How do parcels disappear in the post?

[Too Bo Coo]

A lot of things I get from China are postage free, and it usually arrives in 7 - 10 days....

[moonshado]

If the Royal Mail is to believed, the parcels don't disappear they, actually, are so badly damaged by acrylic paint spills that the only thing they can do is to dump the parcels in a bin and swear they have never seen them. Of course now they have limited the number of acrylic paint pots that can be shipped in any one parcel this problem will disappear and in the future all parcels will arrive safely, though possibly smelling of whiskey due to yet another breakage of a glass litre bottle of whiskey in the post. 

[Cherno]

I think I only ever lost two paarcels: One from a local eBay seller (it was a cell phone sleeve, no big deal) and once a 20 USD package from Hong Kong somehow ended up in Italy I think, it never got to me. Both were no big deal though. Every package I have ever send around the world and inside Germany has always reached the recipient without any problems. I mostly use DHL, and once Hermes, I think DHL is a great company which I gladly entrust with my shipping goods.

[fastolfrus]

I would never trust Hermes.

I have had 4 parcels "delivered" by them.
On three occasions I was out, they dropped one parcel over my garden gate (6 feet high), they left one outside my front door in the rain, they left one in my dustbin (on bin collection day, but I got home before the bin men).
The fourth one (a book) was left outside in the rain, but I was in the house at the time and heard the "you were out" card drop through the letterbox, so got to the door (and book) fairly quickly.

[maxxon]

HLJ is ... but it usually takes almost a month.

Weird. My HLJ packages usually get to Finland in 2 weeks or less, often faster than packages from UK. Maybe they smuggle them onto the Moomin planes or something...

Plus I have to say HLJ's private warehouse thing is pure brilliance.

[Vanvlak]

I have never had anything go missing but recently I received a parcel from the US that had ended up in Brazil before being sent back to Canada by the Brazilian postal officials.

How it got from the US to Brazil I will never know but I suspect that many legitimately lost parcels may just end up places where they ought not to be and people don't have the wherewithal or processes to send them back.

Something similar happened to me too - US to Malta went to Malaysia instead - the alphabetical proximity probably explains that. Hats off to the Malaysian postal services though, as they sent me a letter explaining that the parcel had been delivered there by mistake, as well as the parcel itself at no charge. It took some time and a very long trip to get here, but my 60 metal Epic scale knights did arrive safely in the end.

[tnjrp]

My HLJ packages usually get to Finland in 2 weeks or less

That is my experience as well. I've never used anything but SAL with them either so it's not as if I'm paying extra to get them that quickly.

Maybe some countries' mail system or customs office or both have "special treatment" reserved for stuff from Japan

[Centaur_Seducer]

I've just been scammed.

[Cubs]

Well, my parcel to the Netherlands got there very quickly, but not so safely. You'd have thought perhaps the dozen or so 'FRAGILE' stickers might have given some clue as to how it should be handled. Perhaps this was seen as some kind of challenge by the Royal Mail staff. It cost me (well, it cost the customers, since they are paying it) £53 for the priviledge .... I'll be using DHL next time after the recommendations on here.

It was bashed in one side and one of the models within lost his spear, but what worries me is that the receiver said this is absolutely fine and better than the way most arrive.

[Too Bo Coo]

Well, my parcel to the Netherlands got there very quickly, but not so safely. You'd have thought perhaps the dozen or so 'FRAGILE' stickers might have given some clue as to how it should be handled. Perhaps this was seen as some kind of challenge by the Royal Mail staff. It cost me (well, it cost the customers, since they are paying it) £53 for the priviledge .... I'll be using DHL next time after the recommendations on here.

It was bashed in one side and one of the models within lost his spear, but what worries me is that the receiver said this is absolutely fine and better than the way most arrive.

As an 'Honorary' Dutchie who orders a great deal from the UK, I have to say I've never had a problem with the Royal Mail...aside from the outrageous cost and the fact that it takes as long to get something from the UK as it does from the States.  Never had anything destroyed or damaged, but nothing very quick either...

[Cubs]

How bizarre. They quoted me 3-5 days and it got there in 2, so I was happy with that.

[Too Bo Coo]

How bizarre. They quoted me 3-5 days and it got there in 2, so I was happy with that.

Maybe just lucky...aside from the outside damage that is...

[Lovejoy]

I've had in general about 1 in every hundred parcels sent go missing. Including 2 which were sculpted greens for manufacturers... those really hurt.
According to the women at the Post Office, the stuff just gets nicked! They told me not to used insured or registered services at Christmas time, because that just tells people they might be worth stealing...

Well, my parcel to the Netherlands got there very quickly, but not so safely. You'd have thought perhaps the dozen or so 'FRAGILE' stickers might have given some clue as to how it should be handled. Perhaps this was seen as some kind of challenge by the Royal Mail staff.

I used to work as a postie, and there were a couple of guys there who would literally play football with anything they found marked 'Fragile'. Some of them also carried magnets to wipe stuff marked 'Magnetic media'. Just total scum, really.

[swiftnick]

There was a painting service in Prague whose parcels routinely went missing in the post. Far too much to be coincidence not sure if he s still in business.

[Donpimpom]

Recently, talking with my postman, she told me things have changed in the last two years.
Two years ago the biggest part of the mail was commercial mail, but now the recession made the companies cut budgets on commercial mail.
So, the mail (at leats the Spanish mail) is paying more attention at small parcels to individuals, since it seems to be their last source of work.