A post of hope & reassurance

Grateful · Post by **Grateful** » 03 Jun 2020, 12:00

Hi all,

I thought I'd post this to give people an insight into how my 2 packages got delivered to me from America during these strange times, mainly to give people hope that things will arrive eventually, just not in a way or timeframe that you may be used to.

I recently ordered 2 packages from America, one from Massachusetts and one from Indiana, both being delivered using USPS First Class Package International. It's tracked, cheap and I usually receive my packages between 10-14 days.

The first package was posted in the Massachusetts area on 11th May and remained fully tracked for a while, departing Newark International on the evening of 14th May, just 3 days later.

The last update I received via USPS was the following morning on 15th May stating it had departed a transfer airport at Heathrow, London. No further updated were made on the USPS tracking system which is unusual as they normally track them through to delivery.

At the same time, Royal Mail Track & Trace had my package leaving the USA on the evening of 12th May (2 days before the USPS system said so) and being received at Langley HWDC on the Morning of 30th May, a gap of 12 days without an update on the Royal Mail system. It then showed as leaving the processing centre at midday on 30th May and arrived at my local delivery office on 1st June. The same day I received the card informing me of the custom charges to be paid.

Due to the Coronavirus you need to pay online, which I did, and the package was delivered today, 3rd June. USPS tracking then reappeared confirming delivery.

So, for this package, according to USPS, it took 4 days to go from America to Heathrow and 19 days to go from Heathrow to my house.

My second package was posted in the Indiana area on 13th May and took 5 days to reach the infamous Chicago IL International Distribution Center (Google it!) on 18th May.

It took a further 3 days to arrive at O'Hare International airport, Chicago on 21st May and did not depart to the UK until a further 4 days later on 25th May.

In all, that stage of the process took 12 days.

It then departed a transfer airport at Heathrow on 26th May and was processed through a facility in the UK on 29th May. No further updates were made on the USPS tracking system, which again is unusual.

At the same time, Royal Mail Track & Trace had my package leaving the USA on 19th May (6 days before the USPS system said so) and being received at Langley HWDC on the morning of 29th May, a gap of 10 days without an update on the Royal Mail system. It then showed as leaving the processing centre on the morning of 29th May (in line with what the USPS tracking system said) and arriving at my local delivery office on the morning of 1st June (exactly the same time as my 1st package above).

Again, due to the Coronavirus, you need to pay online, which I did, and the package was also delivered today, 3rd June. Unlike the above package, there has been no final USPS update to confirm delivery.

So, for this package, according to USPS, it took 13 days to go from America to Heathrow and 8 days to go from Heathrow to my house.

In total, my first package took 23 days (most of which was in the UK) and my second package took 21 days (most of which was in the USA).

As I said earlier, usually packages take between 10 - 14 days, so given the problems at the moment I think that's not too bad at all.

There were times when both packages disappeared off the radar and no updates were made for days, but eventually they both got here.

I never asked a question on here about my concerns as the good people who are running this forum helped me put my mind at ease (without knowing) by their answers in other threads asking similar questions to those I was going to ask.

I'd like to thank them for doing what they do here and thank all the postal people, both here and around the world, for keeping things moving in extremely trying conditions.

The point of this post?

Hopefully it relates in some way to the progress of your packages and gives you hope and reassurance that things will eventually get delivered, just not in the normal time frames you have been previously used to.

Keep safe everybody and have faith in our Royal Mail.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 03 Jun 2020, 12:52

Brilliant, thanks very much indeed for posting this it will help both us and any Customers who are concerned.

manson85 · Post by **manson85** » 03 Jun 2020, 13:38

Brilliant. I'm glad your parcel arrived from the US quicker than mine from London. My parcel is in Croydon mc since 13th of May it's not moving.

bmlodge · Post by **bmlodge** » 03 Jun 2020, 16:01

Cheers for the detailed post buddy. There is hope. No update from my package since the 13th/14th of May "May 13, 2020 at 6:17 pm Processed Through Regional Facility LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER". Royal Mail say it left on the 14th May at 12.15 am or something. My guess is it's stuck in the UK at customs but shouldn't have a customs charge on it.

