It was announced last week that due to a ‘cyber-attack’, systems used by Royal Mail in the UK for processing and dispatching of international mail items were taken down, and since Friday 12th January 2023, Royal Mail have not been accepting any parcels or packets for export.
It has been incredibly frustrating for ourselves as a seller offering products for sale to customers around the world, and we thank our customers for bearing with us during this time.
Luckily for us, we have been able to make use of Deutsche Post’s services to dispatch many items this week, however we have been unable to post to Australia and New Zealand as they are no longer supported by Deutsche Post. We’ve also used DPD, Parcelforce and DHL Express where we’ve been able to cover any additional costs incurred.
After several days without any update from Royal Mail, when we began to wonder if these export services would resume at all, it would seem there is some light at the end of the tunnel, with todays update:
Service update: 18th of January 2023
Following the recent cyber incident, we are trialling operational workarounds and have started moving limited volumes of export parcels. While we trial these operational workarounds, we continue to ask customers not to submit any new export parcels into the network. Our initial focus will be to clear mail that has already been processed and is waiting to be despatched.
We are pleased to announce that we have resumed the export of International Standard and International Economy letters which do not require a customs declaration (i.e. these letters do not contain goods); International Business Standard (untracked) and International Business Economy personal correspondence letters (which do not require a customs declaration) to all international destinations. From 1900 on 18 January, customers will be able to start sending International Standard and International Economy letters which do not require a customs declaration (i.e. these letters do not contain goods); International Business Standard (untracked) and International Business Economy personal correspondence letters (which do not require a customs declaration) into the Royal Mail network through all channels including Royal Mail post boxes and Post Office branches.
Royal Mail continues to work with external experts, the security authorities and regulators to mitigate the impact of this cyber incident, with a focus on restoring export services. 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 minor delays. Royal Mail’s UK services are still operational.
“International Incident Bulletin” – Royal Mail, 18th January 2023
I would expect that international exports of parcels should resume in the next few days following this update, though you can never be certain!
eBay buyers can be assured that any items dispatched via DHL Express (“Express Int’l Shipping”) are not affected by this issue.
