Royal Mail Tracking Question

I purchased an album from a UK vendor on 5-9. Here is what RM is showing currently for trcking:

10/05/17 04:55 ARRIVED (MDN) AT HEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC
09/05/17 19:19 ON ITS WAY TOHEATHROW WORLDWIDE DC SOUTHAMPTON MAIL CENTRE
09/05/17 18:53 ITEM COLLECTED SOUTHAMPTON MAIL CENTRE
09/05/17 14:42 SENT AT POST OFFICE 3 Longstock Cres SO40 8ED

I would think this would have arrived in the US by now and been handed to USPS for delivery. I ran the tracking # through their site and they have a record on it but no location information.

Before someone suggests I am being impatient I just want to make it clear this is just a query as to procedure. Air shipment I think is well nigh universal these days so it ought to be in the US by now. In past such issues a notation appears in the USPS record to indicate arrival here, none showing as yet. This is an item of some value and it just seems six days with no update may be cause for worry. Unless it is being sent surface. Is that possible? It was last recorded at Heathrow.

Stamps, nothing out of the ordinary. When I order anything from the Netherlands and it is shipped with tracking it stops being tracked as soon as it leaves Schiphol, or in your case Heathrow. The USPS is very bad when it comes to international tracking.
By the way, please be patient because once it hits our shores it has to go through Homeland Security and that may take time also.
By the way, I just noticed your package was last tracked only five days ago. Yes, you do need patience - try again in a week to ten days!


Peter

Tracking on the RM site for mail sent to the US tends to cut out once it leaves the UK. At that stage, start using the RM tracking numbers in the USPS tracking site and you may be surprised.

Thanks to you both. Peter, I knew you would reply and counsel patience!

Some carriers have a seamless transfer. I note DHS usually has USPS tracking pick up immediately upon entering the US system. RM and LaPoste seem not to. It's just one of those things.

I could not resist it!
But serious now. my experience with tracked stuff from West Europe is that it takes between two and three weeks.


Peter

Here is what is on USPS as of today:

May 16, 2017, 5:32 am Processed Through Facility LANGLEY HWDC, UNITED KINGDOM
May 9, 2017, 2:42 pm Acceptance UNITED KINGDOM

Shows as still in the UK as of today. There is a reason why many overseas shippers use DHL.

I am trying hard to be patient. I really am....

Air Mail from UK sometime take 1 week , others times 3 weeks, so just seat and relax, no life is in danger.

So what is the update ....... I purchase something on the 6th of may, the US seller told me he will ship the next day ..look a the tracking; do you think it's USPS fault ? 11 days before he get in his car and bring the thing at post office, I wait for his explanation, he has a feedback of 100% , you inform your buyer of problems, you don't wait the customer complain.

area66,

That is strange and sort of similar to what happened on my tracking. Our British members will be happy to learn that this sort of thing is not just limited to Royal Mail. It's as if some shipments just disappear into a dark hole for days at a time before resuming their journey.

In my case USPS tracking is now showing the mailing is out for delivery today. A little over two weeks from the UK is not at all bad. My sense of relief at getting my purchase will erase any angst at the tortuous journey the postal system sent it on.

I once have a package from Colorado that stay 3 months in LA airport,

here something many US seller don't know about shipping in Canada:

They fill a custom form and on it you have a # that will look like this LC644972444US, it's a plain tracking #, it will not show on USPS but on Canada Post yes. Canada Post and USPS are link together but info is more detail one one sometime. It's quite simple to ship something here from US , but for some sellers it's the end of the world

look here the post office keep the right part and the carbon copy uder the green part and the top label green part go on the package

By the way, may be your albums will come on those beautifull Royal mail bag , I posted the one I receive on this forum, but I don't find it ..anyway it's like this , it's more blue than this pic I found on Google

Yeah, I got one of those bags once. It was sort of neat, I used it for storage of kiloware and odds and ends. It eventually got torn and I had to discard it. Be nice to have another one.

Our mail usually arrives about an hour from now. waiting...

Now Stamps, you have got us all wondering! How come you don't let us know if you received your album?


Peter

I forget to tell ...they deliver it here by mistake an hour ago ......

Yes it arrived. I had some worries upon seeing they had been sent in a box that looked recycled several times. Sealed with masking tape, sender wrapped them in bubble wrap. Both volumes look good, bindings nice and tight. No musty nor cigarette smell.

One minor disappointment was that I was hoping these volumes would come with a few blank pages interspersed for additional items, covers, etc as I have seen in some editions, these don't.

Seller was left good feedback. No Royal Mail bag.

No cigarette smell? Can't have been my copy, then.