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WIDESPREAD COVID-RELATED restrictions and local lockdowns across the world are continuing to impact the distribution and delivery of international parcels and letters, An Post has warned.
The number of international flights operating continues to be severely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, with only limited space available for international letters and parcels, the postal service today.
As a result, many items posted in Ireland during December for delivery across the world are still in transit through airports and seaports.
Local delivery depots across the globe have also been impacted by Covid-19, with some areas also dealing with severe winter weather conditions.
An Post said it expects to be receiving incoming international Christmas parcels and letters for deliver in Ireland throughout January.
“We assure customers that we continue to deliver all international letters and parcels as soon as they are received into Ireland,” An Post said.
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Still in transit… that’s good to know. I posted two parcels to my daughter in San Francisco the third week in November. She still hasn’t got them. No tracking available either.
@Jess Kelly: I have 4 large envelopes that arrived in the US on the 3rd of December, no movement. USPS are way behind on parcels. From my tracking, it looks like they haven’t even been scanned into the sorting office in New York.
@Jess Kelly: Same here, with my daughter in NY. The later package overtook the earlier one and arrived last week. First package is still a no show.
@Jess Kelly: teabags will survive as will tayo. Even if the tayto is crushed she’ll still be able to eat it on toast. It’s the sausages that may be gone off by the time she gets it. But sure look you tried your best, if she was to order on AliExpress she’d be waiting anyway.
@Jess Kelly: Same here.Sent some tayto and choc to my friend in California around then still hasnt received.
The lies from An Post……unreal…..parcels posted November and early December but no sight of them….of course there are some logistical problems but two months late? And why didn’t An Post warn its customers about delays?
@D.B: But they did warn of delays…….
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/post-ask-customers-patience-delays-22992642
Both those articles are dated early November
@Fionn O’ Neill: Right, so, but the delays are mental. also, I know of elderly people who posted parcels & not aware of any warnings, etc. and it still doesn’t explain why other companies have managed to deliver without any problems. here’s one for you, there was a bloke in a van driving around picking up xmas parcels from east europeans around the country- pay your fee- bloke in van delivers and on time. mad, eh.
@D.B: The bloke in the van delivers them internationally ?
@Tommy Roche: yeah, straight onto the ferry and off he went. Neat little enterprise. True story.
@D.B: Granted, it’s not ideal but the warnings were there. They were up to their eyes back in March delivering packages. Obviously Christmas was always going to be bad.
@Fionn O’ Neill: Right, but im still curious as to how other companies managed to deliver on time. Anyway, a lesson for all. Look around for other options.
@D.B: well it’s a matter of capacity. Letters and parcels are shipped in the belly of airplanes as cargo. ups, FedEx and dhl for example can do it faster. they have their own planes. most of FedEx airplane fleet is owned by the us government. That way if the us government needs airlift capacity for things like troops, bombs if there is a war they have it and can call these planes into service in a few hours. They auction the remaining space off if the capacity hasn’t already been prepurchased by companies. A lot of companies will purchase blocks of capacity based on their expected needs for the entire year in January. How many flights are still coming into Ireland. Not very many!!! This means that there is not very much capacity which causes bottlenecks and delays. It’s kinda crazy really
@Siomoin O Rian: Thanks. Good explanation.
@D.B: A lot of post from companies that don’t have their own fleet of aircraft use space on commercial passenger planes for transport, fewer flights = less space to send post.
@D.B: so he drove all the way to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Canada, USA, Argentina? You’re sure it wasn’t Santa Claus? Or should we call this “Fake News” to coin a phrase?
Never mind worldwide – we got a Christmas card sent from Dublin on 20th of December, arriving at our Dublin address on the 7th of January! Disgraceful.
@a: I posted Christmas cards on December 14th and discovered they only arrived last week. This was within Ireland also. Very strange.
@FrustratedASDMum: Amazon parcel delivery priorities are causing mail to be left aside… Amazon is not good for Ireland. Need an Irish equivalent, keep the money in the country.
But big lesson here….some peopleI i know used alternative delivery companies and their parcels got through on time and over the Christmas…..so….people should shop around before they decide on which service they are going to use….An Post never flagged these delays up…if they had….people would have shopped elsewhere…..there must be thousands of parcels missing at this stage….or in lockup somewhere…..
