My tracking number isn't working? International shipping from United States

How about trying the Parcelforce tracking?
It's a branch of the Royal Mail in charging of worldwide parcels.
http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/track?catId=7500082
Remember to check the "Incoming international parcel?" box.

Or maybe they haven't entered the database
cuz the seller sent them out but USPS hasn't processed them.

 

I'm in the United States, so I'm not sure how useful this will be, but . . . I've never been able to track a parcel sent from another country using Registered Mail. EMS tracking works perfectly, of course, but the less-expensive Registered Mail option just doesn't generate a tracking number that the USPS website recognizes.

Beyond that, insurance numbers are not trackable. I've occasionally bought from sellers (in the US) who give me the insurance number on the parcel and think that I will be able to track its journey that way. But nooooooo.

As I said, I don't know whether these experiences will be useful at all, but here they are, just in case.

 

Now I'm really curious about the kind of tracking number your US seller gave you! I mail quite a few packages to other countries, and I thought I knew all the possibilities.

There is a USPS "delivery confirmation" option that produces a reliable tracking number, but as far as I know, that is indeed only good for packages delivered within the US. I can't imagine a post office putting delivery confirmation on any package going outside the US--unless there's an international delivery confirmation choice that my post office doesn't know about.

USPS insurance numbers are really only usable for filing insurance claims in the horrible event that the package goes completely missing, or is damaged in transit. They can't be used to track the package as it travels--I've asked about that specifically, and my post office is absolutely clear about the answer.

I'm sure your package will arrive safely! But, just for reference in the future . . . the only fully trackable method of mailing from the US to other countries is dear (in every sense of the word) EMS.

 

Registered, if that's what it is, is tracking, it's just not tracking you can check on line. ^^;;; A lot of people might not realize that when they pay for Registered. I had a Registered package to someone in Spain I was trying to track and I had to call the USPS and get a representative who was then able to track the package. With Registered at least, someone must sign for it every step of the way, so things can take much longer than with airmail. ^_^;

I don't know how much you paid for shipping but that is generally a good clue in to how the items were sent to you. Registered is an additional $10.65 to airmail prices (approx $20 or so usually) and I want to say EMS to the UK from the US I think starts around $30 for a 1 pound package.

Could the person have used something other than the USPS to send your package to you?

Good luck, and I hope you get your package soon!

 

No, definitely don't post the number, but don't worry, either--your package will be just fine, I'm sure! But it does sound like a good idea to PM the seller; once you know the specific name of the kind of tracking s/he purchased, you can look up that service on the USPS website and learn more about what it really does. (And I'll be going to the post office on Monday, myself. If I can ask any questions for you, I'd be happy to--just PM me. My post office clerks think the whole doll thing is a hoot, so they're very interested and helpful whenever I have shipping questions.)

 

Sorry to hijack this thread but I'm having the same question. I bought a body off ebay from a US seller, and I asked for it to be sent EMS. The seller sent me a tracking number starting with EH[8-digit#] and ending in US, and when I put it into the usps.com Track & Confirm I'm given the message "Delivery status information is not available for your item via this web site." (this thread came up when I searched for that sentence, incidentally.)

I've never had this happen before when I get something sent EMS... in fact I've never seen this message before. I've tried track-trace.com, but it just throws me back to the USPS site with the same message.

 

Sometimes USPS employees will tell me that the customs form number can be used for tracking (which is true, up until it leaves USA). If you received a number that is 2 letters, 8 #s, and US at the end; that is the standard set up for an international tracking number and most likely not the customs number.

 

From what I can determine based on the information about your tracking numbers, EMS was used in both situations. It is the only method of shipping that is trackable for international packages once they leave the country and they always start with 2 letters with 8 or so numbers and then 2 more letters.

Unfortunately USPS has really been dropping the ball on updating tracking in recent months. I had a package that should have had its tracking updated the day it reached the US and they took 11 days to update that and only after the sender contacted the post in their country about it. Its really been ridiculous. What was once a really great service has been getting worse and worse, so you are probably suffering what a lot of people are right now with the horrible lack of updates that they do on tracking now.

I know it isn't much in the way of assurance to you, but you might need to contact the sender and ask them to inquire about a tracking update. It seems to be the only way to get the postal service to update anything anymore.

 

So very, very true. USPS is giving me no updates on an EMS package that was mailed several days ago--from a 100% reliable sender, so I'm sure the problem isn't with them. And I also don't believe that the package has been sitting still for four days. I'm going to start using the sender's country's postal tracking site instead of USPS, *grrrrr.*

 

The seller just messaged me that a digit was left out of the tracking number sent, and the corrected one works now. eheh.

So I'm guessing that "Delivery status information is not available for your item via this web site." is the new catch-all USPS doublespeak for "your tracking number doesn't exist NYAH."

 

I bought a doll from someone here on DOA just recently. She gave me a tracking number that had the 2 letters, 8 #s, and US at the end. Although I never could get it to work at the US Post Office site or Australia Post site, my boy arrived today, safe and sound. Looks like it might be a case of overworked postal workers falling behind on some tasks

 

USPS is notoriously slow in updating their tracking info. Unlike UPS or FedEx, they don't update package status throughout the day. A majority of the time, your tracking information will only appear once the package is delivered, thus defeating the purpose of tracking it in the first place.

I work in shipping. This happens ALL the time.