register letter not arriving from the UK - panic!!!

TripleAce

A register letter containing my passport has not arrived from the UK yet - it was posted on Tuesday (2nd of June) and on the UK Royal Mail website it say's "On its way to Ireland", however the tracking number doesn't show up on the An Post website. I called customer service at 5:30pm today and was told it may be on the way and keep checking tonight - I checked but nothing yet.

I need this letter before Sunday as I am travelling to Russia and need my passport with visa to enter Russia. The flights cost my 500€ and it would be a total waste of money if it doesn't arrive.

Any idea of what can I do to find out where the letter is? I can go and collect it anywhere in Dublin if necessary....

Also, if the letter doesn't arrive in time, would I have any rights to ask for damage - it is not acceptable for a register letter to take a week to get from the UK to Ireland

Thank you for your advices....

BuddhaJoe

Checking the Royal Mail website a registered letter will take 3-5 working days to reach its destination so the earliest you can really be expecting it is tommorrow.

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump1?catId=400023&mediaId=400033

As for damages, its not their fault you left it so late so no. In my experience a week to get from the UK to Ireland has been the standard for the last few years.

dxhound2005

Check the tracking number on the An Post site Friday morning and if nothing shows ring Customer Services again but if the item has not arrived in Ireland for delivery on Friday there is probably nothing they can do. The expected delivery time for registered mail form Ireland to GB is 3 to 5 working days so it is likely to be the same from GB to here. Depending on where (rural area or city) and the time of day it was posted on Tuesday could affect how soon it could get here. Registered mail does not go any quicker than ordinary mail, you have to use something like EMS which is much more expensive.

It is up to the sender to make a claim with Royal Mail in the event of the letter being lost. They probably wont get much joy if it is a claim for delay even if delivery is a bit beyond the 5 working days. And in general claims for consequential loss (such as the cost of your trip if you cant go without the passport) are not allowed by postal administrations in cases of non delivery or late delivery.

dxhound2005

Sorry Buddha I was typing when you posted. You put it much more succintly.

antoinolachtnai

Ring up An Post customer services, explain the situation and ask really nicely. They will try to find it if they can.

Registered mail between UK and Ireland is really not a very reliable service. I wish the two post offices would stop pretending that it is.

smelltheglove

I only use registered mail for cash since a post office wirker told me that standard post is usually quicker. If I wait for a standard letter from teh UK it usually only takes 2 days.

If you were to ask in An post for the delivery times standard is 2 - 3 days as far as i remember and registered is 2-4 days, think about it, they have to spend longer looking after the letter to have it scanned and signed for in every location.

Then again I received a delivery through UPS from the States, UPS received it according to their site on Friday afternoon, I got in on Wednesday.

You definitely should plan in advance next time but this time you would not be entitled to anything if it does not arrive on time, some lessons are hard learnt.

As above though definitely contact An Post tracking service, be as nice as possible and see it they will locate it, oh and to add, my delivery from teh States I was waiting anxiously for so I checked circa 12pm on Wed and the last location on the tracking was Tampworth(or similiar) in teh UK yet I recevied it at 3pm. There is still hope

humanji

Go get yourself an emergency passport.

Attol

humanji wrote: »

Go get yourself an emergency passport.

He needs the Russian visa that is in his current passport though.

humanji

Ah right. OP, are you any good with photoshop?

MysticalSoul

From my experience 5 working days between UK and Ireland seems to be the norm. Check the Royal Mail website, rather than An Post for tracking, as it would have originated with Royal Mail, so should give an indication of where it currently is, whereas it won't show up on the An Post website, until it arrives here (if at all).

delllat

its a terrible service i have to agree

my passport was sent to a UK embassy via reg post a few weeks ago for a visa and thye recieved it in the uk on the wednesday morning

the english sent it back same day and i recieved it the following monday just lying in my post box like a normal letter

(all the above i was happy with)

the problem on monday was when i checked the tracking number on the envelope on the royal mail website

the tracking said i recieved/signed for it on the previous SATURDAY

so an post obviously decided to save themselves the hassle of having to collect my signature and deliver the item properly

In this case it didnt matter much since i recieved it but if i didnt recieve the item how the hell wouold i have convinced the uk embassy of that when they had tracking to proove other wise??

how would i ever had been able to innitate a claim when the tracking confirmed i recieved my item a few days before it was delivered ??

Cabaal

OP did you get it today?

jor el

TripleAce wrote: »

Any idea of what can I do to find out where the letter is? I can go and collect it anywhere in Dublin if necessary....

If it's not showing up on the tracking system, then they'll have no idea where it is, and won't be able to do anything for you. It either hasn't arrived in Ireland yet, or it has but wasn't scanned yet. 5 working days is the norm for registered post between UK and Ireland, though it really shouldn't take any more than 3. It's always been 5 for me anyway, which means next Tuesday for you.

If it wasn't on the tracking system last night, then it's really not likely to arrive today, unless you get very lucky. A courier service would have been a better bet for something that important and urgent.

The only compensation you will get from registered post is if it goes missing, and even then, I think £30 is standard for Royal Mail, unless a value has been declared on the envelope. Your travel insurance may cover you for the flight cost, but since this is pretty much your own fault, it probably won't.

TripleAce

Received this morning

Thank you all!

smelltheglove

TripleAce wrote: »

Received this morning

Thank you all!

Great news, safe flight to you!

dxhound2005

Well done to Royal Mail and An Post.

Bluetonic

Much ado about nothing really on this thread.

corkgal1981

I work for An Post and find customers often get confused by the different postal services and simply opt for reg post cos they heard of it. Fact is it doesnt make an item arrive at its destination any faster, it normally slows it down. The point of reg post is that it can be insured.

Faith

Glad you got it, because I've found Royal Mail have been having extreme delays recently. My graduation forms got lost in the post, and it took over 2 weeks for a birthday card to get from Edinburgh to Kerry. Normally, it only takes about 3 days for a letter to get from the UK to Ireland.

Bluetonic

Faith wrote: »

My graduation forms got lost in the post, and it took over 2 weeks for a birthday card to get from Edinburgh to Kerry. Normally, it only takes about 3 days for a letter to get from the UK to Ireland.

I think everybody knows that birthday cards go through a few different departments