What happens to all of the items lost in the post?

lil_miss_sunshine

So i was wondering if anyone knew what happens to all of the items lost in the post or things that dont get delivered for some reason? If they do get lost, where exactly can they get lost? Just wondering..

bonty44

I'd love to know. It would explain 3 missing parcels from the last month or so.

cyberbob

They go through a wormhole to a Parallel Royal mail

dacouch

I always get annoyed by the people who say "I found it in the last place I looked". Of course you did!

DaveAshton

Most stuff that's lost is because of poor packaging (labels falling off, item falling out of the envelope etc etc). If RM can't work out either where the item's meant to go, or where it came from I think they eventually get auctioned off.

Brooker_Dave

lil_miss_sunshine wrote: »

So i was wondering if anyone knew what happens to all of the items lost in the post or things that dont get delivered for some reason? If they do get lost, where exactly can they get lost? Just wondering..

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/royal-mail-hitting-a-bum-note-with-the-lost-post-13904355.html

TurkishDelight

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?catId=7500151&mediaId=2600041

We do our best to make sure your mail gets to its destination safely, but sometimes, even with the best will in the world, we can't deliver your mail. This could be if:

• The mail isn't addressed properly or if some of the address is missing
• The building no longer exists - i.e. it's been demolished
• The person receiving the mail refuses to accept it
• Insecure packing means the address has come off
• Not enough postage has been paid and no one will pay the fee
• There's a security system at the delivery address that stops us from getting in. If you need to make special access arrangements for deliveries to avoid this happening, give us a call on 08457 950 950
• There's no one at home to receive mail that needs a signature, or it's too big to get through the letterbox
• If the delivery address isn't permanently occupied, or if access is unsafe, impractical or unreasonable. If this happens we'll try to contact whoever the mail is addressed to and ask them to collect it. If we can't get hold of them, or they don't collect the mail in time, unfortunately we'll have to treat it as undeliverable

And of course things get nicked by posties (there will always be bad eggs), people have had it delivered but forgot, or lied, or it went to the wrong house....

robinson79

I sort out the mail at work and almost everyday there are letters for completely different addresses!

DodgyLurgy

dacouch wrote: »

I always get annoyed by the people who say "I found it in the last place I looked". Of course you did!

They should make it the first place they look next time they lose something

Lobell

Most of the 'lost' mail eventually turns up in Belfast at the Return Letter Centre where it is sorted and opened.

Junk mail gets binned (I think most if it goes to be recycled).
Letters etc will go back to the sender if there is an easily identifiable return address on it.
Valuable items (vouchers, cash etc) with no return address are logged and held by RM and can be claimed back by the sender.
Non-valuable stuff (ie. everything else) is either binned or some of it is auctioned for charity.

custardy

most lost items could be prevented by proper packaging,clear address labels(including a return address) and as i used to do put a return address inside with the item.
that way if the packaging gets destroyed/seperated then theres a chance the internal return address will get the item back