Item traced to Gatwick - how long will it be there?

[Dinarius]

I'm based in Dublin, Ireland.

An item was posted to me on December 10th. (I have the tracking number.)

According to the Royal Mail number tracking site, the parcel has been in Gatwick MC since December 10th. (So, it was moved from North Holmwood to Gatwick MC on the same day.)

It has now been in Gatwick MC for twenty days.

How long more will it be there?

Thanks.

D.

[Snaggletooth]

What was the last entry in the tracking? Please copy it verbatim.

[Dinarius]

Thanks for the reply.

Below is the complete text of the tracking history.

Tuesday 10 December 2024
21:39
Item Received
Gatwick MC
20:31
Item Received
Gatwick MC
18:57
Item received at
Gatwick MC
14:09
Sender preparing item
13:57
Accepted at Parcelshop
North Holmwood Post Office [RH5 4HH]

Any more help appreciated.

D.

[SpacePhoenix]

What service did the sender use? International Tracked and Tracked are two separate products

[Snaggletooth]

We can see from the tracking that it was stopped at the first mail centre it went to. That might indicate that there is a problem with the package. Two thoughts occur:

1. The sender has used a UK service (e.g. Tracked 24) for an international destination. When I worked in the Post Office this issue occurred more frequently for ROI than any other country.

2. The package contains something that can’t be sent in the mail or is classified as ‘do not fly’. Could be linked to issue 1, as the internal UK rules are more lenient than for international mail. We could rule that out if you tell us what the contents are.

I don’t think this is a customs problem as the parcel would usually get further through the process in that case.

[Dinarius]

The package contains two plastic wheel nuts for studio photography flash heads. So, about as innocent (and small, probably an A5 envelope) as could be. I’ve bought these from him before. But, this time two packages have not arrived. The first one, he didn’t keep the receipt, so we couldn’t track it.

I’m guessing in both cases he may have used an internal UK company?

Very frustrating.

Thanks for the reply.

D.

[Dinarius]

The sender has told me that the package was sent “first track large letter”, whatever that is, from North Holmwood PO.

Should that allow it to exit Gatwick one of these days?

Thanks.

D.

[Snaggletooth]

“First” would indicate that this was sent first class, which is a UK only service. Quite likely then that this is underpaid for an international destination, in which case it should be returned to sender eventually, if there is a return address on the outside of the package. But that will be a low priority for RM and could take a while.

Also, if the sender hadn’t realised that this was international mail, quite likely that they failed to attach a customs declaration.

[T3GAM]

Item Stuck at Gatwick MC. Tracking number OS716220737GB. It was posted on 27 December and has been at Gatwick MC since 4th January. It was scanned again today at Gatwick MC. Can anyone at Gatwick MC help. ?

[Dinarius]

The item left the "Overseas International Processing" centre on Monday last, destination Dublin.

So, after a month stuck in Gatwick we appear to have activity.

I bought a car part on Ebay from Romania. It took five days to arrive in Dublin.

I do not envy you your postal system.

Let's see how long more it takes.

D.

[Dinarius]

The package is being returned to sender. You couldn't make this up, Royal Mail truly barks and wears a lead.

According to the tracking site, they attempted to deliver the package on Friday....

"Sorry, we were unable to deliver this item at 24-01-2025 as the recipient refused to accept it. It will now be returned to the sender.
Please contact the sender for queries.
There may be more information on our delivery partner's website."

There was NO post on Friday because of storm Eowyn. No one called to our house - we were here all day.

And here are the top two lines of the tracking history...

"Friday 24 January 2025
09:13
Refused - Returned to Sender
Feltham DO

Monday 20 January 2025
15:07
Item Leaving the UK
United Kingdom"

Feltham? What's that all about?

I give up.

Thanks for the help I've received here.

D.