To think people these days no longer understand door numbers or seem to be willing to ring the doorbell?

Drives me nuts when people refuse to use the bell & do the quietest knock in the world instead. Sometimes if I'm feeling arsey I'll just refuse to answer until they ring the bell.

The doorbell thing drives me crazy.

I had someone come to pick something up the other day and text me to say she was at the door. Standing right by the doorbell. I asked her why she hadn't just rung the doorbell, and she say "some people don't like that"! Well if some people don't like the doorbell rung, they need to remove their doorbell. I've also had people say "it might not have batteries in" or "you might not hear it"????

I'm a middle aged woman, and am not surgically attached to my phone. I'm very likely to miss a text message or WhatsApp. If you want my attention when I'm inside the house and you are outside the house, ring the doorbell which literally exists for this purpose.

This. My road is hell for delivery drivers, emergency services etc. Not just that it’s long and has a lot of old houses behind high walls in big gardens that are entire hidden from the road, but also many of those only have names half-hidden under ivy, and numbering, where there is numbering, is in individual terraces, which are themselves often way off the road, so you’ll have 1, 2 and 3 Janefield, then a stretch of detached named houses, then 1, 2 and 3 Empress Villas etc.

I find this, people on FB marketplace and delivery people. We tell them we live at the bus stop and they call from the bus stop for further directions (there are only 3 houses at the bus stop).

I work as a community nurse- if it's not obvious I just search on Google maps and it'll take you to the exact house (use street view if it's really confusing). The only time that doesn't work is when it's really rural.

Maybe people don't knock because they've seen all the MNetters who can't stand their door being knocked 🤣

I also have a large glow in the dark #2 because it's like the black hole of calcutta around my door.

Do you eat a lot of fish from the river right next to the nuclear power station?

Yes I have people saying they’re outside number 17 saying they can’t find mine. I’m number 18, other side of the road but quite far up, can’t even see them. And I have a large visible number on my door.
ring doorbell, people knock, or just stand there thinking I’ll get a notification 🙄

I once found myself trying to communicate with office receptionists, who I could see and they could see me (glass doors), via the building's air brick as I was pressing away and nothing was happening to let me open the door.

Head hocho was very cross that they had to get up and walk 4 or 5 yards to let me in.

I felt very silly as I was really quite an important visitor - in my head! 🤣

Oh and don't get me started on the trade button. USE IT, it opens the door!
Instead they buzz me, I answer and say "come in" and they carry on standing outside. The point of the buzzer is it opens the door..

My apartment seems to be invisible to people

I leave instructions as sat nav has updated so I'll say "off X road, not Y road"

It's a block of apartments in between 2 houses, and the houses are clearly numbered either side as 1 and 6
So 2-5 are the apartments, and if you actually walk up to the door, the buzzers are labelled

People just stand in the road looking lost as if they can't even see the main apartment door!

Yes, I sell things online too, and people come to the house fairly often to collect things. I really don't know why people can't knock, but they will stand outside the gate instead, and send a message on the marketplace app saying they're outside. I don't always have my phone in my hand to see these messages come in, then they get annoyed that I haven't come out to them!

Just knock on the door!!!

It amazes me how anyone can be so stupid that they can't figure out a simple numbering system. Do they really think 19, 21, 23, 25 is some kind of random pattern?

Make a temporary number or stick up sticky numbers - B & M or Amazon. New builds nearby have temp diy style up until plaque comes.

Agree with @bluesatin re: What3Words which narrows it down to a 3m x 3m square area. For example this is the address to Blackheath Station https://what3words.com/wounds.ample.quite (What3Words is also available as an app but you can use the browser version). If you click on the little circle (with an aerial view of roads on it) to the right of the little yellow person icon you can see a satellite view of the area and can zoom around until you find the right bit.

(Obviously don't share your real W3Words address publicly as it would literally give away your actual address).

Just type your own address in the search bar at the top and pick the closest square to your front door.

Jo

Our house growing up had the odd/even numbers presenting the "yard" the houses were located but the actual houses were just in number order so 1 2 3 and 4 were next to each other.

As a delivery driver the bane of my life is houses with names but u can't actually see them until u halfway up the driveway. Much easier if they are at the end of the driveway where it meets the road , clearly visible ( including at night)

Haha. That was an amusing read. Do people really not know this?!

On my road we have clusters of 4 houses off a path. So one behind the other with a path between every 4 houses. AND the numbers stick to the odd even rule eg 1,3,5 and 7 are opposite 2,4,6 and 8. No one can ever find my house lol

I live in a village with no house numbers, only names. Unfortunately using the postcode in a Satnav brings people to our door, though the code covers about 30 properties.
I admit it hasn't been so bad lately - wondering if people are using What3Words?

My road is like that (cul-de-sac) the top two houses have one side in our road and the other in the road running across the top. The houses are a sort of L shape, rather than a standard semi.

My house is a little odd in that next door (semi detached from me) is a different number, street and postcode. We are both accommodating neighbours so sometimes ask that parcels are delivered to each others address. It totally throws some delivers.

I had to buy a doorbell recently.
I had a few of my amazon orders delivered by someone who didn't appear to be able to read English and a couple of delivery's where they didn't knock on my door loud enough.
I have delivery instructions because my front door is down a flight of stairs, so I need to be able to hear them and have time to get to my door without hurting myself.
Now anybody who needs to, rings my doorbell. I also have a large glow in the dark #2 because it's like the black hole of calcutta around my door.

It is a certain age group, probably up to 35 who need phone-assistance like a fifth limb. I kid you not on a sunny Summer's day last year around 11:00 - with the sun very high in the sky - I asked my son, his friend and then another young relative if they could point to the West. All failed.

We have the same issue OP, the number of times I've been rung by someone standing at my front door, looking straight at the doorbell which is next to the large sign with our house name on it, who then rings me rather than push the button of the doorbell!?

And yes it works, I've checked it numerous times!!

I should have added to my last post I don’t have an odd even split either.