Lessons learnt the hard way

On the other hand, and in the other direction, I have just had a large carpet square delivered from the US. Ordered just before midnight on a Thursday night, arrived at our door at noon on Monday.

I m not sure how you sent your parcel shnackie but I would never trust sending anything by Royal Mail or Parcel Force that wasn't insured.Not sure if any other carriers are any better but Royal Mail (what a joke) seem to be getting worse. Opened birthday cards, lost parcels, opened parcels with things missing and little help when you complain. I would no longer send anything (other than a very basic letter) with them uninsured.

So sorry to hear that your parcel is "lost" ( it's nothing to do with how valuable the contents but the fact that you should be able to trust the postal system.

I thought the thing about Kinder eggs was to do with hygiene. You are not allowed non-foods inside food.

Our parcels to GC in the US usually take much longer than a week. And they are utterly hopeless with letters.

Well a different country but about a month ago I posted a small parcel to my daughter in Ireland they have only just started having post codes so I checked double and treble checked that I d got it right and yes you ve got it it has never arrived the blooming postage cost as much as the small present I m very annoyed I have now filled in a form etc but have not heard anything from the post office .... I sent a birthday card as well without the new post code and that arrived perfectly I had my 'sent from' address on the back but it hasn't come back to me

I sympathise, Schnackie as I too mail parcels to my son in America and have had a less than acceptable service.

My grandson's birthday card never arrived, last year, then a parcel I sent for Christmas, which contained Christmas jumpers for everyone went missing.

They eventually received them at the end of January. They all decided to wear them just for one evening, despite Christmas being well and truly over, but took them off again as quick as they could, because the clothes were stinking of mould and dirt. It isn't cheap to mail abroad, in the first place, and to get this kind of service is appalling.

schnackie how disappointing and frustrating for you - especially when other packages had all travelled safely. You clearly put such a lot of love and thought into the parcel and the loss of some personal items must make it feel all the more sad.

Is there any tracking system that would give you a clue as to where / when the package went astray? I know it won't bring it back, but still might feel helpful to know.

Packages are so very expensive to send these days. I get very cross when asked to pay extra to ensure 'next day' delivery - surely that is what first class always used to be about? And I tend to say 'Under £20 and 'nothing of value' even if it has cost up to £30-£35 as I think it wrong to be asked to pay so much!

JUST maybe your parcel will turn up. I hope the mail service can give you some idea of what / where things went wrong too.

How sad. We experienced this when sending to another country whose name I don't want to mention. However, we knew there were problems; we sent inexpensive but otherwise unobtainable items, and we're glad if one or two out of 10 made it through.
I would have expected the US to have had a proper system of notifying.l

If it had been stopped by customs for any reason would you have been notified by them .?
My mil had sent a parcel containing "forbidden fruits" and she was notified along with choice of a bill or confiscation.

What a shame, and how annoying. Kinder eggs are forbidden? How strange.
2 months is a long time but you never know, it may turn up intact with those firbidden sweeties. Hope so.