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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect my post to be delivered to the right house!

29 replies

MailMixup · 13/08/2021 17:58

There’s a house one mile away whose name is one letter different from mine, and their postcode is one letter different from mine. For example Dunroamin AA1 1AA vs Bunroamin AA1 2AA.

Royal Mail is delivering my post to this other house. The postman has told me to change my house name because it’s causing confusion.

Firstly I don’t want to change my house name. Secondly I paid £100 admin fee to register my house name and I’m not paying another £100 to change it just because they can’t deliver the post correctly!

I told the postman they should be going by the postcode, and both houses have different postcodes so they should be able to deliver the mail correctly. He said the sorting office and the postmen assume the house name and postcode are both misspelled. So they receive a letter that’s clearly labelled Dunroamin AA1 1AA, but they assume that the name and postcode are both wrong so they deliver it to Bunroamin AA1 2AA.

AIBU to think I shouldn’t have to change my house name, and Royal Mail needs to get with the program and deliver the post by postcode?!

OP posts:

Fl0w3ry · 13/08/2021 18:08

Our post is constantly delivered next door or goes missing and we don't have house names, just numbers.
I find the post people these days are in such a rush to do their rounds they don't take much care where they are posting things, it's like they can't be bothered.

KatherineOfGaunt · 13/08/2021 18:17

If they know there's a property with a similar name and postcode they shouldn't be making any assumptions about which house the post belongs to.

Willdoitlater · 13/08/2021 18:20

You can insist on your rights or you can get your post, but on this occasion maybe not both. I'd change my house name.

RedHelenB · 13/08/2021 18:23

@Willdoitlater

You can insist on your rights or you can get your post, but on this occasion maybe not both. I'd change my house name.

This. Just go back to number and road like the rest of us plebs!

lannistunut · 13/08/2021 18:23

If you can fix this problem for £100, by changing the house name, I would do that. Life is simply too short!

StarDrawers · 13/08/2021 18:26

@Willdoitlater

You can insist on your rights or you can get your post, but on this occasion maybe not both. I'd change my house name.

I'd do this partly for security. Who knows what they can get away with if they get hold of a document with a very similar address to theirs on jt.

ShinyMe · 13/08/2021 18:27

Are both houses on the same post delivery round? If so then yes, the postman needs to be more careful. If not, then the sorting office is the one at fault and the delivery person has less power to sort it.

It's definitely annoying though. I live at number 12 in my street and the lady at no 13 changed her number to 12A because she is superstitious about 13, and I get all her post every time the usual postman is on holiday, and I get half her parcels, especially the Hermes ones. Apparently nobody thinks to look for 12A on the odd numbered side of the road.

lannistunut · 13/08/2021 18:34

the lady at no 13 changed her number to 12A because she is superstitious about 13 she is living in a house that has been cursed, how will rebadging it help???

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 13/08/2021 18:39

I have this same problem.

Some intelligent person decided to build Appletree Gardens ON Appletree Road with the same numbering as existing houses on Appletree Road

The consistent drama it has caused as a new build not on systems...BT refused to accept it existed and some other companies also have websites which automatically change the address to one they recognise on their system.

And thats before you get to all the deliveries these days, but every time its due to not reading my very clear instructions. Frustrating as fuck.

I now have gone from having lovely older neighbours to pissed off angry neighbours

YANBU at all

PickleAF · 13/08/2021 18:41

YANBU! It's not your job to change something like your house name just to make their jobs easier - when they're not doing their jobs properly! If they know the houses have different postcodes and different names, then there's no excuse for them making the mistake - as they've said they're assuming that the letter is addressed wrongly, it's them making a conscious decision to ignore the address

RedMarauder · 13/08/2021 18:49

One of my friends had the name of her house changed just before she brought it, because it was too similar to a house on a road a street away in name and postcode.

In other words if you choose the name of your house you need to check it's similarly to those in the same postcode area because delivery people are thick

brownbreadicecream · 13/08/2021 18:50

There's one house a few streets away that always gets our post and parcels. The only similarity is they're the same number, and the name of the house, which isn't always even used/on the parcel, has the same second syllable as ours. The street names and postcodes are different.

It's bizarre but at least we know now to look out for it and text each other if we get the wrong post. I have actually complained and it stopped for a bit but now started up again!

2pinkginsplease · 13/08/2021 18:54

We have a problem with our mail if it’s not the usual postman.