Janet Brum · Post by **Janet Brum** » 03 Jun 2020, 16:14

Thank you Grateful for reading this forum and informing yourself instead of posting countless topics asking about your parcel, most of the time without providing any tracking or sometimes being snappy.

I also want to thank to all my colleagues who have more patience than I do and post on here to help others, we are all posting in our very limited spare time.

I hope better times will come and the tracking will always be perfect

Grateful · Post by **Grateful** » 04 Jun 2020, 16:12

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:Brilliant, thanks very much indeed for posting this it will help both us and any Customers who are concerned.

You're welcome.

manson85 wrote:Brilliant. I'm glad your parcel arrived from the US quicker than mine from London. My parcel is in Croydon mc since 13th of May it's not moving.

We're in very strange times at the moment, keep the faith, I'm sure it will arrive eventually.

bmlodge wrote:Cheers for the detailed post buddy. There is hope. No update from my package since the 13th/14th of May "May 13, 2020 at 6:17 pm Processed Through Regional Facility LOS ANGELES CA INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER". Royal Mail say it left on the 14th May at 12.15 am or something. My guess is it's stuck in the UK at customs but shouldn't have a customs charge on it.

It's almost certain to be held up at customs. If only they would do an update to say it's in their possession I'm sure most people would be happy with that, it's the not knowing that gets people anxious.

Janet Brum wrote:Thank you Grateful for reading this forum and informing yourself instead of posting countless topics asking about your parcel, most of the time without providing any tracking or sometimes being snappy.

I also want to thank to all my colleagues who have more patience than I do and post on here to help others, we are all posting in our very limited spare time.

I hope better times will come and the tracking will always be perfect

Yes, there was no need for me to reinvent the wheel, the information you want is usually already there if you look.

Again, thanks to you all for what you do.

Janet Brum · Post by **Janet Brum** » 04 Jun 2020, 21:13

I`m like a dog with a bone, I know, but here is another example of non readers: https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 15#p903115" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 04 Jun 2020, 22:16

Grateful wrote:It's almost certain to be held up at customs. If only they would do an update to say it's in their possession I'm sure most people would be happy with that, it's the not knowing that gets people anxious.

I wish they would one day with a scan after to say they've released it or a scan to say they've released it but with a customs charge (it would be nice if customs in all countries could do that one day)

Gouryella · Post by **Gouryella** » 05 Jun 2020, 13:52

Hi guys, lurker here. I have been waiting for a package from Singapore since April 8 (just some documents) - it finally arrived today

https://i.imgur.com/5Dmec2N.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just thought I'd share for anyone else who might be waiting - there's obviously a major backlog (as many suggested)

Cheers

Sean2468 · Post by **Sean2468** » 05 Jun 2020, 17:38

Janet Brum wrote:I`m like a dog with a bone, I know, but here is another example of non readers: https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 15#p903115" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Janet Brum wrote:Hi Sean, so you didn`t get your parcels in 17 days but I`m sure you got your mail, letters, brochures etc?

Just to let you know I am a reader, Also I have not even had what I call normal post, I knew the bottom ones where going to take time as they are from China,
It’s the top lot from the uk to the uk that have taken the time, it’s ok as I have just spoken to a post man and he has stated that Royal Mail are struggling at the moment to meet demand, they have lost control of delivery’s,
He said for 2 weeks a lot of letter ect have been put into cages and left. So I would imagine my parcels will turn up at some point this year maybe in time for my other half’s next birthday.

Sherry · Post by **Sherry** » 05 Jun 2020, 18:50

My friend (UK) called to say she just received a letter we sent that was stamped 1st May. That's more than a month for a UK letter.
So, yes post is slow but hopefully all of us waiting will have the post arrive eventually.
It is upsetting for those letters that are time-sensitive, especially those that involved a lot of effort, heart, (money!) and are sentimental. And, of course when we post on this forum, we are not blaming, just seeking clarity. Thank a lot for your understanding and for your responsse.

Grateful · Post by **Grateful** » 06 Jun 2020, 05:02

SpacePhoenix wrote:I wish they would one day with a scan after to say they've released it or a scan to say they've released it but with a customs charge (it would be nice if customs in all countries could do that one day)

Yep, it would seem to be a simple enough thing to do and would go a long way to allay people's worries about the whereabouts of their parcels.

