No Movement in 14 Days - International T&S

[JBlake]

Hi All,

I am starting to worry a bit now about a parcel that I have been expecting for the last 16 days.

2 Weeks ago today the tracking stated: " We have received your item at LANGLEY HWDC, our international processing centre. Your item is being prepared for dispatch overseas."

Since then there has been no further scans/update on this parcel, it is due to go from UK to Northern Ireland ( Post office put down Ireland hence the International Tracked & Signed )

Declarations were properly filled out at Post Office, correct value applied and returns address attached - Item is expensive and irreplaceable by seller and isn't something either of us want to go missing / damaged / destroyed.

I contacted AnPost who it is due to be handed over to if/when it received and they have said they have no further information on this as it hasn't been handed over to them yet.

I had contacted Royal Mail on this and they agreed that it was going to the wrong destination country but at a worst case scenario this should be sent back to the seller who can forward it onto myself via the correct method.

Should I be worried about this yet or is there still plenty of time for this to make it through the system? Royal Mail stated that after the allotted delivery time if it has still not been delivered we will have to make a Lost Claim for them to investigate - Myself and the seller are hesitant for this option as we don't want the compensation value ( Which is buttons compared to what's in the parcel ) if an investigation is opened, what is the likelyhood that it will be recovered and forwarded to myself or back to the sender? Or are these typically just marked as lost and forgot about?

Any word or advice would be greatly appreciated and if anyone else had a similar issue please post below and let me know your outcome!

Thanks

[Snaggletooth]

Given where it stopped moving, and the fact that it was incorrectly marked as destined for the Republic of Ireland, it might be that the contents are not allowed in the international mail and / or on RoI’s prohibited or restricted list. If so, it would probably get sent on to the destination or returned to sender eventually as long as the contents are allowed in the domestic mail. What are the contents?

[JBlake]

Given where it stopped moving, and the fact that it was incorrectly marked as destined for the Republic of Ireland, it might be that the contents are not allowed in the international mail and / or on RoI’s prohibited or restricted list. If so, it would probably get sent on to the destination or returned to sender eventually as long as the contents are allowed in the domestic mail. What are the contents?

Thanks for the reply Snaggletooth,

It’s a set of Night Vision Binoculars which isn’t on either countries prohibition list (only rifle mounted units are prohibitive in Republic of Ireland - these are not able to do that)

I contacted the seller incase there was a battery left in the packaging, they can’t remember leaving one in but wouldn’t rule it out which I understand could cause problems, what would be the result in that case? Seized and destroyed or returned to seller? Again seller isn’t aware of a better being in there.

I had a chat with Royal Mail on the phone earlier today and the lady I spoke to said it if the country was picked up on the parcel would be changed to a standard postal service and sent untracked so Langley HWDC would be the last scan? Surely that wouldn’t be the case and they would return to sender, is this something that tends to happen?

Thanks

[Snaggletooth]

It’s a set of Night Vision Binoculars which isn’t on either countries prohibition list (only rifle mounted units are prohibitive in Republic of Ireland - these are not able to do that)

Yes, but if the sender wrote, say, "night sight" then it wouldn't be clear whether it was restricted or not, so it could get pulled aside while RM investigate. We had a lot of messages on here a few years ago about watches. The problem seemed to be that the seller's were just writing "watch" on the customs form, when there is a world of difference between them depending on the mechanism. The clockwork and kinetic ones carried on their way after being held a couple of weeks at Langley, the battery ones get a bit more complicated...

Of course, once RM realise that it is actually domestic mail, then the situation changes.

I contacted the seller incase there was a battery left in the packaging, they can’t remember leaving one in but wouldn’t rule it out which I understand could cause problems, what would be the result in that case? Seized and destroyed or returned to seller? Again seller isn’t aware of a better being in there.

It depends on what the battery is, and how the whole thing was packaged up. There are multiple different options that could apply, see:

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... -customers

If it contravened the Dangerous Goods act then yes, it would be destroyed.

I had a chat with Royal Mail on the phone earlier today and the lady I spoke to said it if the country was picked up on the parcel would be changed to a standard postal service and sent untracked so Langley HWDC would be the last scan? Surely that wouldn’t be the case and they would return to sender, is this something that tends to happen?

