In article c922e15f-a029-4c7d-bb17-
, Lobster says...
On 20 Nov, 12:43, "Dave Liquorice" wrote:
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:20:26 +0100, David in Normandy wrote:
Last time we moved house in the UK, we wanted BT to transfer the
home/business number to the new address. When I eventually got to speak
to someone and I gave them the new address they said the address did not
exist.

Mistake in the post code? There is this mythical belief that everywhere
has a postcode *and* is a delivery point within that postcode. This is
very bad belief and the database that drives it isn't 100% accurate in the
first place.

Seems highly plausible... I once renovated a property which had fallen
off the postcode database (having been absorbed into next door), and
although I went through all the right channels to get it re-instated
when the property became 'stand-alone' again, during the intervening
months before it reappeared on every database, I had a hell of a job
when it came to getting services connected and having anything
delivered.

"Sorry sir, that address doesn't exist"

"I'm b********* standing in it!"

David


On a similar note, some companies seem to have difficulty with
addresses:

When going through my post one day I found a strangers bank statement
and utility bill and a covering letter in an envelope - I'd already
opened the letter before discovering it wasn't intended for me. Closer
inspection showed it was my address and postcode on the envelope but
actually marked with the name of someone I'd never heard of. Looking at
the address on the persons bank statement and utility bill their address
was similar to mine (same street name, house number and county) but with
a different town and post code. According to the letter it was from a
credit card company saying their application for a card had been
accepted and they were returning their documents - presumably used as
proof of identity. It seems the credit card company had mangled the
address given to them by the applicant and mutated it into my address
and post code.

I phoned the credit card company on their free phone number to tell them
of their mistake but they refused to talk to me for security reasons. So
I forwarded on the letter, utility bill and bank statement to the
address on the statement enclosing a note saying it had been sent to my
address in error etc.

The following week I got a letter from the card company which was
obviously the persons pin number (I didn't open the letter but it was
obvious) and returned the letter to sender marked "person not at this
address". A couple of days later their credit card arrived. Again I
returned it to sender. A week later another letter arrived, again
returned to sender. The letters stopped coming after that.

--
David in Normandy