Special Delivery last update is Delivered to PO Box by NRC

[elbel]

Hello,

Yesterday I sent an eBay item using Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm.

I've gone to the tracking site today and the item is showing as delivered, however it doesn't look like it's been delivered to the address and instead has gone to the NRC:

Tuesday 26 September 2023
08:29
Delivered to PO Box by
National Return Centre

I've looked at my receipt from the Post Office and spotted I've entered 1 letter wrong for the building name in the address.

I entered an 'A' instead of an 'E' in the building name... The house number and postcode are both correct.

Is it normal to go through the NRC if there is an issue with the address? Do I need to contact someone to correct the typo and get the item back out for delivery? Or will someone be able to work out where it should be going based on the postcode and house number?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

[Snaggletooth]

It is normal for mis-addressed items to end up at the NRC, but not after one day. That sounds like there is a problem with the contents, usually a contravention of the Dangerous Goods Act. What did you send?

[elbel]

It was a games console. The tracking has been updated now to:

Wednesday 27 September 2023
15:49
Available for Redelivery or Collection
National Return Centre

So I assume whatever checks/inspections they needed to do to check it wasn't dangerous have been passed?...

Do I need to contact Royal Mail to get the item back out for redelivery?

Thanks.

[Snaggletooth]

Lithium batteries, the type used in laptops and mobile phones, have severe restrictions under the Dangerous Goods Act. They are only allowed in the mail if you follow all the rules. There are similar rules for other types of battery.

A games console maybe affected by the above if it has batteries in. These could be in the controllers or in the console itself, if the hand held type.

Are there batteries in the package you sent?

[elbel]

The console is an Xbox so it plugs directly into the wall, no batteries in that. The controller was also included in the package, but I removed the from controller so there won't be any in there either.

I've spoken to Royal Mail on the phone twice and my parcel is still showing as available for collection or redelivery. They asked me to leave my number with them as they said they'd "Call back when they have an update" but I've had nothing for 4 days now... Guess I'll be ringing again tomorrow as the buyer on eBay has just opened a refund request against me as they've not received their item after a week!

Completely stumped as to what's going on here.

[SpacePhoenix]

What model of XBox is it? It's possible that the CMOS/BIOS battery if there is one could be a lithium battery, earlier versions of the Xbox might not use a lithium battery for the CMOS/BIOS.

Given that many consoles now have wireless controllers, which probably use lithium batteries, any consoles might get automatically flagged for safety checks

[snailmailsdead]

Lesson learned, if it was an Ebay sale you could have used DPD or UPS for about 7quid and it probably would have been there now

[elbel]

It's a Series X, the most recent console.

Funny thing is I originally bought this console from eBay and it was posted via Royal Mail with no issues. So, if it got to me via Royal Mail fine, I'm not sure why I'm having issues sending the same thing to someone else with the same method?!

I'm enjoying the Royal Mail phone holding music as I type this, going slightly mad!

[Snaggletooth]

Anything with a lithium battery or similar should be presented at a Post Office for posting. The PO should complete the proper checks, attach the proper labels etc. So it is plausible that RM treat the same item differently depending on how it entered the mail system.