Have I been given the wong (tracking) number here ?

October 14, 2011 10:11 AM

I've ordered a dress on behalf of the wife and it is being made and shipped from the Ukraine. They have given us a tracking number, but I suspect it is an incorrect one: The number supplied starts with RA, then has 9 digits and ends with UA. I've looked at the USPS Track & Confirm page and there is no RA suffix, only RE - and they always end in US, not UA So have I been given bogus info ?
posted by Webbster to Shopping (9 answers total)

This page shows RA (and not RE) as a possible prefix, and I didn't see anything that indicated that US was the ONLY possible suffix, just that it was A possible suffix. Why not wait 48 hours and see if it appears in the tracking system before you start worrying about it?
posted by brainmouse at 10:19 AM on October 14, 2011

Best answer: I think RA (prefix) = registered mail (scroll down) and UA is Ukraine (scroll down).
posted by iconomy at 10:20 AM on October 14, 2011

So.. they are using the United States Postal Service(USPS) to ship a package from the Ukraine?
posted by edgeways at 10:21 AM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I think you can track Ukranian mail packages here
posted by stefanie at 10:30 AM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: @edgeways - Yes the website where I ordered is in the USA, so confusingly it looks like this is the case.

I will give it a couple of days and try again. Thanks all.
posted by Webbster at 10:31 AM on October 14, 2011

Response by poster: @stefanie You are the best.
posted by Webbster at 10:33 AM on October 14, 2011

Best answer: So.. they are using the United States Postal Service(USPS) to ship a package from the Ukraine?

No, there's a common tracking number format used globally for international EMS, using the EE123456789XX format, where the 'EE' prefix is the service (registered, express, etc.) and the 'XX' suffix is the country code.
posted by holgate at 1:52 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

live and learn, thanks
posted by edgeways at 4:03 PM on October 14, 2011

out of curiousity, which dressmaking service are you using? I've heard of remote custom tailoring for stuff like men's suits, but I'd never even thought of it for other garments. Live and learn, I suppose.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 9:21 PM on October 14, 2011