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Misdirected Parcel

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  1. #1

    Misdirected Parcel

    I was wondering if anyone has experience with misdirected parcels. My father sent me a parcel from the UK. To Hong Kong. Following the Parcelforce tracking, it has ended up in Beijing where it has been held by customs for "incorrect paperwork" and apparently will be subject to duty. WTF?

    I have seen the receipt and it clearly shows a Hong Kong address. I am at a loss on how to proceed. The parcel is worth 600 pounds and fortunately is insured for the full price.

    I thought there was direct delivery from UK to HK.


  2. #2

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    Claim should be filed in the originating country - UK.

    Cargo flights can take rather weird routes.. May be it just 'fell off the plane'?

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  3. #3

    Yes indeed. I get the feeling it is going to be very difficult to retrieve, so a claim will be in order.


  4. #4

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    Regard it as tribute payment to the emperor.

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  5. #5

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    Did your father put "China" anywhere in the address? I was told by the UK PO last year that HK mail should say only Hong Kong...I had written SAR, China at the bottom....as the Hong Kong routing is different. If you write China anywhere it will be routed via the Mainland first.


  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by PointingFinger:
    Did your father put "China" anywhere in the address? I was told by the UK PO last year that HK mail should say only Hong Kong...I had written SAR, China at the bottom....as the Hong Kong routing is different. If you write China anywhere it will be routed via the Mainland first.
    Yes indeed. He did. Oh dear...

  7. #7

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    Yeah that's never coming back....

    I had a package from UK route via Shanghai earlier this year for no apparent reason (not addressed for China) and it stayed there for 2 months before finally coming here. However the carrier tracking only ever showed it as being in transit.

    Royal Mail claim process was quite easy, but I think you have to wait until it is 21 days past the last due date. My claim was being processed and they seemed ready to pay out when it finally departed the middle kingdom.

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  8. #8

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    Original Post Deleted
    I have worked at a post office sorting the outbound mail. If you write China it’s a good chance that it will end up right there.

  9. #9

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    Original Post Deleted
    Which part of "the UK PO told me" didn't you understand? This was told to me by the person at the PO counter when I went to send it.

  10. #10

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    Original Post Deleted
    What is the myth? That mail is sorted by humans?

    From what little I know about mail... it all boils down to what was put on the barcode - if the country designator was China as pointed out, there is a good chance it got thrown into a bag or pallet that was headed to China, by an automated sorter.

    I really do think that this is the first point of failure. It then depends on someone at a local level (usually lost mail handling) reading the address and going "oops" and then dealing with it depending on whatever their standard operating protocol is... I assume in China the protocol is "fuck it .. no time to deal with this shit".

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