Royal Mail hacked?

[mmie353]

Just wondering is there any news over there on the Royal mail and them being hacked? I have an order that as dispatched by Royal Mail on the day that the announcement was made. 

[MikeO]

Yes they have been hacked and have suspended international shipping.

This is the latest update on its website

 

Monday 16 January 2023

 

 

ROYAL MAIL INTERNATIONAL EXPORT SERVICES

Royal Mail is experiencing severe service disruption to our international export services following a cyber incident.

We are temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations. To support faster recovery when our service is restored and to prevent a build-up of export items in our network, we’re asking customers not to post international items until further notice. Items that have already been despatched may be subject to delays. We would like to sincerely apologise to impacted customers for any disruption this incident is causing.

Our import operations continue to perform a full service, with some minor delays. Parcelforce Worldwide export services are still operating to all international destinations though customers should expect delays of one to two days.

Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this disruption and we will update you as soon as we have more information. We immediately launched an investigation into the incident and we are working with external experts. We have reported the incident to our regulators and the relevant security authorities.

 

Hope this is helpful.

MikeO

[amdaley]

They really are a disaster 

Makes An Post seem world class.

[Bob229]

In the same boat parcel sent last Monday week,  will be waiting a while

[Billycan]

Daughter had a parcel posted from the UK that she was not expecting to pay any charges for.  She got a text asking her to click a link to pay.  I don't think An Post send out texts.  They send a card complete with reference number and tracking ID Number inviting you to pay either online at their link or through a Post Office.  She didn't pay anything and later when she was at the concierge where she lives she was told they had a parcel for her.  No fee due.

In a different incident, two days later she got a text asking her to urgently transfer €200.00 to an account and it was signed, Mum.  She was naturally suspicious (urgent transfers like that might normally be the other way around) so she rang her Mum.  No such request.

Scams?

I have some ModelU figurines in the system and I have paid the VAT and Admin Fee as per an An Post card request.  Expected they be delivered this morning (Mon.).  Hopefully tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Westcorkrailway]

I sent a few West Cork Railway Books to the UK on belhalf of the author. I sent them on the 22nd and they were there by the 27th or something mad like that. Meanwhile my locomotives of the GSR has been there since early November, and a small CBSC stamp that should be a tiny envelope has not moved since December! 

[Broithe]

1 minute ago, Westcorkrailway said:

I sent a few West Cork Railway Books to the UK on belhalf of the author. I sent them on the 22nd and they were there by the 27th or something mad like that. Meanwhile my locomotives of the GSR has been there since early November, and a small CBSC stamp that should be a tiny envelope has not moved since December! 

I understand that they will prioritise parcels over letters.

It may be due to the volume that they create when they start to stack up...

[amdaley]

18 hours ago, Bob229 said:

In the same boat parcel sent last Monday week,  will be waiting a while

That might still arrive ?

Hattons sent me a package on Dec 5th which was never seen again.

Claim gone in for compensation now.

 

[Billycan]

17 hours ago, Billycan said:

 

I have some ModelU figurines in the system and I have paid the VAT and Admin Fee as per an An Post card request.  Expected they be delivered this morning (Mon.).  Hopefully tomorrow.

 

Received this morning.  Was posted in the UK 13 Dec.

[Bob229]

5 hours ago, amdaley said:

That might still arrive ?

Hattons sent me a package on Dec 5th which was never seen again.

Claim gone in for compensation now.

 

Terrible service,  I be waiting a good while should have taken the DHL option

[Broithe]

5 hours ago, amdaley said:

That might still arrive ?

Not everything will arrive, I suspect, there are reports of many parcels being "inspected by volunteer workers" - four-legged volunteers of the rat and fox persuasion - as so much is having to be stored in insecure and outdoor locations...

[spudfan]

I had a Dapol class 59 dispatched by Hattons on the 14th December and I received it on December 29th.

