"Attempted delivery" means a courier reached your address, could not hand the parcel over, and logged the failure instead of the delivery. The parcel is not lost. It is either coming back on the next working day or waiting for you somewhere, and the card tells you which.
Short answer: "Attempted delivery", "sorry we missed you" and "notice left" describe the same event. A courier got to your door and could not complete the handover. The usual reasons are nobody home, no safe place allowed, or a signature required. The carrier then tries again, moves the parcel to a pickup point, or holds it and returns it.
What actually triggers an attempted delivery?
Carriers publish the reasons, and the list is narrower than most people expect.
USPS runs three separate notice-left events. One covers an item that "could not be placed in the delivery receptacle". A second is used when "there was no location deemed safe to deliver the item". The third applies when "the item could not be delivered because a signature was required".
FedEx publishes its own list: a signature is required, duties and taxes need collecting, the package holds dangerous goods, or there are security restrictions. Royal Mail says its automatic redelivery covers you "if you're not home and your parcels won't fit through the letter box, or need a signature".
Access is the fourth cause. USPS runs a separate event for it, worded "because the business was closed".
Four causes, then. Nobody available, nowhere safe, no signature, no access.
How does each carrier word an attempted delivery?
Every network words the same failure differently. UK and Irish carriers lead with the card. USPS and DHL publish event codes.
| Carrier | How they word it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Mail (UK) | "Something for you" card | Royal Mail leaves "a red 'something for you' card" that "explains why we couldn't deliver and tells you how to arrange a Redelivery". |
| Evri (UK) | "I have missed my delivery" | Evri's answer is "You don't need to do anything". It will "try to deliver again, normally on the following day". |
| DPD (UK) | "Sorry we missed you" card | The card carries the parcel number "beside the barcode". You pick a new date, a neighbour, a safe place or a Pickup shop. |
| DHL | "Attempted delivery", "Not home", "We missed each other" | All three sit in DHL's published status list, next to "1st delivery attempt" and "Final delivery attempt". |
| GLS | Instructions left, parcel moves to a Parcel Shop | GLS says you "may have been absent at the time of delivery", and leaves instructions pointing to a nearby Parcel Shop. |
| bpost (BE) | "Failed delivery notice" | bpost tries a neighbour or a safe place first. If that fails, the parcel goes to a Pick-up Point. |
| An Post (IE) | "Sorry we missed you" form | Redelivery only covers items "of which delivery was attempted" and where you hold a "Sorry we missed you" form. |
| Colissimo and La Poste (FR) | "Avis de passage" | A calling card goes in your letterbox. The parcel waits at the post office named on it. |
| USPS | "Notice Left", status "Delivery Attempt: Action Needed" | "We attempted to deliver your item at TIME on DATE in CITY, STATE ZIPCODE." The notice carries a return date. |
| FedEx | "We tried to deliver" | This "means that FedEx attempted delivery, but couldn't complete it (for example, a signature was required or the recipient was unavailable)". |
This is a specific event, not the broad flag. If your tracking says exception instead, read what a delivery exception means, which also covers weather, addresses and customs.
Do carriers ever log an attempt that never happened?
They do not put it that way. But two carriers publish a help page for exactly this complaint.
DPD's page is titled "I was in, the driver hasn't been". Its answer: "the driver will do everything they can to get your attention when you're at home, but sometimes you'll still miss each other". bpost's is titled "The postman didn't ring the doorbell". It apologises, notes the postman "is not obliged to ring the bell if your parcel fits in the letterbox", and asks you to report a repeat offender.
How many attempts do you actually get?
Carriers diverge here, so check yours.
Royal Mail now runs automatic redelivery and says "posties will automatically redeliver the next working day". Evri commits to a count. Where no safe place is available or a signature is required, "our Courier will make up to three attempts to deliver your parcel on consecutive working days". DHL publishes the ladder as codes, from "1st delivery attempt" to "Final delivery attempt". FedEx stays conditional, saying it "might make additional attempts", or the parcel "may be redirected to a nearby FedEx or FedEx OnSite location".
Two carriers rule out the thing people ask for most. DPD says the driver "won't be able to make it back to you today". bpost is blunter: "For logistical reasons, our postmen cannot pass by your home once again."
The rest push the parcel sideways. bpost sends it to a Pick-up Point and says "you'll be able to pick it up next working day". GLS moves it to a Parcel Shop. La Poste holds it at the post office on the card. The status then reads ready for collection.
How long does an attempted delivery last?
There is no universal clock. Judge it on three things: the next scan, the events that reset the clock, and the carrier's published return deadline.
What the next scan should be. Either a fresh out for delivery scan the next working day, or an arrival scan at a shop, locker or post office. Evri says the next attempt normally lands "on the following day". DHL words it "New delivery attempt on the next delivery day".
What resets the clock. The notice starts the return countdown, not the attempt. An Post says day one is "the day after the date of delivery of the 'Sorry we missed you' form". La Poste counts from the day after the card is left. Booking a redelivery moves the date, and choosing a pickup point swaps a redelivery clock for a collection clock.
What the carriers publish. These are the only hard numbers worth trusting, because each carrier states its own.
- Royal Mail: "We'll hold items for 18 days", after which uncollected items go back to the sender.
- La Poste: 15 calendar days at the post office, counted from the day after the card is left.
- bpost: 14 calendar days at a Pick-up point, 5 calendar days at a Parcel Locker.
- An Post: 5 working days for most items, 3 for Irish Registered post, 16 for items from outside Ireland.
- GLS: "you have 7 calendar days to collect it before it is returned to the sender".
- FedEx: "up to 5 business days for FedEx Ground or FedEx Express before it is returned to the shipper".
- USPS prints the return date on the notice and sends a reminder at its published "second notice" day count.
When it stops being normal. No new scan by the end of the next working day. A second attempt with no collection option offered. Or a flip to return, at which point read package returned to sender.
What to do after an attempted delivery
- Find the card or the message and read the reason. Signature, no safe place and receptacle full each need a different fix.
- Work out whether the carrier is coming back on its own. Royal Mail and Evri re-attempt automatically. USPS waits for you to book a redelivery.
- Pick the option that fits your week. Most carriers offer a new date, a neighbour, a safe place, or a nearby shop or locker.
- Write down the return date. It runs from the notice, not from the day you noticed.
- If you were at home, report it through the carrier's form, then tell the retailer. The retailer holds the contract and can open a case you cannot.
An uncollected parcel goes back to the sender. Then you are waiting on a refund instead of a delivery.
For merchants
An attempted delivery is the most expensive scan in the journey. It costs the carrier a stop, costs you a second attempt, and hands the shopper a decision they never asked for. Shoppers who do not understand that decision open WISMO tickets.
Two things move the number, and both happen before the van leaves. The first is address quality. Pango exposes address verification through its API and MCP, so a bad address is caught at the order, not at the door. The second is delivery-preference capture. Pango runs the logistics half of checkout, including pickup-point maps, prices and ETAs, so a shopper who is never home can choose a locker up front.
The event itself should do work. Pango normalizes the differing statuses carriers return and connects to more than 100 carriers through prebuilt connectors, so "notice left", "we missed each other" and "sorry we missed you" all land as one trigger. That trigger can send the collection deadline before anyone starts hunting, and Pango's order tracking shows the next step on your own domain.
The bottom line
An attempted delivery is a decision point, not a dead end. The carrier has told you it tried. The next line says whether it is coming back or whether a collection clock has started. Read the reason, pick your option, note the return date. If you would rather that scan triggered a clear message than a ticket, book a demo.
