Parcel last seen roaming China...SOLVED ponies now at new home!

[Taffeta]

Thankfully the ponies are now safely at their new home with Nella in the Netherlands!!

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Hi all...

First off this is more of a rant than anything, it's nobody's fault, and the buyer and I are in communication and hopefully it will all come off well, but this is my current annoying situation.

I sold a bunch of ponies while home. As far as I know, all of them got to their destinations. All but one. A box to the Netherlands. (From the UK). I have the receipt for it and it clearly says Netherlands (EU) on it, plus the tracking, the date and the destination.

So it has tracking and insurance on it, but this is apparently not much help. You see, the last tracking entry for this item is BEIJING, CHINA.

This was some days ago now, and Royal Mail has not changed since about the 19th with this status.

China Post are a little more helpful, they give the impression it went into Beijing customs and then out again, and left Beijing via air. Of course, after that, China post tracking also stops. The implication is it has left China. So it should then be showing up on the Dutch tracking page.

It isn't. It is just not there. It is not here. It is not there. It is not, apparently, still in China.

This is annoying. It's especially annoying because right now I am in London. I have a scan of the receipt, but I don't have the actual receipt. I've called Royal Mail and as expected, they say they can't do anything, they don't know where it is right now, EVEN THOUGH IT HAS TRACKING ON IT, and that if it comes back to the UK it will show up on RM again - but thus far that hasn't happened. Additionally, they say, as expected again, I can't put in a claim as lost yet because it's not officially lost yet.

Royal Mail also shared the cheery information that apparently "sometimes this happens" and parcels get sent to completely the wrong location. But you know, how do you accidentally send an EU parcel to CHINA?!

It seems a bit lost to me.

So right now I am having to deal with this. This is not a good time for this. I have a MAJOR academic deadline coming up which determines my whole PhD, basically, and whether I can continue. And, me being Autistic, I am expected worst case scenarios and genuinely worried about the whereabouts of these poor little ponies that should be happily living in the Netherlands, but are not.

Right now, as I said, I'm in communication with the buyer who is on here and who is as annoyed with this as I am, and so hopefully we're not going to go down the road of paypal claims and locked up accounts and stuff just yet. If it doesn't turn up by the time RM accept it is "lost" then I will refund the buyer and claim via RM anyway - but it's the last thing I need to deal with at this point. If I refund now and then it turns up, I have the headache of requesting the payment or item returned and I wouldn;t be able to make any claim with RM, so it becomes a lot more complicated. And I don't need complicated right now.

So now all we can do is wait till sometime around the 9th of May. Or, if the person on the phone is to be believed, the week after.

My big deadline is the 6th. Awesome timing, Royal Mail. Awesome timing.

I needed to rant a little. Thank you all.

(Also, does anyone have any advice for maybe finding where it could be now? It hasn't been seen on tracking since 22nd April, but I've only tried Royal Mail, China Post and the Dutch Postal sites. And this really isn't fair on anyone - not on me, or on my buyer - so some information would really be helpful (and apparently Royal Mail don't have any, EVEN THOUGH IT IS TRACKED!).

[mskittylovesrobin]

I'm so sorry this has happened and yes RM are always RM! From what I know, the parcel should get redirected which may take slightly longer. So maybe ask the buyer to wait a little longer. The last time this happened to a family member of mine they got it in the end with a huge stamp saying "MISENT TO THAILAND". But I remember it did take awhile. Sending you hugs and fingers crossed it will show up ASAP xx

[Taffeta]

Thanks - as I said, it's nobody;s fault (except the person who sent it to China ><) but it's just so frustrating and really badly timed.

[Nella]

I am the buyer en won't file a claim through Paypal. No worries. It is no problem to wait a few more weeks. Hopefully the pony's get here in the end. They just wanted to visit their hometown I think  .

[Taffeta]

I am the buyer en won't file a claim through Paypal. No worries. It is no problem to wait a few more weeks. Hopefully the pony's get here in the end. They just wanted to visit their hometown I think  .

*gives cookies* I am just happy that you're a patient person, because seriously, Royal Mail have their nightmare moments ><. And I really want that family to get to you, because the poor orphan baby needs his parents and his sister!

(I thought that too. It is ironic that they are Made in China ponies.)

If they come back to me/home then we can discuss that if it happens, but right now I just wanna know where they are and that they're on their way to you ><

*fingers crossed*

[Galactica]

I hope you find it.

I had a package- priority mail- go from the US to the Netherlands (I think) and it was scanned into the big sorting center in my state-  but never ever left.

It was sooooooo sad as the package was not insured and the stuff inside irreplaceable.

I kept checking the tracking until finally it was so old it fell out of the system...

Although-  I would have more hope if your package is in China.  It is true that things sometimes get stuck there and don't move for weeks.

[Taffeta]

Well I looked it up and apparently post from China to the Netherlands takes usually between 5 and 15 days. If it did go to Beijing by mistake, and I'm reading the Chinese tracking right, it probably left Beijing on the 20th. That means, today being the 26th, there's still potentially a whole week or so in which it could legitimately arrive.

Hooves crossed.

I had a package go into one of the US hubs - Illinois I think - and then get sent to Canada instead of to me. I can only imagine the faces of the Canadian customs people when they saw it. It got sent right back to the US hub, from which it came to the UK safely, but delayed. That makes me think there's also the possibility Beijing just send it back to Heathrow and get them to clean up their own postal mess (which seems appropriate).

We'll see.

[Galactica]

I absolutely hate how easy it is for packages to go off in the wrong direction- I mean, how the heck does that happen?

I am baffled when packages get sent to the wrong countries- that should not even be possible but happens all the time.

I feel like the US post office has gotten pretty sloppy in the last few years especially...

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I had a package go into one of the US hubs - Illinois I think - and then get sent to Canada instead of to me. I can only imagine the faces of the Canadian customs people when they saw it.

They laughed and said, "Nope, not going to London , Ontario!" and put it back into the fray! 

[Ringlets]

@ Royal Mail. I've heard of this happening with USPS but I RM stories are a little less frequent. Thankfully in all the cases I've ever heard of (with the exception of yours Galactica     ) the pony has got to its right country /owner eventually. Sometimes it goes right to the buyer, sometimes it goes back to the sender or the sender's country before going on to the right place. Every time its a pain though, extra waiting... and really you pay so much more for tracking you'd think they'd be a bit more careful no?
I'm just glad both buyer and seller are in good communication and you're both dealing really well with a really annoying and stressful situation that is neither of your fault.  *hopes the pony shows up on the tracking again soon*

[Nella]

Problem solved!

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[Taffeta]

This makes me so very happy.

They look very cute together, too. Am glad they made it in the end

[lovesbabysquirmy]

YAAAAAAAAAY! 

[Loa]

They took the very scenic route!

[Ringlets]

that's awesome!!