Royal Mail Special Delivery No Updates

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

I sent a large and valuable parcel on Saturday 4th February 2023 shortly after 8:30am.

I have used tracked services before and all has been well and I also used Special Delivery on a parcel on a separate occasion shortly before this.

I always received an update on tracking when the Post Office scans my parcels that I send. However on this occasion I have received no updates. Even after dropping it off and being scanned at my local store which has post office services, it never said the usual 'accepted at the post office' or words to that effect. I went to the shop 5 days later since there was still no update on the tracking other that the same message 'sender preparing item' but that updated at approximately 2:28 pm on the day that I sent the parcel and I wanted to see if had actually left the shop or not and he told me it had. I then asked for CCTV footage of me dropping off the parcel and being scanned and received by them and I still have that. I contacted Royal Mail who asked me if I have the proof of postage receipt but my stupid self was in a rush to clean out some paperwork that was a bit of a mess and accidentally binned the receipt for this parcel instead of older ones. I have contacted Royal Mail several times and asked if there was any way of finding out where my parcel was because it doesn't just dissappear. I have been told by some of the staff that it is probably missing which I am surprised at how you can loose a big parcel like that.

Others said it should have been redelivered by now and others have told me various possible times such as anything from 18 calendar days to at least 3 working weeks or from what I was told, Monday to Friday meaning I could be waiting until at least next week before it comes back to me.

I contacted the buyer on eBay who I made sure was a trusted seller/buyer just fora bit peace of mind who told me it hadn't arrived, even after almost 2 weeks. They have subsequently been refunded but I left a message with them informing them that I will contact Royal Mail to investigate it's location and possibly the police if necessary. I feel that it may be beneficial to message them to confirm that they are sure that the parcel has not been delivered up to now before I take this further and remind them that it would be a criminal offence to withhold information and provide a false statement since this is a potential postal theft in order to falsely gain an item and essentially get it for free.

I am still waiting to hear back from Royal Mail who said they would contact me within 3 working days and I sent 2 separate emails to make sure it wasn't missed. I'm know that proof of postage is essential for claim for loss but surely you can't physically 'lose' a large parcel. I know what the parcel looks like since I packed it myself and it honestly is very unique, you couldn't miss it if you even glanced at it. I know the exact contents including the packaging inside to protect the goods.

It's not the money I'm too bothered about albeit being a lot of money in my eyes. I just want to know where my parcel is and I never seem to get anywhere with Royal Mail. It has my return address on it and the label is sticky backed and them taped just in case they caught the edge of the label and I have a copy of the postage label as I always do just in case.

If my parcel really has gone missing or is simply forgotten and is just sitting somewhere, when will it be returned to me or if it is sent to the NRC then will they eventually send it back to me? I heard that they go there but normally only if there is no return address. The only other possibility is that there is something in there that they don't accept in the Royal Mail system which is a pair of batteries that came with the controller to the item that I sent but that is the only one I wasn't sure about but I sent it anyway since I received them in the post like that when I originally purchased the item. The main item contains a lithium battery but I checked with that and it is supposed to be acceptable since it is attached inside the item and is literally part of it. The only other thing that I can think of is if I had to put the battery warning symbol label that is often used to note the presence of a potentially dangerous battery and to take extra care.

However it still baffling as to why the tracking is limited to that one timestamp that said sender preparing item since it has left the shop. The police as expected refused to look into it as a theft until Royal Mail actually did there part and did a full investigation and possibly find out if a worker stole it or if it really is just sat in one of their departments. It really is causing me so much stress and I'm struggling to sleep. I'm trying to forget about it but it's hard when I'm doing everything that I can as far as I'm aware to sort it out.
APOLOGIES FOR THE VERY LONG MESSAGE BUT I HOPE THE DETAILS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND MY SITUATION.

[SpacePhoenix]

What town/city is it going from and what town/city is it supposed to be heading to?

[Nildesperandum]

Sorry to hear about this very upsetting problem, it's a bit of a long shot but if you paid by card the transaction will be on your statement and that might help to back up your claims for recovering the parcel?

I have used special delivery numerous times with no problems whatsoever, and I'm very surprised to hear about a package going missing like this!

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

Sorry for leaving out that detail.
It was heading form Durham (the post office service I used was in New Brancepeth approx 3-4 miles outside Durham City) and it was headed to Harrow.

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

Sorry to hear about this very upsetting problem, it's a bit of a long shot but if you paid by card the transaction will be on your statement and that might help to back up your claims for recovering the parcel?

I have used special delivery numerous times with no problems whatsoever, and I'm very surprised to hear about a package going missing like this!

Unfortunately that is my next problem. Since I paid for the label online on eBay using PayPal. I thought of this myself and it makes it so difficult to do anything about it. I've never had this problem with Royal Mail let alone Special Delivery so it has got to the point where finding the parcel is at the top of my priorities at the moment.

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

What town/city is it going from and what town/city is it supposed to be heading to?

Sorry. I forgot to quote your message since I've only just found out this website exists. I sent it from New Brancepeth a few miles outside Durham City at a local shop which has some PO services. It was supposed to be headed to Harrow.

[BenacreNick]

The special delivery reference number would be extremely helpful please.

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

The special delivery reference number would be extremely helpful please.

Sorry about that. The reference number is: SE138493413GB

[BenacreNick]

Thanks for the tracking reference number.

It shows no information unfortunately.

[Lounge Lizard]

"Even after dropping it off and being scanned at my local store which has post office services, it never said the usual 'accepted at the post office' or words to that effect."
But does your receipt from the Post Office include the Special Delivery fee paid, the SD thirteen digit number and the postcode and first bit of the addressee's address ?

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

"Even after dropping it off and being scanned at my local store which has post office services, it never said the usual 'accepted at the post office' or words to that effect."
But does your receipt from the Post Office include the Special Delivery fee paid, the SD thirteen digit number and the postcode and first bit of the addressee's address ?

As mentioned in my original post, I have unfortunately lost my proof of postage and I paid for the label on eBay hance there was no way of providing the necessary information for a refund but I paid for it just before dropping off the parcel which is almost directly across the street from my house. I just wish I had either paid for it at the counter or at least not accidentally binned my proof of postage. I do remember it having all the usual details as I had when sending an item via special delivery on a previous occasion.
I am just wondering if I should contact the buyer if the investigation that Royal Mail are doing turns up empty handed. If there's no more information back from them, then I will have to look at a possible theft. I can only imagine that it was either put to one side and forgotten about, genuinely mixed up and will eventually be found, sent to a lost parcel facility, or it really was stolen either after me dropping off the parcel at the shop, or by someone within Royal Mail, either postie or within the sorting facilities. I'm hoping they have the parcel and will bother to look at the address since it actually has my address on it for any return purposes as I do with all the parcels I have ever sent.

[SpacePhoenix]

How was the address placed into the item? Was it on a sticker or a printout from a normal printer sellotaped to the item?

[The_Lone_Wanderer]

How was the address placed into the item? Was it on a sticker or a printout from a normal printer sellotaped to the item?

I've always used a very strong self-adhesive paper (sticky back) on every parcel, small or big. On this occasion I used strong self-adhesive paper and sellotaped the edges just in case it got caught on the edges or corners on machinery or just in general with it being moved around during transit etc.