Options on ebay Item seemingly "stuck" at Royal Mail, Langley HWDC

Jerry_Cornelius

Hi, at the beginning of December I sold an item to the United States, an expensive CD, which I sent via Royal Mail Tracked & Signed with additional compensation up to £250

Item was posted on the 6th Dec, tracking shows received and the last entry is "Item Received by Royal Mail, LANGLEY HWDC" on the 7th Dec. And nothing since.

eBay estimated the delivery as the 19th Dec, which obviously has come and gone. The item was well packed, double boxed with additional delivery & return addresses on each box, and the outer label was bought via RM Online, and I have a picture of the package as sent.

I've been in contact a few times with the seller who is quite reasonable and seemingly patient, and I've informed him of RM strikes and why stuff might be delayed, but the fact the tracking shows no change since the 7th is disconcerting. As an aside I posted another item to the US on 13th Dec, just using RM tracked with standard compensation, and it got there on the 20th!

So, from what I've read from other posts, I can assume one of the following:

1) RM have "lost" it.

2) RM have randomly taken my parcel for further checks, which accounts for its lack of progress.

3) There has been somekind of subsequent sorting error with the tracking, whereby my parcel has now been treated as untracked, but is still en-route, albeit late.

So, what would people advise. Contact RM directly? Wait a bit longer? Start an RM compensation claim? I would also like to advise the buyer that if he decides to wait a bit longer how long he has to file an INR before the time expires (I did read it was 30 days from the estimated ebay delivery date?).

RhondaD

I have a few parcels showing the same status. I personally put it down to the strikes that these items just haven't progressed through the system yet. 

KxMx

Have you tried tracking with usps.com?
https://www.royalmail.com/sending/international/international-tracked-signed/delivery-partners 

Jerry_Cornelius

RhondaD said:

I have a few parcels showing the same status. I personally put it down to the strikes that these items just haven't progressed through the system yet. 

Yeah, that was my initial thought, but as Tracked & Signed is supposed to be a more secure and reliable service, a lack of updates for approaching 3 weeks now is as i said disconcerting, and it would have to be an expensive item (the most expensive i've ever sold)

KxMx said:

Have you tried tracking with usps.com?
https://www.royalmail.com/sending/international/international-tracked-signed/delivery-partners 

Thats was a useful tip thanks, but whilst it recognises the tracking number it says even less than the RM tracking, saying that it was accepted by RM on the 6th. That suggests it defo isnt in the US yet ...

Spoonie_Turtle

It might not tell you anything different for your item, but just in case, I've found https://parcelsapp.com/ to be the most comprehensive tracking I've used.

Jerry_Cornelius

Spoonie_Turtle said:

It might not tell you anything different for your item, but just in case, I've found https://parcelsapp.com/ to be the most comprehensive tracking I've used.

Wow, thats a great litle app! It didnt provide me with anymore info than I already have on my package, but i used it to track a parcel i havent recieved from france (posted Nov 22nd) and it shows its just reach the UK exactly 1 month and 1 day later! (Today!) I'll bookmark that link :-)

gt94sss2

Your item may also be with US Customs.

Item Received by Royal Mail, LANGLEY HWDC is often the last tracking message before it arrives overseas (after clearing customs)

If it's in Customs neither Royal Mail or USPS will have any updated tracking information until it's released.