Oh no....a parcel has gone missing!

It seems one of my orders has gone astray somewhere between Heathrow and Spain. It was sent by tracked post but the last trace of it was at Heathrow on the day I posted it, just before it was supposed to jet off to Spain, and that was 10 days ago now.
I’ve checked the Spanish post website and it doesn’t exist there, so it looks like it never made it that far. My customer is being very patient, but it seems unlikely it will show. So disappointing, but it’s the first one I’ve lost in 4 years of selling, so I guess that’s not bad.
I’m hoping it will eventually find its way back to me but in the meantime I’ll have to refund my customer and wait for another few weeks to reclaim the money from Royal Mail. It makes me wonder whether tracking is worth it…

oh no how worrying.

There is a good chance it will find it’s way back to you if there was a problem with delivery. I had one returned from the USA last month because the customer had given an incorrect post code … it was returned to me surprisingly quickly, only three weeks after I had originally posted it.

My view is that tracking is really only useful for a) sending items with higher insured value, or b) if you’re worried about fraudulent non-receipt claims.

For missing parcels us sellers end up in the same boat with or without tracking. As long as you have your proof of posting you’re covered for up to £20.

Fingers crossed it turns up soon, preferably with your customer in Spain!

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10 days is far too soon to even consider it’s lost. Most likely the tracking has not been updated.

Oversea’s can take any thing from 2 weeks to in some cases up to 6weeks

I wouldn’t worry yet I’m sure it will get to it’s destination :slight_smile:

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I think if it just couldn’t be delivered it would still show somewhere on the Spanish postal website. At the moment it doesn’t even recognise the code on there, so I don’t think it reached Spain at all. It’s probably either stuck behind a box at Heathrow, has been pilfered by someone en route, or it’s having a tour of Europe and seeing a bit more of the world than it should!

I only track items that have a higher value and can’t be replaced if lost - most of my items are one-off, so buyers are happy to pay a bit more to ensure they get there, which they usually do. I have a feeling I won’t see this one again though…

Tracked post to Europe usually arrives within a few days in my experience. I could understand if the parcel hadn’t been scanned at one or two points, that does sometimes happen, but for it to be missing completely since day 1 is very unusual. And even if it hadn’t been tracked, it would have arrived by now, I’m sure.

If it was paid for through paypal and you have tracking and sent it to the paypal registerd address, get your customer to open a non delivery claim . Paypal will ask you for evidence of posting and tracking and then should refund you fairly quickly. I had this recently with a package I sent to Australia. Still claim through RM too then you are both reimbursed for the loss.

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Great suggestion Deborah @DeborahJonesJewellery, thanks for the advice…but it wasn’t paid through paypal unfortunately.

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Sorry to hear about your missing parcel dilemma. It’s one of those things I dread happening everytime I visit the post office.
I hope it finds its way back to you, or even better finds its way to your customer :blush:

Karen

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Have you rang Royal Mail and asked them to check it? They can access more info than shows up when we check tracking numbers on the RM site.

I sent a parcel of fabric airmail to Italy and three weeks later the customer contacted me to say she hadn’t got it. I rang RM and asked them to check the tracking number, they could see where it had been scanned in to Heathrow, scanned through to customs, held in customs, and then…
…scanned onto the next BOAT going to Italy!!! and was expected to arrive on xxx date.

Luckily the customer was very patient and the parcel did arrive two days after the ship docked but RM had no idea why it was diverted to go by sea and not air.

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Thank you Stephanie @BerryNiceCushions…yes, I’ve spoken twice to RM and e-mailed them but the answer is always the same - they have no idea what happened to it after it arrived at Heathrow!
It’s up to the receiving country (in this case Spain) to scan it on arrival and until it reaches its destination. Only then can RM update their website. So at the moment it’s a mystery.
They did say that if it arrives back in the UK (assuming it left) that the tracking would pick it up again - that’s helpful!

Well, it would appear my parcel has surfaced after nearly 2 weeks at Heathrow!

It’s now on its way to Spain apparently…I wonder how much further it will get!!! And how long will it take??

It finally made it! All the way to my customer in Madrid :smile:

After a 2 week hold-up at Heathrow (no idea why) it finally found its way to Barajas airport, where it sat for a while longer. Apparently nothing much moves there in August as most of the employees are on holiday! Anyway, it eventually got delivered and customer is over the moon.

Despite all the worry and delays, her feedback was wonderful and she is delighted with the item and the customer service. We kept in touch all the way through and she was very understanding and patient, which made it easier.

So, you were all absolutely right…it did show up! Thanks for your optimism and support :smile:

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