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by iso1631 1463 days ago
In the UK it's common to use the postcode for pretty much everything, if you're delivering to 443 Manchester Road Bolton BL4 8RN, you aren't going to 443 Manchester Road Salford, M27 8TD.

Now OK in this particular case you're still screwed as they are literally next door, but normally you'd find it by putting in "M27 8TD" and you'd be set.

While UK postcodes can cover a large area, they usually don't.

My understanding of zip codes like 90210 is they aren't anywhere near as precise as M27 8TD, they're more like just the "M27" part.

1 comments

US zip codes are actually 10 characters, eg 90210-3356

These last 4 provide the resolution needed to avoid this confusion.

I too live in the Seattle area and have this same doppelgänger problem, so I use the full zip code when possible (not all web sites allow it, and the last mile delivery is by hand, so can still go wrong)

I live in a neighborhood where houses are numbered by block, starting at "100" at the city center (many/most US address schemes work this way)

Due to being nearly the same distance east and north from the center point, there is a house around the corner that has the same address number as mine, theirs is "East" and mine is "North" and the street name is different. I don't know if we both have the same 10-digit zip code, but we do still get each other's mail at least a few times a month.