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Original poster

Things getting lost in Royal Mail!

30 replies

HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:11

I’ve ordered two things online in the last few weeks, one Etsy and one an Amazon Marketplace seller. Both dispatched by Royal Mail first class, neither has turned up after a fortnight. Earlier in the year another parcel disappeared never to be found, despite the sender paying for tracking.

Everything else I order via Amazon Prime, DPD, Hermes etc arrives no problem at all. What is wrong with Royal Mail, why are they so useless? Anyone else having similar issues? I’m 100% sure that the address is correct.

OP posts:
TallulahsCurse · 06/12/2021 08:12

Yes. I've had two things lost in the last few weeks.

Helouiet · 06/12/2021 08:13

Lots of issues here recently. Even with items on next day delivery tracking. Either it will say item delivered (it hasn’t) or they couldn’t deliver (they don’t ring the bell)

Whinge · 06/12/2021 08:18

I thought it was just me. I'm having the same problem. It feels weird to actually ask sellers to use other services, even Hermes, as Royal mail just don't seem to be delivering in my area. Confused

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:18

It drives me crazy to think that the thing has disappeared into an abyss somewhere. I don my really understand- as these things came from commercial sellers I doubt that the package has split or the label came off. So unless they have fallen out of the back of a van into a river somewhere, are they just sitting in a pile in the corner of a sorting office that somebody can’t face dealing with?
Not valuable items that would attract thieves either.

OP posts:
Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:19

@Whinge

I thought it was just me. I'm having the same problem. It feels weird to actually ask sellers to use other services, even Hermes, as Royal mail just don't seem to be delivering in my area. Confused
This. I’m planning to check for everything I order in future.
OP posts:
MLMshouldbeillegal · 06/12/2021 08:22

DS is working this Christmas as casual staff in the Royal Mail sorting parcels. The volume they handle every December is insane. They are also really struggling for staff this year - the hourly rate is good, but the temp staff only started at the end of November and will only work another couple of weeks. Out of the 5 people due to start on the same day as DS, only 2 turned up.

I'd imagine what Royal Mail will say is that with millions of parcels being delivered a few are going to go astray, but that it's a tiny percentage of the total number delivered.

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:25

If only they could somehow predict that it would be busy in December @MLMshouldbeillegal!

OP posts:
Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:27

But also- being short-staffed might mean things could be slower than normal. But how does lack of staff make things completely disappear?

OP posts:
KittenKong · 06/12/2021 08:27

Could they be getting stolen? Are they leaving packages on the doorstep or in reception?

Does the tracking say they have been delivered (Hermes always seems to ‘deliver’ then the parcel arrives a day or so later).

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:28

@MLMshouldbeillegal

DS is working this Christmas as casual staff in the Royal Mail sorting parcels. The volume they handle every December is insane. They are also really struggling for staff this year - the hourly rate is good, but the temp staff only started at the end of November and will only work another couple of weeks. Out of the 5 people due to start on the same day as DS, only 2 turned up.

I'd imagine what Royal Mail will say is that with millions of parcels being delivered a few are going to go astray, but that it's a tiny percentage of the total number delivered.

I'd imagine what Royal Mail will say is that with millions of parcels being delivered a few are going to go astray, but that it's a tiny percentage of the total number delivered.

It’s 100% of the things sent to me!

OP posts:
KittenKong · 06/12/2021 08:29

What? Royal Mail busy in the run up to Christmas??? Who could have predicted this highly insulated annual event...

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:29

@KittenKong

Could they be getting stolen? Are they leaving packages on the doorstep or in reception?

Does the tracking say they have been delivered (Hermes always seems to ‘deliver’ then the parcel arrives a day or so later).

No. My postman never leaves things outside. I get a red card and have to collect from the sorting office.
OP posts:
KittenKong · 06/12/2021 08:30

Our postie is good - but when he is on holiday we have been getting days worth of Mail dumped on the reception desk (we live in a block). One day it was covered in coffee.

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:31

The two sent this month were not sent tracked. The one earlier this year was tracked and never showed anything after “received by Royal Mail”.

OP posts:
NumaNumaYay · 06/12/2021 08:33

Check your delivery office. Sometimes I've had parcels there I want even expecting, no card through the door etc.

KittenKong · 06/12/2021 08:33

Last year my sister sent me a parcel - it eventually arrived back to her after a month of having a nice jaunt to the other side of the country. It was delivered to someone else (my address was absolutely correct, the other person wasn’t event same name/street etc - completely random) and they kindly took it to the local post office.

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:33

Our normal postie has been working all month, I WFH a lot and see him. He won’t speculate about what is going on though, I’ve tried (politely). He just tells me to call the number on the website.

OP posts:
HeyBlaby · 06/12/2021 08:34

Five things within a month, address correct, contacted Royal Mail, complaint logged but nothing found.

Original poster
HaveringWavering · 06/12/2021 08:35

@NumaNumaYay

Check your delivery office. Sometimes I've had parcels there I want even expecting, no card through the door etc.
How do you do that- just give them your postcode and they can check? I thought they had to match with a red card. It’s a drive away but might be worth a try.
OP posts:
Rattysparklebum · 06/12/2021 08:55

I constantly get other people’s mail delivered to my house (e.g. 3 items in just the last week) most are for nearby houses, I used to go and post through the correct door but due to feeling like I had a second job as a postman I stopped and now just mark them ‘not at this address’ and leave them in the porch for postie to take away with him next time he comes, I imagine some people might keep or bin items delivered to them in error if it happens so frequently.

NumaNumaYay · 06/12/2021 08:55

Hmm, not too sure, it might have been that we had a red card for one parcel and then got lots of other parcels too. Give then your address and bring id. Or could try phoning?

Ohbotherpiglet · 06/12/2021 09:02

I’ve been waiting on one small parcel and a credit card for ten days now. Because I’ve been watching for those two items I’ve noticed I’ve had almost no post in two weeks. Keep expecting a big stack to arrive but starting to worry it’s all going elsewhere. I live on one of those streets where we have similarly named ; avenue, drive , place and lane .

Whinge · 06/12/2021 09:28

@Ohbotherpiglet

I’ve been waiting on one small parcel and a credit card for ten days now. Because I’ve been watching for those two items I’ve noticed I’ve had almost no post in two weeks. Keep expecting a big stack to arrive but starting to worry it’s all going elsewhere. I live on one of those streets where we have similarly named ; avenue, drive , place and lane .
Perhaps we're in the same area, as nothing seems to be arriving here either. As the OP said all other parcels / post seems to be arriving, it's just Royal Mail that don't seem to be delivering. Confused
nordica · 06/12/2021 09:34

They've been really slow in my area too, only delivering a couple of times a week. They do prioritise the Tracked 24 and 48 services and I think in general that's the difference compared to other couriers - most things sent via Royal Mail are not tracked in any way so it's easier for them to disappear. DPD scans a parcel about 6 times during its journey (the retailer sees more of these scans from their side than you do from the consumer side) and it's easy to pinpoint exactly what has happened. I suspect a lot of lost parcels with RM are accidentally delivered to the wrong address. The postie just tried to hand me a parcel for the same house number but different road last week. Other couriers are more careful and take a photo and record the GPS coordinates but an ordinary 1st class parcel could just be posted through the wrong door.

Justonedayatatime11 · 06/12/2021 09:38

I've always thought Royal Mail were the most reliable way of sending things, but I'm shocked at how much has gone 'missing' in the past month or so for me. I feel like I'm constantly chasing things which haven't arrived, I've never known it to be this bad