International mail sent to Italy

marco.c · Post by **marco.c** » 13 Dec 2019, 20:54

Hello,
a friend sent me mail to Italy on November 23, the tracking number is RS872920172GB.
I had read on Royal Mail website that Royal Mail doesn't use GLS for deliveries to Italy, but relies on the local post service (Poste Italiane).

On Royal Mail's website, I can see that the item arrived in Italy and left the International Processing Centre on November 29.
On Poste Italiane's website, I can only see that the parcel was sent on November 23.

Today I've discovered that my parcel was handed over to GLS, whose website says "The parcel could not be delivered as further address information is needed." on November 29, and "The parcel has been returned to sender." on December 4 (item still in Italy, so clearly not returned to sender).

What can I expect to happen from now on?

Thank you in advance for any detail you can give me ;)

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 13 Dec 2019, 21:35

If it's stuck in UK customs then the last scan will be in Italy and there won't be another scan until it clears customs

marco.c · Post by **marco.c** » 14 Dec 2019, 01:20

SpacePhoenix wrote:If it's stuck in UK customs then the last scan will be in Italy and there won't be another scan until it clears customs

OK, so you think it's actually going back?
This was not supposed to go through GLS. I'm 100% sure the address was correct and complete (as my friend sent me a photo of the package before sending it). So, I was kind of hoping GLS was just giving it back to Royal Mail, and Royal Mail would give it to the Italian post :(

I think my friend didn't specify the "From:", but just the "To:", so where could it be going? The post office from which he sent it?

Post by **Snaggletooth** » 14 Dec 2019, 06:59

If there is no return address it will go to the National Returns Centre. In which case, your friend can get it back by sending a P58international form to Royal Mail.

marco.c · Post by **marco.c** » 14 Dec 2019, 11:26

Snaggletooth wrote:If there is no return address it will go to the National Returns Centre. In which case, your friend can get it back by sending a P58international form to Royal Mail.

Will the item still be tracked on its way back? Will I be able to see its journey on Royal Mail's tracking website?

Can he request to re-send, rather than get it back?

marco.c · Post by **marco.c** » 14 Dec 2019, 12:12

BTW, here's the tracking info on Royal Mail's tracking website: https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-it ... 72920172GB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and here on GLS' tracking website: https://gls-group.eu/EU/en/parcel-track ... 72920172GB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and here on Poste Italiane's tracking website: https://www.poste.it/cerca/index.html#/ ... 72920172GB" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 15 Dec 2019, 09:15

marco.c wrote:
Snaggletooth wrote:If there is no return address it will go to the National Returns Centre. In which case, your friend can get it back by sending a P58international form to Royal Mail.
Will the item still be tracked on its way back? Will I be able to see its journey on Royal Mail's tracking website?

Can he request to re-send, rather than get it back?

1. Yes once its released from Customs who are in their busiest time of the year,
2. No. It is near impossible to locate a specific parcel when we are handling probably in excess of 30,000,000 a day at the moment. Plus if the error is their fault RM won't accept responsibility. The sender needs to confirm the Official Address with you and resend it when he gets it back.

marco.c · Post by **marco.c** » 15 Dec 2019, 20:07

TrueBlueTerrier wrote:
marco.c wrote:
Snaggletooth wrote:If there is no return address it will go to the National Returns Centre. In which case, your friend can get it back by sending a P58international form to Royal Mail.
Will the item still be tracked on its way back? Will I be able to see its journey on Royal Mail's tracking website?

Can he request to re-send, rather than get it back?
1. Yes once its released from Customs who are in their busiest time of the year,
2. No. It is near impossible to locate a specific parcel when we are handling probably in excess of 30,000,000 a day at the moment. Plus if the error is their fault RM won't accept responsibility. The sender needs to confirm the Official Address with you and resend it when he gets it back.

OK, thanks!

My friend showed me a picture of the package before sending it, so I can confirm the address was correct and complete (he would use the same address if he sent it again, he really did specify everything he could!). I have a hunch GLS didn't want to deliver it for some reason (I met another person in my same situation, plus I've read some similar stories online). It's also a bit strange that they kept it for just two days before sending it back. Moreover, it's strange they got it in the first place, since Royal Mail says they use Poste Italiane in Italy, GLS only in specific European countries...