Special Delivery still not delivered- 3 days late

[Abby2020ab]

Hi, I am from London and set a parcel fairly small (shoe box size) to Northern Ireland via Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm delivery.
I sent the parcel on Saturday 8th and its now Wed the 12th. The online tracking shows no update since Saturday, this is the last status
Can anyone please help as to what may have happened. I called royal mail they said with special deliveries the likelihood of missing items is very rare. Even if the item was sent off to be checked (for whatever reason) surely the status update would show that?
It was a gift for someone special, i dont really care about claiming the money back- just want the parcel to arrive

Saturday 08 January 2022
16:51
Item Despatched to Northern Ireland MC
Romford MC

Many thanks

[SpacePhoenix]

Wonder if it might be down to the Northern Ireland Protocol. I don't know if all mail is required to be checked by customs even if it's just for somewhere in the UK mainland.

Looking at the time of the last scan it might have missed the dispatch time (when the lorries have to be loaded by) on the Saturday, but even so I would have expected to see more entries on the tracking by now

[Snaggletooth]

Even if the item was sent off to be checked (for whatever reason) surely the status update would show that?

No and yes. There is no mark on the tracking to say that an item is going for checking. We can often tell that an item is going for checking at the National Returns Centre (NRC) by looking at the trail of where it has been. The problem for you is that the NRC is in Northern Ireland and the parcel hasn't reached the point of divergence yet. As SP says, I would expect more tracking points by now, regardless of whether it was going to the recipient or the NRC.

If you want some more reassurance, you could tell us what the contents are, and we can tell you if there is likely to be an issue or not. Also, did you attach a customs form?

[simmo11]

Wonder if it might be down to the Northern Ireland Protocol. I don't know if all mail is required to be checked by customs even if it's just for somewhere in the UK mainland.

Looking at the time of the last scan it might have missed the dispatch time (when the lorries have to be loaded by) on the Saturday, but even so I would have expected to see more entries on the tracking by now

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/sending-par ... rn-ireland

Seems to imply that if between consumers a CN22/23 not required unless prohibited or restricted?