Royal Mail and Parcel force - item not delivered

gggh

The item in question is a 23kg consignment sent from London to Birmingham, with an expected delivery date of 13 February 2026. As of today, I have not received this parcel.

Tracking information continues to state that the package is located at the Hatfield PFW National Hub. However, after making several calls to trace the item, I have now been informed by representatives of both Royal Mail and Parcelforce that the parcel is “nowhere to be found.” This response is both alarming and unacceptable.

The post office manager said it’s not their business as the package has left their station…..this is a total failure. Please I need help. I paid flight for this package to get to London. A 23kg load cannot get missing without any taking responsibilities.

eskbanker

Given the volume of packages going through these companies, it's unsurprising that some go missing, but that doesn't mean it's a scam?

Aylesbury_Duck

Firstly, it's not a scam.

Who is the contracting party here? Did you purchase the label and service yourself, or have you bought something and paid the seller postage charges and they're the ones that sent it?

If you organised this, then you do have rights, but mistakes do happen and you will be entitled to whatever the contract says you're entitled to. If you declared the full value of the consignment and it was insured as such, then insurance is the obvious way to go. If it wasn't insured, are you confident it met all the various criteria? There are often restrictions as to what can be sent.

If someone else (i.e. a retailer or seller) sent this item, then it's their problem to solve, and they owe you a replacement or a refund of whatever you bought or paid them to send to you.

screech_78

I’m going to start putting a £1 in a jar every time a poster arrives on here and proclaims “scam”. I should have a tidy sum at the end of the year.

That aside, why on earth would RM or Parcelforce be involved in a scam 🤦🏻‍♀️

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897606#Comment_81897606

You'll probably have a tidy sum by the end of the week! 😉

sheramber

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656721/royal-mail-and-parcel-force-scam

The Post Office do not deliver. They are correct in saying once the item is passed to Royal Mail it is nothing to do with them.

Deliveries are done by Royal Mail, a separate company.

The Post Office sell services on behalf of Royal Mail.

Exodi

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656721/royal-mail-and-parcel-force-scam

The parcel being lost is frustrating and unfortunate, though I'm not sure I'd characterise it as alarming.

I think you are confusing the Post Office and Royal Mail/ParcelForce. The Post Office manager saying it's not their business is correct as no-one is disputing that they handed it over to Royal Mail, I'm not sure what you think that the Post Office has done which amounts to a 'total failure'. I presume you mean to challenge Royal Mail.

Given that the parcel was supposed to be delivered nearly two weeks ago and they have stated the parcel is 'nowhere to be found', that suggests the parcel is lost. You will be able to claim compensation for the lost parcel based on the compensation limits of the service you purchased.

I don't think it's reasonable to suggest no-one is taking responsibility, it doesn't sound like you've even raised a claim for the lost goods yet:

https://help.royalmail.com/personal/s/article/Royal-Mail-Claims-Centre-process-and-options

And as others have said - it's obviously not a scam, it shouldn't be too surprising that a company that delivers over 1 billion items per year would lose one every now and then. That's not to detract from the fact it will be heavily frustrating to deal with should it happen to you.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656721/royal-mail-and-parcel-force-scam

"The item in question is a 23kg consignment sent from London to Birmingham, with an expected delivery date of 13 February 2026. As of today, I have not received this parcel…"

Who sent the parcel - you or a third party?

If a third party it's their responsibility to sort it out

"… I paid flight for this package to get to London…"

What has this got to do with going from London to Birmingham? (I assume you mean that you have already incurred costs in getting the "consignment" to London before being sent to Birmingham, but unless you explain the full story, you make it very difficult for people to help you).

As others have said, so long as whoever arranged the parcel delivery from London to Birmingham chose the correct method of delivery with respect to the parcel's value, they should be able to claim the appropriate level of compensation.

I doubt you can claim for the "flight" to London

savergrant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6656721/royal-mail-and-parcel-force-scam

It sounds as if you are in Birmingham waiting for a parcel which is being sent from London. Is this correct?

If so who is the sender and how did they post it? Does the parcel contain items which were sold to you by the sender? What is the value of the items and what service was used?

Items which are sold by Mail order remain the responsibility of the seller until they are delivered, so if you bought something you should take it up with the seller. The exception is if the goods were not offered for Mail order and you arranged for a courier to collect them on your behalf.

If the parcel contains personal effects then it is usually simpler for the sender to contact the courier as they will have the evidence of it being received.

Imo if the goods were dropped off at a post office then the post office will be acting as an agent of the courier chosen, so you will have no direct contract with them, although it sounds as if the courier received the parcel into their own system (so it wasn't lost before being collected)

gggh

Thank you for the responses.

For clarity, this item is not from a seller or some item I bought online. The package is 23kg of goods bought in Nigeria and sent to London by air. It was then sent by a friend at a Royal Mail post office through special one day delivery to Birmingham on 12th, and till now there is no trace. Royal Mail claimed the goods was handed over to parcel force and parcel force is saying they don’t have the package.

A 23kg consignment does not simply vanish without trace.

gggh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81897693#Comment_81897693

By post office, I meant Royal Mail post office. A friend sent it from London to me in Birmingham using Royal Mail. All details were correct and the Royal Mail staffs processed the parcel themselves.

After delivery date was passed and my friend went back to the office to report the situation the claimed the package was given to parcel force and that it has nothing to do with them.

I started contacting parcel force and parcel force claims they can’t find the package. The tracking says the package is at Parcel force hub Hatfield, and I drove down there myself to raise complains but they said there is no way a package from London going to Birmingham would pass through their hub.

It is very unclear and confusing.