All the houses on our street have front facing doors whereas the people before us put a porch on so our door is to the side and the postman just misses our house out and delivers letters next door!

Also our street has no odd or even side all the houses are in a circle and just follow the numbers 1-30 and this confuses some delivery people too.

I wouldn’t change the name of my house, I’d expect Royal Mail to do their job properly!

Essentialironingwater · 13/08/2021 19:00

I would complain to royal mail themselves and see what they say, but also do you not have a house number?

Our house has been named what it has since the 1700s and we have a number now too so I just use that, easier for everyone if a little less fancy...

gardennewb · 13/08/2021 19:06

We frequently get post for people on the next street, same number as ours, completely different road name. We are quite close geographically and the strange way the roads go means they are actually almost directly opposite us, with just a little park in the middle. It's infuriating, although we did once almost get a free washing machine!

We have now also started getting post from the same name street from a new build town nearby. Also had to help out some confused drivers trying to find 18 Ourstreetname as our street only has a few houses and the other one is apparently much longer! This one seems to be an issue with some delivery companies' systems but the first is just the postie misreading, so lazy!!

Madlymumming · 13/08/2021 19:11

It would appear if a letter has our house number , no matter what the road name or postcode, it is delivered to us!

We also live in a street which has a Road and an Avenue version ..... we frequently get post/parcels delivered to the wrong one. Very annoying.

ThinWomansBrain · 13/08/2021 19:13

Have this with a block of flats that was built across the road, their mail is always getting delivered to us.
Different street number, different post code, no distinctive building name...
Complain by email every time it happens - I usually find it improves for a few weeks/months - with every email, just reply to their earlier apology, or attach all the previous emails as an attachment.

ThinWomansBrain · 13/08/2021 19:14

Complain by email to royal mail

Gingerkittykat · 13/08/2021 19:14

I complained to Royal Mail once since the postie was delivering to a street in the next village which was only vaguely similar to mine and I was getting their mail too.

A couple of days later the postie made a big deal of knocking on the door to glower at me and hand me letters which would have easily fit through the letterbox. It did stop the problems though!

ShinyMe · 13/08/2021 19:19

Has the house always been called this, or did you just decide to give it a name yourself? Your post suggests the latter. If so, I don't have a huge amount of sympathy. If you're changing or choosing a house name, why would you choose one that's one letter different from something nearby? Did you do any checking locally?

(As an aside, like many I suspect, I don't understand houses in a street being given names. Rural areas with separate houses, yes, that makes sense. Which are you, OP?)

RIPwalter · 13/08/2021 19:19

I'm in Wales. We have a few issues where there is confusion over house names (and having numbers instead like the plebs isn't an option as someone posted above).

Next door is "farm name"
We are "cottage farm name"
Next door other side is "barn farm name"
Further down the road is a house with an attached holiday cottage so on their gate they have "property name & cottage".
This all works fine until we have a non Welsh speaking delivery driver who isn't able to recognise the word "cottage" or "barn" for what they are and then things end up all over they place.

girlmom21 · 13/08/2021 19:22

For the sake of £100 just change the name, especially considering the fact that changing the name originally is what actually caused the problem...

ShinyMe · 13/08/2021 19:24

@RIPwalter

I'm in Wales. We have a few issues where there is confusion over house names (and having numbers instead like the plebs isn't an option as someone posted above).

Oh god yes! My parents live in rural Wales, and it's all Cae Gwyn, Llys Cae Gwyn, Fferm Cae Gwyn, Cae Gwyn Farm (NOT the same property as Fferm Cae Gwyn) , Bron Gwyn, Bryn Gwyn, Cae Gwyn Cottages, Lower Cae Gwyn....

Last summer I was out walking the dog and bumped into a poor census man who was completely confused. He was from London and had been sent up for a week to knock on doors, poor man was all "I was in Tottenham Court Road yesterday! I'm getting a lovely walk but WTF?" looking for Ty Canol, Bryn Ty Canol, Cae Glas, Pant Gwyn...

RIPwalter · 13/08/2021 19:32

Fferm Cae Gwyn, Cae Gwyn Farm (NOT the same property as Fferm Cae Gwyn)

Brilliant, I can only assume one brother was not happy that they other brother got to inherit the original farm house.

Changechangychange · 13/08/2021 19:33

My brother lives in Flat 26F, Blahblah House. Which is a big block of flats on Blahblah Road. Massive. Dominates the whole road. His post goes to number 26 Blahblah Road, every single time.

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