 

[mmie353]

My order was I am told taken to a post office and an hour later, they announced this one. I am not sure if the seller can get the items back  or if they are holding them in a sorting office until all this is cleared up. I had orders delayed in December because of the strike and now this is going on. I have checked online but at the moment, is there an ETA advised yet as to when service will be restored?

[airfixfan]

Watch put for those scams claimed postage etc is underpaid for parcels. These hackers will steal your details and money. Be warned

[amdaley]

5 hours ago, Bob229 said:

Terrible service,  I be waiting a good while should have taken the DHL option

I took the DHL option for another larger package & had it in two days which was great.

Up to now I have always found that Royal Mail were pretty good with the signed for stuff & most of the problems I had were with An Post.

[popeye]

I got a small parcel from Royal Mail a while back.

It should have been signed for but he left it outside the door in the rain and left without a signature.

It was soaked as it was only wrapped in brown paper.

Very bad service. 

[irishmail]

Had a delivery from Railtec transfers today all arrived safe and well.  It was posted just before Royal Mail announced the problems with shipping overseas so must have got through just in time.

[mmie353]

Lucky you, I am still waiting on mine to move from the 11th, if it could ever hit a plane get over here... The wait continues.. 

[Bob229]

Thankfully my parcel from Royal mail arrived on Wednesday last all good, posted on Jan 9th

[Westcorkrailway]

Good to hear….according to @Mike 84C his local post office would not take international mail until further notice due to the hack

[amdaley]

1 hour ago, Westcorkrailway said:

Good to hear….according to @Mike 84C his local post office would not take international mail until further notice due to the hack

I think they're accepting international packages again.

I got a signed for package from Hatton's yesterday.

Only took 2 months 

[mmie353]

Lol yup, so my pack finally left the UK and it is somewhere in US customs, so soon as USPS finally get it, is when it will pop up for me to track again. I placed the order close to a month now so I could be a few weeks more waiting for customs to release it, so we shall see. Are Royal Mail taking new deliveries for International?

[Sean]

was getting a little worried reading  this thread as i have stuff in transit.

 

 

Feeling a lot better now, order was placed friday,

[DJ Dangerous]

Royal Mail International Bulletin:

https://www.royalmail.com/international-incident-bulletin

Says that they have re-started a lot of their services but not all.

[irishmail]

This is the latest information that is on the Hatton's website. 

[Sean]

Impressed I am NOT. hattons too.

[DJ Dangerous]

3 minutes ago, Sean said:

Impressed I am NOT. hattons too.

 

What happened?

An Post rejected the parcel within 33 minutes of receiving it???

[Billycan]

From the horses mouth.  Lady in UK visited her post office with parcel of birthday present for grandchild in Ireland.  Post Office lady said, Sorry we can accept that there's some problem with the Irish postal system.  A case of, let blame someone else and we'll look good.  I guess some folks aren't even aware of the concept of mushroom treatment.

And now, a letter dated 27 January 2023 posted in UK received in Dublin this morning.  Not too bad.

Getting there.

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by Billycan
Typo

[DJ Dangerous]

2 minutes ago, Billycan said:

From the horses mouth.  Lady in UK visited her post office with parcel of birthday present for grandchild in Ireland.  Post off lady said, Sorry we can accept that there's some problem with the Irish postal system.  A case of, let blame someone else and we'll look good.  I guess some folks aren't even aware of the concept of mushroom treatment.

And now, a letter dated 27 January 2023 posted in UK received in Dublin this morning.

Getting there.

 

 

 

 

Prior to the Royal Mail IT crisis, I bought something from Hatton's, paid the VAT, and had it shipped to an Irish address.

An Post stopped it and charged VAT and handling fees.

Hatton's refiunded these fees to me on payment, and sending receipt of said payment to them, and said that they were having problems with An Post not reading the documentation, and subsequently charging fees where inappropriate.

As an aside, I posted five parcels a month or two ago, three to Ireland, one to Lithuania and one to the UK. All were correctly declared as gifts, and valued very low.

