Hi, I’ve recently joined and I’ve just been messaged to say my account is now blocked because my address is invalid :-o
I live in a rural area, and my address is:
House name (there are no numbers)
Area name/Street
Village
Nearest Town
County
Postcode
England
I get mail with no issues usually, even today I’ve had something from america using this exact address. The email received was not very helpful, in that it didn’t indicate what the issue might be … I’m going to guess because it’s quite long, not the usual “1, Street name, BIG CITY, postcode” version .
Has anyone had this and got any advice? I replied to the email as advised but, not knowing how long they might reply, and being keen to get my first card, having sent 7 or 8 already haha, I thought I’d ask here first
TIA all!
Welcome to the forum! I am not sure why your address is blocked unless it is the street number. While you wait for it to get fixed, you might want to try some games like tags or round robins. You can also do swaps on the forum.
I think you have to be patient - the support team is very small and they have to answer every day a lot of requests.
If the address is actually not quite correct, this is not a good idea, because it could happen that these cards do not arrive.
It is better to clarify (with support or with the help of other users) why the address is classed as invalid.
It could be that with your name, the address is 8 lines long (all my postcards only have 5 premade lines but that could just be Australia). I’ve only gotten ones 6 lines long at max, but I couldn’t say for certain, and I know that it’d be tricky for you to condense it since certain lines like the county and postcode have to be separate. Have you ever tried a variation of your address for post before? Maybe putting the Village and Nearest Town together?
Also if this isn’t the case, can someone please let me know what you’d do for an address with more than 6 line? At the moment I just add the last line below the last pre-marked line on the card (while still keeping the space at the bottom of the card). Would you add your own line above the pre-marked ones? Or just have floating text above?
Could it be England? I think most of us use ‘United Kingdom’ and if the problem is that it’s too long I think you could safely lose the County, I regularly give out my addresses without it x
I send to an address in the United Kingdom that is seven lines. If the card lines are wide enough I write two parts on a line one above the other but if the lines are too close I add writing under them.
Thank you I have just found some round robins, that will be fun in the interim!
My address is definitely correct, it was a new build and we were issued the address when we moved by our post office so we have just always used what we were assigned direct by them
Thanks Bille - I will be patient, I wasn’t expecting any quick replies, I should think with all these members they are very busy, but that is why I thought I would try asking on here whilst I waited, in case anyone else had had this
I shall wait and see what their reason is, perhaps as mentioned above, it’s because we don’t have a house number. We do have trouble on, fortunately rare occasions, when some systems can’t cope with no house number haha
Maybe! I hadn’t thought of that being an issue to be honest, I don’t know anyone else who does ‘external mail’ like this so didn’t have a clue what people normally put
In all honestly, I think RM are really good, and I am sure I could get away with just putting my house name and postcode and country and it would arrive (our local postie is the best!), but it would be helpful to understand what the issue is so I can rectify it quickly and correctly
I always think that too, I’ve actually been tempted to trial it, just send myself a postcard with the house number & postcode & see if it makes it here.
Hopefully the team will get back to you soon & you’ll know what they think the issue is, we could probably go on guessing all day & not get it right x
Hi! I moderate addresses for the UK, and I always put a reason when I mark one as invalid. For example, if your address doesn’t contain your username, I will add this as the reason:
“Your name is required in the address so that the postcard goes to the correct person at that address.”
For me to validate it, you would need to submit a version of your address that includes your name as the first line, in that case.
If you check the email, you should find a reason there.
I’m quite sure I could condense it, I’ve just mentioned in another reply, I suspect our posties could quite easily deliver with just a house name/number and postcode these days, but I shall see what the feedback is before I go in and make alterations that could upset the apple cart more
Whatever name you want to be addressed by, really! I use my real full name; some people prefer to just use their username, or their first name, or initials. It doesn’t really matter, as long as it’s clear who the intended recipient of the postcard is.
I think sometimes when people live in large buildings or just in certain countries, ensuring your real surname is in the address helps ensure the postcard makes it to the right box… I know that when I lived in Belgium and my surname wasn’t on the mailbox (since my wife and I don’t share a surname), my mail didn’t arrive if it was addressed to just my name, because the postie wouldn’t put letters in a box marked with someone else’s surname. But for many people/places that doesn’t matter.
Hello @little_star - I did exactly the same!
As a new Postcrosser myself, I will warn you that this forum is highly addictive!
Look forward to bumping into in the British Isles forum - the RR’s and tag is great fun
Hello, you will probably come across quite a few addresses which are more than 7 lines (eventually!) and UK addresses can often be culprits of this . I don’t even use the lines on my postcard as I print my addresses on a label printer, so I wouldn’t worry too much about whether you have gone over the lines! I guess if you are using the pre-paid maxis from Australia just make sure you don’t write over the “postage paid” part! Don’t worry, my Australian penpal has even put a Polaroid picture in the mail to me and it’s arrived totally fine
Hi! Oh that’s a relief to hear it’s not just me Thank you, I’m sure we will, I’ve been scouring it all afternoon (sorry work ) and I’m going to be joining in ASAP, what fun! I didn’t think it would be so addictive but it really is!
and it IS my name that’s missing! — thanks everyone!
. I don’t even use the lines on my postcard as I print my addresses on a label printer, so I wouldn’t worry too much about whether you have gone over the lines! I guess if you are using the pre-paid maxis from Australia just make sure you don’t write over the “postage paid” part! Don’t worry, my Australian penpal has even put a Polaroid picture in the mail to me and it’s arrived totally fine 
) and I’m going to be joining in ASAP, what fun! I didn’t think it would be so addictive but it really is! 