Royal Mail temporary suspension of overseas shipments - What can I do?

Overview

This article provides guidance on actions you can take when Royal Mail international services are temporarily unavailable through StoreFeeder.

When Royal Mail international services are suspended, attempting to despatch an order using an international service will display the following error:

"Royal Mail international services are currently unavailable. Please use an alternative service. See status page for more info"

This situation is beyond StoreFeeder's control. For questions specific to the suspension, contact your Royal Mail Account Manager.

Before you begin

• Any international mail already sent to Royal Mail must still be manifested as normal.
• If you have produced labels for international parcels but are holding the mail back, do not manifest those labels until the mail is ready to be collected.
• Domestic mail is unaffected and should be manifested as normal.

Important: The options below are provided as advice only — they are not instructions. Make sure you understand the shipping costs and service levels for any alternative carrier before making changes.

Option 1: Switch to an alternative international carrier

If you have alternative international carrier integrations (for example DPD, DHL, or Evri), you can use them for international orders during the suspension.

To route orders automatically to an alternative carrier:

1. Create a new shipping method for the alternative carrier. Follow the "Creating A Shipping Method" guide in the StoreFeeder knowledge base.
2. Update your shipping rules to direct international orders to the new shipping method. Follow the "How To Create Shipping Rules" and "Updating Your Shipping Rules" guides in the StoreFeeder knowledge base.

Option 2: Change the shipping method on individual orders

If you do not want to update your shipping rules, you can change the shipping method order by order:

1. Open the order in StoreFeeder and change the shipping method manually.

Or, for multiple orders at once:

1. On the Manage Orders page, select all the orders you want to update.
2. Open the bulk action dropdown and select Alter Shipping Method.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Troubleshooting

If you have no alternative international carrier options, StoreFeeder is unable to offer further alternatives. Contact your carrier account managers to discuss options.