Parcel marked delivered but missing? What to do in the UK

If a UK business arranged delivery and your online order is marked delivered but missing, contact the retailer. Ask it to check where the courier left the parcel and what evidence supports that location. The House of Commons Library briefing on parcel deliveries distinguishes retailer-arranged deliveries from shipments where the customer arranged the courier.

Open the tracking record through the retailer’s order page or the carrier’s official site. Save the scan time, delivery photo if available, and any note naming a neighbour or collection point. Compare those details with your order address and any instruction you gave. Look for a specific mismatch, such as a different door or a location you never selected.

Check your account’s saved preferences too. Citizens Advice’s guidance for England explains why an agreed safe place or neighbour can affect what happens next. Its page links to guidance for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Include the order number, tracking reference, time of the scan and the detail that does not match. Keep a copy of the message. For example, write “Order 1042 was marked delivered at 14:20. The photo shows a blue door and mine is white. Could you check the delivery location with the courier and tell me the next step?” Use your own facts and share references through a private support channel.

If the retailer says the order was delivered, ask it to identify the delivery location and the instruction it relied on. If the item was never delivered to the agreed place, ask about redelivery or a refund as appropriate. The remedy can depend on the facts and agreed dates. See the Citizens Advice guidance before setting a deadline or requesting cancellation.

Save the original order instructions, preserve the courier evidence and check the discrepancy with the carrier. Give the buyer a date for your next update that your team can meet. A reply that simply repeats the tracking status leaves the location question unresolved.

For related help, see the shipping and claims guides, our report on Ofcom’s parcel research and the tracking help collection.

Sources checked 4 November 2026. Illustrative photograph by Meanwell Packaging via Wikimedia Commons. The image was resized by Wikimedia and may be cropped for display under CC BY 2.0.