Signed For, 1st class - "we've got it" after 14 days

[arrie]

Hi.

On 21 July 2025 I sent an item by Signed For, 1st class, and it's still showing up at Track and Trace as "We've got it" and they're saying that the next thing I'll know will be that they have attempted to deliver it. So basically the info from RM is that they haven't tried to deliver it yet. Unfortunately I have absolutely no other way to contact the sender than by post, so it's possible it was delivered but the postie didn't scan it. In any case, it hasn't been signed for. Questions:

1. When can I claim the postage cost back, if no attempt to deliver is showing up? (At the moment it's 14 calendar days since posting, and either 10 or 12 working days depending on whether Saturdays count.)

2. At the online claims centre, when I put in the tracking number I'm getting "Sorry, we're having difficulties retrieving your tracking information." But when I put in the same number at Track and Trace it's recognised properly and I can see the time and place of posting as well as "We've got it". Given this, how do I claim? Even if it was actually delivered, RM still haven't done what I paid them to. Note too that the item has no intrinsic value. It is just a letter in an ordinary envelope. All I will want is the postage cost back.

3. Might some kind of internal tracking info be available somehow?

Thanks!

Marie R

[Nebiroth]

Signed For isn't tracked until final delivery point.

Royal Mail won;t have any more trackign information than you; they don;t even when it;s something like Special Delivery (as I know to my cost)

IIRC it;s ten working days for RM to consider 1st class lost.

RM's tracking system throwing up the message you are seeing is, sadly, not that unusual. It's an error message so keep trying and eventually it will work.

RM go by their tracking, so if it hasn't flagged delivery for a Signed For, then officially, it;s not been delivered.

You could phone them, but the queue times are horrifically wrong (which is very telling). If you do call them on the Customer Support number, call at like five seconds past 8am. That;s when the line opens and the queues haven;t built up yet. Eotheriwse expect to spend 20 minute slistening to music.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

10 working days is the claim period, so you can claim from today.

Royal Mail's IT structure is not the best, so all I can say is keep trying.

As to delivery, if you have sent the letter to a large government department or a business that uses Royal Mail's open and scan service, it is entirely possible that it has already been delivered, as these deliveries seem to take an inordinate amount of time to update.