Undelivered Letter

[browndmb]

I sent a letter to York about 10 days ago first class and it has not arrived. Is there any way to find out what has happened to it. It was not recorded. Just posted at a local post box and not had problems sending letters to other places.

[Paigntonian]

You can ask for compensation even without proof of posting. I think I received £8 last time it happened.

[AuntPollyGrey]

I'm afraid not. When you advise RM of a missing item you need a tracking number. If the letter was not sent recorded, they have no chance of finding it as it will have left no trail.

[chelle7272]

I doubt they can find it if lost or mis-posted but you may get compensation.
https://www.royalmail.com/retail-compensation-policy-loss

[gingejbee]

Still time...I had a 1st-class letter arrive after 13-14 days recently - from 25 miles away!

[FoxLee2]

Can the recipient of the letter find out if there are problems at his/her sorting office? A while back I sent a letter to my sister (Herts to Essex) - the post box at Tesco was full to the top but I squeezed it in and time went by and she didn't receive it so i assumed it had been taken. Four weeks later she received it - there had been major problems at her local sorting office with staff shortages etc.

[windywillow]

The RM won't class it as missing until 15 working days have passed.

Like others have said, there is still a chance it could show up.

[Zacs-Master]

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/106716-longest-postal-delay

[windywillow]

An eBay buyer complained she'd waited 12 days for an item to turn up, she was not happy so I refunded her.

The item turned up that afternoon. At least she messaged to let me know it had arrived.

[Smowball]

I’ve had letters take 2 weeks to arrive lately!

[-SharonA-]

I posted a birthday card recently which took 13 days to arrive.

[novalis]

It is very hit and miss at the moment. I posted a letter first class to Devon (from Oldham) early last month and that has yet to arrive. One I sent two weeks later to the same address arrived the next day.

[Smowball]

Even more odd is that I posted a card to Germany and it arrived within 2 days lol

[andy-hughes]

Royal Mail is in a shambles right now.

They used to deliver postmen and mail to each area by van, but due to their Covid restrictions, only the driver is allowed in each van.

Postmen that don't drive either have to wait for mail to be delivered to their homes, and they often have to walk back to the sorting office to get another sack of mail, and walk back to their route to deliver it.

This is putting intolerable pressure on posties who are simply unable to complete their allotted delivery loads in the working time they have, even with overtime, with an inevitable knock-on effect on deliveries nationwide.