This really needs a RM employee to answer this one, but I think for domestic mail they would usually at least attempt to make a delivery before marking it RTS (unless destroyed under Dangerous Goods). International mail is, on the other hand, sometimes marked RTS before leaving the UK if it contravenes the customs in the destination country, but that doesn't apply here.

[JBlake]

It’s a set of Night Vision Binoculars which isn’t on either countries prohibition list (only rifle mounted units are prohibitive in Republic of Ireland - these are not able to do that)

Yes, but if the sender wrote, say, "night sight" then it wouldn't be clear whether it was restricted or not, so it could get pulled aside while RM investigate. We had a lot of messages on here a few years ago about watches. The problem seemed to be that the seller's were just writing "watch" on the customs form, when there is a world of difference between them depending on the mechanism. The clockwork and kinetic ones carried on their way after being held a couple of weeks at Langley, the battery ones get a bit more complicated...

Of course, once RM realise that it is actually domestic mail, then the situation changes.

On the declaration it was put down as Binoculars as well as the declared value that I paid for them

I contacted the seller incase there was a battery left in the packaging, they can’t remember leaving one in but wouldn’t rule it out which I understand could cause problems, what would be the result in that case? Seized and destroyed or returned to seller? Again seller isn’t aware of a better being in there.

It depends on what the battery is, and how the whole thing was packaged up. There are multiple different options that could apply, see:

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... -customers

If it contravened the Dangerous Goods act then yes, it would be destroyed.

The battery would/should have been a generic AA battery, either inside the unit or just within the packaging if it’s even in there, I’m not sure which way it’s been packaged up but I thought an alkaline battery would be good to go it’s just the lithium batteries which are the cause for concern? If that’s the case would the battery be destroyed and the parcel released or everything is destroyed?

I had a chat with Royal Mail on the phone earlier today and the lady I spoke to said it if the country was picked up on the parcel would be changed to a standard postal service and sent untracked so Langley HWDC would be the last scan? Surely that wouldn’t be the case and they would return to sender, is this something that tends to happen?

This really needs a RM employee to answer this one, but I think for domestic mail they would usually at least attempt to make a delivery before marking it RTS (unless destroyed under Dangerous Goods). International mail is, on the other hand, sometimes marked RTS before leaving the UK if it contravenes the customs in the destination country, but that doesn't apply here.

My concern when I heard that is that it would be placed on a Non-Tracked service which could easily lead it to being lost.

Another question I have is in regards to Customs, for outgoing parcels to EU is there Customs Checks that take place in Langley or is it only for inbound? I’m aware that there are customs checks if/when it reaches South of Ireland.

If that is the case at Langley, would customs check be put onto the tracking? Or because the parcel is showing as being Received at Langley it would already have cleared that?

I appreciate you answering these and any info you have,

Thanks

[Snaggletooth]

Customs checks are performed at the destination country. But Royal Mail also do some checks on outbound mail, which occasionally results in items being RTS at that point. This is generally better for customers than items being rejected at the destination end, because they get their goods back instead of being destroyed. Customs checks never show up on the tracking.

[SpacePhoenix]

Customs checks are performed at the destination country. But Royal Mail also do some checks on outbound mail, which occasionally results in items being RTS at that point. This is generally better for customers than items being rejected at the destination end, because they get their goods back instead of being destroyed. Customs checks never show up on the tracking.

I've occasionally seen a mention of an item being with customs on tracking an item where someone has posted a tracking number, maybe RM are looking to introduce scanning every item that gets handed over to customs

[JBlake]

Customs checks are performed at the destination country. But Royal Mail also do some checks on outbound mail, which occasionally results in items being RTS at that point. This is generally better for customers than items being rejected at the destination end, because they get their goods back instead of being destroyed. Customs checks never show up on the tracking.

At this stage i'm hoping that there either delays at Langley HWDC and the batch where my parcel is hasn't seen any activity yet and will hopefully still move through the system either to my address/senders address or better yet,

Also after reading online it could be a case where the last scan was the received at Langley HWDC and it has already made it's way to Irish Customs and is potentially sitting with them which would explain why AnPost haven't received any information on their end?

Just hope to hear something as i've been told to put a claim in from Friday 30th onward as " Lost " but I'm not sure how that process works if Royal Mail just mark it as lost and it's never to be looked for or seen again