Eircodes, why do some courier companies not use them?

Wildsurfer · 29-05-2019 09:15PM

Difficult to type on a mobile, hard to remember? Eircode is just 7 characters! Do some people just find excuses to find a problem with everything in life.

freshpopcorn · 29-05-2019 09:33PM

Couriers like to make up excuses when they run out of time!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 29-05-2019 10:23PM

Every courier that has delivered to us now uses Eircode. Gone are the days of talking them in for the last 5 miles or failure to find us.

Roadtoad · 29-05-2019 10:31PM

I'm still waiting for the postcard I sent myself, properly stamped, with only the eircode listed. So An Post failed that test.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 29-05-2019 10:35PM

Roadtoad wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the postcard I sent myself, properly stamped, with only the eircode listed. So An Post failed that test.

This has been explained umpteen times. Eircode is not designed to be used by An Post and isn't. Something posted without a name and address won't be delivered unless somebody in the sorting office goes above and beyond their job description and looks up the Eircode to get an address.

The high horse brigade · 29-05-2019 10:41PM

Roadtoad wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the postcard I sent myself, properly stamped, with only the eircode listed. So An Post failed that test.

An post don't use it, nor will they ever. They have their own automated sorting systems that do not use Eircode

dxhound2005 · 29-05-2019 10:54PM

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo wrote: »

They are really handy to have. Was it Eamon Ryan when he was last in government that got it all started? (that's going by memory of him on Vincent Browne anyway).

I do wish that the codes didn't feel so random.

Like if I wanted a delivery to Youghal in Cork the code should be something like CKYL1234. It might have taken the eircode crew a little longer to set up, but there was truly no impediment to doing it that way. Would also be able to remember it much easier for the regular Joe.

That is aping the UK system which is an outlier internationally.

It is not difficult to learn Eircodes. The first part is common to an area, e.g. north Louth is A91, south Louth A92.

astrofool · 29-05-2019 11:04PM

Roadtoad wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the postcard I sent myself, properly stamped, with only the eircode listed. So An Post failed that test.

I think you'll find that An Post are now €1 richer, and that you failed the test.

Shefwedfan · 29-05-2019 11:06PM

I use Eir code, it is brilliant

A package got delivered to wrong address yesterday, two counties have same house number and street....so I always list Eir code

When I rang An Post to complain they told me they don’t use Eir codes......what the hell is that about?

Cookie_Monster · 29-05-2019 11:27PM

Shefwedfan wrote: »

When I rang An Post to complain they told me they don’t use Eir codes......what the hell is that about?

they have their own internal system they think is better and don't want anyone else to know about or use. Just typical Irish Govt / semi state practice, trying to protect what they have for their own benefit, rather than changing for the customers benefit.

Stovepipe · 29-05-2019 11:55PM

Eircode is not useful for a location that is not a house. If you have an accident on a roadside or if you get hurt hillwalking, Eircode wont help you, whereas Loc8 code will and it was recognised by the GPS companies long before Eircode.. Also, Govt departments were ordered to make Eircode work so they will not accept forms, in paper or online without an Eircode. Loc8 code was offered to the State for free and they refused.

Atlantic Dawn · 29-05-2019 11:56PM

Any courier company not using them won't be around much longer.

gctest50 · 30-05-2019 12:00AM

Stovepipe wrote: »

Eircode is not useful for a location that is not a house. If you have an accident on a roadside or if you get hurt hillwalking, Eircode wont help you, whereas Loc8 code will and it was recognised by the GPS companies long before Eircode..

https://what3words.com/

works worldwide

Stovepipe wrote: »

............whereas Loc8 code will and it was recognised by the GPS companies long before Eircode..

Should we all dig out the sextants then ? door knob on a string perhaps ?

you need to buy credits for loc8, and it's sh!te

Stovepipe wrote: »

........
Loc8 code was offered to the State for free and they refused.

Born as a proof of concept that geolocation-postcodes can be trivial maths, and without the need for proprietary licenses and centralised management, it remains Ireland's most accurate postcode at 8 characters; while even at 7 characters at <3m average radial offset from a point - over 4 times more precise than Loc8code.

janfebmar · 30-05-2019 12:32AM

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It is not difficult to learn Eircodes.

Oh yes it is. Few people know their own eircodes by heart.

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The first part is common to an area, e.g. north Louth is A91, south Louth A92.

Then why not have the first part LHN and Louth south LHS , or something like that. In a weeks time I'll remember LHN, I will not remember A91.

The high horse brigade · 30-05-2019 12:47AM

janfebmar wrote: »

Oh yes it is. Few people know their own eircodes by heart.

It's 6 number and letters, hardly much to learn, and you only need to learn your own. Everyone in our house use it all the time. Maybe a certain subset of people are just too stubborn to make the effort to memorise it.

dxhound2005 · 30-05-2019 12:52AM

janfebmar wrote: »

Then why not have the first part LHN and Louth south LHS , or something like that. In a weeks time I'll remember LHN, I will not remember A91.

