International parcel from U.K

[carol.du]

I purchased an ebay item (camera case) from the UK and seller posted using Royal Mail International Standard. Generally how long does it take to arrive in Australia once despatched comes up on tracking? I'm asking because it's already 4 days past the latest ebays ETA. When i've searched up Royal mail website, it says 5-7 days.

I've contact both RM and AP with tracking details but they aren't helpful as RM says AP has control now and AP says it not touch Australian soil yet.

When should i start worrying and what steps should i take? Sorry if sounds noobish but this is the first international item i bought thats kinda slow

[*sparklz*]

Have you contacted the seller?

If they are telling you to wait and delaying you from taking action then act now.

SOME seller will try and put it over a buyer to delay them from doing anything till it is too late to take action.

You can open a dispute for item not received and follow the prompts on how to proceed.

At least you have started the ball rolling and if the item arrives you can close the dispute at any time BUT do not do this till you have the item or a refund no matter what the seller tells you.

If the dispute is closed in your favor and the item arrives after that then you can always repay the seller.

[carol.du]

Thankyou for kind response. I have contacted seller prior to purchase regarding the product before i commit to buy. Generally responds promptly but i would need to wait until abit later for a response due to time difference here and UK 🙂

[davewil1964]

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@*sparklz* wrote:

Have you contacted the seller?

If they are telling you to wait and delaying you from taking action then act now.

SOME seller will try and put it over a buyer to delay them from doing anything till it is too late to take action.

You can open a dispute for item not received and follow the prompts on how to proceed.

At least you have started the ball rolling and if the item arrives you can close the dispute at any time BUT do not do this till you have the item or a refund no matter what the seller tells you.

If the dispute is closed in your favor and the item arrives after that then you can always repay the seller.

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What delaying tactics?

The tracking shows despatched, and RM claims it is in Oz. Maybe held up in Customs?

OP - eBay's estimates are notoriously wrong. Especially for overseas mail. Wait. You have until 30 odd days after the LAST estimated eBay delivery date to lodge a non-received claim. 180 days through Paypal.

[gem-boy-g]

auspost used to be able to track royal mail parcels when they reached aus but the way ap functions now who knows. I'm still reeling from 14 days to next suburb.

[zanadoo_56]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

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@*sparklz* wrote:

Have you contacted the seller?

If they are telling you to wait and delaying you from taking action then act now.

SOME seller will try and put it over a buyer to delay them from doing anything till it is too late to take action.

You can open a dispute for item not received and follow the prompts on how to proceed.

At least you have started the ball rolling and if the item arrives you can close the dispute at any time BUT do not do this till you have the item or a refund no matter what the seller tells you.

If the dispute is closed in your favor and the item arrives after that then you can always repay the seller.

---

What delaying tactics?

The tracking shows despatched, and RM claims it is in Oz. Maybe held up in Customs?

OP - eBay's estimates are notoriously wrong. Especially for overseas mail. Wait. You have until 30 odd days after the LAST estimated eBay delivery date to lodge a non-received claim. 180 days through Paypal.

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I had a UK purchase sent by RM ordinary post where the 'tracking' (not actual paid for tracking but the reference number given at the post office) actually said my parcel had been delivered 'to my address or a neighbour'.  It wasn't.

If it's that kind of number AP probably can't track it either, but I wouldn't panic yet.  I always allow at least a month for overseas parcels.

[michellebartley]

Royal Mail delivery time differs a lot. Most likely anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks delivery time.

[digital*ghost]

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@carol.du wrote:
 When i've searched up Royal mail website, it says 5-7 days.

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Everyone's already replied with the most relevant info, but I just wanted to quickly address this, because if RM are anything like Aus Post, the timeframes they quote aren't for how long it generally is to get a package from dispatched to delivered, but rather how long it takes to get the package from dispatched to having simply arrived in the destination country. 

There are two reasons (that I can fathom) that a postal service would do this - 1, to make their service seem quite good, and 2, because customs processing times can vary greatly, and once cleared, it still needs to be handled / delivered by the local postal service, so the only thing that can be estimated with any reall degree of accuracy is their part of the job.  

If you add the mail service's quote for international packages to the average domestic delivery timeframe (i.e. 4-6 business days), then also add a few days to allow for customs processing and clearance, you'll arrive at a more realistic A to B delivery time (in most cases, there are always exceptions that can speed things up, or delay them). 

eBay's ETAs are also based on those quotes (in this case RM's puported 5-7 days), so that's why they can often seem a bit off.