BS: how far can a lost letter get?

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: Mr Happy
Date: 19 Aug 02 - 06:58 AM

ever so slight thred creep, luggage too can go adrift when travelling.

some years ago after a plane journey from the far east back to uk, me & 'er indoors found ourselves at the baggage carousel at gatwick airport waiting for our cases to appear.

we'd had four cases including a guitar in a hard case.

well, after waiting an hour, we had to leave to go back home missing two cases inc the guitar, the other one had all my clothes in it.

we got them back eventually about 3 months later, guitar case broke- but luckily instrument undamaged- and my case partially burst. many of my clothes were stained with, of all things, curry!

we'd been flying with PIA[pakistan airlines]so i guess my case had 'mated' with some pakistan person's luggage!

the airline told us the bags had been located in Strasburg, germany after also having travelled to manila,phillipines & karachi,pakistan. damn things saw more of the world than we did!

anyone have similar experiences?

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Aug 02 - 03:41 AM

A friend who was visiting a daughter in the "Peace Corps" posted a picture postcard from South Africa in mid November, with the message "I don't know how long this will take to get there - so Merry Christmas."

I received it the following June.

The address was complete and correct.
There was no indication of incorrect postage.

The card bore the picture of a very pleasant young lady on a (presumedly nude) beach somewhere in S. Africa.

There was an obvious mustard stain on the front, and a dill pickle seed stuck firmly to the back (still identifiable by the aroma), and what were obviously two thumbtack holes in the upper corners.

John

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 18 Aug 02 - 09:47 PM

A shame about the unfortunate couple in the British news last week who booked their holiday in Sydney, via the web. They ended up in Sydney, Nova Scotia, but thought they were going to Australia!

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 18 Aug 02 - 06:17 PM

Well, it's not uncommon for letters to be misdirected during the sorting process, and it's not uncommon for one country to be confused with another, for example AUSTRIA/AUSTRALIA, or GUINEA/NEW GUINEA. However, it seems it would be extremely unusual for such a letter to be delivered to someone's house. More likely, the error would be discovered at some point in the sorting process, and then the letter would be sent to the correct country, assuming the country could be determined.

More and more lately, letters are being sorted by machines. What usually happens is this: In a post office in a city near the point of origin, the letter is passed through an optical character reader, and the address is then matched by computer to a postal database (even using "fuzzy" matching when necessary), then a postal code is assigned (if it doesn't already have one), a barcode is applied (if it doesn't already have one), and all remaining sorting and routing is performed by barcode readers. It may be that the only person who actually "eyeballed" the address was the carrier who brought the letter to your door. And if the letter happened to come in the middle of a pack of letters all going to the same address, maybe even the carrier didn't read it. So this isn't too surprising, really.

So the OCR in Leeds failed to detect that this was meant to be international mail, probably due to some mismarking or ambiguous marking by the sender, or maybe even due to the lack of sufficient postage for international mail. Then, assuming it was domestic mail, the computer looked for, and found, a matching address in Portland, Dorset. (I assume there's only one Portland in the UK.) If Portland, Dorset had similarly named street, and the house number fell into a valid range for that street--which isn't too great a coincidence--there's nothing to stop the letter from being delivered to that house.

No, I don't think the original first-class postage will be enough to get the letter to the US. Probably the Royal Mail will return the letter to the sender, who will then have to apply new stamps. (That's what would happen in the US, anyway.)

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: GUEST,How Far vs How Long
Date: 18 Aug 02 - 12:32 AM

The reporter didn't say HOW FAR it traveled, but it was reported on the news tonight that a letter was delivered this week that had been mailed in 1945.

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 17 Aug 02 - 10:59 AM

As a retired postal employee, I can assure you the question is not 'how far' but total distance traveled. For example, I once saw a letter addressed to San Francisco, California, 94101, which had been to: King David Square, Jerusalem, 94101 San Francisco, New Mexice San Francisco, Costa Rica San Francisco, Chile BTW, the letter had been sent from Los Angeles.

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 17 Aug 02 - 04:29 AM

On the subject of lost letters. My lovely old Mother who was in her eighties at the time sent aChristmas card to some friends of mine who lived bear Boston in Lincolnshire. In a moment of slight confusion she put their telephone number instead of their postcode. Around Easter of the next year thay recieved a grubby envelope containing said card, it having been to Boston, Massachetts and returned via Peterborough.

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 16 Aug 02 - 09:42 PM

Well, actully the letter in question didn't get all that far, did it? I mean, it never left the UK. What would really show postal incompetencey would be if it left Leeds addressed to Portland Dorset UK and wound up in Portland, Maine US or, even further, in Portland, Oregon US. Unfortunately, not totally outside the realm of possibility.{;-)

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: Gareth
Date: 16 Aug 02 - 06:38 PM

Postman Pat must have had a bad day !

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: how far can a lost letter get?
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Aug 02 - 06:31 PM

Check here: postage calculator

Subject: how far can a lost letter get?
From: vindelis
Date: 16 Aug 02 - 06:29 PM

Today a friend of mine received a letter addressed to a gentleman in Portland Connetticut USA. We both live in Portland Dorset UK and the letter was posted in Leeds UK. There have been many cases of letters arriving years, if not decades, after having been posted; but is there a record for distance? This letter will be redirected, the only question is will the 27p stamp (1st class uk) be enough to cover the postage?