AN POST has put an end to a long-standing arrangement which allowed customers to forward misdirected letters to their intended recipients simply by crossing off the printed address and writing in the correct one before posting.
The arrangement allowed considerate householders and tenants to send on mail to former tenants at their new addresses without incurring any cost or great inconvenience.
However, An Post’s worsening financial situation has forced it to clamp down on the manual redirection of letters, which was never formally allowed by the company.
It now says customers wishing to forward mail delivered to a former occupant at their address must place the letter in a new envelope and pay the postage. Any mail put back into the system with already cancelled stamps will be returned to the sender, regardless of what is written on it, a spokeswoman said.
“Yes, in years past it may have got through, but for business reasons every revenue stream is closely monitored and the system is designed to ensure that stamps cannot be reused,” she said.
An Post says people moving house or business address should use its redirection service. However, this costs up to €150 a year.
The company denied there had been any change in procedures when it was first contacted by The Irish Timeson foot of a reader inquiry. However, when presented with details of the inquiry, which arose when bank statements were returned even though they had been redirected from the reader's home town in Co Galway to her Dublin address, the company's press office checked again and found that arrangements had changed.
The customer who raised the inquiry said she was told by An Post customer services that “a blind eye” was turned to the practice for years but that recently staff had been told to clamp down. With over three million pieces of mail going through sorting offices daily, some readdressed mail could still get through the system, the customer was told.
The spokeswoman advised anyone sending mail to include a return address on the front top-left-hand corner of every envelope or parcel. “That way, we can return it to you if, for some reason, it cannot be delivered.”
