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Sending a postal letter in Sweden

Own address at the back?

omerkay
post 26.Mar.2012, 09:00 PM
Post #1
Joined: 26.Mar.2012

Hi

Maybe a silly question blink.gif , but I am going to ask it anyways.

When sending a letter by post in Sweden, is it customary to write one own address at the back of the envelope along with the recipent address at the front
OR one should only write the recipient address at the front of the envelope?

Thanks!
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Bender B Rodriquez
post 26.Mar.2012, 09:01 PM
Post #2
Joined: 25.Mar.2006

Write "Avsändare:" and your own address on the side opposite the stamp.
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skogsbo
post 26.Mar.2012, 09:06 PM
Post #3
Joined: 20.Sep.2011

many folk also put a single line through it, to leave people in no doubt as to which is the postal address to send it to.
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Gamla Hälsingebock
post 27.Mar.2012, 12:47 AM
Post #4
Joined: 21.Dec.2006

When my cousins write to me they never include their address as a return if not delivered.

Trusting souls!
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Gordy
post 27.Mar.2012, 09:02 AM
Post #5
Location: Skåne
Joined: 1.Oct.2005

QUOTE (skogsbo @ 26.Mar.2012, 09:06 PM) *
many folk also put a single line through it, to leave people in no doubt as to which is the postal address to send it to.

If you are putting the sender's address on the outside of the envelope, this is the best plan as most letters are sorted by computer using recognition software, by placing a line through the senders address you reduce the risk of the computer confusing the sender's address with the delivery address and causing a delay.

Normally if a letter is undeliverable the post office will open it to see if there is a return address inside if it hasn't been written on the outside.

Sometimes I wonder if it is better not to put the senders address on the outside, to give an example someone was sending me a letter from Ireland and transposed two digits of my post code, the rest of the address was written correctly.

Some jobsworth in Posten wrote "incorrect post code" in red on the letter and returned it to sender (whose address was on the back) rather than complete the simple task of checking my post code in their system and correcting it on the letter.

I wonder if they had had to go to the trouble of opening the letter to get the sender's address they then might then have instead just corrected the postcode and I would have got the letter much quicker and without it having to get a new stamp in Ireland?
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Rick Methven
post 27.Mar.2012, 09:24 AM
Post #6
Location: Linköping
Joined: 30.Nov.2005

QUOTE (Gordy @ 27.Mar.2012, 09:02 AM) *
Some jobsworth in Posten wrote "incorrect post code" in red on the letter and returned it to sender (whose address was on the back) rather than complete the simple t ... (show full quote)

We suspect that there is somebody in Posten in Nässjö who has a grudge against my wife's family. Birthday cards she has sent to her niece and brother have been delayed by 2 months, one going via Germany and the other via Spain despite being correctly addressed and with the senders name on the back crossed out. Nässjö is the sorting hub for southern Sweden with all post going through their sorting office. I received a letter from my Dentist last week with the Nässjö stamp with a chair on it, posted 150m from my house that then made a 300km round trip and got to me the next day, yet mail sent for local delivery in Nässjö takes 2 months.
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Gordy
post 27.Mar.2012, 09:37 AM
Post #7
Location: Skåne
Joined: 1.Oct.2005

QUOTE (Rick Methven @ 27.Mar.2012, 09:24 AM) *
We suspect that there is somebody in Posten in Nässjö who has a grudge against my wife's family.

I suspect that Posten has a grudge against it's customers. tongue.gif
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omerkay
post 27.Mar.2012, 10:16 AM
Post #8
Joined: 26.Mar.2012

QUOTE (Gordy @ 27.Mar.2012, 08:02 AM) *
If you are putting the sender's address on the outside of the envelope, this is the best plan as most letters are sorted by computer using recognition software, by placing ... (show full quote)

Thanks a lot for all these replies. I didn't expect that it will generate so much activity.

Actually that is the precise reason why I asked the question in the first place. It has happened to me before when the senders address was confused with the recipient address which resulted in a months delay. (I am not sure if it went through Posten in Nässjö though unsure.gif )

So by 'putting a line through the senders name' you mean something like this:
Attached Image

Thanks again!
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Johno
post 27.Mar.2012, 10:26 AM
Post #9
Joined: 23.Jul.2008

But to add that overseas mail does seem to get low priority and gets lost all too easily. I know from a contact in Sweden that already on Mar 11 he had a newsletter that we both get sent quarterly. I am still waiting for mine in the UK. I will in the next days email the society in question to send another.
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