Post Gamble!

Badadumdum

I've a strange and possibly mildly creepy sounding question.

What would happen if I sent a letter to an individual, without their entire address? That is, just their name, town and County.

For example:

John Smith,
Ballina,
Co.Tipperary

Does anyone reckon the letter might just actually make it to John?
Sadly, I cannot ask "John" for his address, surprise and all that. :pac:

SEPT 23 1989

Would that be John Smith, Managing Director of Ballina Beverages?

AEDIC

If there is no other 'John Smith' in Balina, Co Tipp then it should get to him just fine, if not.... it might not

Vicar in a tutu

Do it..and just enclose a badly drawn smiley face / penis.

Diapason

It will be delivered to John Smith, Ballina, Co. Mayo.

Bad luck OP.

Mr. CooL ICE

Yes.

One time, I wanted to get a shipping quote from a music site so I went as far as putting in the address without actually paying/confirming the order. The address I entered was a semi-fake one as follows:

<made up first name> <actual surname>
<correct house number> Zurich Street (not my street name)
<badly misspelled town name>
Ireland

With the only correct line being the country (note no county in the address), the company still sent out a catalog and it managed to arrive at my house. I suddenly had a lot of respect for An Post after that

eth0

LordChessington wrote: »

With the only correct line being the country (note no county in the address), the company still sent out a catalog and it managed to arrive at my house. I suddenly had a lot of respect for An Post after that

In other places they fire it straight into the bin if it doesn't have some cryptic code in the address. Lazy bunch of slackers

Badadumdum

Thank you all in equal amounts, I'll take the plunge then!

I shall let you all know how it goes, knowing how much it must mean to you personally now. :pac:

Also if it ends up in Mayo, I'll be damned and someone gets a cookie. That would be amazing.

Einhard

According to Bill Bryons, a letter was posted in America with the following address:

Hill,
John,
Massachusetts.

The postal service managed to figure it out and get it to the correct address. Which was:

John Underhill,
Andover,
Massachusetts.

So...that doesn't really answer your question. But I think it's interesting. And that's all that matters.

Badadumdum

Einhard wrote: »

According to Bill Bryons, a letter was posted in America with the following address:

Hill,
John,
Massachusetts.

The postal service managed to figure it out and get it to the correct address. Which was:

John Underhill,
Andover,
Massachusetts.

So...that doesn't really answer your question. But I think it's interesting. And that's all that matters.

That's pretty savage nonetheless, I'd almost make up a name and address, and put my details in it...see who gets it.

Jaxxy

Badadumdum wrote: »

Thank you all in equal amounts, I'll take the plunge then!

I shall let you all know how it goes, knowing how much it must mean to you personally now. :pac:

Also if it ends up in Mayo, I'll be damned and someone gets a cookie. That would be amazing.

Please do report back, as someone who recently worked on a quality and control project within An Post, I'd be very interested in the outcome. :pac:

TPD

A friend of mine's father received a letter which just had his name and county, and not a crazily uncommon name either.

Lando Griffin

Put the sender address on the back of the envelope as

John Smith,
Ballina,
Co.Tipperary.

kerry4sam

Badadumdum wrote: »

I've a strange and possibly mildly creepy sounding question.

What would happen if I sent a letter to an individual, without their entire address? That is, just their name, town and County.

For example:

John Smith,
Ballina,
Co.Tipperary

Does anyone reckon the letter might just actually make it to John?
Sadly, I cannot ask "John" for his address, surprise and all that. :pac:

An Post have been wonderful in the past with some post I have received. Their would only be limited address with my mis-spelled name but they reached me none-the-less.

OP: You know it's a gamble. If it is important you should contact someone who would have the full address and then post. Otherwise, take the chance. If it's a common name for the locality, don't count on them receiving it any time soon.

Also, do include your name and address on back of envelope in the event it does have to be returned to yourself

eth0

TPD wrote: »

A friend of mine's father received a letter which just had his name and county, and not a crazily uncommon name either.

So with an uncommon name you could just have the name and the country and it should work?

Badadumdum

Thanks for all the advice

On an unrelated note, I once got a postcard from a friend on holidays in Thailand who had decided to be overly specific, just for the laugh. It read something like:

[My house name]
[Street address]
[Town]
[County]
Ireland
Europe
Northern Hemisphere
Earth
Solar System
etc..

If only I could find it to scan, it was only last summer!

Diapason

eth0 wrote: »

So with an uncommon name you could just have the name and the country and it should work?

Do you know, I should try this.

I've got a *really* uncommon name, I know for a fact I'm the only person with my name in the country, so it's maybe worth a go. I'd stick an extra bit of postage on it maybe, to sweeten the deal for An Post.

Badadumdum

For those actually interested, it arrived, and in one day also, talk about speedy.

Some postman deserves a hug.:pac:

TwoShedsJackson

In the paper years ago they interviewed some guy who had worked in the Post Office in the 30s and 40s - they once got a letter addressed to 'Betty Grable, Hollywood' which had come back with an undelivered stamp saying 'not known Hollywood County Wicklow, try Hollywood County Down'.

inmyday

Some addresses dont have house numbers in ireland. In very small towns.

For example, in a very very small town like Paulstown in Kilkenny, there would be no need for a number at all.

So for example the address would be

Tommy Smith
Paulstown
Co. Kilkenny

TPD

eth0 wrote: »

So with an uncommon name you could just have the name and the country and it should work?

