Undeliverable items at National Returns Centre

Dear Ms Nym

Thank you for your email. We are looking onto your request and will get
back to you with further information.

Yours sincerely

Marie Teasdale
[Royal Mail Group request email]
Freedom of Information Unit
PO Box 341, ALDERSHOT, GU11 1WW

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in England
and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 148 Old Street, LONDON EC1V
9HQ

Sue D Nym
<request-3300-08d17a04@whatdoth To: FOI requests at Royal Mail Group <[Royal Mail Group request email]>
eyknow.com> cc:
Sent by: Sue D Nym Subject: Freedom of Information request - Undeliverable items at National Returns
<request-3300-08d17a04@whatdoth Centre
eyknow.com>

30/09/2008 02:46

Dear Mr Young,

Many thanks for providing me with your "handling procedures for
undeliverable mail", in response to my recent FOI request.

The document you have provided seems to cover only those procedures
followed locally at Delivery Offices. What I am particularly
interested in are those procedures followed at the National Returns
Centre. I would therefore be grateful if you could supply any
policies, procedure manuals or other similar documents that set out
in detail how undeliverable mail items are handled at the National
Returns Centre.

Yours faithfully,

Sue D Nym

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Dear Ms Nym

I am writing in response to your request for information regarding
undeliverable mail items, specifically the procedures followed at the
National Returns Centre.

We hold the following procedural information relevant to your request:
'All undeliverable mail received at the centre without an external return
address is opened using specialist high speed letter opening machines,
whilst packets are opened manually. 'Signed For' or 'Special Delivery'
items are scanned in as received before being opened. The contents are
examined to see whether they meet the return criteria (for example, we
would not return advertising material) and if they do, we look to see if
there is a return address available. If the items are due to be returned,
we use our computer system to retrieve the correct return address and print
it on an envelope or label, which we then use to return the item to sender.
For items which fulfil our return criteria but where we cannot find a
return address, we will record as many details as we have about the item
and store it pending a customer claim. The storage period is dependent on
the product. Special Delivery items are held for 6 months, while ordinary
mail, including Signed For items are held for 3 months. However, should any
item have a significant personal or intrinsic value (eg wedding album), it
may be held for up to 12 months.'

'Items which we cannot return and which have no value (ie advertising) are
disposed of as confidential waste. Items which do not meet our return
criteria but which have some monetary value, along with items which have
been stored for the required period and have not been claimed, are disposed
of via auction'.

We do not hold any further records which document the processes followed at
the National Returns Centre.

I hope this information meets your requirements but if you have any queries
or further information needs in the future then please do contact me. If
you are dissatisfied with this response for any reason you do have a right
to request an internal review, in which case please write to the Head of
Information Compliance, Royal Mail House, Company Secretary's Office, 5th
Floor, 148 Old Street, LONDON, EC1V 9HQ. An internal panel will then
review the decision, and you will be advised of the outcome.

If, having requested an internal review by Royal Mail, you are still not
satisfied with our response you also have a right of appeal to the
Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 01625 545 700
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

Yours sincerely

Marie Teasdale
Freedom of Information Officer
[Royal Mail Group request email]

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