The Royal Mail is a reliable and efficient mailing company in the UK. According to Statista, Royal mail delivered a whopping 14.4 billion letters and 1.2 billion parcels between March 2017 and March 2018. They have well-laid out protocols and procedures to ensure that your mail delivery is done duly.
When you send a parcel via Royal Mail, you are assigned a link or reference number. This link will help you in tracking your order. In the mail tracking system, your order status changes from time to time under different labels.
Sometimes you may be unacquainted with some of the terms used and as a result, tracking your order becomes a challenge. However, you need not worry anymore. Here, we shall discuss some of those terms so that you can have a homely experience in tracking your order.
Outward RDC
RDC refers to a Regional Distribution Centre. This Regional Distribution Center comprises a large warehouse, usually owned by one or multiple companies, where daily parcel deliveries transpire. When your parcel is dispatched out of the UK, it is received at an RDC before it is sent to its rightful destination.
Outward RDC-Volumetric Acceptance
Once your mail has been received safely at a Regional Distribution Center, it’s status on the tracking system changes to Outward Regional Distribution Volumetric Acceptance. You may have come across this term on the tracking dashboard and wondered what it meant. This simply means that your mail has been received at the warehouse. The only thing remaining is for it to be scheduled for shipping to its destination.
Outward RDC handheld acceptance
Once your parcel is received and accepted at the Regional Distribution Center, it is held for some time before it is dispatched to its posted destination. As long as the parcel is still in the system and has not yet been marked for distribution, it earns the Handheld Acceptance tag.
The Tracking Process
Royal mail enables you to track your mail once it’s in transit. They assign you a mail number that you can enter into their easy-to-use tracking system. A barcode is usually attached to your mail. Every time your mail is scanned, the information is updated on the tracking system. Through this system, you are kept up to date with your mail’s progress.
The amount of scanning and change in the status of your mail depends on the type of service that you are using. For example, Internal UK Services tracking will be different from International Services tracking. Let us now delve into the terms that you are likely to encounter when tracking your mail.
Terms used in the tracking system
Item Dispatched
After posting your mail, you have to update Royal Mail that you have consigned your mail to them. This means that they can now update your mail info for accurate processing. Here is when you get your tracking reference number. The number is between 9 and 27 characters long. You’ll find it on your item’s label or your Post Office receipt.
Item received
When your mail status is ‘received’, it means that your item is already in the Royal Mail system. From here you can opt to track your order step by step until it is delivered. Depending on the service you use, if you choose delivery confirmation only, you will be updated only when the item has been delivered.
Item posted at Royal Mail Customer Service
This means that your item has been dropped off at customer service with the date, location, and time details included. This information is then uploaded on the Royal Mail System for easy tracking.
Internal technical Issue
This means that Royal Mail has experienced some technical difficulties that may have disrupted the normal mailing process. The Royal Mail devoted team works hard to resolve technical issues as soon as possible. If the status remains the same for longer periods than expected, you can contact the Royal mail ardent customer care team.
In transit
Once your item is received, it is scheduled for delivery. It is then branded ‘in transit’ as it moves through the system awaiting delivery. Location and status details will change from time to time during transit. You can see this using your reference number.
Pending
This usually means that your item is awaiting transit confirmation. Some of the reasons why your item could be marked as pending include:
- The fee to be paid – This happens when the sender has not paid postage fees or when a customs charge has been applied to the item.
- Redirection – Sometimes the mail recipient can change the delivery address. This is done by purchasing a redirection service. The redirection will cause the item to stay in pending mode for a day or two.
- Keepsafe – If the recipient purchases a keepsafe service for any reason, the item is kept at the delivery office for a longer time. During this period, the item stays in pending mode.
- Delivery attempted – Royal mail may incur problems in trying to access the delivery address. If they are unable to deliver the mail, they can try to deliver it the next day.
Ready for delivery
Once your item has been marked ready for delivery, it will be delivered to the destination unless you purchase a keepsafe service. The status will be updated on the tracking system.
Item delivered to safe place
Sometimes the recipient may not be around to pick up the item due to unavoidable circumstances. In such cases, they may opt to use a safe place for delivery. Once the item has been delivered to the safe place, the mail status is updated.
Retention Item
On days that businesses do not open, they can be covered by a retention service. The item will only be delivered on days when they are open.
Collected
Once the recipient has collected their item after delivery, the status is updated as collected. you can now rest easy knowing that the mail has reached the intended destination.
Office of exchange
For international mail, this is an office in every country where parcels are received and stored before they are shipped out to other countries.
Royal mail’s efficient and easy-to-use tracking system makes it easier to send letters and parcels inside and outside the UK. You can rest assured that your item is in safe hands all through the mailing process.