Gouryella wrote:Hi guys, lurker here. I have been waiting for a package from Singapore since April 8 (just some documents) - it finally arrived today

https://i.imgur.com/5Dmec2N.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just thought I'd share for anyone else who might be waiting - there's obviously a major backlog (as many suggested)

Cheers

Thanks for posting

It confirms what I said in my original post, in these unprecedented times we just have to have a little patience and understand that things will, on the whole, take much longer to go through the system than we are accustomed to.

Sean2468 wrote:...it’s ok as I have just spoken to a post man and he has stated that Royal Mail are struggling at the moment to meet demand, they have lost control of delivery’s,
He said for 2 weeks a lot of letter ect have been put into cages and left. So I would imagine my parcels will turn up at some point this year maybe in time for my other half’s next birthday.

Exactly, as I said in my original post, things are taking much longer to process, which is not unsurprising given what is going on around the world.

We just need a little patience and trust that, eventually, things will get delivered

Sherry wrote:My friend (UK) called to say she just received a letter we sent that was stamped 1st May. That's more than a month for a UK letter.
So, yes post is slow but hopefully all of us waiting will have the post arrive eventually.
It is upsetting for those letters that are time-sensitive, especially those that involved a lot of effort, heart, (money!) and are sentimental. And, of course when we post on this forum, we are not blaming, just seeking clarity. Thank a lot for your understanding and for your responsse.

Exactly, a little patience and trust is all that's required

Grateful · Post by **Grateful** » 13 Jun 2020, 23:43

So, I recently posted about a package sent to me from Indiana...

Grateful wrote:...My second package was posted in the Indiana area on 13th May and took 5 days to reach the infamous Chicago IL International Distribution Center (Google it!) on 18th May.

It took a further 3 days to arrive at O'Hare International airport, Chicago on 21st May and did not depart to the UK until a further 4 days later on 25th May.

In all, that stage of the process took 12 days.

It then departed a transfer airport at Heathrow on 26th May and was processed through a facility in the UK on 29th May. No further updates were made on the USPS tracking system, which again is unusual.

At the same time, Royal Mail Track & Trace had my package leaving the USA on 19th May (6 days before the USPS system said so) and being received at Langley HWDC on the morning of 29th May, a gap of 10 days without an update on the Royal Mail system. It then showed as leaving the processing centre on the morning of 29th May (in line with what the USPS tracking system said) and arriving at my local delivery office on the morning of 1st June (exactly the same time as my 1st package above).

Again, due to the Coronavirus, you need to pay online, which I did, and the package was also delivered today, 3rd June. Unlike the above package, there has been no final USPS update to confirm delivery.

So, for this package, according to USPS, it took 13 days to go from America to Heathrow and 8 days to go from Heathrow to my house...

I have recently had another package sent to me by the same seller.

This one was posted by them on 5th June and this time took 4 days (instead of 5) to reach the infamous Chicago IL International Distribution Center (Google it!) on 9th June.

It only took 1 day to arrive at O'Hare International airport, Chicago on 10th June (compared to 3 days last time) and departed to the UK just 1 day later on 11th June (compared to 4 days later last time).

In all, this stage of the process took 6 days compared to 12 days last time.

It then departed a transfer airport at Heathrow on 12th June, so let's see how long this package takes to clear customs and get delivered to me (last time it was 8 days).

xenomorph · Post by **xenomorph** » 14 Jun 2020, 11:21

Was yours stuck on "Item has left our International Processing Centre" on the RM tracker?
Or was it "Item Received" at Langley?

Item left sounds like it has cleared customs so from that point on it should not take long to get to delivery office right?

Grateful · Post by **Grateful** » 14 Jun 2020, 15:24

xenomorph wrote:Was yours stuck on "Item has left our International Processing Centre" on the RM tracker?
Or was it "Item Received" at Langley?

Item left sounds like it has cleared customs so from that point on it should not take long to get to delivery office right?

Hi, my understanding is that when it shows it has left the international processing centre it has cleared customs.

For both of my original packages they showed as being received at Langley and leaving the international processing centre on the same day.

As you can see, one of my original packages took 3 days from leaving the international processing centre to arriving at my local delivery office but that may fluctuate from time to time and even area to area due to the pandemic.

I hope your package arrives with you soon, I'm sure it will