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"

[Buggers]

Is there a return address at all? If so I'd send back and just note down no longer at this address

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

“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

Er, no. You've confused yourself. You've posted a quote but then not actually interpreted it properly. You ignored the important bit: if intending to act to a person’s detriment and without reasonable excuse
Is OP acting to anyone's detriment? No. Does she have a reasonable excuse? Yes. Then she is not braking any law at all, is she?

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

It would take about ten minutes to find the sender or potential recipient if you used social media
How's that then? Do tell.

[emsyj]

I think the normal thing to do when post comes through your door for a previous occupant whom you have no forwarding address for is either ask a neighbour or the landlord or failing that put it in the post box again marked 'not at this address'. Opening it, posting the contents on the internet and debating whether to spend the money is fucking outrageous.

[Seeyounearertime]

There is no return address and no names mentioned beyond the surname. There is also no stamp from the post office to say which mail centre handled it before it got here, is that not something you get now? It is literally a white envelope with a hand written address and first class stamp. In the card is the photo above.

I've typed in the surname into google and added my town name as well but there are a fair amount of results. I've called the HA earlier and they only confirmed that the surname lived here, didn't say when or where they went as they had no forwarding address. I'll keep hold of the card in the envelope in the hopes that a neighbour knows them.

I don't know what else to do, i thought social media but when you only have a surname it's not exactly easy.

I could check the records of births for the surname and todays date, i doubt it'd get me far though?

If it all comes to naught then i will give the money to Bernados in the hope it does some good. At least that way it wont have just gone to Royal Mail and the card been shredded.

[emsyj]

She is planning to act to their detriment, she wants her child to spend the stranger's birthday money!!!!

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

She's going out of her way to get the card to recipient, fgs do people have to be so negative?

[Pepperpot99]

NoFuchs don't be obtuse - the OP is going out of her way to try and get the bloody letter to the right person FFS.

[megletthesecond]

I opened loads of post in my old house. The previous owner died and his family lived overseas. It was only when I sent proper letters back with their details that I whittled down the mail. Sending it back as 'return to sender' never worked.

[penguinplease]

Can you not check the electoral roll for the address, doesn't it list historical as well as current?

[DramaInPyjamas]

You could ask on local Facebook selling pages or similar if they know anyone by that surname who lived in your area,
I wouldn't mention the money though, otherwise you'd get an inbox full of chancers.

[Seeyounearertime]

Penguin
I think to get accurate results you have to pay. when i did the name and town search earlier one of those was 192.com. It listed a lot of results in my town and i don't know any first initial to narrow it down. There were none listed at my current actual address though, maybe they didn't live here long? i don't know. I've only been here since February, the only thing i know about the previous tenant was that they moved back to their home town, i don't know what that home town is or whether its even the person named on the envelope.

[Seeyounearertime]

Drama

I've scanned the members of the two i'm a member of for anyone with a similar surname, not good though, i suppose it wouldnt hurt to ask.

[ShelaghTurner]

Only on bloody mumsnet would a poster trying to locate a child to give him his birthday card and birthday fiver would they be accused of moral and legal wrongdoings. This place is batshit crazy.

Also only on bloody mumsnet would a card from a great grandmother be codeword for abusive relative hunting down child with intent to harm. FFS. What happened to innocent until proved otherwise?

[ShelaghTurner]

Just read that it's fucking outrageous! :o Jesus.... Some posters here are fucking outrageous, I know that much.

OP, put card and fiver on sideboard, ask around neighbours. If no reply then 'file' card and contents and wait for further clues if any. If there's nothing forthcoming after, ooh, say, 10 years then bin card and stick fiver in charity box with a clear conscience. Job done.

[Seeyounearertime]

Shelagh

I dunno, it's logical to assume it though.

In my totally baseless deductions i have decided that "Granny" isn't a blood relation, lives in excess of 100 miles away and is disliked by the mother of the child for some reason. I have also deduced that the mother is young and has named the child something "unusual".

[emsyj]

Yes, I think the OP's behaviour is fucking outrageous, and totally unnecessary. And yes, it is also illegal. I'm afraid you will read posts that you don't agree with on here, because it's a public forum - get over it.

The correct action when you receive post addressed to a former occupant of your rented house is to return it to the post box marked 'not at this address' once reasonable normal enquiries with landlord/neighbours are exhausted. Opening it, debating about spending the money and publicising the contents of someone else's private mail - NOT what decent people do.

[AndTakeYourPenguinWithYou]

It's not illegal. Seriously. You have to read the entire sentence to understand the legal position.

[Seeyounearertime]

who said i was a decent person?



In my research i have discovered what Royal Mail would have done with it if i'd popped it back in the box.
they would have opened it, tried to find a return address, failed, then kept the money and destroyed the card.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-mail/9332465/Royal-Mail-shreds-300000-letters-and-packages-a-week.html

I guess that would have been preferable to me trying to find them and donating to charity if i can't find them?

[JuxtapositionRecords]

shelagh I know it seems silly and I know op is just trying to do a good thing and of course it's upsetting to see something like that and picture a grandmother who doesn't get much contact from family .... but I have a very close friend (and I will keep details vague out of respect) who is no contact with her mother for a variety of reasons including abuse when she was younger. This sort of message in a card is exactly the sort of emotional blackmail bullshit her mother pulls regularly. Her mother is a grandmother who has never met her grandkids for VERY good reason. I agree it seems OTT to be suspicious that this is always the case but believe me it does happen, and for Op to open up a can of worms on social media just seems unnecessary.

[JuxtapositionRecords]

What happened to innocent until proved otherwise

There is no need for anyone to prove anything here. It's not Op's card and really not her business. You can both do all the you want about how 'crazy this place is', doesn't make you right.

[zoemaguire]

Emsyg are you for real?! You're right, much better the card be destroyed and the money go to royal mail shareholders than op attempt to return it to its rightful owners, or failing that make sure the fiver finds a deserving recipient

[mummytohpm]

Wow can't believe how negative people are! Op you could post on Facebook and ask people to share - lots of posts like that come up on mine and lost items etc and they do get reunited with owners most of the time.

As a side note - I open post that comes to my house that's not addressed to me (or the previous owners - who I just return to sender) because a lot of the time it's addressed to the same person and it's letters from debt collectors!!

If I didn't open it and call and tell them this person does not and has not in the last 10 years lived here - I would have bailiffs at my door every other week.

What does the pp who is dead set against opening other people's post suggest I do about that? Politely inform them that it's not my debt after they knock my door down and take my telly?