Roland Perry wrote on 05 August 2010 21:25:29 ...
In , at 20:20:21 on Thu,
5 Aug 2010, Ian remarked:
The moral of all this - an a moral all too frequently not understood by
the Great British Public - is that postal addresses and administrative
geography un Britain are very different things.

The bigger problem is not that it's poorly understood by the public, but
that it's poorly understood by businesses who attempt to carve up their
service areas based on postcode, when administrative (and physical)
geography is usually a better idea.

I thought the whole point of postcodes was to carve up the country based
on the most efficient way to organise deliveries. In which case, why
aren't postcodes also better for other businesses, rather than
administrative geography which is often still based around historical
boundaries that have little relevance today?
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Richard J. wrote:

The moral of all this - an a moral all too frequently not understood by
the Great British Public - is that postal addresses and administrative
geography un Britain are very different things.

The bigger problem is not that it's poorly understood by the public, but
that it's poorly understood by businesses who attempt to carve up their
service areas based on postcode, when administrative (and physical)
geography is usually a better idea.

I thought the whole point of postcodes was to carve up the country based
on the most efficient way to organise deliveries. In which case, why
aren't postcodes also better for other businesses, rather than
administrative geography which is often still based around historical
boundaries that have little relevance today?

Well it was actually the most efficient way in the past although the post
codes could have some extreme versions and in general reflect the way mail
was actually moved around at the time - the most extreme I can think of was
the PA postcode which once reached all the way up to the Butt of Lewis
because mail to the Outer Hebrides went via Abbotsinch airport. I wouldn't
be surprised if other post codes reflect the use of rail at the time and
don't bear the best relation for how other companies deliver services - e.g.
insurance where premiums vary quite a lot on either side of the London post
code boundary for no reason other than that.

In message , at 23:47:49 on Thu, 5 Aug
2010, Tim Roll-Pickering remarked:

I wouldn't be surprised if other post codes reflect the use of rail at
the time and don't bear the best relation for how other companies
deliver services - e.g. insurance where premiums vary quite a lot on
either side of the London post code boundary for no reason other than
that.

All kinds of effects like that kick in, even when two properties can be
almost neighbours, but are thought of quite differently because they are
in different postcodes.

I used to live in Hinchley Wood, which is on the "edge of London", and
it was quite instructive to see a range of businesses deciding whether
by implication it was a property which would naturally look "inwards"
(to Surbiton/Kingston) for its services, or "outwards" (to Surrey).
--
Roland Perry

In message NuF6o.94523$tB1.12249@hurricane, at 21:50:52 on Thu, 5 Aug
2010, Richard J. remarked:
The bigger problem is not that it's poorly understood by the public, but
that it's poorly understood by businesses who attempt to carve up their
service areas based on postcode, when administrative (and physical)
geography is usually a better idea.

I thought the whole point of postcodes was to carve up the country
based on the most efficient way to organise deliveries. In which case,
why aren't postcodes also better for other businesses, rather than
administrative geography which is often still based around historical
boundaries that have little relevance today?

Because other businesses have different catchment areas to those
convenient for postal sorting offices.

The example I usually give is the villages between Cambridge and the
Hertfordshire border (at Royston). It's of very little use if when you
search an estate agent's website for houses to buy, that the ones for
sale in those villages only show up if you tick "Hertfordshire" (on
account of their SG postcode) rather than "Cambridgeshire" (because you
wanted a house near Cambridge, not one near Stevenage).

It doesn't even work for other delivery companies, who will typically
ask you to go and retrieve a mis-delivered packet at their Stevenage
office, when the Cambridge office is a third of the distance away and in
a town you probably visit quite often - rather than almost never.
--
Roland Perry

On Fri, 6 Aug 2010 09:40:22 +0100, Roland Perry wrote:
It doesn't even work for other delivery companies, who will typically
ask you to go and retrieve a mis-delivered packet at their Stevenage
office, when the Cambridge office is a third of the distance away and in
a town you probably visit quite often - rather than almost never

That might have nothing to do with postcodes or counties. The delivery
company depot is chosen for their convenience and they might use the
Stevenage one because it is bigger and has more capacity than their
Cambridge one, even if the later is nearer. The fact that you have to
travel further to collect a parcel doesn't bother them, you aren't even
their customer.

