scenario:

I have tracking for an item shipped from US on oct 26th. Only first 4 scans are showing. Departure from US is the last one.

Total number of business days elapsed now is over 20, beyond the expected service level which was 4-16 business days. Contacted shipping company (USA based APC Postal logistics) who now tell me item can be classed as ‘lost or missing in transit’ No evidence provided as to its whereabouts or if it has entered the UK at any point.

Vendor updated me in last 24 hrs when I brought this up and told me “they say it’s at your local postal office” however there is sadly no RM card telling me so- or indeed no evidence if RM are involved in the last street delivery portion of this delivery. I have been asked to try my local RM post/sorting office.

How likely is it RM can look into the whereabouts of this with another companies tracking info? Do their systems have that kind of capability? Is there any likelihood it could have entered the RM delivery chain? Am I wasting my time checking with RM?

Vendor and I are happy to open a refund/replacement order at this point and I’m not particularly upset at all-shit happens, but I haven’t had anything go missing in the post, domestic or international that i can remember in many many years. Any logistics guru’s out there?

Is it not still clearing customs somewhere, hence the fact that Royal Fail can’t locate it?

id vote for that . last thing i brought into uk took 3 weeks to clear customs …… it was E bike batteries i guess they were checking it wasnt big bang things.

UPDATE: just spoke to a very helpful person (genuinely) at the local sorting office who FWIW have had a great track record over the years, and was told there is no trace against my address and no pending HMRC charges in process that i’m likely to find soon. They informed me that a customs delay is typically only a matter of days.

id vote for that . last thing i brought into uk took 3 weeks to clear customs …… it was E bike batteries i guess they were checking it wasnt big bang things.

Trail Rat, was that a US purchase like mine?

no it was from taiwan.

but customs is customs.

well i suppose there’s still a chance I might luck out and end up with two of what i want. Replacement ordered by vendor today.

What i find puzzling that a company like APC Logistics, can offer door to door international shipping but not find their own package after the “first four scans only” have been gathered. So i can see it entered a warehouse here, packed here, left here, and …..silence. ‘Sorry you’re SOL, we cant track after that point sir’. It’s weird to me that a parcel can effectively become completely invisible-to the customer AND the shipping company responsible- if no further tracking information is collected from the item. Apparently, even if I asked, they cant even locate it to the nearest continent or tell me its last known location. WTF is that about?

I have just ordered something from the states. From their FAQ

We guarantee delivery for all international shipments and will send replacements at our expense if a shipment goes astray. Be aware that ‘Standard’ shipments via APC originate via the U.S. Postal Service and tracking information may be unreliable once the parcel exits the U.S.

So it seems once it leaves the US it’s a free for all. Which seeing as shipping is $2, so not a fully tracked service, I can’t really complain.

i find puzzling that a company… can offer door to door international shipping but not find their own package

because they have a deal with a partner outside of their normal location of business? once they have handed a parcel over their partner they might lose a lot of tracking capability.

its the same when you order from rose and it goes german DHL …. once it enters the uk and hits the royal mail it just becomes “handed to local carrier” on the tracker.

I often have this in reverse when sending to the US. Royal Mail tracking is excellent up until it arrives in the US and then it can get patchy. Sometimes good sometimes nothing until a delivered notice.

I have just ordered something from the states. From their FAQ

We guarantee delivery for all international shipments and will send replacements at our expense if a shipment goes astray. Be aware that ‘Standard’ shipments via APC originate via the U.S. Postal Service and tracking information may be unreliable once the parcel exits the U.S.

So it seems once it leaves the US it’s a free for all. Which seeing as shipping is $2, so not a fully tracked service, I can’t really complain.

ta for that Jamie, this is almost exactly what i have seen at my end. The t/c from my vendor were lacking this type of info for me- would explain alot! It’s still poor that this is even a problem given how long international shipping has been happening, its a blow that its a lottery like this. no one wins!

As mentioned, you can have tracked post. It just costs. Unless the seller/company sells enough product to cover free tracked delivery.

For example, this is from a DHL order from Creation Watches in Singapore. Free delivery, but guess they ship enough grey market stock to cover it.