Like I said that is the UK system, but it is not in use anywhere else that I know of? Most of the rest of the world seems to be using only digits.

Someone living in NI probably knows that their Postcode starts with BT, if they are in Newry they might know that it starts with BT34. I don't see how that is any better than knowing an Eircode in Dundalk starts with A91.

Varik · 30-05-2019 01:01AM

I ****ed up an address recently for an order.

Put down the wrong county and right village/eircode. There's actual a village by that name in said wrong county but I was fine as they went by eircode as that had all the information in it to confirm.

LionelNashe · 30-05-2019 01:09AM

Roadtoad wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the postcard I sent myself, properly stamped, with only the eircode listed. So An Post failed that test.

What message did you write on the postcard, out of curiosity? And did you post it from near where you live? I'm wondering if the sorter knew you were testing the system so he made a paper aeroplane out of it.

janfebmar · 30-05-2019 01:11AM

Varik wrote: »

I ****ed up an address recently for an order.

Put down the wrong county and right village/eircode.

LOl. Most people would know their county but may get a letter or digit wrong on their eircode and get the parcel they expected sent to the wrong end of the country.

Tourists are baffled by our eircode system too, the digits seem totally random.

Varik · 30-05-2019 01:19AM

janfebmar wrote: »

LOl. Most people would know their county but may get a letter or digit wrong on their eircode and get the parcel they expected sent to the wrong end of the country.

Tourists are baffled by our eircode system too, the digits seem totally random.

pop down menu for selection, nothing was typed.

dxhound2005 · 30-05-2019 01:21AM

janfebmar wrote: »

LOl. Most people would know their county but may get a letter or digit wrong on their eircode and get the parcel they expected sent to the wrong end of the country.

Tourists are baffled by our eircode system too, the digits seem totally random.

If they get a letter or number wrong, it will probably turn into a non existent code. I never met a tourist with an opinion on the system.

Wildsurfer · 30-05-2019 06:05AM

janfebmar wrote: »

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It is not difficult to learn Eircodes.

Oh yes it is. Few people know their own eircodes by heart.

dxhound2005 wrote: »

The first part is common to an area, e.g. north Louth is A91, south Louth A92.

Then why not have the first part LHN and Louth south LHS , or something like that. In a weeks time I'll remember LHN, I will not remember A91.

At some stage of your life you had to learn the word Louth. Now you just need to activate your brain again which is obviously being under utilised and memorize your Eircode. Or else just write it on the back of your hand.

stoneill · 30-05-2019 07:50AM

The Satanist wrote: »

eircode is a great system, everyone should be using it

Eircode system is sh1te, it only works because google maps supports it.

The high horse brigade · 30-05-2019 07:54AM

stoneill wrote: »

Eircode system is sh1te, it only works because google maps supports it.

And Apple, and Garmin, and TomTom...
It serves its intended purpose, just learn your own Eircode and when you get given one look it up.

colm_mcm · 30-05-2019 07:56AM

Jupiter Mulligan wrote: »

Maybe it's because commercial users have to pay a fee to access the Eircode system - and it's not particularly cheap.

https://www.eircode.ie/docs/default-source/Common/licensing-and-pricing-information-as-of-september-2015---published-v-3.pdf?sfvrsn=2

Clear cookies on browser and you can keep accessing as much as you want.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 30-05-2019 08:22AM

Stovepipe wrote: »

Eircode is not useful for a location that is not a house. If you have an accident on a roadside or if you get hurt hillwalking, Eircode wont help you, whereas Loc8 code will and it was recognised by the GPS companies long before Eircode.. Also, Govt departments were ordered to make Eircode work so they will not accept forms, in paper or online without an Eircode. Loc8 code was offered to the State for free and they refused.

Loc8? You're joking. I went with it years ago, because of difficulty getting deliveries to our rural location. Not one courier company used it nor had heard of it. The Garmin I had at the time didn't use it, and no in car sat nav since has used it. And it's a very unwieldy number.

Ms2011 · 30-05-2019 11:25AM

janfebmar wrote: »

dxhound2005 wrote: »

It is not difficult to learn Eircodes.

Oh yes it is. Few people know their own eircodes by heart.

I do as does my 7 year old son in case of an emergency & he had to call an ambulance or something along those lines.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 30-05-2019 11:37AM

janfebmar wrote: »

Few people know their own eircodes by heart.

Absolutely not true. I know 80 year olds and 4 year olds who can recite their Eircode no problem whatsoever.

Mad_maxx · 30-05-2019 11:51AM

dobman88 wrote: »

Why didn't you put your eircode on the address? Every company has a space for an eircode these days. As a courier its annoying when people dont use them and their address could be awkward to find.

We order a lot of stuff from amazon, a lot of couriers still don't understand or are too lazy to use eircode

Mad_maxx · 30-05-2019 11:52AM

The Satanist wrote: »

eircode is a great system, everyone should be using it

The instinctive recoil by many at the mention of it is incredible

" oh I don't know what that is, it might kill me"

Eircodes, why do some courier companies not use them?

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