Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

to stop accepting their mail?

92 replies

nightowlmostly · 20/08/2012 11:19

We moved into a new house 6 months ago, and the old owners redirected their mail for a month. Since then we have been getting a fair amount of letters for them.

I met them, they seemed pretty nice people, so I didn't mind accepting their mail and she would come round and pick it up. The last lot though, I was going away on holiday for a couple of weeks so thought I should try and get it to them before I went, so took it to their new house, not far away, and popped it in their letterbox.

I didn't ever hear anything, no thank you or acknowledgement at all, which I was a bit annoyed about tbh. We had vaguely said we'd go for a drink, and she seemed nice, I thought we could maybe become friends as we still live close to each other.

Anyway, more mail has come, even though I have asked the postie not to give me mail for them any more some still gets through. I refused to sign for a recorded delivery letter for them last week. I haven't said anything to them, I don't know how to put it, I hate confrontation. She texted me today asking if there had been any mail, I told her I'd posted some letters yesterday for them, but I suspect she was on about the recorded delivery.

So my question is, AIBU to refuse their mail without spelling it out to them? I'm just a bit annoyed, it's been 6 months! Or should I tell them that's what I've done? Or, option no 3, should I just keep on forwarding their mail for eternity?

I'm prepared to accept if I'm BU, but I hope I'm not!

OP posts:

CommaChameleon · 20/08/2012 17:19

Again, if the junk mail has a name on it, you can register with the mailing preference service, which works in the same way as the telephone preference service, and get it blocked.

This works for all the people living in your house and any previous tenants whose names you know.

Bobyan · 20/08/2012 17:37

I would be very careful if I were you OP. we received a mobile phone addressed to the previous owner of our house, to cut a long story short it turned out that he was involved with a mobile phone fraud.
I would be refusing / returning any post from now on...

Groovee · 20/08/2012 17:38

Stick no longer at this address and send it back x

BlinkersOn · 20/08/2012 18:40

We moved into a rental for 6 months when we returned to the UK. We were really careful not to give out the rental address as we knew we would only be there temporarily while we bought a house. Despite thinking we had changed our address with everyone concerned and setting up a year long post redirect the new teneNts still received odd bits of mail for the next year or so. We my DH had forgotten my husbands car tax and there were a few other important letters that came through.
We had left the rental house absolutely spotless and the new tenant seemed very appreciative off this and seemed happy to drop off our mail. We didn't ask him to and we're really thankful and apologetic when he did. We also got him a thank you card, bottle of wine and some chocolates.

I wasn't surprised the new tenant did this but I was surprised at how many letters either got past the post redirect or where we had forgotten to change the address. This would make me a bit more sympathetic with The old owners of tHe house, ( up to a point) eightiechicks plan is good.

raininginbaltimore · 20/08/2012 19:27

Every year we get a Xmas card for previous owners (we moved in 5 years ago). Unfortunately they don't put an address on so I have to way of telling them. We don't have a forwarding address for them.

Weirdly we have started getting post for someone who has never lived here. Well they aren't on deeds. And previous people lived here since 2000, so at least 12 years. It is debt collection stuff as I accidentally opened one. I keep returning to sender, they sent a card asking for forwarding address but I rang and said I don't have one, no idea who this person is. But still we get it.

If you are Theresa Ainscough I am getting your debt mail.

2rebecca · 20/08/2012 20:01

I think asking nicely if the new owners can forward the occasional piece of stray mail, or offering to come round and pick it up is fine. Only paying for 1 months redirection and expecting the new owners to act as your personal postmen after this because they have nothing better to do with their time isn't.
Do the postmen have an obligation to forward mail you put in the postbox with a new address if you don't have a new stamp on it? I've always bought houses off people who moved far away so have never had this problem. I never had forwarding addresses for them either so the odd bit of mail that arrived after their redirection finished went "return to sender"

EightiesChick · 20/08/2012 20:27

RaininginBaltimore - that sounds very dodgy. Don't just leave it, ring the debt companies who are sending letters.

raininginbaltimore · 20/08/2012 20:59

I have rung them, several times. Each time they say no worries, we will note it down. Then we get another letter.

BlinkersOn · 20/08/2012 21:14

raininginbaltimore. Have you tried googling the persons name......

krisskross · 20/08/2012 21:28

the previous owner of our place told DH she would not pay redirection costs ofr more than one month!!??? our house was a building site -choas- and for well over a year we had a ridiculous amount of mail for her and her two grown up children who did not even live with her. and her estranged husband. we initially kept forwarding them- this was for several months. then we forwarded them with PLS HAVE YOUR MAIL REDIRECTED written on them (for a while), which she didnt. then it mounted up into a massive pile and we chucked it eventually i think. she never thanked us for anything we sent on so tbh even though i was not very happy doing it, she clearly wasnt even bothering to tell people she had moved- including banks etc so it was her own fault. it was so rude.

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 20/08/2012 22:10

I posted a note on our letter box when we moved in. "Please post mail only for Saggy and Saggys DP. Old Tenants Name do not live here any more."
It worked a treat!

autumnmum · 20/08/2012 22:27

We moved in to our house 2 years ago this week and today I had a nice man come and try and collect a laptop that belonged to the previous owner. We have also had the police come about a traffic offence, bank cards, bank statements, debt collection stuff as well as mountains of personal post, including wedding invitations. Like the OP the previous owners only redirected for 1 month. As they only moved to the other end of the village I did drop their post round to them initially, but when the police came I stopped. I write not known at this address on all of it and shove it in the nearest post box. We are getting less now, but I understand how irritating it is. How can they afford a house that cost 300k, but not the £90 to redirect for a year?

EightiesChick · 20/08/2012 22:59

We still get occasional things for previous owners and have been here nearly 7 years! Not very often though.

AvengingGerbil · 20/08/2012 23:15

This week I received a letter from the Dept of Work and Pensions addressed to the previous occupant. We bought this house in ... 1997 ...

raininginbaltimore · 21/08/2012 02:16

Ooh 192 has someone living in Wigan. But have to pay for address. Will keep searching

iscream · 21/08/2012 06:05

" EightiesChick Mon 20-Aug-12 11:36:09

I would text and say that the forwarding service seems to have run out, and there have been a few important-looking things coming in the post so they might want to reactivate it for a few more months while they change all their addresses. DO NOT offer to take it round. I would just shove anything else into a pile and then wait for them to come and collect. If they ask you to take it round (cheeky but possible) say you unfortunately don't have time.
"
Ditto!

maddening · 21/08/2012 07:07

I would say "please can you have your post redircted again and change your address with the companies sending you mail as it doesn't seem to have slowed down - I'm going to have to start sending back as not known at this address and that could affect your credit file as they register you as "gone away" and would hate for that to happen"

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread