RM delay message 'high order volumes'

soolin

Some of my Royal Mail packages that are en route now show the following message when I check the tracking on ebay - I've never seen this before. I wonder if this the start of the Christmas rush and the overall slow down of deliveries, or just an indication that not everyone is getting post every day anymore? 

~~~~~

It's on the way to the buyer.

Tracking summary

Due to high order volumes, deliveries may take longer than usual.Due to high order volumes, deliveries may take longer than usual.

MattMattMattUK

Royal Mail have recently been fined for abysmal performance in delivering on time. As a rough guide over the I and my family are receiving post 2-3 weeks after it has been posted. From a business perspective my business sends around 30 items a day with Royal Mail, on Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 I have only had 1-2 a week not delivered on time, however on 1st and 2nd class all have taken at least a week to be delivered and I know other businesses I deal with have experienced similarly poor performance. 

There will also be the Black Friday week issue, then the run up to Christmas, UPS for sure and I think nearly every other courier as well have warned of delays, UPS have stated that their standard service is no longer one working day but is now two working days until 8th January. 

molerat

Lately we have had a van, with driver and deliverer !,  coming round in the afternoon delivering anything that is tracked / signed for.  Other mail seems to be getting delivered when they have enough to make it worth it.  Things had improved and we were starting to see a postie nearly every day but the service seems to have fallen off again.

soolin

I rarely check my tacking once sent but out of interest I've been going through a few that show as undelivered on ebay  and checking them against the RM site. I still have 2nd class parcels out there merely showing as 'despatch notified' from last Monday. I even have an RM48 that shows as out for delivery since Wednesday of last week. 

Obviously some might have arrived and just not updated , but it is slightly worrying. 

pfpf

its an ebay thing by the looks of it. i ordered 3 items yesterday from 3 suppliers. 2 dpd and 1 hermes. all 3 have the same "delay" message. one is due tomorrow..

A_Frayed_Knot

soolin said:

I rarely check my tacking once sent but out of interest I've been going through a few that show as undelivered on ebay  and checking them against the RM site. I still have 2nd class parcels out there merely showing as 'despatch notified' from last Monday. I even have an RM48 that shows as out for delivery since Wednesday of last week. 

Obviously some might have arrived and just not updated , but it is slightly worrying. 

I just had a message tonight from a buyer saying they have not yet received their 2nd class signed for which was sent on the 11th Nov and checked the tracking which states the same message as you have above.  So I cant prove it received, but not yet outwith the dates RM state before parcel being "lost".  

So my question is - I have to refund the buyer and wait then put in a claim - so what happens if the parcel then arrives after I have refunded - so RM will say "delivered" so I don't get a refund.  ??

ps  Doesn't even say - out for delivery  -  only states PO received.

[Deleted User]

This is really becoming a pain in the neck, isn't it.

I pipe up on this subforum, often, because i see your/these issues from the other side of the fence (buyer not seller), the whole RM thing is so bad here, on the North Somerset coast, that i choose all other courier methods if given the option.

Since reading many of @soolin et al it gives me a better understanding of the sellers perspective - and i have great admiration that some of you have re buyer/postage/fees issues.

soolin

A_Frayed_Knot said:

soolin said:

I rarely check my tacking once sent but out of interest I've been going through a few that show as undelivered on ebay  and checking them against the RM site. I still have 2nd class parcels out there merely showing as 'despatch notified' from last Monday. I even have an RM48 that shows as out for delivery since Wednesday of last week. 

Obviously some might have arrived and just not updated , but it is slightly worrying. 

I just had a message tonight from a buyer saying they have not yet received their 2nd class signed for which was sent on the 11th Nov and checked the tracking which states the same message as you have above.  So I cant prove it received, but not yet outwith the dates RM state before parcel being "lost".  

So my question is - I have to refund the buyer and wait then put in a claim - so what happens if the parcel then arrives after I have refunded - so RM will say "delivered" so I don't get a refund.  ??

ps  Doesn't even say - out for delivery  -  only states PO received.

Unfortunately if a seller refunds and then the parcel shows as delivered later you have to rely on buyer being honest and offering to pay you again. 

steviebabes

I must say that RM 24/48 packages have been very good lately. I sent 10 out on Monday and Tuesday and they have all been delivered. The RM24's were next day in all cases, a couple of RM48's took 3 days. I's just not worth using 2nd class standard mail these days as the price difference is minimal.

forgotmyname

FedEx appear to be having similar issues.  Package did not arrive on the delivery date and it just showed delayed on the tracking portal.
It made it a whole 16 miles from the seller to what I assume was the local depot to them and that is where the tracking ended.
Several days after it showed delayed it swapped to a message about being very busy and delays may happen.

Seller sent me another 6 days later using DPD and it arrived the next day. Seems he got fed up of trying to get a response from
FedEx over the phone and stuck a claim in.  We suspect its lost or damaged, not a small or cheap item so its not something that
falls behind something or goes unseen in the van/lorry.

You would expect decent tracking in this day and age, especially for an expensive item.

A_Frayed_Knot

soolin said:

A_Frayed_Knot said:

soolin said:

I rarely check my tacking once sent but out of interest I've been going through a few that show as undelivered on ebay  and checking them against the RM site. I still have 2nd class parcels out there merely showing as 'despatch notified' from last Monday. I even have an RM48 that shows as out for delivery since Wednesday of last week. 

Obviously some might have arrived and just not updated , but it is slightly worrying. 

I just had a message tonight from a buyer saying they have not yet received their 2nd class signed for which was sent on the 11th Nov and checked the tracking which states the same message as you have above.  So I cant prove it received, but not yet outwith the dates RM state before parcel being "lost".  

So my question is - I have to refund the buyer and wait then put in a claim - so what happens if the parcel then arrives after I have refunded - so RM will say "delivered" so I don't get a refund.  ??

ps  Doesn't even say - out for delivery  -  only states PO received.

Unfortunately if a seller refunds and then the parcel shows as delivered later you have to rely on buyer being honest and offering to pay you again. 

Update

Luckily I checked RM Tracking and found that it had been delivered 23rd Nov - day after the buyer opened a case and I was informed to take action before the 28th Nov.  However I arrived home tonight to 3 messages 1st stating that Buyer had asked ebay to step in, review the case and make a final decision. 2nd stating the funds were on hold, and the 3rd stating that the case was closed and found in my favour (as they found item was delivered to buyers address).

Not complaining - but wondering how the buyer managed to ask ebay to step in when I had until the 28th Nov to resolve the request?  I would have thought they were not able to do that until my time had ran out and I had not 
been able to resolve the situation.