Return to Sender in Ireland

[Londoner777]

Hello,

I hope you can help.

An Irish seller sent me a tracked parcel to London. However, the postman returned it to sender, claiming the address was incomplete and the flat number was missing. The seller sent me a picture of the envelope (non-stamped), on which the address was correct. I wonder if AN Post, the Irish postal service, would have added a sticker with only an incomplete address on it, covering the correct address?

The delivery office could do nothing, they said the postman sent it back immediately instead of keeping it for 18 days as I think they should have done. The address was on the back, and I was wondering how long it will take to get back to Ireland? The seller hasn't received it back yet.

I'm worried, as it was a very expensive item. Is there a risk that it will get lost forever?

The tracking number is presumably no longer functioning (it just says 'item returned to sender' when I look it up. There two messages actually, with 15 mins between them: "Recipient not at address. Returned to sender." then: "Incorrectly addressed. Returned to sender."

Very annoyed that someone could take it upon themselves to just return an item, which they must have know was being tracked...

Thanks for any information...

[TrueBlueTerrier]

An Irish seller sent me a tracked parcel to London. However, the postman returned it to sender, claiming the address was incomplete and the flat number was missing. The seller sent me a picture of the envelope (non-stamped), on which the address was correct. I wonder if AN Post, the Irish postal service, would have added a sticker with only an incomplete address on it, covering the correct address?

Anything is possible, its nearly impossible to list all possible occurrences that obscure or damage an addrress

The delivery office could do nothing, they said the postman sent it back immediately instead of keeping it for 18 days as I think they should have done. The address was on the back, and I was wondering how long it will take to get back to Ireland? The seller hasn't received it back yet.

No the 18 days is for items awaiting collection at the callers office.
All Returned to sender items, which this is, are actioned immediately.

I'm worried, as it was a very expensive item. Is there a risk that it will get lost forever?

Even if you sent an item by the security possible system, or if you decided to take it yourself there is always a risk of stuff going missing. However, its relatively low risk within Royal Mail given the number of items in the system at any one time.

The tracking number is presumably no longer functioning (it just says 'item returned to sender' when I look it up. There two messages actually, with 15 mins between them: "Recipient not at address. Returned to sender." then: "Incorrectly addressed. Returned to sender."

Without seeing the actual tracking its difficult to say what happened, sometimes the timing of the scan is important, and it may be 2 separate posties scanning the item.

Very annoyed that someone could take it upon themselves to just return an item, which they must have known was being tracked...

Thanks for any information...

They haven't taken it upon themselves, from what you posted, it looks like they followed procedure, but as I say without the tracking number to see the tracking it's difficult to advise with any confidence.

If you are worried about the divulging the tracking number, the system we use here are not linked to Royal Mail as we are not an official site, so it won't give any personal information beyond which offices scanned the item. We won't be able to find out either the sender or the receivers address.

[SpacePhoenix]

It's anyone's guess as to how long it'll take to get back to the sender as it'll have to pass through Irish Customs. What's the contents (so we can get an idea if it's something that Irish Customs will refuse entry into Ireland)

[Londoner777]

Thanks for the answers. I was told the 18 days rule by someone on the phone (main Royal Mail call centre), so they must have got it wrong.

Tracking number is RL845823281IE and the contents are a piece of vintage 70s jewellery...Do you know if this is likely to be stuck at customs?

Thanks

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Can't say with absolute certainty but it looks likely it is in Customs. If its not being tracked through Royal Mail, I would expect it to show on the Anpost system at some point.

[Londoner777]

Thanks, TrueBlueTerrier! That seems to be the case, waiting to hear from seller.

[SpacePhoenix]

https://parcelsapp.com/en/tracking/RL845823281IE

The sender got it back a few days ago