@D.B: your twitter account is suspended. Not surprised seeing as you cannot comprehend a reply showing you two articles about an post warning of delays. The delays are with overseas companies as An Post does not physically send it’s staff abroad with the post.The Canadian postal company is a disaster at the best of times. You probably just like to knock anything Irish. I’d say you are well travelled.
@Ann Basquille Smith:
well, explain why other companies have managed to deliver on time and with no problems? You think every one in Ireland was aware of online warnings back in early November? why weren’t warnings issued at point of transaction?
@Ann Basquille Smith: Could you name these overseas companies. Thanks.
@D.B: I will not waste my time to explain anything as you don’t appear to comprehend previous explanations.
@Ann Basquille Smith: oh right….so you dont know…lol what was that about comprehension?
@D.B: I wouldn’t blame Ann for not responding anymore. Plain to see you never heeded the warnings and are just pissed off now. Everything has been explained excellently to you above. Next time pay attention to warnings.
@D.B: I was warned of possible delays when I posted my parcels in the post office.
@NotMyIreland: your twitter account is just as bad as mine and I suspect Ann is behind that account…..Hmmm…suspicious….a completely useless Twitter account jumps in and comments….
Ann, you sounded very knowledgeable on lots of things, Canada [lol] and an post but you proved you clearly have no idea what you are talking about…..
@Rudy de Groot: and? what do you want. a film of your life story…..?
@Ann Basquille Smith: I agree, and most of the parcels will get delivered eventually, despite the backlog on all ports. He makes it sound as if small companies could handle all our post, but sure they’re only working around the edges of the sheer volume that An Post handles daily, and at a higher cost.
I paid for a courier service for my passport delivery. Tracking shows it was consigned to An Post on 22 December but it still hasn’t arrived in Italy. Tracking has also disappeared.
Contact with An Post and Passport Office is a joke, they refer you to their websites which I now know off by heart.They have the excuse that they are working from home.
We should have a refund, ordinary post might have been quicker.
There is an overwhelming disruption to Logistics services globally. Be it Ocean freight, be it UK / European road freight (now also significantly affected by Brexit) Airfreight or parcel services. The problem is that we are faced with a global pandemic, which leads to a lot of illness and self isolation significantly reducing the work force. There is a major increase in online shopping / e-commerce, a shortage of freight space on aircraft (schedules running at only a small percentage of normal), priority given to PPE and now also vaccines. Last but not least a major shortage of container equipment. Taken all these factors together it is no wonder that parcels get stuck in the system.
Did not help An Post closed large Cork sorting office last year.
I sent a small packet to the US in mid November and it hasn’t been delivered, yet 2 cards sent later managed to arrive
Are some of these parcels still in Ireland sorting offices?
@Eddie O’Neill: they won’t reveal that information. theyll take your money though
@Eddie O’Neill: I’m tracking ten that arrived in Ireland in September 2020. I know the volume of post going through An Post has tripled.
I trust An Post to deliver them eventually.
I posted a parcel on the 2nd September to South Africa. No tracking on the system from An Pos. Queried it in November and got a letter to say they looking into it. It arrived the first week of December. I asked for my postage to be refunded as it was An Pos who mislaid it in Ireland. Never heard a thing back from them. They clearly still looking into it and lost the email requesting a refund of postage
I posted an item by Registered Post to Poland on 30th November still hasn’t reached its destination
My partner got a parcel from Amazon, it took two weeks, it ended up in charleville, then mallow, and took 8 days to get to cork city, typical Irish service not fit for purpose, feel sorry for the hard working Post men and Woman out there….
We posted an An Post box to New Zealand on 25th November, still not delivered.
I paid for a courier service for my passport delivery. Tracking shows it was consigned to An Post on 22 December but it still hasn’t arrived in Italy. Tracking has also disappeared.
Contact with An Post and Passport Office is a joke, they refer you to their websites which I now know off by heart.They have the excuse that they are working from home.
We should have a refund, ordinary post might have been quicker.
Placed an order with Lights.ie before Christmas, package shipped from Germany but didn’t make it further then the hub there and has been marked as retuned.
No communication from the company or response to email.
Our cards sent before Christmas arrived in Norway yesterday, the Netherlands today. Caused much hilarity!
Out of curiosity, what tracking apps or websites would anyone here recommend?
I’m using Postal Ninja which finds most of the numbers. Have also tried out a comparable one, 17 Track. And the company ones.
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