There is something beautifully nostalgic about receiving a hand addressed letter in the post, isn’t it? Especially one with reindeers on it! And if you are anything like us, you too want to spread Christmas cheer by writing cards to your friends and family at this time of year. However, as the countdown to Christmas begins, cards sent to the wrong place or at the wrong time amounts to a lot of missing Christmas cheer. So before putting down those festive wishes on paper, you want to make sure your card arrives at the right address.
Address-finding experts 192.com have uncovered widespread Christmas card disappointment, with millions of cards sent to the wrong address, or sent too late. The survey conducted by 192.com revealed that 30% of households said they receive Christmas cards addressed to previous occupants; meaning 8 million cards go missing each year.
Henry Phillips, Product Director of 192.com, said: “You can make sure your card arrives at the right address: even if your friend isn’t in the phone book, 192.com searches hundreds of millions of name and address records, helping users verify addresses they already have for friends and family and to find updated addresses if friends have moved on.”
The survey found that most prefer receiving Christmas cards from friends they’ve lost touch with rather than from their parents or partners.
The poll also found that just 3% preferred receiving a Christmas card from their parents. Forty-three per cent instead most wanted a card from a missing friend; compared to one in ten preferring a card from a friend they’re already in touch with. Twenty-two per cent most preferred a card from a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Asked what is stopping them sending a Christmas card to a friend they’ve lost touch with, 28% said they couldn’t find their address in the phonebook, and 7% said ringing directory enquiries is too expensive.
“With the snowballing costs of directory enquiries now costing as much as £8.98 plus £4.49 per minute, 192.com’s free online directory enquiries is more Santa than Scrooge,” says Phillips.
You want to get as creative as you can be when writing your Christmas cards, however it’s important to take note of the things that can can annoy recipients about a Christmas card they have received…
55% of the people asked in the survey were irked by cards not addressed to them or not including their name. Thirty percent were annoyed if the sender spelled their name wrong. Thirteen percent grumbled if the sender had forgotten they had children, and 8% were bothered if the sender had misspelled their partner’s name or muddled their marital status.
