Special Delivery 1pm stuck at Post Office for one week?

[them_ir]

We posted a Special Delivery 1pm on July 11th at Thessaly Road Post Office [SW8 4ED]

The tracking hasn't updated since then.

Tracking history
Saturday 11 July 2026
16:27 Accepted at Parcelshop Thessaly Road Post Office [SW8 4ED]
16:16 Sender preparing item

We also confirmed that the recipient hasn't received it.

I'm currently overseas and I have no way to pass by the Post Office until end of month to sort this out, and the Post Office cannot be reached via phone.

What could it be? As there's been no updates since the parcel was accepted and now I'm worrying the item is either lost or stolen.

[BenacreNick]

It's a bit of a guess this but ...... Saturday afternoon (after the lunchtime collection) could probably be the worst time to post a SP delivery item. The item won't be collected until Monday lunchtime at the earliest and I could imagine a situation where the item was placed in a green SP sack which is then possibly changed or refreshed on Monday morning ? Or the item is placed in a "safe" or some other safe keeping place and not retrieved. Like I said it's a bit of a guess but plausible.

Telephone : 0345 722 3344.

[them_ir]

Thanks for sharing the phone number, that is indeed the one I called but unfortunately is not possible to speak to a human.

So you are saying there is a chance they simply placed it somewhere and forgotten it.

If I am lucky, it will be found on Monday together with the items that were posted to them yesterday, and handed to RM, and I should see a scan.

In case that doesn't happen, I guess there isn't much I can do until I can visit them at end of the month.

[them_ir]

Follow-up question - is it possible that my parcel was mis-sorted and ended up with regular mail? What would happen in that case?

[BenacreNick]

Good question, i think someone would spot it especially with the silver sticker and hand it in to the SP locker area (for scanning etc).

[Deadly]

Special deliveries often get placed in with the normal mail by mistake at the PO, it will generally be picked out at the mail centre and sent to the specials locker so shouldn't delay it too much. I'd expect something posted on the 11th wouldn't be delayed by much at all though if this had happened

[them_ir]

So, it occurred to me to try to check the tracking from the Post Office Parcels Online page instead of RM.

It shows dropped off as the latest update. Collection is still unmarked.

This reinforces the idea that RM never got it? So best case it is somewhere forgotten on a shelf in the PO, worst case lost?

[SpacePhoenix]

Is it going to a firm which might get tons of mail which needs signing for?

[them_ir]

Is it going to a firm which might get tons of mail which needs signing for?

It's actually going to a business, but is a trading card shop so I don't think that's the issue.

To this point, it's also a very small / light item, like the size and weight of a birthday card, weighted 60g at PO scale. Is there a chance it got stuck in the creases of the sack when emptied at the sorting center? If that's the case what happens next?

[Snaggletooth]

So, it occurred to me to try to check the tracking from the Post Office Parcels Online page instead of RM.

It shows dropped off as the latest update. Collection is still unmarked.

This reinforces the idea that RM never got it? So best case it is somewhere forgotten on a shelf in the PO, worst case lost?

I think the PO should be working from the same data as RM. If there is any difference that would be down to how they present the data.

[Snaggletooth]

To this point, it's also a very small / light item, like the size and weight of a birthday card, weighted 60g at PO scale. Is there a chance it got stuck in the creases of the sack when emptied at the sorting center? If that's the case what happens next?

Yes, that is possible.

You need to make a claim from Royal Mail for this item.

[them_ir]

To this point, it's also a very small / light item, like the size and weight of a birthday card, weighted 60g at PO scale. Is there a chance it got stuck in the creases of the sack when emptied at the sorting center? If that's the case what happens next?

Yes, that is possible.

You need to make a claim from Royal Mail for this item.

Thank you for the reply. Apologies for the followup question but this is my very first time using RM and I am ignorant on the whole process, I am very much in uncharted waters here.

Making a claim would imply what exactly? What happens after I make a claim? They will investigate (I am assuming RM has more nuanced tracking than what I see) and try to fix the delivery or that the item is officially considered lost and they would stop attempting to deliver it even if found randomly later on?

Luckily I have insured the parcel for its full value, but I'd rather have them make an attempt at delivering it if possible, even if terribly late at this point. I feel queasy at the idea of having to fight for the insurance money. This has already caused me huge amount of unneeded stress and time wasting.