An Post International mail service cancelled?

martingkenny

Hi guys, I'm hoping I can find an answer to my question here. I receive quite a few packages from international countries and since An Post announced restrictions on postal services in Feb'2020 due to Covid-19 outbreak all international packages have stopping arriving.
Im not only talking about China but also Ukraine, Belgium, Spain and Brazil.
Funny thing is before the packages left the above countries tracking showed an unusual delay in the departure airport of every country (1 week) but they eventually departed but have not been scanned in Ireland by An Post yet!
My question is are An Post holding all international packages recieved in Ireland and not scanning them upon arrival till the Virus lock down is over?

newirishman

martingkenny wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm hoping I can find an answer to my question here. I receive quite a few packages from international countries and since An Post announced restrictions on postal services in Feb'2020 due to Covid-19 outbreak all international packages have stopping arriving.
Im not only talking about China but also Ukraine, Belgium, Spain and Brazil.
Funny thing is before the packages left the above countries tracking showed an unusual delay in the departure airport of every country (1 week) but they eventually departed but have not been scanned in Ireland by An Post yet!
My question is are An Post holding all international packages recieved in Ireland and not scanning them upon arrival till the Virus lock down is over?

Trying to get some parcels from the Continent, and the problem seems to be with postal service in the originating countries. They apparently don’t get enough flights to Ireland, even for parcels. Some Postal services have just stopped sending parcels abroad at all.
Not An Posts fault as far as I could find out.

sheepsh4gger

Sending:
The An Post tracking system is shot. The website either hangs or says the code was not found.
I went to my local post-office with a packet, a pre-paid label from the AnPost website and even the green slip filled out for international shipments. Their website said parcels to USA are not allowed but packets (large envelopes) and letters are.
I tired looking up the tracking number from the receipt the cashier gave me (they scan the barcode, a receipt comes out and they say to leave the envelope in the corner of the room) and nothing comes up for a couple of days now.

Receiving:
I ordered an iPod-Touch from Luxemburg and it was supposed to show up on 15th of March. Nothing did. Their tracking just says it was dispatched to Ireland.

Honestly I totally can't stand An Post. I lost a couple of parcels already with them and my Etsy customers were fuming.

con747

Have received parcels from China, UK, Germany all in the past 2 months numerous times with a week or two delay on the China ones.

sheepsh4gger

To be specific - I received a couple of packages from China, they got delayed but arrived eventually. I think the problem is with packages from within the EU - they are not arriving.

martingkenny

con747 wrote: »

Have received parcels from China, UK, Germany all in the past 2 months numerous times with a week or two delay on the China ones.

I rang An Post and a representative told me they are currently not sending any post to China and a few other countries and the girl told me she too is personally experiencing a significant delay in receiving her own packages.
Up until the end of February delivery was as normal for me anyway but after that delays.
IMO there is a problem receiving all international post since March last probably to do with An Post staggering shift work due to the pandemic.
It would be nice if they could just scan the packages to let us know where the package are!

sheepsh4gger

martingkenny wrote: »

It would be nice if they could just scan the packages to let us know where the package are!

Yes, I agree. It's better to show your Ebay/Etsy customer that say a parcel is stuck processing at Heathrow for the past 3 days than have nothing to show at all. At least they know it wasn't lost.


I suspect because the passenger planes are not running parcels aren't also. I think the lower half of a passenger plane is used for mail.

L1011

Nearly all of the 'old' airlines run belly cargo including mail - Ryanair don't. This is the backbone of airmail systems for postal operators around the world, and the old land/sea systems are mostly defunct at this stage. When those passenger flights don't operate, that relatively cheap cargo doesn't exist. We may notice some unexpected impacts if this extends to the winter, e.g. some types of vegetables that come here in the planes going to/from the Canaries just won't come here at all.

Package/courier firms like DHL/UPS/Fedex have their own airlines with full freighter aircraft, and those are still operating at normal capacity in most cases.

sheepsh4gger

L1011 wrote: »

Package/courier firms like DHL/UPS/Fedex have their own airlines with full freighter aircraft, and those are still operating at normal capacity in most cases.

Good point, next time I'll use DHL.

martingkenny

L1011 wrote: »

Nearly all of the 'old' airlines run belly cargo including mail - Ryanair don't. This is the backbone of airmail systems for postal operators around the world, and the old land/sea systems are mostly defunct at this stage. When those passenger flights don't operate, that relatively cheap cargo doesn't exist. We may notice some unexpected impacts if this extends to the winter, e.g. some types of vegetables that come here in the planes going to/from the Canaries just won't come here at all.

Package/courier firms like DHL/UPS/Fedex have their own airlines with full freighter aircraft, and those are still operating at normal capacity in most cases.

Ah, I think you hit the nail with the hammer.
Thanks for your help.