This mail is not mine!
By whyaskq
@whyaskq (7523)
Singapore
August 17, 2007 11:58am CST
This is the 3rd time in a month I have received mails not belonging to me or anyone in my residence.
The first time, I bring the letter with me in and out for few days always forgetting to dump it into the right letter box on my way home. Finally I decide to dump it into the nearest post box to be delivered.
The second time, I specially made a trip to the letter box to have it delivered to the correct letter box after realising I had forgotten to "deliver" it again for 2 days.
This time, the letter has been with me for 3 days already. The block was correct, the unit number was close to mine. However, it wasn't my unit number. In fact, there wasn't such a unit number in my block. From the postal code, I presume it was a neighbouring block where I had no idea where the letter box is. I made a note for it to be returned to the sender. Yet, the letter has been with me for 3 days.
Friends, have you ever received mails which does not belong to you? What will you do?
Will you be the postman and help to deliver it to the intended recipent?
Or will you dump it into the post box to be delivered, assuming there is a post box available.
Or do you just discard the mail as junk?
Kindly share what you will do. Thanks :)
4 people like this
11 responses
@BlueAngelRS (2899)
• Canada
17 Aug 07
I get the people who lived in my house before me mail all the time...I have put in back in the box to return to sender but the mail man doesn't always take it...What I'm going to do now is when I get another one is go right to the post office and say this person no longer lives at this address please send it back as the mail man won't take it when I put it back...It is really annoying at times..But that is some companies for you don't always put the correct new address change and send it to the old one..That has happened to us where my husbands or my mail has gone to my previous address...
2 people like this
@BlueAngelRS (2899)
• Canada
17 Aug 07
My husband has and it finally lol after a long time got straigntened out now he gets all of his mail here...
I'm getting the previous renters mail here and I dumped alot of them after they got piled up but I think the mail has finally stopped coming...Watch I'll say that and get more lol thanks for your advice.
2 people like this
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
17 Aug 07
I do get such from time to time too.
Normally I will put it in the correct box if possible - but more likely, it is that the address is totally wrong or that the address is right but the person is wrong.
I normally just dump them without opening then.
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
18 Aug 07
That happens to me quite often particularly with a specific address. There's a street a few blocks down that has a name very similar to mine and both I and them receive each other's mail by mistake.
The funny thing is that because of the mistakes in the delivery we came to realize that we know each other and that we both work for the board of education LOL
I usually keep their letters and leave them at their mail box when I pass by and they do the same for me.
WHen I don't know the person or the address I just put it back in the mail with a note pointing to the correct address. I would not discard it as junk because it can be an important letter.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
17 Aug 07
Hi Whyaskq! I usually hand it back to our mailman or scribble on the top "return to sender - sent to wrong address" or something along those lines and pop it into the mailbox. Our landlord still gets lots of mail here so when I send her the rent check each month, I send it along with her mail (aren't I a good tenant LOL)?!?
1 person likes this
@kykidd (6812)
• United States
10 Dec 07
I have actually hand delivered the mail if it is my neighbors, otherwise I do just as you did and put it back in the box.
My tenants have put a note in the bottom of their box with their lastnames requesting the postman not to drop any mail with a different name on it. I thought that was kind of unique and it works too.
1 person likes this
@LAWise520 (275)
• United States
18 Aug 07
There is an easy solution to this. While standing at your mailbox, flip through your mail and see if you have any that isn't yours. If you do, put it right back into your mailbox and put the flag up. Then don't worry about it because the post man will come back again and pick it up the next day, and it will go to someone else (hopefully the right person). Personally, I'd call your post office and tell them that you are continually getting mail that isn't yours and that your mailman doesn't do their job.
1 person likes this
@venshida (4836)
• United States
18 Aug 07
I have gotten several pieces of mail that belong to someone else. I usually just put it back in my mail box for the mail person to redistribute. I sometimes get mail with my address but the person does not reside with me. In that scenario, I usually write on the letter not at this address.
@dpk262006 (58676)
• Delhi, India
18 Aug 07
If I receive a wrong mail, I would try my level best to deliver it to the right addressee. I do not wish to keep anybody's mail with me or intending reading it. I believe, that since its nor receiver or sender's fault, I should see to it that it reaches the correct address.
You did the right thing, I appreciate your gesture.
Good Post!
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
20 Aug 07
yes this happens to me sometimes. sometimes mail for the previous owners. i kept it for them for the first few months. when they returned me the postbox key, i just continued to post all wrongly delivered mail into this very nifty and useful slot in my block letterbox panel called 'undelivered mail'. and it goes return to sender immediately. don't even have to look for a postbox or mark the mail return to sender.
check your block. it's usually at the bottom right corner.
i would not redeliver it personally since if the addy is wrong, it might not be for the other person who is staying in that 'supposed' address either.
1 person likes this
@Daelin (683)
• Brazil
18 Aug 07
It did happened to me sometimes, but all I had to do was to return it to the postman. He would put an advice on the letter saying that the person could not be found and the letter would return to the sender.