If it's uncommon enough and you've had other things posted with your full name and address, I'd say so. I imagine there is some sort of database at the main an post headquarters, so if a letter comes in with just a name, it can be delivered.

My name would be uncommon enough for this to work, but I've an uncle with the same name living nearby, and I get stuff shipped to mine and my parents house all the time.

ScumLord

An Post postmen are very good when it comes to delivering mail like that. I once got a package sent from China that had my name spelt incorrectly, my town spelt incorrectly and then just Ireland. They did try a few different towns all over Ireland (they had stuff like "try Galway" written on it) but they got it to me eventually.

Once it gets to the local postman he'll more than likely know who it's for if it's a smallish town.

doubtfir3

I've had a letter delivered to me with just my name and county.. granted I don't have the most common name in the world but fair play to An Post!

exiledelbows

This reminds me of a joke Dara O'Briain tells about posting stuff from England to his mother and the whole lack of postcodes thing

He'd write on the envelope
Mammy
Mammy house
Mammy Town
IRELAND

And he'd march up to the counter pointing at the massive 'Ireland' and say: "Just get it here and they'll know what to do!!"

zoe 3619

Had a friend received a letter addressed: Steve,Lough derg,Ireland.never underestimate an post.

PizzamanIRL

zoe 3619 wrote: »

Had a friend received a letter addressed: Steve,Lough derg,Ireland.never underestimate an post.

Also never underestimate the imaginations of people on the internet.

uch

I Like Cake!

stupid head

Mighty bump

asteroth

A friend of mine sent a letter from the US to a mutual friend of ours in Dublin. Basically he was a bit drunk when he wrote the letter. On the envelope was essentially:

Dear Mr. Postman please deliver to
<our friend's name>
<street>
"house with yellow front door, cant' remember number!"
Dublin
Ireland.

Letter was delivered.

SuperS54

I got a postcard delivered which friends sent from Spain when on holiday. They couldn't remember the townland I lived in so wrote;

My Name,
Correct nearest village name,
Take the left at the crossroads when coming from Dublin,
Right at the T Junction,
200 meters up the hill on the left,
Bungalow with white PVC windows and big black dog,
Correct County,
Ireland

Received it about 4 days after they posted!

Ken.

My mother,step-father and brothers were in Spain a few years ago. Met an English couple from Newcastle. Exchanged addresses(before internet) for sending xmas cards. The English people lost the piece of paper.

They did however remember My step-fathers nickname and the golf course he was a member of. So a card arrived (Nickname, blah golf club) not even Ireland was written on it so the English postmen must have had to look up some book to see where in the world this golf course was.

osarusan

My parents received a letter from somebody who forgot to write any family name at all, just their first names.

The rest of the address was correct though, and they live in such a middle-of-nowhere rural area that it probably wasn't too difficult to work out who it was for.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Got a letter last year with just my first name and Ireland.

What a bump of a zombie!

Mother-in-law once sent a postcard to a friend with the correct name but wrong town in wrong country - they never received it. Had it been to Ireland An Post would have got it through!!

dxhound2005

SuperS54 wrote: »

I got a postcard delivered which friends sent from Spain when on holiday. They couldn't remember the townland I lived in so wrote;

My Name,
Correct nearest village name,
Take the left at the crossroads when coming from Dublin,
Right at the T Junction,
200 meters up the hill on the left,
Bungalow with white PVC windows and big black dog,
Correct County,
Ireland

Received it about 4 days after they posted!

Thats the system in use in Costa Rica.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/05/business/fi-crmail5

DazMarz

At the ground level, the local postman probably knows most people on his rounds, particularly in rural areas.

At the local sorting office level, they will know street/housing estate names and what town they belong to (if the town name is missing, say)

At the main sorting office level, they will know what areas certain towns are in (if the county name is missing)

Ironically, you could get away with posting a letter without including the county in it, if you put the name of the local sorting office district in it. For example, in north Wicklow, the towns of Greystones, Kilcoole, Newtownmountkennedy, Newcastle and Delgany are all in the "Greystones" postal area, under the jurisdiction of Greystones Sorting Office. So if you addressed a letter to someone, but put it as such:

Joe Bloggs,
450 Beachdale,
Greystones

it would still get there. A bit delayed, maybe, but would still get there. (Beachdale is a housing estate in Kilcoole, btw). The mere fact that you have "Greystones" in the address means it will find its way to Greystones Sorting Office, regardless of a lack of "County Wicklow" on it; after that, the postmen will see "Beachdale" and will know it is actually for Kilcoole, and will deliver it to Mr. Bloggs.

When writing your address, it is actually handy to put the name of your local sorting office just before you put your county name. That will mean that it will, regardless, get to your local sorting office much quicker.

It's no harm to put the complete address on it, but even with partial addresses, it is amazing how often a letter/packet will get to its destination regardless. Usually with a big sticker next to the address telling you to tell anyone who's sending you post to use your correct address.

One thing that always impresses me about postmen and so on, how in the name of Christ that they can decipher some of the addresses written on envelopes. Seriously. The handwriting is so poor, I don't know how they do it sometimes!!!

zoe 3619

zoe 3619 wrote: »

Had a friend received a letter addressed: Steve,Lough derg,Ireland.never underestimate an post.

Actually this is true.just used the name Steve,but his christian name is less common than that,and he's well known around the area.

Sir Arthur Daley

Wouldn't post codes solve a lot of problems.