In message , at 10:39:00 on
Fri, 6 Aug 2010, David Walters remarked:

It doesn't even work for other delivery companies, who will typically
ask you to go and retrieve a mis-delivered packet at their Stevenage
office, when the Cambridge office is a third of the distance away and in
a town you probably visit quite often - rather than almost never

That might have nothing to do with postcodes or counties. The delivery
company depot is chosen for their convenience and they might use the
Stevenage one because it is bigger and has more capacity than their
Cambridge one, even if the later is nearer.

They might, but it doesn't sound plausible to me.

Nor is it plausible that a plumber would prefer to be called out all the
way from Stevenage, rather than from Cambridge etc etc.

The fact that you have to travel further to collect a parcel doesn't
bother them, you aren't even their customer.

That's the cynical view, but it also means they have to drive further to
deliver it. This is a classic "cockup" situation, arising from the
inappropriate application of postcodes.
--
Roland Perry

In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:

In message , at
10:39:00 on Fri, 6 Aug 2010, David Walters
remarked:

It doesn't even work for other delivery companies, who will typically
ask you to go and retrieve a mis-delivered packet at their Stevenage
office, when the Cambridge office is a third of the distance away and
in a town you probably visit quite often - rather than almost never

That might have nothing to do with postcodes or counties. The delivery
company depot is chosen for their convenience and they might use the
Stevenage one because it is bigger and has more capacity than their
Cambridge one, even if the later is nearer.

They might, but it doesn't sound plausible to me.

Nor is it plausible that a plumber would prefer to be called out
all the way from Stevenage, rather than from Cambridge etc etc.

The fact that you have to travel further to collect a parcel doesn't
bother them, you aren't even their customer.

That's the cynical view, but it also means they have to drive
further to deliver it. This is a classic "cockup" situation,
arising from the inappropriate application of postcodes.

You were lucky the Cambridge office wasn't several miles the other side of
Cambridge on the way to Huntingdon, as happened to me once.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In message , at 15:05:03
on Fri, 6 Aug 2010, remarked:
It doesn't even work for other delivery companies, who will typically
ask you to go and retrieve a mis-delivered packet at their Stevenage
office, when the Cambridge office is a third of the distance away and
in a town you probably visit quite often - rather than almost never

That might have nothing to do with postcodes or counties. The delivery
company depot is chosen for their convenience and they might use the
Stevenage one because it is bigger and has more capacity than their
Cambridge one, even if the later is nearer.

You were lucky the Cambridge office wasn't several miles the other side of
Cambridge on the way to Huntingdon, as happened to me once.

That would still be better than Stevenage (or even Welwyn Garden City,
which is another common place for such offices servicing
faux-Hertfordshire).
--
Roland Perry

On 06/08/2010 09:40, Roland Perry wrote:

The example I usually give is the villages between Cambridge and the
Hertfordshire border (at Royston). It's of very little use if when you
search an estate agent's website for houses to buy,

Guess what often happens if you are in south London and look online for
things in "Croydon"?

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

In message , at
19:52:49 on Fri, 6 Aug 2010, Arthur Figgis
remarked:
The example I usually give is the villages between Cambridge and the
Hertfordshire border (at Royston). It's of very little use if when you
search an estate agent's website for houses to buy,

Guess what often happens if you are in south London and look online for
things in "Croydon"?

It may suggest other Croydons, I expect.

Like the one near Royston, that's got a Hertfordshire address but is
geographically about five miles inside Cambridgshire.

I don't have a map with the postcode boundaries on, but the furthest
"inside Cambs with Herts address" I can find is Wimpole Hall, which
almost six miles as the crow flies inside the county border (and is only
eight miles from the centre of Cambridge City).
--
Roland Perry