Receive a parcel from Belgium

If your parcel was not delivered, check the status of your shipment via Track & Trace or the My bpost app first.

If the status of your parcel has not changed for a while (at least 5 workdays for shipments to a neighbouring country, at least 10 workdays for the United Kingdom and all other countries), ask the sender to contact our customer service.

Only the sender of your parcel can submit a complaint.

Why do I have to contact the sender?

Only the sender of your parcel can submit a complaint about a parcel that is not delivered. The sender will look for a solution together with bpost.

If you are the sender, please contact our customer service via the online form. This way you can immediately provide all the necessary information and documents to process your file.

A couple of tips if you have not received anything:

• Check if someone else (your neighbour or flatmate) has received your parcel.
• If it is a small parcel, the postman may have delivered it to your letterbox without ringing the doorbell.
• Your parcel may also have been delivered according to your delivery preferences (directly to a Pick-up point, to your safe location or to your neighbour). If it is left in a safe place by your home, you can view the photo of that safe place in the My bpost app or Track & Trace.
• Also make sure that you have not received a failed delivery notice from the postman in your letterbox. It will tell you where your parcel has gone to. Keep in mind that you only receive this notice if we cannot reach you digitally.

If you are the receiver and you still cannot find your parcel, please contact the sender for a solution. He is the only one who can start an investigation at bpost and make sure that you still receive your parcel.

If you are the sender, please contact our customer service. This is best done using our online form. This way you can immediately provide us with all the necessary information and documents to handle your ticket.

As soon as bpost has received your shipment, you can track its progress via the My bpost app or Track & Trace using the barcode.

You will often receive an email from the sender when your barcode is created. In most cases, you will not be able to track your parcel immediately via our Track & Trace. This is because it is still being prepared by the sender and therefore has not yet been handed over to bpost.

As soon as the sender hands your parcel over to bpost, you will be able to track it.

If your shipment has the status "On the way to Belgium", it has not arrived in Belgium yet. The delivery periods of a foreign shipment to Belgium vary from country to country. You can find out how long it takes on average for your parcel to arrive in Belgium via Track & Trace. This period is based on previous shipments coming from this country. 

My parcel comes from inside the European Union
here is no default import procedure. If it wants to, customs can check shipments from inside the European Union.

My parcel comes from outside the European Union (+United Kingdom)
In this case an import procedure for your parcel will start upon its arrival in Belgium. The duration of this procedure depends on the following:

• Whether or not you already paid VAT on your shipment via the online shop
• The value of your shipment

If you did not pay any VAT in advance or your shipment is worth more than €150, the bpost customs clearance service must first determine the import costs. To do this, the value of the contents of your shipment must be known (based on the invoice). If this is not provided, bpost will ask you to upload the invoice of your purchase online.

You have 14 days to pay the import costs (VAT, import duties or any other customs fees and formalities). The sooner you do this, the sooner your shipment will be released.

Most shipments are cleared within a week. In this phase, your goods are declared to Belgian customs. Customs has the right to check the content of your shipment. Please allow an additional 3 to 7 days for delivery in case of extra inspections. This period depends on any additional inspections by government agencies (e.g. for plants or food). If your shipment is not cleared, you will be notified (e.g. a permit is missing or the contents of your shipment are subject to import restrictions).

The import procedure is completed once customs has released your shipment. Your shipment is then handed over to bpost, and you will receive it a few days later.

There are several reasons why your parcel was not delivered according to your preference.

• Your profile is not yet complete.

  Your delivery preferences are linked to the email address you entered in your ‘MyPreferences’ account or the My bpost app. Perhaps the parcel was ordered with a different email address than the one entered in MyPreferences.

  Tip: Check your profile in MyPreferences

  • A green “V” appears next to your address if your account is validated (10 days after creation).
  • Make sure your address is correct.
  • Add the names you use to order parcels.
  • Add all email addresses you use to order parcels.

• No email address received from sender

  It is also possible that the sender did not provide us with your email address. Unless you have not agreed to this, we will link your delivery preference to the name or address on your parcel (as of 10 days after the account was created). They must be identical to your name and the address in your account.

• The type of parcel prevented us from delivering according to your delivery preference
  • Delivery to your safe place and your neighbour is not possible for:
    • Parcels with payment upon delivery (e.g. a number plate).
    • Parcels you can only receive after showing your secure delivery code.
    • Parcels sent as registered mail. We can only deliver these on presentation of your ID card. You can recognise such parcels by the barcode that starts with an ‘R’.
    • Parcels sent under guarantee or with insurance cannot be delivered to a safe place.
  • Delivery to a Parcel Locker is not possible:
    • If the parcel is too large or too heavy. In that case, it will be sent to a different Pick-up Point.
    • For parcels you can only receive after showing your secure delivery code.

  • Your parcel fits in your letterbox: The postman always tries to deliver your parcel into your letterbox first, even in the case of direct delivery to a Pick-up Point.

    Tip: Check Track & Trace to see if the delivery preferences apply to your parcel.

• The postman could not perform the delivery preference

  • Your safe place was not safe enough, not accessible and/or not dry enough.
  • The postman was unable to deliver your parcel to a neighbour because they were not at home or refused to accept it.
  • Your Pick-up Point or Parcel Locker was temporarily unavailable when we delivered your parcel. For example, because the Parcel Locker was full or the Post Point was closed for annual leave.

  Tip: have you noticed this happening on a regular basis? Then modify your delivery preferences. 

If you think there is another reason, you can report it via our online form.