International parcel overweight

[lambshanks]

Hello

I sent a parcel to America on Friday last week, I do not have the facilities to weigh it myself so took it to the local post office counter and asked for the cheapest trackable service. It was weighed by the guy behind the counter and I was charged around £25. The tracking since then has been as follows:

Status: It's on its way

Your item, posted on 22/01/16 with reference RN104836613GB has been passed to the overseas postal service for delivery.

23/01/16 12:52 ON ITS WAY TOOVERSIZE/WEIGHT - PFWW HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
23/01/16 AM ON ITS WAY TOKENNEDY NEW YORK UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
23/01/16 00:33 ARRIVED (MDN) AT HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
22/01/16 20:41 ON ITS WAY TOHEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC SWINDON MAIL CENTRE
22/01/16 20:24 ITEM COLLECTED SWINDON MAIL CENTRE
22/01/16 14:08 SENT AT POST OFFICE 69 - 71 Whitley RG2 0EG

After seeing that most recent scan I looked at the receipt and it has a weight of 2.059kg, and I see that the maximum weight for RM is 2kg, which would explain the overweight scan. My understanding is that anything above 2kg must go via Parcelforce (at a cost of over double what I paid). So I have three questions for anyone with any experience in these matters -

1 - Will this parcel be returned to me, or will it be sent with an amount owing upon delivery?

2 - If returned to me, will I be able to claim back the £25 paid as I was obviously mis-sold a service that was not appropriate?

3 - If sent with an amount owing, will the £25 already paid be offset against the (presumably) Parcelforce cost, or will the full amount need paying (in which case again am I able to claim back the original payment)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Snaggletooth]

The Royal Mail international weight limit is 2Kg, except where the contents are books & magazines only, when the limit rises to 5Kg. I assume there were other things in there?

I understand that what happens next depends on whether you put a return address on the outside of the parcel. Did you do this?

[lambshanks]

Hi

thanks for replying. The contents were clothing. The counter clerk put a sticker on the parcel with my house number and postcode on it.

[Snaggletooth]

If there is a return address on it then the item should be returned to you. You would have to pay the full cost of sending the item again, and Royal Mail will not give you money back. However, if you make a complaint to Post Office customer services (not Royal Mail) on 03457 22 33 44 you would have a good chance of getting your money back. You might consider keeping the outer packaging to aid your claim (between the customs label and the postage label you would have pretty good proof).

However

this line on the tracking:

23/01/16 12:52 ON ITS WAY TOOVERSIZE/WEIGHT - PFWW HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC

makes me think that Royal Mail have passed it to Parcelforce for sending by one of their services. This is odd given what you said about the return address, but those labels don't stick too well to some surfaces and it might have fallen off. If sent on by PFW you won't be charged but you might not be able to track it as PFW are likely to replace the barcode with one of their numbers.

The receiver will not be charged, there is no system for that.

[lambshanks]

I wondered about the PFWW, whether it meant it had been passed to them or if it was just referring to the fact that the weight would put it under their service. I suppose I will just have to wait and see it if either ends up back here or turns up over there. Thanks very much Snaggletooth, I really appreciate the help.

[Snaggletooth]

Overweight international items that have no return address are given to Parcelforce to deliver and RM have to pay for it. Post Office staff used to get a lecture about this every year or two, with the vast cost quoted to us.

[kennyescalera]

Hello

I sent a parcel to America on Friday last week, I do not have the facilities to weigh it myself so took it to the local post office counter and asked for the cheapest trackable service. It was weighed by the guy behind the counter and I was charged around £25. The tracking since then has been as follows:

Status: It's on its way

Your item, posted on 22/01/16 with reference RN104836613GB has been passed to the overseas postal service for delivery.

23/01/16 12:52 ON ITS WAY TOOVERSIZE/WEIGHT - PFWW HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
23/01/16 AM ON ITS WAY TOKENNEDY NEW YORK UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
23/01/16 00:33 ARRIVED (MDN) AT HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
22/01/16 20:41 ON ITS WAY TOHEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC SWINDON MAIL CENTRE
22/01/16 20:24 ITEM COLLECTED SWINDON MAIL CENTRE
22/01/16 14:08 SENT AT POST OFFICE 69 - 71 Whitley RG2 0EG

After seeing that most recent scan I looked at the receipt and it has a weight of 2.059kg, and I see that the maximum weight for RM is 2kg, which would explain the overweight scan. My understanding is that anything above 2kg must go via Parcelforce (at a cost of over double what I paid). So I have three questions for anyone with any experience in these matters -

1 - Will this parcel be returned to me, or will it be sent with an amount owing upon delivery?

2 - If returned to me, will I be able to claim back the £25 paid as I was obviously mis-sold a service that was not appropriate?

3 - If sent with an amount owing, will the £25 already paid be offset against the (presumably) Parcelforce cost, or will the full amount need paying (in which case again am I able to claim back the original payment)?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

hello i'm experiencing the same that it said Status: ON ITS WAY TOOVERSIZE/WEIGHT - PFWW can you tell me what happen to your case in the end? did they return you the package? or they continue to deliever it? please let me i am very worried