Multiple Parcels Never Leaving HWDC

mattling9 · Post by **mattling9** » 16 Jun 2019, 17:53

Hi All,

before i get into my problem, I have already done a good bit of research into the topic and have found out the following.

1) HWDC are practically uncontactable and are not helpful in finding out the status of your parcel.
2) Parcels can take longer to process through HWDC if they are apart of a random batch selected for further inspection.
3) Standard processing times through HWDC is usually about 7 days.

I have recently made 3 orders from outside the UK, 1 from South Korea and 2 from Canada. All the orders contained the same item. The parcel from South Korea was sent to HWDC and was delievered to my home 2 days later. The delivery status went from "Arrived at HWDC" to "With your local courier" within about 8 hours.

I then ordered a parcel from Canada via "Canada Post / Royal Mail" with untracked shipping. After 10 weeks this parcel has never shown up, neither have i received any grey customs slip. I thought it got lost in shipping so i got a partial refund from the seller. I then re-ordered the exact same item from the seller but chose $36 tracked shipping this time. The parcel has been at HWDC for over 10 days now. There should be no issues with the customs information as the item is not prohibited and i have confirmed with the seller and the customs informationon the outside of the package is correct for the item sent, including the HS code, description and value.

At this point i am starting to think that the untracked parcel probably made it to HWDC and never left. I also find it very coincidental that both parcels were part of a batch that were taken to be inspected further as they were sent almost 1 month apart.

What can i do to try and get the status of both parcels that are with HWDC? I can accept i will probably never find the one sent via untracked shipping, but i really need the one via tracked shipping.

I have already tried the following, with the following responses:

Canada Post Customer Support - "The item has now arrived in the UK and is in UK customs, the parcel is now out of our control. You need to contact the courier that will be handling the parcel within the UK."
HWDC Customer Service - "We are only able to help with general enquieries regaring customs fees, import duty etc... We are not able to find out the status of a parcel in customs."
Royal Mail Customer Service - "We do not know the status of the parcel as it has not left HWDC yet. We are only able to know the status of the parcel once it has left HWDC and arrived with Royal Mail"

LukasD · Post by **LukasD** » 16 Jun 2019, 19:35

There seems to be alot of similar issues with HWDC right now (look down the recent topic list). I've just had a package vanish as well. It apparently passed through HWDC and was shipped onwards... but that was 2 weeks ago and I'm honestly beginning to think that it never actually left.

mattling9 · Post by **mattling9** » 16 Jun 2019, 22:09

What can we / should we do in this situation?

It seems absolutely insane that there is no way to contact HWDC.

So what happens if the parcel never shows up? I have already spent $50 on shipping between the two parcels which the sender will not refund. I do not want to spend a single penny more if all my parcels are just gunna get stuck in HWDC.

To add to the bother i have a USPS Priority Mail just arrive at HWDC. I am guessing this is going to be stuck there too.

Surely there must be SOMEONE we can contact that can get us some information about what is happening with the parcels? Even if they can tell me if it's still being processed through customs, rejected by customs or lost. I just want some form of update on what is happening with them as it has now been 10 weeks for 1 parcel and 2 weeks for another.

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 16 Jun 2019, 23:32

mattling9 wrote:Surely there must be SOMEONE we can contact that can get us some information about what is happening with the parcels? Even if they can tell me if it's still being processed through customs, rejected by customs or lost. I just want some form of update on what is happening with them as it has now been 10 weeks for 1 parcel and 2 weeks for another.

As a rule no country's customs scan any item as being with them. There's a few exceptions such as USPS who scan items as they hand them over to customs at HWDC

mattling9 · Post by **mattling9** » 16 Jun 2019, 23:59

SpacePhoenix wrote:
mattling9 wrote:Surely there must be SOMEONE we can contact that can get us some information about what is happening with the parcels? Even if they can tell me if it's still being processed through customs, rejected by customs or lost. I just want some form of update on what is happening with them as it has now been 10 weeks for 1 parcel and 2 weeks for another.
As a rule no country's customs scan any item as being with them. There's a few exceptions such as USPS who scan items as they hand them over to customs at HWDC

So you just have to wait and see if it ever leaves HWDC? How long are you expected to wait before you should just assume you are not getting it?