Is it possible to post a Special Delivery item with ONLY a postcode?

[PHM1989]

Hi, was hoping someone could help me out please.

An item I ordered was posted special delivery 1pm yesterday. It didn't arrive today, and after getting the tracking from the seller it looks like they missed the last drop off cut-off time for it to arrive with me today. The tracking says it was collected at the origin post office in NI at 1643 and was since been dispatched to Manchester at 8pm last night.

I went to my local depot to see if there was any chance it was there and just hadn't made it on the rulings today, as it's only 5 mins away from me and I was hoping to get the item today. The employee I spoke to looked in the system and told me the item was still in NO (although my tracking says it was dispatched to Manchester)... and then told me that my pack only has my postcode on it, no name or address, and will be returned to sender once it gets to the depot due to this.

Is this even something that's possible? When I go to buy a SD label online it makes me pick from a dropdown menu the house number and street name, and won't let me proceed without a recepient name either. I assume if it was sent in person, then this would be queried at the desk? I find it really hard to believe that the system would allow something to be sent out this way, and am not sure whether at the depot the employee i spoke to just wouldn't have been able to see my full address due to GDPR.

He's given me the depot's direct number to call tomorrow, saying that if i catch them early enough they may be able to put it to one side for me. He's also updated the delivery postcode to have my house number, then a comma before the postcode. So I do have options, but obviously this is all a bit of a faff and still runs the risk of being returned if I don't catch them fast enough.

I'm wanting to know whether he's definitely correct in the info he's given me though. Is there any way an item can be sent SD with just a postcode, or has he just been mistaken with the info the system will allow him to see?

Thanks very much in advance (and solidarity to you all as well re the strikes!)

[clashcityrocker]

The postcode will give a street or part of a street.
Without a name or a number it would be impossible to deliver.
With a name or a number it would theoretically be possible to deliver it, but someone would have to have that local knowledge (for a name) or be bothered to look it up.

[PHM1989]

I know that if the pack does literally only have a postcode on it that it can't be delivered.

What I'm asking is a if a seller is actually able to get a pack with only a postcode into Royal Mail's system when posting Special Delivery. When creating the label online through the website, I'm forced to pick an address and name, it won't let me just pick a postcode. I assume at a Post Office branch (I know they're a separate body to you, but still) they wouldn't accept a pack that just had a postcode either. So i find it hard to believe the seller has only put a postcode on my pack.

I am trying to establish is if the guy I spoke to at the depot is wrong in what he's told me. He put my tracking number into the system and said he could only see a postcode, which he said meant the seller hadn't put my full address - but what i am wondering is whether his computer wouldn't actually show the address due to GDPR, rather than because its been sent without an address? Like i said above it seems to be impossible to send something SD without a full address.

[SpacePhoenix]

NI MC had issues last night:

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app ... ice-update

Mail Centres
The mail centre below reported not all mail was processed or despatched to schedule over the last 24 hours. As a result, some mail may be delivered later than planned.

Northern Ireland Mail Centre: Some mail posted in Northern Ireland (the BT postcode area) due for delivery today across the rest of the UK.

If it indeed only had the post code on it, it's highly likely that it would get returned to sender by the Inward MC. I would have expected NI MC to have returned it to sender if they'd seen it with just the postcode of the destination address

[postman1979]

The previous posts are correct but the SD from NI have been running a day late all week into Manchester. The tracking system we use frequently only shows the destination postcode it depends largely on what the counter staff at the post office have imputed into the system when it was posted. I would assume the NI SD's will be processed tonight.

[Snaggletooth]

The bulk entry option at the Post Office might allow only the destination postcode to be entered, without any other address details. But if the actual envelope only has a postcode they should reject the item.

[Nildesperandum]

I wonder if the outer packaging was damaged somehow and the person had labelled the inner contents with the postcode as part of their proceedure for packing orders?

[SpacePhoenix]

I wonder if the outer packaging was damaged somehow and the person had labelled the inner contents with the postcode as part of their proceedure for packing orders?

If there's a 2D barcode on it, and that barcode is intact then it'll be possible to extract the destination address from that

[Route1]

If buying postage at a post office, the clerk usually enters the postcode & a house number / name. I dont work at the Post Office but i think it might ask for a house number/ flat / name & postcode. There might be an extra check for specials. If its not entered at the post office our system wont show it. Your parcel probably has the full address on it. Best way to check would be ask the sender.

If you came to our office saying a special addressed to you doesnt have both the recipients name & house number but only the postcode there would be absolutely no chance of us giving it to you without management approval. She wouldnt approve it either. Too much potential for fraud. Understand it from our point where we cant tell where its supposed to go.