "if you have any questions, please contact" person -- let's call her PV -- and then left a voice mail. Never heard anything. Until, that is, March (2009, if you're keeping track).

PV was very gracious and apologized for not returning my call sooner, and said there would be no problem extending the voucher. Just send the old voucher in, and she'd issue a new one. Wonderful, I said. Thank you very much!

Then I couldn't find the voucher. I had seen it just days before, but now I couldn't put my hands on it. Sheesh, what a dope ... here I'd been asking for an extension and now I can't find the thing! After several days I broke down and wrote PV a letter explaining what had happened, and including a copy of her cover letter from a year ago to (try) to prove I wasn't a total goofball. Off into the mail it went. You know what that means, don't you? Yep. Three or four days later, I found the voucher. Talk about feeling red-faced. I sent the original voucher in to PV with a humble cover letter, but I was still worried that I had irretrievably confused the issue, and would never see that extension, due solely to my own disorganization.

And nothing happened. Finally, after two months, I sucked it up and called PV again to see what was up. And take my lumps at the confusion I had sown, apologize profusely, and, just possibly, still get that extension.

PV wasn't at that job for the summer. RM answered the phone. I launched into my story, and she broke in, saying "no problem -- send in the voucher and we'll send you a pass." I explained that I had already sent in the voucher, and all that I had was photocopy I had taken before sending in the original. This wasn't in the rule book -- copies are not supposed to be accepted, to avoid fraud. RM would talk to PV and get back to me. And the next day, she did. PV remembered talking with me in March but had never received any materials. That's right, somewhere between the Blacklick Post Office and PV's inbox in Banff, Alberta, not one but two letters had been lost. Some more discussion with RM ensued. What address had I sent the voucher to? Yes, that was correct ... well, fax her the copy of the voucher and she'd see what she could do.

A week later a Family/Group Annual Parks Pass arrived in the mail. All's well that ends well, eh? Thank you, PV and RM! (But be careful about sending Parks Canada something in the mail.)