Parcelforce Apparently Lost a Huge Parcel

[rjapounds]

Hi,

Would love some insight into a problem I'm experiencing at the moment. I had an armchair shipped from Belfast to Cheltenham via ParcelForce's 48 hr, oversized parcel service. The box was securely wrapped, weighed almost 20kg and measured about 4ft x 5ft. It was collected, made it to the depot in Belfast and was apparently loaded onto a truck to take it down to the National Hub (this was on 25th July). Somehow, somewhere on that journey it disappeared into thin air and when it arrived at the National Hub in Coventry it was nowhere to be seen. Bear in mind this wasn't a book or something small - it's an armchair.

Despite repeated attempts on my part to engage with customer service at all levels, I am simply being told it is 'lost' and to submit a claim. I don't want to do that. I want the chair. And I absolutely can't understand how a parcel of that size would get lost. National Hub has apparently checked multiple times in the area where parcels go when labels fall off - it's not there. It's too big to go unnoticed if it fell off a conveyor belt. The Belfast depot insist it was on the truck down to Coventry. So somebody somewhere knows where it is. As I understand it when parcels are loaded into the container and sealed in there is a record of who did it, as well as GPS tracking on the truck, and a log of who unloaded it at the other end (as well as CCTV etc). Despite this, I am not being given any insight and I strongly get the feeling they just want me to make a claim and go away.

What could be happening? Could just a label have been loaded onto the truck in Belfast rather than the box / chair, and was it stolen? Could it have been stolen once it arrived at the National Hub? I am struggling to think of other possibilities. I am determined to find out what happened here. Any suggestions as to what actions I could take to find it/get things moving would be appreciated.

For reference, the tracking number is NG1070285.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Looks like it got misrouted - its tracking as of about an hour ago https://www.parcelforce.com/track-trace ... =NG1070285

[ted_e_bear]

Typical parcelforce, just sitting on a parcel

[BenacreNick]

Rja, the tracking states arrival in Milton Keynes 1/8 at 8am this morning.
Its due to be rerouted to the delivery hub asap.

You seem to repeatedly state its been Stolen - but its clearly not the case.

[rjapounds]

Thanks all for the replies. Re: the stolen issue - this was what was suggested to me on the phone by customer service, and it seemed like a very logical explanation at the time.

However, this is not the end of the story. As you can see, the parcel turned up in Milton Keynes. I was told it would be rerouted and sent to my local depot for delivery on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. It left Milton Keynes and, once again, has now disappeared into thin air. To lose it once is bad enough. To lose it twice is gross incompetence. I just don't understand how that can happen? I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

[rjapounds]

Latest update. It turned up at the Hub four days later. Was told (again) it would be sent on to the local depot for delivery. Checked tracking this morning - it's now in the depot in Leeds. What is going on? How hard can it be just to send a parcel to the right place? That's literally what the company exists for.

[Snaggletooth]

How hard can it be just to send a parcel to the right place? That's literally what the company exists for.

It can be very difficult if the delivery address that the sender supplied is garbled or missing. The latter is actually quite common because companies use sticky labels that fall off instead of writing directly onto the parcel, which is safer.

[rjapounds]

By this point, I’ve confirmed and reconfirmed the address with Parcelforce several times and have been told that the address is clearly legible on the parcel. And it was actually Parcelforce who supplied the label and stuck it on at collection. It also has the address clearly linked to the tracking number if there was any doubt.

The most frustrating thing is the 5 or 6 day gaps between major updates, as well as a complete lack of knowledge where things are until they randomly turn up. Sending it to the wrong depot once is perhaps understandable, but to do it multiple times is just laughable.

[jenjis05@gmail.com]

Hi Rja,
Please I would like to know how this issue went because I’m currently facing the same problem and they are simply saying it’s lost and looking to investigate it. I’m so afraid my shipment has been stolen cos how do you explain losing a 20kg bag.
Please I need your advice on how to go about this. Another challenge o have is I booked parcelforce through a 3rd party company.