Contrary to popular stereotypes, international postal communications with the development of information technology are modernizing quite quickly, meeting the needs of people for quality communication services. However, there are service problems, the most painful of which relate to reliability and timely delivery. We will talk about issues related to the loss and delays of parcels along the route, as well as tracking updates reflecting the stages of shipment, in this article.
When should you worry about the fate of a sent parcel? An alarming sign for you should be that your mail item if it is registered, at some stage stopped updating its tracking for a long time. How long and when is a question worth dealing with?
This can happen both when the order is traveling through the sender’s country, and when it is in the recipient’s territory of residence. There are likely situations where the number is not tracked from the very beginning, although the status of the shipment in most cases changes within the first 24 hours.
All these problems can be easily avoided when you use a trusted Deutsche Post international tracking with PKGE.net.
If the Parcel Is no Longer Tracked
Depending on the class of shipment, its tracking can be either full or partial. First, find out from the sender which service and class the order was sent. Pauses in tracking do not always indicate a problem.
But sometimes a long pause in tracking directly indicates a high probability of loss of the package due to the fault of the carrier. Or they are a consequence of dishonest fulfillment of the terms of purchase by the seller when it comes to waiting for a purchase from an online store.
Let’s list common situations that can be defined as problematic.
Parcels That Cannot Be Tracked at All
Usually, cheap orders are sent without a track number. This is normal if you, as the recipient of the shipment, know about it in advance. Such parcels are often lost, but they also often arrive, take a long time, and the time of their arrival at the post office is unpredictable. But the cheap cost of this delivery method is justified if the investment costs even less.
When the parcel arrives at the department, you will be notified.
Partial Parcel Tracking
There are shipments that have a track number and should not be tracked along the entire route. They are delivered by both public and private transport operators.
Difficulties in Online Parcel Registration
It happens that the recipient can be deliberately misled. This is what traders in Chinese online stores do. They register the package remotely, provide the tracking number to the buyer, and ship the order later. Online registration of shipments is a common practice, but normal sellers warn about the timing of actual shipments and try to reduce all misunderstandings to a minimum.
Fraudsters may not send anything at all, relying on the client’s inexperience, wait until the end of the protection period and “wash their hands.” But more often than not, in this way they simply “play for time,” for example, to collect more orders before shipping. To answer inconvenient questions – “Why is the track received a week ago not being tracked?” they come up with reasons “pulled out of thin air.”
There is only one way out here – wait until the order is protected. Most likely, the parcel will be sent to you, but later.
The Parcel Is Stuck Somewhere Between Export and Import
The longest wait for tracking updates will be at this stage, since the transfer of the item to the postal service, which will transport the goods to the recipient, takes place here. In addition, goods will undergo sorting procedures both at the sending and receiving sides, and possibly in one (or even several) transit countries.
It is worth considering that the timing of international shipments between export and import is not regulated in any way.
This period is really long only on holidays and the “hot” autumn season, and can reach up to 30 days. In normal times, it usually does not exceed 7-14 days.
The Parcel Disappeared After Sorting
A prolonged “freezing” at one of the stages also does not mean the parcel is lost. Very often, this situation arises with the seasonal workload of sorting centers (for example, during the New Year holidays). In any case, before the order protection period has expired, you need to contact the seller. If he does not respond, then it is advisable to open a dispute. The marketplace may extend the waiting time for a purchase or decide on compensation.
Of course, cases when the parcel continues to move to the buyer again even after several months do happen. But this is the exception rather than the rule.