DNA tests now come under Royal Mail a prohibition

[Guy Etchells]

I tried to post a MyHeritage DNA sample to the USA, for processing, today and found Royal Mail no longer accepts them. I believe it is one of the new regulations due to covid and I think I am correct saying that they are accepted for UL destinations but MyHeritage goes to USA and Anscetry goes to Dublin so both of these will be affected by the prohibition.
Cheers
Guy

[Heb66]

Hi,
I have sent two off within the last week and have had no problems.
One was a DNA test kit and sent registered post and the other was a DNA sample and just popped it into the postbox as it was pre paid.
Stay safe everyone,
Helen.

[Gadget]

I think they may be allowed but this is what it says:

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/96/~/prohibited-and-restricted-items---advice-for-personal-customers


Scrolling down, it says: (see clip below)

[Ruskie]

I was considering taking advantage of the recent offer on Ancestry to buy a couple of kits.

I don’t know if this is directly related to covid, but there is a problem posting the sample from Australia to Dublin. Apparently if you take the package to the post office, you need to pay postage even though it is supposedly included in the purchase price/prepaid.

In addition there are supposedly no flights from Australia to Dublin. This is an odd one because as far as I am aware flights always go through big centres like London, then on to Dublin. 

Some people are saying to simply post it into a street post box. Presumably it would sit in limbo in some sorting facility until flights resume.

On a forum topic my OH was reading one person PMed him to say Ancestry had threatened to exclude her if she continued posting about the subject.

[Deirdre784]

I posted - into the post box - an ancestry one from the uk on 2 Dec. Progress only says ‘Kit activated on 1 Dec’ and not yet showing ‘sample received’ so i was wondering if it had got lost. Maybe this is why, but no idea what if anything i can do about it.

[Gadget]

See my Reply #2, Deirdre.

[phil57]

Previous samples that I have posted have taken 3-4 weeks from posting to show as received by Ancestry. I think they update when the sample gets to the processing lab, which I believe is in the US, not when it is received at their hub in Ireland.

The current posting restrictions for personal customers in respect of DNA samples are as Gadget has posted above. I cannot see that packed and posted in accordance with the instructions in the test kits, they would be of any different risk to Covid test kits which Royal Mail are currently handling in large numbers.

As it happens, I posted an Ancestry test kit to a relative yesterday, in a plain jiffy bag on which I had handwritten their address. As is normal when I handed it in at my local post office, they asked me what the package contained, and I replied "A DNA test". Admittedly it was an unopened and unused test kit, but they didn't ask me to clarify that, and I didn't volunteer the information. It was accepted without issue.

I have far more problems with the regular packages containing baked beans, chocolate, cosmetics and personal items that we regularly post to our daughter who lives in South Korea!

[phil57]

I posted - into the post box - an ancestry one from the uk on 2 Dec. Progress only says ‘Kit activated on 1 Dec’ and not yet showing ‘sample received’ so i was wondering if it had got lost. Maybe this is why, but no idea what if anything i can do about it.

Ancestry do say in their help pages, that if a kit you have posted hasn't been marked as received after 20 business days (4 weeks) from the date of posting (for the UK) it will be presumed lost, and they will send you a replacement kit FOC if you contact them.

[Deirdre784]

I posted - into the post box - an ancestry one from the uk on 2 Dec. Progress only says ‘Kit activated on 1 Dec’ and not yet showing ‘sample received’ so i was wondering if it had got lost. Maybe this is why, but no idea what if anything i can do about it.

Ancestry do say in their help pages, that if a kit you have posted hasn't been marked as received after 20 business days (4 weeks) from the date of posting (for the UK) it will be presumed lost, and they will send you a replacement kit FOC if you contact them.

Thanks, i have searched their help pages but didn’t find that, so that’s re-assuring. Not in any great hurry for it, just looked for progress following Guy’s post.