No international tracking but seeing another despatch notice

[SW7349]

Hi,

I sent off a package to China in early December (11th) and it stated it had been despatched to Beijing, China on 19th December. Royal Mail state it takes around 3 - 5 days to deliver via International Signed, however since it's the holiday season I expected a slight delay.

It also states on their website the China deliveries are experiencing delays with both China Post and Chinese customs. I contacted Royal Mail about this and they told me they were unsure how long they delays would be, however they're still ongoing.

However, this is the odd part. As I said before, it said it was "DESPATCHED TOBEIJING CHINA" on 19th December. Though I saw another entry yesterday (4th) stating the same message... If International Signed doesn't track outside of the UK, how can it show this? The entry doesn't say it's been signed and I've heard nothing from the recipient.



Does anybody know what's happened here? Was there a mistake on Royal Mail's end and it's only just being dispatched from the UK now?

Thanks in advance!

[SpacePhoenix]

Does it show up at all on China Post's tracking page?

[SW7349]

Does it show up at all on China Post's tracking page?

No, their website says "China Post has not received parcel #RUXXXXXXXXXGB" (without the X's of course).

But since it's International Signed, not International Tracked and Signed, I don't expect there will be tracking at China Post's end?

[SW7349]

I received a reply from Royal Mail with regards to the double dispatch notices and they came back with the following:

Our Track & Trace does show that your item was initially despatched to China on 19th December, and shows the same information on 4th January, with different despatch details for both occasions.

Unfortunately, this information is somewhat inconclusive as there are no return details from China Post. It is possible that your item was returned to the UK from China, perhaps in error, and redespatched by Royal Mail.

Does this sound right to anyone? Or does it sound like a bit of rubbish?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I received a reply from Royal Mail with regards to the double dispatch notices and they came back with the following:

Our Track & Trace does show that your item was initially despatched to China on 19th December, and shows the same information on 4th January, with different despatch details for both occasions.

Unfortunately, this information is somewhat inconclusive as there are no return details from China Post. It is possible that your item was returned to the UK from China, perhaps in error, and redespatched by Royal Mail.

Does this sound right to anyone? Or does it sound like a bit of rubbish?

Yes either that or perhaps if there were delays then when HWDC advised ChinaPost that a consignment was due they refused it. It was then rescanned when ChinaPost was able to accept it.

[SW7349]

Yes either that or perhaps if there were delays then when HWDC advised ChinaPost that a consignment was due they refused it. It was then rescanned when ChinaPost was able to accept it.

Interesting... Thanks for the information. Just thinking about possible issues, I noticed after I sent the package that on the Royal Mail website it states:

The full country name 'THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA' must appear as the last line of the address.

Though I only stated the country as being "CHINA". I can't imagine this would make that much of a difference ...would it?

I sent it via the Post Office and they copied the address onto their system so I assume they put it is as The People's Republic Of China on the system. But would me writing just China on the package itself cause this issue?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

In theory it might cause a problem as they are 2 Chinas. The PRC which is the mainland - and the ROC (Taiwan).

But in practice there are usually very few problems, IIRC there is a postal understanding between the 2 chinas so even if it did go to the ROC it wouldn't delay it much.

Anyway as long as the Address is complete then it should be self evident which China is the destination.

[SW7349]

In theory it might cause a problem as they are 2 Chinas. The PRC which is the mainland - and the ROC (Taiwan).

But in practice there are usually very few problems, IIRC there is a postal understanding between the 2 chinas so even if it did go to the ROC it wouldn't delay it much.

Anyway as long as the Address is complete then it should be self evident which China is the destination.

Thank you very much for the information. I assume they understood it was the right China since it was dispatched to Beijing. At least I know now this shouldn't be much of an issue. Hopefully as Royal Mail said, it's been sent again and should arrive soon. Thanks for your help!

[Snaggletooth]

The Post Office can't type the destination country free-form, they have to choose from a list. And I'm pretty sure PRC is listed under C for China, while ROC is listed under T for Taiwan, so it's hard to make a mistake. Not that the PO's data entry makes any difference, and also I've sent hundreds of packages with just "China" on in recent years, they seem to have stopped caring, in fact the war might officially end soon...

[SW7349]

The Post Office can't type the destination country free-form, they have to choose from a list. And I'm pretty sure PRC is listed under C for China, while ROC is listed under T for Taiwan, so it's hard to make a mistake. Not that the PO's data entry makes any difference, and also I've sent hundreds of packages with just "China" on in recent years, they seem to have stopped caring, in fact the war might officially end soon...

That's great to hear, thank you! I went to China in 2013 and not once did I hear them refer to themselves as The People's Republic Of China... So it was quite surprising to see what Royal Mail were saying.

[SpacePhoenix]

I received a reply from Royal Mail with regards to the double dispatch notices and they came back with the following:

Our Track & Trace does show that your item was initially despatched to China on 19th December, and shows the same information on 4th January, with different despatch details for both occasions.

Unfortunately, this information is somewhat inconclusive as there are no return details from China Post. It is possible that your item was returned to the UK from China, perhaps in error, and redespatched by Royal Mail.

Does this sound right to anyone? Or does it sound like a bit of rubbish?

Yes either that or perhaps if there were delays then when HWDC advised ChinaPost that a consignment was due they refused it. It was then rescanned when ChinaPost was able to accept it.

The latest 3 entries on the tracking are scans in China

[SW7349]

The latest 3 entries on the tracking are scans in China

Thanks for the information. Hopefully if it's back there again it shouldn't be too long before it's delivered ...it's already far beyond Royal Mail's original 3 - 5 days estimate...

[Minischoles]

It hasn't been despatched twice; it's been despatched finally on the 4th January, your second scan.

China Post reported on the 23rd November that they were experiencing heavy workloads - and believe me that means heavy, Royal Mail handle about 10 million in Heathrow, China have two much larger sort centres and both were delayed massively.

Despatches were outright stopped to give them a chance to catch up, clear the backlog and their warehouses (if these are full our airlines can't unload and have to bring everything back) and now we're forwarding mail again.

[SW7349]

It hasn't been despatched twice; it's been despatched finally on the 4th January, your second scan.

China Post reported on the 23rd November that they were experiencing heavy workloads - and believe me that means heavy, Royal Mail handle about 10 million in Heathrow, China have two much larger sort centres and both were delayed massively.

Despatches were outright stopped to give them a chance to catch up, clear the backlog and their warehouses (if these are full our airlines can't unload and have to bring everything back) and now we're forwarding mail again.

Ahhhhh this makes a lot of sense! What would you say the estimated delivery time would be from now then? The 3 - 5 days originally stated? Or longer because of the delays still in China?