royal mail... will my items ever arrive???

annoye

Not really sure where I should put this post... or even if this is the right site to do it... but as it's a popular forum I thought I would see what experience people have.

I ordered a secret Santa gift for a friend a week and a half ago. He's really into super hero's especially captain america.... so I thought I'd splash out a bit and bought him a near mint graded comic from 1968 of the 5th installment of captain Americas stand alone comic. Obviously this is a unique item and not something that can be replaced easily. The ebayer dispatched the comic last Friday on the 16th... they posted it second class (not something I would of recommended but it was their decision). It's now Christmas eve (24th) and the item still hasn't arrived.

I also orderd 5 cards from funky pigeon that were sent first class on Tuesday... these have also not arrived.

Another gift I ordered got dispatched Sunday first class signed for and that arrived weds... when I collected it I asked if they had any delays and was told they were not aware of any.

Obviously the cards will now be useless if they arrive as it will have gone christmas... but the main thing Im worried about is the comic.

Although it's rubbish I haven't got it for Christmas... is it still likely it will arrive next week instead? I've never had any issue with royal mail in the past but it seems this week they've messed my post up pretty bad. I live in a block of 6 flats and we have post every day (mainly junk) But for the past 2 days not a single thing has been posted to us... could be coincidence but it seems very odd!

So will I be likely to see the comic arrive, or is this pretty much "it's lost tough luck"

obviously the seller shouldn't have sent it 2nd class etc etc but still you would expect it to have been delivered!

thanks in advance

Pollycat

That's a bummer!
Great idea for a gift though.

It's hard to say if it will arrive or not.

As for using 2nd class post, I've bought a few bits of silver jewellery (so not dirt-cheap items) from different eBay sellers which have been posted 2nd class and all have been received OK.
None close to Christmas though.

daveyjp

My last amazon parcel came via RM and took 2 weeks. Ordered end Nov.

A tracked parcel sent first class to a relative took 10 days, it arrived yesterday.

I'm wondering how much privatisation is leading to cuts in service.

Archergirl

I ordered a Christmas tee shirt that hasn't come yet, that will be going back...........
Print off a copy of the comic and give it in a card, then sort it out next week

staffie1

Nothing to do with privatisation. It's been my experience that RM have been this unreliable for YEARS.

custardy

Pollycat wrote: »

That's a bummer!
Great idea for a gift though.

It's hard to say if it will arrive or not.

As for using 2nd class post, I've bought a few bits of silver jewellery (so not dirt-cheap items) from different eBay sellers which have been posted 2nd class and all have been received OK.
None close to Christmas though.

What folks need to key in ia how 1C & 2C are handled in the network.
In issues with capacity etc ,2C will be set aside to protect 1C service.
Through the year this isnt a major issue. However at Christmas volumes can mean this happens a lot more.

pappa_golf

I received a letter with a penny black on it last week

merry xmas custardy

LABMAN

It's my experience that sellers are not always truthful about when or if they have sent items to me. Last month I bought a DVD boxset. I'm still waiting on the original and promised replacement being delivered...despite the seller claiming both were despatched. Seller has been removed from ebay.

sheramber

I ordered an item which was posted on 5 th December that has never arrived . The tracking stops about 75% along the line. There is no tracking information available as to where it has stopped.

The seller is now submitting a lost parcel claim form to Royal Mail.

Froglet

Yet I ordered some tickets for a concert,on Thursday at 7pm and they arrived this morning,Saturday ! Perhaps some sellers aren't always truthful when it comes to date of despatch.

Geoff1963

My experience is that : normal mail is very quick and reliable ; but any kind of special, signed-for service typically gets delayed, and the "track your items" web-site has no knowledge of it until reporting it as delivered.