City Dwelling Addresses

[Andara Bledin]

Are any of the abbreviations ones that will get the package to the recipient anyhow?

I can't imagine PCH for Pacific Coast Highway would cause any delays in delivery. After all, there's really nothing else that PCH could be, and pretty much everybody calls it PCH.

^-.-^

[Pagan]

I don't get that either.

Whenever I call someplace and they ask me to verify my address, I give 'em the whole thing down to ZIP code.

Which is a giggle in itself. My street name is in Spanish (I've only ever found two others and they're both in Cali) and I pronounce it correctly. I can't help it.

Invariably, the poor soul on the other end has to ask me to repeat it. I'm sorry if you've ever been that poor soul!

I can't imagine PCH for Pacific Coast Highway would cause any delays in delivery. After all, there's really nothing else that PCH could be, and pretty much everybody calls it PCH.

Like using ABQ. Google it, and you don't get anything but stuff related to 'Burque (and that's all you get if you put that in, too).

[Amina516]

. After all, there's really nothing else that PCH could be

^-.-^

Publishers Clearing House...

Must be a delivery for Ed McMahon.

[Mr Hero]

I don't so much get incomplete addresses, but I get 70% of a phone number quite regularly. I lvie in a city with 2 area codes, so locals are pretty good with it. People from the same state, but not one of the 2 area codes, not so much. And most out-of-staters are pretty good at giving full phone numbers but you'll have the occasional out-of-stater who will not give me an area code.

[Racket_Man]

in the pizza delivery business THE CORRECT ADDRESS is very important. this not only includes the correct street address (we have several streets in my town and the surrounding villages that are nearly the same spelling with CT or PL or ST) but an apartment number (really really important information esp if it is a tri or a quad - plex), a door location (business or apt.), front back side, (if a hotel) a room number, an extention number, a working phone number and MOST IMPORTANT a name.

I can not tell you how many times we have to call someone back on an internet order to verify the address, the apt number, the door location (esp if it is a house converted to multi-unit) or (in the case of a business) a NAME (since most of the time people tend to use the general company number). when taking am order over the phone we will ALWAYS ask if the residence if a private home or an apt, which door (as this tends NOT to be apparent at the door level some have apt numbers/letters most DO NOT).

[XCashier]

My stepfather will tend to omit the zip code when sending things;

And they still get sent?! Amazing. I would think the post office would bounce it back to him with an "Incomplete Address" stamp on it.

The ZIP code has been in effect since 1963, and gosh, they came out with the newfangled ZIP + 4 in 1983. I'm sure your stepdad is a fine man, but he is a wee bit behind the times.

[Sheldonrs]

Are any of the abbreviations ones that will get the package to the recipient anyhow?
...

We don't have to deliver anything. We take donations. But we need the correct address info to run the credit cards and if we don't know what the abbreviation stands for, we can't run it.

[FuneralSec]

I don't know how it is in any of the other not so very populated states but I know here in New Mexico, we still have alot of areas that don't have actual physical addresses. The reservation up this way has numbered roads sometimes and other times the directions we get from our families are: 1/2 mile North East past the Chapter House, straight for 2 miles then turn West till you pass the big tree with a tire next to it.
It's not because they are trying to be difficult they just don't have physical addresses. Usually they have a P.O. Box close by but those can't always be used for deleveries either. My boyfriend delivers propane for a large company and he deals with directions similar whats above.

[Jetfire]

I thought that they decided that the area code split went so badly that they weren't going to split them again, just add new area codes. However, the number of people who still have their 7-digit signs is disturbing, especially since the new area code has been rolled out here already. I wonder how many of them try to dial *old area code* *new area code* *number*. Because some of the people who think I'm crazy for giving a 10-digit number are dealing with a lot of students, who are far more likely to have the new area code.

Wow, 10 digit phone numbers? I still remember growing up, we had 5 digit dialing. If you were calling local, all you needed was 8-#### since that was the entire local region. We didn't get a second part until I was in Junior High IIRC, then it was a choice between 5-#### and 8-#### (but by then everyone was doing 32{5,8}-####.

And even now most people are on Provincial local dialing plans, so anything in the 506 area code is local. When I call my parents from Fredericton (on a 459 number), I still just do 32#-#### to reach them up north. Don't need the 10 digits till I'm out of province.

And yes, that all said, unless it's some place I call regularly (ie Greco), I do listen enough to give the full address, full phone number and/or full date of birth as requested. (Though I often need to scramble a bit for my postal code; keep confusing it with my parents code. )

[Lots42]

I've gotten half (or 1/3) birthdates.

.

Sometimes I blank on my birthdate or other important info. But I admit it. I wonder if some of these people are too shamed to admit they aren't perfect.

[EricKei]

And they still get sent?! Amazing. I would think the post office would bounce it back to him with an "Incomplete Address" stamp on it.

Well, the ZIP is actually the mega-huge major part of it.

You could, in theory, send a First-Class letter to

Msfghog GK[refjf
123 Main St Cir Dr
Nuu York, NY 00000-0000

...and have a better than even chance of it being delivered as long as the ZIP code is correct. Chances improve if you have the ZIP+4 extension on there (I believe that it narrows it down to a specific postal route). It improves even more if you use a program (I think even Word can do it these days) that can slap an accurate "postal binary" barcode under the address...I used to be able to translate those -- most of the digits are the ZIP, the first few characters of the street address, and a Check Digit to make the whole thing add up to a multiple of ten if added together as base10 numbers)

The PO here has, for years, accurately delivered mail meant for "Metairie" with city names given as "Metry", "Jefferson", or "New Orleans", LA -- the first does not exist, the second is a nearby area, and the third belongs to the another city entirely (of which Metairie is a 'burb, albeit in a distinct Parish)...as long as the ZIP is correct, it got there.

Note that only First Class is quite so nice about this -- cheaper mailing options such as Standard Mail (aka Bulk Mail) are cheaper for a REASON

[Seshat]

It's not because they are trying to be difficult they just don't have physical addresses. Usually they have a P.O. Box close by but those can't always be used for deleveries either. My boyfriend delivers propane for a large company and he deals with directions similar whats above.

In some areas of Australia - usually rural or island areas - it's similar. On an island we were thinking of moving to, your address for postal stuff was the island name. A daily 'chore' was to pop down to the post office in the centre of the island and pick up your mail.

You did have a street name and house number, but that was never actually used for postal stuff.

[SteveZim1017]

...an apartment number (really really important information esp if it is a tri or a quad - plex...

Woo I left that off of my original post but that happens all the time. I get a dozen pieces of returned mail a week because people don't think to give their apartment number!


(And holy cow I feel special for finally starting a topic that gets more than one or two views. Woo Hoo for me )

[Pagan]

Well, the ZIP is actually the mega-huge major part of it.

Especially when you're dealing with a state that a lot of people seem think is a foreign country....

The best one was addressed like this:

Dr. Blah
MSC 3AF
Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30001
Las Cruces, Mexico 88003-8001

Still made it to where it was supposed to.

I've had many, many letters and packages sent to me from people in the SE part of the country. They seem to have a particular problem getting my street address right, usually mis-spelling it horribly and leaving off the apartment number. But they've always made their way to me, though.

[BeeMused]

That reminds me of a parcel I once received from a friend in California. It had the correct German address on it. But somehow it got rerouted to Sydney, Australia first, before it reached me in Germany. I guess some guy in the postal office had a rather uh... limited knowledge about the world.