Royal Mail has confirmed the steps customers should take if an item has been marked as delivered but cannot be located.
First steps to take
According to the postal service's official website, customers should first check that the delivery address provided was correct. If the address is correct and the item has been scanned as delivered on the same day but can't be found, Royal Mail states the situation "may be due to a rare scanning error" on their end. In this case, customers are advised to allow an extra day for the item to arrive before getting in touch with the postal company.
What to do if you are the recipient
If you are the recipient, Royal Mail says you should contact the sender of the item. The sender will then need to contact Royal Mail to make an enquiry on your behalf. This applies to parcels bought from an online retailer, where the retailer or sender is responsible for contacting the postal service about the missing delivery.
What to do if you are the sender
If you are the sender, the process is slightly different. For items posted within the UK, Royal Mail advises senders to contact the postal service directly to make an enquiry. For parcels that were originally posted from another country and are being delivered to the UK, Royal Mail says you will need to contact the postal authority in the country where the item was sent. That postal authority can then make an enquiry to the Royal Mail on your behalf.
Royal Mail's advice is to first make sure the address was correct and, if it was marked as delivered that day, give it an extra day in case it was affected by a scanning error. If it still has not appeared, recipients should contact the sender, who can then take the matter up with Royal Mail.
