Special delivery guaranteed letter - returned to sender

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 28 Jul 2018, 16:50

Hi.
Could you please help me?
Yesterday my husband sent me a letter with important documents - his passport. I desperately need it to receive a parcel for him next Monday. It contains documents for his work. And they've sent letter with his passport back!
Please, help me. Where is his letter now? Can I stop from going back to Glasgow somehow? Today is Saturday, I tried to call our collection point, I went there, sent message to their Twitter - everything is closed.

"Sorry, we were unable to deliver this item at 28-07-2018 as it was not possible to identify the delivery address. It will now be returned to the sender."
"Saturday 28 July 07:30am
Incorrectly addressed. Returned to sender. Exeter DO
Saturday 28 July 06:02am
Arrived at Exeter DO
Saturday 28 July 04:47am
Item Despatched Exeter Mail Centre
Friday 27 July 08:54pm
Item received at Glasgow Mail Centre
Friday 27 July 06:13pm
Sender preparing item
Friday 27 July 05:47pm
Accepted at Post Office Sandyford Post Office [G3 8TQ]"

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 28 Jul 2018, 17:55

Have you asked the sender what address they put on the letter?

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 28 Jul 2018, 18:09

Yes, the sender is my husband, we live together at this address for 4 years. He says it is right. I don't think he could forget how to write it...

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 28 Jul 2018, 19:11

No there is no chance of stopping it but if you keep an eye on tracking it should arrive back at the senders address fairly quickly - by Monday if everything goes OK (but not guaranteed)

I take it the address is covered by Exeter DO. However, it is possible that the address label has been damaged in transit and the local office can't work out what the address should have been.

You may be able to claim the cost of postage back.

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 28 Jul 2018, 19:25

I'll try to go to collection point tomorrow with tracking number and my IDs. They work on Sundays from 11:00. Maybe they will check it for me. If not, my husband will probably have to fly back here from Glasgow. What an awful day it was. Thank you for your answer.

Post by **SpacePhoenix** » 28 Jul 2018, 20:00

Any new entries on the tracking? It's possible that Exeter DO might have already returned the letter to Exeter Mail Centre

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 28 Jul 2018, 20:06

No, 07:30am is time of last update. There is still hope.

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 29 Jul 2018, 02:26

Can't sleep because I'm so worried. Just realised that my husband won't be able to fly back from Glasgow - he will need his passport for check-in. I'm writing a tracking number here in the hope that some of this forum members can stop process of returning back to sender...

JS042711182GB

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 29 Jul 2018, 11:50

They sent it back yesterday and can't provide any details about what was wrong with my address. They haven't tried to contact sender in any way or hold it at collection point at least for 24 hours. That's what word "Guaranteed" means. Only one question remains:
Why was our letter even accepted for guaranteed delivery, if receiver address was incomplete?
I have no idea how and when my husband will be able to get his Monday delivery. Not to mention his passport.
I have to admit I'm a foreigner, and I used to believe that when something is called "Royal" here it means "reliable" and "trustworthy". It's not essential for us to claim our money back. I'll just share our experience with my friends and colleagues and advise them to never ever use Royal Mail for sending anything even slightly important.
Thank you for your answers.

NewPostieUK · Post by **NewPostieUK** » 29 Jul 2018, 14:41

rikka wrote: Why was our letter even accepted for guaranteed delivery, if receiver address was incomplete?

You are making an awful lot of assumptions, and are quick to criticise Royal Mail when you don't know what the problem was.

How would the person accepting the item know what the address was, and that there was a problem with it? Surely they should be able to assume that the sender knows the correct address and is capable of writing it correctly?

Also, as previously stated, the address label could be damaged, or there could be many other reasons.

Why not wait before jumping to conclusions?

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 29 Jul 2018, 18:11

You are absolutely right, I still don't know what the problem was. I would really, really like to know, but they can't tell me details. I can't check when it will be returned either.
Why it's so many other reasons for not delivering "special delivery guaranteed" item? Why call it "guaranteed" then? It would really help if person accepting the item for "guaranteed" delivery could check address by postcode. Just to make sure they can deliver it without sending back and forth.
Why I'm quick to criticise? Unfortunately, I have a reason to be mad right now and not recommend "guaranteed" service to anyone - now my husband must pay £200 for a train ticket. Thank you for your answer, you are doing a right thing defending your employer - but it will hit our budget hard and no one will refund it. I simply can't trust Royal mail services anymore.

Post by **aiden01** » 29 Jul 2018, 18:20

rikka wrote:You are absolutely right, I still don't know what the problem was. I would really, really like to know, but they can't tell me details. I can't check when it will be returned either.
Why it's so many other reasons for not delivering "special delivery guaranteed" item? Why call it "guaranteed" then? It would really help if person accepting the item for "guaranteed" delivery could check address by postcode. Just to make sure they can deliver it without sending back and forth.
Why I'm quick to criticise? Unfortunately, I have a reason to be mad right now and not recommend "guaranteed" service to anyone - now my husband must pay £200 for a train ticket. Thank you for your answer, you are doing a right thing defending your employer - but it will hit our budget hard and no one will refund it. I simply can't trust Royal mail services anymore.

Not up to person accepting your mail to put right postcode on that is for the sender to do. In this day an age its not hard to find a proper postcode. Good luck an hopefully eveything turns out well.

rikka · Post by **rikka** » 29 Jul 2018, 18:38

I still don't know what was wrong with it - postcode or something else. It's just a lot of websites with delivery services use "find address by postcode" feature, so it's possible to see does this address exist or not. Why it is called "guaranteed", if they don't check anything? Why did they noticed that it's wrong only in receiver's city? Oh, sorry. So upset because of -£200.

Post by **aiden01** » 29 Jul 2018, 18:46

rikka wrote:I still don't know what was wrong with it - postcode or something else. It's just a lot of websites with delivery services use "find address by postcode" feature, so it's possible to see does this address exist or not. Why it is called "guaranteed", if they don't check anything? Why did they noticed that it's wrong only in receiver's city? Oh, sorry. So upset because of -£200.

I would be very upset aswell its called guaranteed because if something goes wrong you can make a cliam against royal mail.

Post by **aiden01** » 29 Jul 2018, 18:51

rikka wrote:I still don't know what was wrong with it - postcode or something else. It's just a lot of websites with delivery services use "find address by postcode" feature, so it's possible to see does this address exist or not. Why it is called "guaranteed", if they don't check anything? Why did they noticed that it's wrong only in receiver's city? Oh, sorry. So upset because of -£200.

Sorry members on this site can only advise if anyone one can help they will offer great advice