All three Irish parcels were stopped by An Post and had VAT and handling fees applied. The UK parcel did not, and the Lithuania parcel did not.

It would appear that An Post are just a shower of bumbling incompetent morons.

Even yesterday, somebody tried posting something from an An Post office to me, and the idiot behind the counter refused to attach a CN23. The sender had to return today to get the idiot's supervisor to attach the CN23.

The incompetence of An Post knows no bounds.

P.S.: Apologies for the typos in my posts, but the sand is playing havoc with my keyboard!

[Ironroad]

3 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

The incompetence of An Post knows no bounds!

I have to agree. We posted a batch of Christmas cards to Ireland in the US on Dec 12. Some of these were delivered quite late only arriving after Christmas the worst being  a delivery date of Jan 31, (50 days in transit when the expected norm is 6 days). The fact that some did arrive before Christmas would suggest that all were in the possession  of An Post well before Christmas.

[Sean]

17 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

What happened?

An Post rejected the parcel within 33 minutes of receiving it???

This item was unable to be exported due to one of the following reasons:

Prohibited item

Insufficient, incomplete or incorrect documentation It will now be returned to the sender.
Please contact the sender for queries.

 

no doubt it will be some bullshit relating to the cn22 considering it only had a few gaugemaster plastic kits inside and IRM bufferstops, one saving grace is that im after a few more point motors so hopefully hattons let me add to it before its sent back out,  still super frustrating though as my patience usually has me waiting at the letterbox for days even before the thing is due to arrive.

 

theres another package with point motors and uncoupling ramps coming through the same channels, so will be interesting to see if this one  gets through safely, im expecting that it should and that this is a one off mishap.

 

edit: according to anpost tracking the item was sorted at 11:07 with no mention at all of the cancelled export or customs which apparently happened nearly half an hour after this scan.

 

 

the mind boggles, hopefully its an error and i actually see it this side of the weekend......

Edited February 10, 2023 by Sean

[jhb171achill]

12 hours ago, Sean said:

This item was unable to be exported due to one of the following reasons:

Prohibited item

Insufficient, incomplete or incorrect documentation It will now be returned to the sender.
Please contact the sender for queries.

 

no doubt it will be some bullshit relating to the cn22 considering it only had a few gaugemaster plastic kits inside and IRM bufferstops, one saving grace is that im after a few more point motors so hopefully hattons let me add to it before its sent back out,  still super frustrating though as my patience usually has me waiting at the letterbox for days even before the thing is due to arrive.

 

theres another package with point motors and uncoupling ramps coming through the same channels, so will be interesting to see if this one  gets through safely, im expecting that it should and that this is a one off mishap.

 

edit: according to anpost tracking the item was sorted at 11:07 with no mention at all of the cancelled export or customs which apparently happened nearly half an hour after this scan.

 

 

the mind boggles, hopefully its an error and i actually see it this side of the weekend......

Is there any benefit in using a commercial delivery service (something I’m normally dead set against) instead of the clearly confused and inconsistent An Pist / Royal Fail?

[amdaley]

17 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Is there any benefit in using a commercial delivery service (something I’m normally dead set against) instead of the clearly confused and inconsistent An Pist / Royal Fail?

I used DHL from Hattons & it arrived in two days.

I also used Royal Mail from Hattons at the same time & it took two months 

[Broithe]

23 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

Is there any benefit in using a commercial delivery service (something I’m normally dead set against) instead of the clearly confused and inconsistent An Pist / Royal Fail?

'Royal' Mail is a commercial service, in the sense that it was privatised a decade ago.

The UK government did retain a minority shareholding for a while, but I believe that they sold those entirely around 2015.

It retains the use of the brand, although its real name is International Distribution Services plc.

[jhb171achill]

9 minutes ago, Broithe said:

'Royal' Mail is a commercial service, in the sense that it was privatised a decade ago.

 

Good point - I had forgotten that….