Rainydaze

OK I'm throwing this ethical dilemma to the floor...

We've been renting for past 16 months and during that time I've returned a lot of mail to senders for a host of previous tenants. Most mail for these tenants has then dried up.

However we're receiving regular mail for one person, from the same GPO address in the city, even though I've returned the mail to this sender at least 10 times (that's no exaggeration).

Exasperated I opened the last letter before binning it (illegal I know, but I'm getting hacked off by now) and it was a worker's comp cheque. I didn't feel I could really ring them to complain since i'd opened the fricking letter...

I've just received another letter today.

I'm just a little concerned in case this is an identity scam where someone is using this address for dubious purposes.

What would you do? All advice appreciated

lonndongeek

Either return anything else to sender or throw it out.

If it is an 'identity scam' it's a pretty crap one.

Cheers

Steve

Deancm

If you've done the return to sender thing and you keep getting the mail then call them and get it stopped.

Kingseat

Telephone the people who sent the cheque and say you opened it in error with a bunch of other mail addressed to your family. Apologise and offer to send it back but ask that they don't send anything further to your address as you are now tenants.

shears

ooh that's goooood

Kingseat

RedT

I get a sofa catalogue twice a year and an invitation to a golf 'do' every year for the previous tenant. We've been there for over 5 years and I've sent both back several times with 'return to sender' or 'not at this address' written on. It worked for everything else but these two just won't give up. So now they go in the bin.

And yes, I opened this guys mail but only after returning the stuff about 427 times...ok then, 6...

POW148

When we moved, we had Australia Post redirect our mail for the first 6 months from our previous address.

When we first moved into our new place, I asked the previous tennant to leave a forwarding address so that I could pass on any mail. They didnt bother to give me one. For the first 8 months, I diligently wrote "return to sender, not known at this address" on all their mail and put it back into the mailing system. After that time, I was getting pretty sick of sending the same letters back to the same companies so now they all go straight into the fire (winter time) or the bin in summer.

6 years later, I still receive letters for the previous tennants.

Barney

lynetteh

After 2 months of "return to sender" I now give it to my todder to use as drawing paper.

ozzieeagle

Yehp throw it out after the RTS you've already sent.

Thats from a 16 year Apost worker.

Or write deceased on the envelope, that usually grabs attention.

AlliF

Must try that one!

Gems

My next door neighbour used to own our rental (Only for first 6months). However even after it sold they would still get all their utilitie/bank bills sent to my house

At the start I passed them on to them with a note saying please change your address. 2half years later they are still buying stuff and the bill comes to my house!

I resorted to contacting their bank and gas/elec and these have stopped. However recently got bills for work on their own house. How can they get confused with the house address when we have lived here for 2 half years.
I now throw their bills in the bin, in hope they get late charges that will make them stop using my house number.

Gems

Fly Away

In the UK we had post for the previous owners of our house for the 4 years we lived there. They only moved a few streets away so at first we would take it round, but after a year when they seemed to have made no effort to change their address we started just writing 'return to sender, addressee unknown at this address' and shoving it back in the post box. After 2 years, we were still getting their post so I started ringing up the senders and saying I was concerned the former owners were trying to pull some sort of con trick as they were still using our address. That seemed to stop a lot of the post but after 3 years, I just binned anything that came - and some of it was from banks and the tax office etc.

elice_in_oz

if you're renting, you could try dumping it all on the rental agent's doorstep. They might have a forwarding address. they'll bin it... or they'll tell you to bin it. The latter is most likely to happen btw

ozzieeagle

BTW guess who gets the blame for the missing mail, when the recipient eventually complains to the various senders about not getting their mail.

Get dozens of letters each day like this.

Worst thing you can do with your mail in a big country like Aus, is put the wrong post code on it. Because the machines read the Post code first, So even if you put an address in Hobart, if it has a WA post code it will go there first. That would account for at least 1 pct of mail.