Wrong Postcode Causes Royal Mail A Problem

[BSRU]

<rant mode>
Decided to treat myself to a replica 1986 La Vie Claire L/S top.
Ordered it on a Friday afternoon, dispatched a little later via Royal Mail Tracked service.
Unfortunately the postcode I had entered was wrong, the rest of the address was fine.
Checked the tracking information on Saturday, parcel is at the local delivery office(next door to where it is being delivered).
Nothing delivered Monday, nothing delivered Tuesday, tracking information unchanged.
Walk over to the local delivery centre to enquire what is going on.
They don't know, their tracking information states it was forwarded onto the delivery office in Faringdon, Oxfordshire on Saturday, the delivery address had Swindon, Wiltshire.
Had to call the delivery office in Faringdon, to find out they had looked at the address and realised the postcode was wrong and it should handled in Swindon, they returned it Monday morning.
On Thursday morning, I receive an email and a text from "Swindon Mail Office" than it will be delivered some time that day, tracking information updated stating the same.
Nothing arrives on Thursday, nothing arrives on Friday. On Saturday morning the tracking information is once again updated by "Swindon Mail Office" stating it was going to be delivered, again nothing.
On Monday, I went to the main delivery office and asked what was going on.
They had no idea where it was, even more confusing they stated "Swindon Mail Office", is the sorting office next door to the delivery office and it shouldn't be updating the tracking information.
Basically they were completely clueless and my only hope was that it would be returned to the sender.
Now have to wait until Friday, if sender hasn't received it they will send me another one, which is fair enough as it was my post code digit swapping that caused Royal Mail a problem.
</rant mode>

 

[Globalti]

*Shakes head.*

I lost you by line eight. Whose fault was it?

 

[PK99]

*Shakes head.*

I lost you by line eight. Whose fault was it?

His. He incorrectly entered THE most important bit of the address (the post code) and instead of immediately returning to sender the guys at the post office tried and failed to sort out the problem for him.

 

[Beebo]

These problems happen.
When I lived in Surrey my post code was KT, for Kingston. The parcel clearly said Surrey on it. But someone had made the KT look like a BT for Belfast.
So my parcel spent a few days in Belfast before someone realised that Surrey wasnt in Northern Ireland.
I guess the machines only read the postcode.

 

[Profpointy]

well I managed to mistype the address and postcode - useless postman took over a week to deliver it

 

[PK99]

I guess the machines only read the postcode.

Yep! - for shipping to local delivery offices.
Plus...There is a Surrey Street in Belfast

 

[BSRU]

His. He incorrectly entered THE most important bit of the address (the post code) and instead of immediately returning to sender the guys at the post office tried and failed to sort out the problem for him.

Yes I did make the initial mistake of a wrong postcode but the post office did not try to sort it out, they passed it around like a cold potato not showing any sign of common sense(being the full unique address of a large business which receives lots of mail delivered by RM) and just lost it.
The annoying part is, that despite an incorrect post code, RM were quite capable of routing the package from the senders location, to the main sorting office in Swindon and then onto the correct local delivery office across the road from the packages final destination in about 12 hours.
If the post code was SO important it would have never have made it to the correct delivery office.

 

[Globalti]

It just proves that posties are no longer posties, they are just delivery agents using postcodes but without the twatnav bit.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Best not bother with the postcode then..........

 

[postman]

It would never have happened in my day.We used our common sense.but just wait in two years time,when all things change,oh my my.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

It would never have happened in my day.We used our common sense.but just wait in two years time,when all things change,oh my my.

+1.
Unbelievable!

When I worked for the post office 20 years ago, nearly every postman in the original despatch office would have known that the post code was wrong and would have sent it to its correct destination. And nearly every postman in the receiving delivery office would also have known where to have placed it for delivery.

The miracles of the modern age!

 

[PeteXXX]

Maybe my memory is failing me here, but, as a question for old Royal Mail and GPO staff, (me being one,) isn't the mail that can't be sorted due to illegible writing/public stupidity etc. sent to Belfast via East Mids Airport to be deciphered and directed to the correct destination?

 

[stephec]

Maybe my memory is failing me here, but, as a question for old Royal Mail and GPO staff, (me being one,) isn't the mail that can't be sorted due to illegible writing/public stupidity etc. sent to Belfast via East Mids Airport to be deciphered and directed to the correct destination?

That's what happened to me when a parcel was incorrectly addressed(but still obvious as to where it should go if you use a bit of common sense).

My enquiries discovered the parcel was in Belfast and would be returned to sender after a time limit had expired.

 

[PK99]

+1.
Unbelievable!

When I worked for the post office 20 years ago, nearly every postman in the original despatch office would have known that the post code was wrong and would have sent it to its correct destination. And nearly every postman in the receiving delivery office would also have known where to have placed it for delivery.

The miracles of the modern age!

Perfectly believable.

When you worked in the post office 20 years ago, I bet you carried round in your head a long stream of phone numbers - yours, friends, family, the local take away etc etc.
How many can most of us remember now? - we rely on the technology to remember for us. I know 2, my home and mobile numbers, I cannot dial any other from memory.

40 years ago, when in the 6th form, we went on a tour of the Preston sorting office. They were very proud of the new kit they had to use post codes.
Their new, state of art kit took in envelopes, worked out where the stamp was, assumed that was the top RH corner of the envelope, turned and twisted the envelope and presented it in a window for an operator to read. Said operator read and typed in the Post Code which was printed on the (bottom RH corner of?) envelope in a uv readable dot code. Handling down the line and sorting was then automatic. Of course the operators were proud of their knowledge of codes and ability to correct errors.

I don't know, but my guess would be that now the post code reading is by automatic character recognition and the first time it is read by human eye is by the postie sorting his round for delivery - and even not then, as he arranges the order by walk route not post code.

 

[Leedsbusdriver]

On the subject of postmen/women.Why do they only give you 3.7 seconds to answer the door when they are delivering a parcel?
I answered the door to our postman the other day within 10 seconds and he had already written out the missed delivery slip and was just about to pop it through the letterbox.