My mother recently posted me some memories collected by my grandmother, who took me on holiday to Belgium as a child in the early 1980s. They included my grandmother’s handwritten notes, a handful of photographs (including some of me as a child taken in Amsterdam, Brussels, Bruges and Paris) and a postcard she had sent.
Unfortunately, by the time the envelope arrived, only my mother’s covering note was inside. The envelope was sealed, but the rest of the contents were missing. I think it must have come open and been pressed back down again. I was told by local sorting office staff that lost property goes to a warehouse in Belfast, but the only information on the website is about compensation.
I phoned customer services, but after selecting the appropriate options I reached a “dead end” message that told me Royal Mail does not keep lost items.
This astonished me. Presumably some lost items are valuable and many more are personally treasured. I don’t want compensation, just my grandmother’s pictures and notes back. Any suggestions or information you can offer are gratefully received. SF, Birmingham
The “warehouse” you refer to is actually the National Returns Centre for the UK, based in Northern Ireland – the only part of Royal Mail authorised to open customers’ mail to find out where the item inside has come from if there is no return address on the outside. Royal Mail said that the overwhelming majority of mail items it handles are delivered safely to the correct address. However, a small proportion are undeliverable for reasons that include incomplete addresses and lack of forwarding addresses for recipients who have moved.
It said: “On the rare occasion where we are not able to locate a return address, items are held at the National Returns Centre for up to four months awaiting contact from the sender or intended recipient. Only when an item has not been claimed after this time would we consider securely disposing of it.” It added that if the photographs were black and white or sepia they would definitely have been kept as deemed to be “intrinsically valuable”.
However, despite sleuthing over several weeks in the warehouse, Royal Mail was unable to locate your precious photographs. A spokesman said: “We would like to apologise to SF for the apparent loss of these items and the distress caused. We have contacted SF and are arranging for a cheque to be sent as a gesture of goodwill.
“We would remind other readers who are sending valuables or items with sentimental (and indeed irreplaceable) value to use Royal Mail’s Special Delivery Guaranteed service and ensure that items are packaged securely.”
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