Hello everyone,
first of all I'd like to thank the members for their assistance with the queries about international mail in the past. I really appreciate the help that you've provided with those numerous HWDC queries, customs, etc.
To the matter: I have sent a registered letter with an advice of delivery from Germany to the NHS BSA (a PO BOX at NE99 - maybe this is going to tell anyone something useful) on the 4th October. On the 8th October, it has left Germany and reached the UK on 10th (OK, I suppose this could have happened earlier. So this should be a date when it has been released by customs.). On 11th October it has reached Newcastle and at 8:03 was marked as delivered but at 22:01 the status says: ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY. This is the last update, I have posted the full UK tracking below (Does anyone know why is the trackdetails page not offered any more in the section for personal customers and only on the business page?). In the meantime I have contacted the recipient and it was confirmed to me that as of today (21st October) they still have not received the letter (it contained 2 EHIC cards, which I had to return to NHS BSA). I have also not received the advice of delivery / Rückschein / avis de recéption, the German version looks like in the link here: https://reichling.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/uno21.gif. I know that is not offered in the UK but then Deutsche Post accepts it all countries worldwide, which sounds like a service that should be provided anyway.
Can you tell me what is in your opinion most likely happened to the letter?
Why has there been no signature when it was delivered at 8:03? I've seen the message before the last one appeared and it said nothing of signature going to be provided later on.
I have sent such a letter with an advice of delivery couple of years ago and on that occasion it did get delivered but the advice of delivery has not been returned and after complaint to Deutsche Post, they have sent me a response saying that that letter has been delivered and to accept their response in lieu of the advice of delivery. So, is that normal that these advice of deliveries are not sent back or is it just an anomaly?
I am going to send the complaint to Deutsche Post very soon but I wanted to see if you could tell me if there is any hope of getting the letter delivered at all?
How is the ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY to be understood here? I thought that after DELIVERED it should not change any more, or has something changed?
By the way, the status on the Deutsche Post tracking said that the letter has reached RM on the 10th October (and it said so already on that date) and then only on 14th October it showed that the item was apparently delivered. This to me also sounds a bit fishy, as from the experience I know that their tracking takes the status from the RM tracking at least once a day. Does that tell you anything interesting?
The tracking:
Item: RR040495401DE
Date Time Status Track point
11/10/16 22:01 ON ITS WAY TOBULK DELIVERY TYNESIDE MAIL CENTRE
11/10/16 8:03 DELIVERED11/10/16 CITY PDO (NE1)
11/10/16 7:35 ON DELIVERY CITY PDO (NE1)
11/10/16 7:09 ARRIVED (MDN) AT CITY PDO (NE1)
11/10/16 2:15 ARRIVED ATTYNESIDE MAIL CENTRE TYNESIDE MAIL CENTRE
10/10/16 11:12 ON ITS WAY TOTYNESIDE MAIL CENTRE HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
10/10/16 7:54 ARRIVED IN THE UK HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
Thank you in advance for advice (and apologies for the length of the post),
Adrian
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
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TrueBlueTerrier
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
I think the bulk delivery scan may be an anonomoly by date and time.
My feeling is that the item has been delivered to the Po Box (Ne99 has loads) but the database has not been updated with the signature.
As to the detachable slip, that should have been completed and returned by the Postal Operator actually delivering it, or handing it over. However, this is a relatively rare service we see in the UK and its possible that the operator was not aware of the requirement and therefore did not complete the action required.
My feeling is that the item has been delivered to the Po Box (Ne99 has loads) but the database has not been updated with the signature.
As to the detachable slip, that should have been completed and returned by the Postal Operator actually delivering it, or handing it over. However, this is a relatively rare service we see in the UK and its possible that the operator was not aware of the requirement and therefore did not complete the action required.
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Snaggletooth
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
I used to use Advice of Delivery a lot before it was withdrawn as a U.K. internal service, the failure rate even then was about 40%. I put in a claim each time and got compensated for RM not supplying the service I paid for. Places with a lot of incoming mail were least likely to complete the AD card - and it looks like you are sending to a place with huge amounts of mail.
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adrian99
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
Thanks TrueBlueTerrier and Snaggletooth for your responses so far.
