AliExpress packages and any shopping website go through different states until they’re delivered, but although it’s not very usual all of a sudden, it may appear “Returning to sender” or any of the following:
- Package returned to sender
- Undeliverable returned to sender
- Parcel is returning to sender
- Returned to sender
- Delivery returned
- Parcel is returned by domestic express
Each of these statuses summarizes that your AliExpress package has been returned to the sender or has already been received, but what happened? We tell you about it below.
Why does “returning to sender” appear in the status of my package?
This can be due to different situations such as:
Order abandoned in customs
This is the most common cause, which means that the order was held in customs, has not been claimed, and has been sent back to the seller. It can happen when the buyer believes that receiving a customs notification will be enough to wait for the package to be returned to China and then request a refund.
The reality is that the responsibility with customs is on the buyer. We urge you not to ignore customs notices, as by requesting or opening a dispute you’ll lose it.
Ignored Post Office Notice
Ignored Post Office notices are listed as the second most likely cause of “returning to sender”. Once the letter carrier makes an attempt to deliver the package and hasn’t found you at home, they will keep trying the next business day. If they don’t find you at home either, they will leave a notice in your mailbox or try to contact you directly by SMS to invite you to pick up the package at the office.
Generally, the time to pick it up is between 7 and 14 working days. Avoid coming at the last minute.
Incorrect address
If your package is displayed with the status “undeliverable returned to sender” it’s because the address provided is incorrect or hasn’t been found, so the package will be returned to the seller.
Failure of the post office or courier service
If the return of your package isn’t due to any of the above reasons, we invite you to locate your tracking number and contact your local post office.
For this, you should constantly check My Orders, both in the browser and in the mobile application, and wait for the confirmation to appear indicating that the seller has received the return.
Once this happens, contact them to find a solution together. The things that could happen afterward are:
Re-pay for shipping
This will be based on the cancellation of the shipment but not the complete product, if you agree to this, we invite you to rectify the address so that it doesn’t happen again.
Ask for a partial refund
The second option or alternative is to ask the seller to refund the item. Although, if you’ve paid for the shipment, these won’t be refunded, since the shipment was made, but with an incorrect address.
Can I open a dispute?
In case you don’t hear back from the seller, or if they refuse to refund or resend the product, you can try to open a dispute. We can’t guarantee that it’ll be successful or that you’ll receive a refund, considering there’s no good track record of customers who have received a satisfactory refund.
