How long to wait for delivery in current Royal Mail situation

[Deleted User]

A package was posted by the Seller on 05 December and has tracked:  Ever since being accepted at the Post Office Royal Mail has tracked as "In Transit."

I contacted the Seller to confirm that the item was still in transit and asked how long I should wait.  There was no response or acknowledgement from the Seller (100% positive feedback) and I spoke to my local/regular postman.  He said that the sorting office was packed out.  Now that Royal mail are on strike for the next two days I'm a bit concerned in case the package has gone missing - about £23 plus the cost of Royal Mail tracked postage.

In the circumstances how long would be reasonable wait before contacting the Seller again or contacting eBay Customer Services advising that the package has not arrived?  Estimated delivery was 5-7 December but of course there will be delays because of the Royal Mail Strike.  Although I don't want to be unreasonable, I hoped the Seller would have acknowledge my message.

soolin

I think I would try once again to contact seller - yes we are all struggling and worrying about INR claims- but there is no excuse not to respond. If they don't respond in say 36 -48 hours open a case.

If they do respond then give them a bit longer perhaps.

[Deleted User]

Thanks very much, soolin.  I'll do that.  This has never happened before (although we have not have a Royal Mail Strike like this that I can remember.)

I report back if any success.

molerat

The situation seems totally random.

Parcel posted Fri 2nd arrived Tuesday 6th

Parcel posted Sat 3rd arrived Wed 7th

Parcel posted Mon 5th arrived Thurs 8th

Parcel posted Wed 7th arrived Tues 14th.

Another posted Fri 2nd still not arrived

Parcel posted 23 Nov arrived Sat 10th

KxMx

I sell on eBay, I am also waiting on things yet to arrive from etsy, I ordered in plenty of time for Christmas but seller took 3 working days to send, and 7 more days on it's not arrived. 
I also have an outstanding item from eBay.
I'm not planning on raising any claims for at least a few weeks personally. 
It's not the sellers fault and I think we buyers need to allow much more time for things to arrive than we'd normally put up with.
I definitely agree though that they should have replied to you. 

[Deleted User]

Thanks KxMx.  As molerat said, the situation is random.  Although I know the delayed delivery is not the fault of the seller, I am a bit disappointed that there has been no reply from the Seller to my, now two, messages. 

If there is any reply I'll post back . 

Thank you for all the replies.   .

nyermen

molerat said:

The situation seems totally random.

Parcel posted Fri 2nd arrived Tuesday 6th

Parcel posted Sat 3rd arrived Wed 7th

Parcel posted Mon 5th arrived Thurs 8th

Parcel posted Wed 7th arrived Tues 14th.

Another posted Fri 2nd still not arrived

Parcel posted 23 Nov arrived Sat 10th

As I'm understanding, the sorting offices are overloaded (eg see cardiff news article).   There's no FIFO (first in first out) process, so its much more random as to what is selected for sorting (plus I suspect that soggy packages left outside due to no space are avoided, assuming rumours are true).

Waiting for two items myself for over a week now, both tracked 24.  Tracking info just brings up errors, so they aren't even scanned

challengedavid

having the same issue,  sent item 1st december,  buyers contacted asking where it is,  apologised and said at the moment there is nothing i can do,  im hoping it turns up soon and they dont open a case

i for one will not use royal mail again!

soolin

challengedavid said:

having the same issue,  sent item 1st december,  buyers contacted asking where it is,  apologised and said at the moment there is nothing i can do,  im hoping it turns up soon and they dont open a case

i for one will not use royal mail again!

As well as the RM strikes impacting on deliveries the couriers are now struggling as well. DPD have suspended collections and deliveries in a few areas already, EVRI are saying they cannot guarantee deliveries in their estimated time frames any longer. I suspect they are all going to be as bad as each other and whilst it is tempting to say I’ll never use RM again, realistically there is no other service I can possibly use for my large letters. 

martindow

soolin said:EVRI are saying they cannot guarantee deliveries in their estimated time frames any longer.

This raises a smile - EVRI have rarely delivered in their expected timescales it seems.  It is similar to the proposal that if during strikes a minimum service level should be maintained, Avanti trains would offer a better service on days when there was a strike than they normally do.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

I would open a case for non-receipt if the seller doesn't reply within 2 or 3 days of your message, delays are out of the seller's control but answering questions from buyers isn't, with a lack of communication I wouldn't afford much sympathy to the seller IMO.