Can you tell me what could have gone wrong such that the recipient still claims that they haven't received the letter yet (as of 21st Oct.)? I know that they might have longer response times than places that get less mail but I just simply don't know if they have received it and simply not got to it yet.
Should there be a scan when the item is collected from the PO Box? I know that here in Germany it's the case but I cannot recall if that actually happens in the UK (I lived there for some years).
Regarding the advice of delivery, do the operators really not look at the fact that the envelope had a sticker (just below the airmail one) to hint to the card? Also, the advice of delivery is written in three languages (German, French and English), so it is a shame that nobody has even looked at it at all.
In the letter, I have asked the recipient to either send back the AD (if they get it) and told them that it has been paid for or send a letter to confirm the receipt of the documents. Should have they done this, would the RM send the AD back or as you are suggesting that it is the RM's duty in the UK to respond to it, would be disposed of? I can also recall that the card itself has the same barcode as the letter, so could this last scan have to do with this?
Today's post has already been delivered and of course there is nothing about this matter.
Thanks again,
Adrian
Can you tell me what could have gone wrong such that the recipient still claims that they haven't received the letter yet (as of 21st Oct.)? I know that they might have longer response times than places that get less mail but I just simply don't know if they have received it and simply not got to it yet.
Should there be a scan when the item is collected from the PO Box? I know that here in Germany it's the case but I cannot recall if that actually happens in the UK (I lived there for some years).
Regarding the advice of delivery, do the operators really not look at the fact that the envelope had a sticker (just below the airmail one) to hint to the card? Also, the advice of delivery is written in three languages (German, French and English), so it is a shame that nobody has even looked at it at all.
In the letter, I have asked the recipient to either send back the AD (if they get it) and told them that it has been paid for or send a letter to confirm the receipt of the documents. Should have they done this, would the RM send the AD back or as you are suggesting that it is the RM's duty in the UK to respond to it, would be disposed of? I can also recall that the card itself has the same barcode as the letter, so could this last scan have to do with this?
Today's post has already been delivered and of course there is nothing about this matter.
Thanks again,
Adrian
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Snaggletooth
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
It's Royal Mail's duty to get the signature on the AD card and send it back but if, as seems likely, the card is not signed then that's the end of it. RM can't legally get it back off the recipient. Your recipient might return it but, once you have any other document proving that it was delivered, such as an email of acknowledgment, there is really no point.
The basic problem with getting the card signed is that RM often don't collect any signatures for recorded letters where the recipient gets very large amounts of mail, and if this is the case then they are even less likely to get the AD card signed. It might not even have been tracked upon collection.
A lot of these type of recipients claim that they haven't received items when they actually have. Usually the mail is in a queue in some post processing room, waiting to be open and logged in. You can occasionally catch them out by telling them when Royal Mail delivered it using the tracking service (which does work reliably if you use Special Delivery). I have caught two different government agencies doing this, though both were many years ago.
The basic problem with getting the card signed is that RM often don't collect any signatures for recorded letters where the recipient gets very large amounts of mail, and if this is the case then they are even less likely to get the AD card signed. It might not even have been tracked upon collection.
A lot of these type of recipients claim that they haven't received items when they actually have. Usually the mail is in a queue in some post processing room, waiting to be open and logged in. You can occasionally catch them out by telling them when Royal Mail delivered it using the tracking service (which does work reliably if you use Special Delivery). I have caught two different government agencies doing this, though both were many years ago.
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adrian99
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ON ITS WAY TO BULK DELIVERY
When I have asked them about whether they have received my letter, I have pointed out to them that it has been sent by a tracked service and have provided them with the tracking them. Moreover, I have even provided them with the link to the RM tracking (incorporating the tracking number), so if they wanted to, they could have just clicked on it and would have seen that it has been delivered to their PO Box. I thought that 10 working days to open the letter is long enough even in such big organisations, so I really don't know what to make of this. It's just a shame that there is no signature that they've received even on the RM website because then I'd have at least some proof that they wouldn't easily dismiss if necessary. I suppose that the only thing left is to wait one more week and call them and ask if anything has changed. Their email responses are annoying because they tend to contain one or two relevant sentences and then a massive section of generic text that is not even relevant to the matter. Is that also the standard elsewhere? Of course, the complaint to Deutsche Post will be sent about the missing AD but I'm still not going to get a signature, which is frustrating.