To not have a clue what this "tracking message" means

[Somethingfantastic89]

Shamelessly posting here for traffic as Royal Mail is doing my head in!

I'm expecting an item I ordered from Notonthehighstreet. They've said they dispatched the item and sent me a tracking number. Now whenever I enter this number on the Royal Mail tracking site, I get

An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item

WHAT on earth does this mean?
The RM website has a section of "what does my tracking message mean" but this message isn't on there.
I've contacted the sender and they've said to call RM and check with them.
I've tried to call Royal Mail but all I get is an automated message that says "please read your reference number out loud" but no matter how loud or clear I am, this machine JUST WON'T GET IT RIGHT!!

Anyone knows what this tracking message mean? "An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item"? Should I assume my item is lost (it's two days late now)?

Royal Mail Tracking is not fit for purpose. I can never track an item sent from Amazon. When I enter the reference number in RMT I get a variety of responses, such as "Reference number is invalid" (it isn't) or "An update will only be provided when we attempt to deliver your item". This last message is utterly ridiculous, because the whole point of tracking is to determine where the consignment is NOW and when delivery might be expected. Telling me AFTER Royal Mail attempted to deliver is redundant advice, since I would (hopefully) have a notification to collect in my letterbox if I was absent when the postie called.

You'll be lucky-most of the times I get a notification card it's been left blank; so I've no idea whether it's with a neighbour, back at the depot or left in a recycling bin (which has happened a time or two)

Zombie thread!