This is why I always print out address labels for my Postcrossing cards. While it’s less personal than hand-lettering, it also removes any ambiguity and should be correctly read by both machines and humans. As long as I stick to standard (non-decorative) typefaces, that is! 
Still, I agree the postie’s response was way over the top. Maybe he was having a bad day 
It’s a house number (written in front of a street name in US address format), not a postal code
But doesn’t the printed 1 look like the one the postman disliked? It isn’t printed as l. Maybe he can’t read print either? 
Oh, I forgot that house number are big in the US 
I think it’s really rude to write such a mess on your envelope…if it’s such a big problem he could had use a different paper.
Being a postman/woman isn’t a easy job but it’s not an excuse for being rude with someone’s personal stuff…
I was thinking the same. Also isn’t it that every (almost?) book and official writing on the net has the one with the sans, so it feels strange someone couldn’t see it as one when handwritten. I think I’d more likely to quickly see that would be 9 with a thin upper part (if not a one)
Sometimes I worry, that if I write the one being just a line, it’s confused with for example “4/77” (some countries have address like that). So, I try to put a small line under the one.
(And then can happen, that I notice having different styles of numbers in my card, and I need to change them so the receiver has something to compare to, if it’s unclear )
It’s the prominence of the top bit of the one (does it have a name? 
) that confuses us Americans. I think maybe if it were shorter like the typed version it wouldn’t be such a big deal? Personally, I’d never seen it handwritten the European way until Postcrossing. The vast majority here write it as a straight line, or very occasionally with the line at the bottom like was mentioned.
Personally, I change how I write my ones and sevens based on where the card is going, just to make everyone’s lives easier. 
@anon12838227 showed here an example of variation in number 1.
But how about the number two? I can draw “2” by three ways but I hardly can recognize it when somebody from China has written it. It took quite a long time for me to figure it out. And no, I’m not a postman.
Might be better for the sender to print out the address rather than handwritten
Well not everyone has a printer
I try to write the 1 as a straight line when writing to the US) But sometimes I write the number faster than I can think about it. If I notice I put a line on the bottom of the card.
But then we all use the numbers that we were tought. If a person from the US uses a 7 like this one without the bar in the middle here it would be mistaken for a 1.
We can do our best to try and write the number according to how it is written at the destination but then I am sure everyone often writes numbers faster than thinking about writing it different.
About the note on the envelope: I really do not get the problem. Apparently the postman knows where to deliver it to so he should be used to the different way of writing numbers
This is the solution - train the machines to adapt. If the auto-sorter did a better job, the mailman wouldn’t have to backtrack. This conversation makes me wonder if someone down the road at 477 is receiving my mail that should have been delivered to 411…
Exactly. I have address like that btw I was being a bit sarcastic, the postman obviously understands very well what the numbers are.
Other non-European countries seem to be able to handle the differences. I am not aware about issues with US 1s being confused with / and US 7s being confused with 1s here either. Only the US seem to have a problem. If the sorting software can’t handle international mail, the software should be fixed. But some Americans just seem to refuse the accept the fact that their standard is not the only one and expect the rest of the world to adapt to it. I find that kind of offensive.
I did send to a German postcrosser once who asked that the 7s be written with crossbars so they didn’t get confused for 1s. Seems like it’s a potential problem in multiple places, but I doubt the number where it actually is an issue is very small. I’ve never gotten any complaints about European numbers
Was this your regular carrier? I never had trouble with the European “1” even before I knew it was a thing. It is quite self explanatory. But lack of perception is not a crime. I am sure there are other things I would never get if it hit me in the face. In my years at USPS I have never seen anyone complain about this sort of thing, whether a colleague or a customer. BUT I have seen people misread it as a “7” from time to time. As for the machines they sometimes miss perfectly typewritten addresses too. It is a limit of the technology. And some of the machinery USPS uses is made in Germany (Siemens) though I don’t know about the AI part of things. Maybe that is why I get better postmarks when I use European standard envelopes but that is another matter entirely.
Anyway back to topic. Rather than complain I would just have a friendly chat with your carrier. You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. You’ll be amazed.
Oh no 
, I would be quite pissed if I received such envelope.
But wow, I am happy I learned something new. I had no idea about these American and European preferences to write the number 1. At least in Chile, we use all the variations and it is more or less a personal choice or style which “1” you use.
Now I will have a look at my received postcards to see how people from all over the world write the number 1.
Here too!
I think this too. Maybe they don’t “think” that they understand it in books etc. and somehow got annoyed in this case, again noticing the same confusion happening. Like someone said, most likely it was a bad day.
About the 7, here it was written with the crossbar, until at some point it was changed to write without. And then, it was not good, it is now changed back to do it with a crossbar.
I had the same problem with postal carriers not recognizing a 1 confusing it with a 7. I had a postcard delayed for a couple of weeks as they couldn’t find a 7705 Horseshoe. They knew the 1105 though. I finally got the card delivered to me.
Rude message but I understand his point. If only he could deliver it in a better way.
I use PO Box. My number is 1210.
Sometimes my cards were misplaced in another box. Luckily the owner of the box knows me.
Well, I can’t blame my mailman. They must work fast. They only read box number and put all the cards as soon as they can. Putting cards inside PO Box is not only their job since this business is not as profitable as in before 2000s 
Are we sure the letter carrier is the one who wrote the note?
And not a neighbor who lives at 4777, and is tired of receiving your mail and delivering it to your box?
“I have delivered many letters here. . .” sounds like a complaint of someone who shouldn’t have to, not a postal worker.