106 JACK fm

Listen Live
Become a JACKaholic for goodies and tidbits!

Hertfordshire Residents Suffer "Chaos" Over Satnav Mix-Up

Monday, March 26th 2012 06:57

ABOVE: Bob Sadler from Barkway near Royston

Residents in a Hertfordshire street that shares the same name with another in Cambridgeshire say they're suffering chaos as Sat Navs take delivery drivers to the wrong address...

The final straw came last Monday when Bob Sadler from Barkway near Royston returned to find his home on Windmill Close covered in scaffolding.

It was supposed to be installed eight miles away to Windmill Close in Bassingbourn.

Residents say over the past year they've had takeaways, the post, cookers, computers, a TV, a mattress and a Christmas Turkey wrongly delivered.

Even the police and bailiffs have turned up at their homes instead of the ones over the county border.

Royal Mail says it's the responsibility of Sat Nav providers and companies to update their records.

As workmen removed the scaffolding, Bob, 63, said: "I was absolutely livid when I came home and saw what had happened. I stood there with my arms folded. It felt like I had been invaded. I have taken time off today to make sure it is all gone."

The scaffolders were told they were at the wrong address by Bob's mother-in-law Lill Byatt, 84, who lives around the corner from him and his wife Lin.

The men checked with their boss, but were told they were at the right location and carried on with their work.

Bob, who lives with wife Lin, 53, a manager at the Edinburgh Wool Shop, said: "This was the final straw. It has been going on for too long.  In the past we have had a hob delivered here by mistake."

The father of three, who has been a coach driver for 34 years, said: "The trouble is the delivery people put the address into the Sat Nav and the post code gives them the right area SG8 and it brings them here. They need to change the name of the street in Bassingbourn."

Windmill Close in Barkway is made up of housing association semi-detached bungalows and 2 bed semi-detached homes.

Windmill Close in Bassingbourn is also a housing association road with over 20 semi detached homes.



(Spot the Difference: [Above] Windmill Close in Barkway, Hertfordshire; [Below] Windmill Close in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire)



Barkway resident Jim Hales, 69, said: "One morning I had a man pull up with a load of computer equipment. He said 'We will soon sort you out.'  I said I hadn't ordered a computer. He had come to the wrong address."

Mr Hales, a retired cement worker who lives with his wife Christine, 62, said: "I also had a load of tropical fish equipment delivered here that was meant for Bassingbourn."

Another Barkway resident, who did not want to be named, said: "I have had the police here looking for someone and letters for bailiffs. Even the authorities have got it wrong.

I have had beds and mattresses delivered by mistake. It has got to be sorted out."

Single mum Alex Valentine, 23, said her post has often ended up in Barkway instead of her new home in Bassingboure.

Ms Valentine, who has a son aged 1 and daughter aged 3, said: "I didn't have a water bill for a year. When I finally got it there was a red one saying I was in arrears.

I requested a bank card and PIN four times. They never turned up so in the end I arranged to go to the bank and collect them myself.

I have a Love Film subscription. They said I owed them for three films I was supposed to have received but I never got them.

My cooker was due to be delivered in the week before Christmas, but that went to Barkway by mistake. Someone needs to let these companies know there are two Windmill Closes."

More from Local News

Navigation