Birthday card addressed to previous tenants child. [sad]

[Seeyounearertime]

A card has just come through the door. It's addressed to people we don't recognise and has no return address. I opened it up and it's a birthday card.

Inside it reads:
"To my great Grandson on his first birthday, from great granny."

thats not all.... It continues:
"I would love a photo of my latest grandson if you have one to spare"

[UrineMikeHunt]

Awww

How long ago did the old tenants leave? Not that you can do anything about it I suppose but I'm just picturing a sad little old lady that won't get her photograph

I'm going to make up a happy ending and say that Granny just hadn't updated her address book and she'll mention it to another family member who will update her and they can all get in touch and all will be well likes to think of an ideal world

for the Great Granny

[sphinxster]

The great granny might be an awful, abusive witch that the previous tenants are protecting their son from.

[Seeyounearertime]

I have just rung the HA we rent with and asked if they have a forwarding address for the family named on the address (The envelope was addressed to "Master" so i dont think granny even knows the boys name )
Rightly so, i guess, the HA wouldn't tell me what the forwarding address was but they did confirm they actually didn't have one anyway, so no use sending the card to HA so they could send it on.

poor granny :(

[Seeyounearertime]

and i should probably mention that there was a £5 note in the card.

I don't actually, really know what to do? it feels wrong pocketing the cash? maybe i should treat my DD in honour of granny? or maybe charitable donation to AgeUk?

[NoCapes]

Oh poor granny

[liberatedwine]

It can't be that close a relationship if Great Granny doesn't even know the little boy's name. Sad, nevertheless. Have you asked your neighbours if they know who the previous tenants were? If you can get a name, you might be able to track them down through Facebook stalking research.

[liberatedwine]

Oh and please don't pocket the cash, keep it in case you manage to find out who the child is. If after exploring all avenues, with no results, then donate it to charity.

I bet if you ask around the local community, someone will know the family and there would be some way of tracking him down, so he can have his birthday card and monetary gift. And maybe Great Granny will get her photo.

[Seeyounearertime]

Good Idea Liberated I'll ask neighbours, hopefully they will know where they went.

(Or i could possibly stalk them on FB? but i only have a surname?)

[NoFuchsGiven]

Why would you open someone else's mail?

[MorrisZapp]

Do you know the parents names?

[Seeyounearertime]

No

The alternative is what?

Return to sender with no return address?
Chuck it in the bin?
put it on the fireplace for 10 years?

[JuxtapositionRecords]

Please don't stalk on Facebook, as others have pointed out you don't know anything about the history of this. Just because someone is a Grandmother (or 'little old lady' ) doesn't mean they are a nice person! Just donate the cash to charity, bin the card and don't worry about it.

[Seeyounearertime]

Morris

No, it was literally addressed to "Master" then a surname

[sphinxster]

If great granny doesn't even know his first name it sounds like she's not in touch with anyone else in the family either... Alarm bells!

Or, she may have dementia.

But let's not assume poor granny.

[NoFuchsGiven]

The alternative is what?

Hand it back to the postman and explain that the person no longer lived there.

And FYI.

Under the Postal Services Act 2000:

“A person commits an offence if he, without reasonable excuse, intentionally delays or opens a postal packet in the course of its transmission by post, or intentionally opens a mail bag.”

“A person commits an offence if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse, he opens a postal packet which he knows or reasonably suspects has been incorrectly delivered to him.”

This, in essence, means that if you deliberately intercept, throw away or open somebody else’s post you are likely to be breaking the law

[UrineMikeHunt]

Apologies if 'little old lady' offended you juxtapositionrecords. It was just the imagery that sprang to mind.

I don't use it as a term of offense - honestly! It was more as an endearment - I promise. I refer to my own Nan as my little old Nan as she is both little and a Nan (albeit not that old) and she finds it amusing. I do love my Nan

But yes I agree with what you're saying. Being a Grandparent doesn't automatically mean that you're a nice person unfortunately.

[UrineMikeHunt]

Yes of course it doesn't mean 'poor Granny' necessarily. I think it's just a conclusion that would be presumed if you don't give it an awful lot of thought to be honest.

As apparently I didn't. But as I say I just liked to think of a happy ending trying to be more positive than I feel.

[Seeyounearertime]

NoFuchs

well done for using google:
findlaw.co.uk/law/criminal/other_crime_and_justice_topics/can-someone-else-open-my-mail.html

See this:
A person commits an offence if he, without reasonable excuse,
Opening mail when attempting to find details on return address or where to send it on to is actually a reasonable excuse.

Also from the same website you googled,
Often an individual who is intercepting or opening somebody else’s post will have to then act on it to show that they did indeed “intend to act to a person’s detriment”.

In actual fact i'm going to lengths to not act in somebodys detriment.

I hope that sets your mind at ease.

[NoFuchsGiven]

I just think it is morally wrong to open someone else's post when it was clearly not addressed to You.

[TendonQueen]

I can't bring myself to get worked up about the moral evils of opening post with the clear intention of getting it to the intended recipient. Perspective, please!

OP I'd give the money to a children's charity, so if the intended child doesn't benefit, at least another one in need will.

[Thisismyfirsttime]

Hmmm, I think there's something fishy here. And how would she know his birthday but not his name? Either way, to not know the child's name or that the family moved a long time ago I'd say it's not all poor old granny/ happy families.
On the other hand she could be getting old and forgetful or unwell and made a couple of mistakes which would probably be figured out and fixed quite easily.
How annoying to never know!

[penguinplease]

I think this is sad, you should try to find the intended recipient and let them deal with it. Imagine if they never know she tried to make contact and she thinks they just ignored her..
Find them, pass it on and let them deal with whatever they decide to do next.
Don't just bin it and pocket the cash.

[Pedestriana]

I have opened post addressed to the former resident of our property. It was a christmas card with no return address on the envelope. Inside was a card wishing Colin & Diane a Merry Christmas and telling them that Rita & Simon had moved to XXX The street, Address etc.

I was able to return it with a note saying Colin & Diane* no longer lived here and that I didn't know where they had moved to. Better that than binning it or holding on to it. And yes, I asked the neighbours first if they knew where former residents had moved to, and no they didn't.


*Not their real names

[Goingtobeawesome]

It would take about ten minutes to find the sender or potential recipient if you used social media.

Don't pocket the cash . It's not yours and you should try and do everything you can to get it to the right person.

[Stardust160]

Definitely do not pocket the cash. Really you shouldn't of opened the card in the first place. You could of checked it wasn't the neighbors or rung the HA first before opening.