Tuesday, February 01, 2005

"Refused not at the address"

An "Express Letter Service" envelope from "National Credit Council" listing a DC POB return address arrived here yesterday addressed to someone we never heard of and don't know. The envelope has a clear cellophane face revealing the unknown addressee, our address, and some supposed credit account info, including PIN, notifying the addressee of easy auto financing. A Google search on National Credit Council revealed some government agency in the Philippines by that name. I also checked the telephone directory for the addressee and there is a person by that name in another town.

It's probably just a simple mistake, but I contacted USPS anyway for advice. I explained that we're the only ones that have ever had this street number and we don't know the person who's erroneously listed at our address. USPS suggested that I simply write 'Refused not at the address" and put it in the outgoing mail. I followed their advice. I'm probably making a big thing out of nothing, but also notified the Governor's office of this mistake. Who knows? I don’t want an FDLE SWAT team kicking in the door some morning looking for this person. I've read about mistakes like that happening. You'd be surprised at the problems simple mistakes can cause.