Missing House Number in Order

Brickparty

Hi,
i received an order in the Netherland with a missing House Number. I tried to contact the buyer several times, but got no feedback. I checked the street on Google Maps and find out, there are just 11 House Numbers in this street. So should i send the package out with the missing house number or cancel the order? How other shops handle this case? Thanks for your help,
Sven

Lawrence

If you have an incorrect address, and you don't receive any contact from the customer, I would definitely cancel that order and not risk sending it out.

Jay37

This has happened to me a couple of times (here in the UK, but not when having to send abroad), and like you I checked Google Maps to see how many properties were in the street. In the UK a postcode can cover about 30 different properties, so this alone is not sufficient. Luckily for me I did hear back from my customers who either confirmed that the address was correct as was, or apologised for the error and told me the house number.

In your case I would continue trying until such time as it might breach your shipping times before deciding on a final course of action. It may be that even if you sent it, the Dutch postal service may reject it. Alternatively the delivery worker may know everyone in the road and will simply put it through the correct letterbox.

It may be your best option is to cancel and refund, explaining why you had to do this. If the customer subsequently complains you will have evidence of messages sent should admin require proof you've done all you can. If you were to send it and it gets rejected, then the problem will just take longer to sort, and probably involve dealing with postal services. That could be time better spent!

Hopefully others will offer some advice too.

Brickparty

Thanks for help. I decided to cancel the order and send a refund. I can't understand how someone can order something worth more than 100€ and then not be reachable after that...

Gaston.La.Brick

Coming a bit late to the party here, but I had two or three orders without house number.
It was always in the UK, where the buyer answered me it's not that uncommon in very small towns.

(But without feedback from the buyer it's OK and in the case it's an expensive order, I wouldn't ship either)

Jay37

Speaking as someone from the UK and having done a bit of research into this for a previous job, each building will either have a number or a name. In older towns and villages especially it's entirely likely that most buildings (usually cottages) predate modern street numbering so will have a name, for example Rose Cottage or The Barn. The Royal Mail recognise these names as such, even if over time further buildings have been added to the road which take a more straightforward numbering system.

Sometimes homeowners will 'name' their property, even though it has a house number, and the Royal Mail don't usually recognise these officially; if the house was given a number on construction, that is what they deliver to. These can usually be recognised when someone gives their address as something like 'Magnolia Cottage, 24 High Street'.

This topic has cropped up elsewhere in the forum, but technically in the UK you only need a house number/name and correct postcode for a successful delivery - everything else, including the recipient, is not really a concern although like all countries there are addressing conventions, and having town names and counties won't hurt in case the postcode is not written correctly.

WESTIEKaTH

Problem with these orders is that if you do decide to cancel order you are still charged by papal etc. I find this most unfair but of course I would rather loose a few pounds than many £s for missing order.

nita_rae

@WESTIEKATH If you switch to Stripe, the payments are implemented as a two-step (authorize then capture). That gives you a chance to examine the order details before capturing the payment. No fees would be charged.