Package from Italy...almost 30 days and no updates. Is it lost?

If you have the tracking number what does the Italian poste website say?


http://www.poste.it/online/dovequando/home.do

Plus it's Christmas so who knows how big the backlog is

Scohrdarkshadow,

You need to request the sender to ask the Italian post office to track the package.

You also should call your local post office to see if the package is there. The reason is that the USPS has challenges with their computers quite often so a delivery attempt may have been made and the package is waiting for you. (50% chance)

If your package is determined to be lost after the Italian post office traces it you will get a refund of your postage plus a small amount for the lost goods receipts will typically be needed and could be 3 months till you get the money.

Best of luck!

I am the guy that have proxied the parcel to scohrdarkshadow, and I am really disappointed like him for this annoying delay.

The curious thing is that the same day I have shipped a parcel with same service to Japan (I gave him the tracking code) and italian tracking reports that both parcels left Milan Airport the same day, 12/12.

The other one was delivered to Japan after few days, so I can exclude that the delay depends from Italian Post.

I shipped abroad a lot of times testing various service and this is the first time I encountered a problem like this.

However another recent parcel I've shipped to USA (with Registered Mail) left Milan 12/04 and USPS site reported the parcel as arrived in USA only after ten days, so I think that USPS sometimes can be pretty slow processing International parcels.

Hoping this is the case and this could be resolved soon.
Regards
Edited by alexSF - 12/28/12 at 7:13am

Sometimes things get stuck in customs, especially when using the cheaper shipping options. I had a jacket sent from Germany to the US that sat in customs over there for six weeks before it was released. Once an item reaches the states it will get updated with something like 'inbound into us customs' on the usps site.

I had a package that arrived yesterday take 23 days, I would be patient.

Definitely wait it out past the holidays. As someone mentioned, there's a larger volume this time of year they have to manage.

I've had things that shipped from England that took 3 weeks and it wasn't even holiday season.

After you call your post office if you don't have any luck - you really should request the sender to have the Italian post office trace the package. The trace request does not cost anything and can usually be done quickly through email.

One this will speed up your delivery - two if the package is lost you will receive a refund.

I mail packages 6 days a week and have experience with this whole process waiting is not a good idea, unless you are not concerned...

it's the holidays...there are gonna be delays.
i ordered a leather case for my iPhone 5 just before t-giving. that took about a week longer than i thought it would..
case came from europe...

Someone wrote on another thread that the Italian post office is one of the worst in the world. Christmas time will cause a great delay in delivery times. The USPS isn't very good on updating their packages. I once had a package from Europe that said it was in US customs for a period of time and the package arrived and its/still was stating it was in customs.

Hope it arrives soon.

scohrdarkshadow,

It is my pleasure to help I understand your frustration.

Tracking is what you do with a tracking number.

When the post office traces a package it works like this:

1) The sender (not the receiver) requests that the package be traced.

2) The sender will typically fill out a form with your tracking number, address and a description of the package contents and a copy of the receipt.

3) It should take around a week for the package to be found. This is a key point, if you do not request a trace it may take a month or two to show up if ever.

4) If not found the sender will be refunded the postage and money for the lost item - the exact amount depends on the value and if you had insurance which you should have had.

Good luck!

Probably stuck in customs.  It's a busy time of year and sometimes it can take forever.  I'm sure you'll get it eventually.