A Christmas card sent from Ruthin to Bylchau in Wales arrived 3 months late - as the postal staff confused Bylchau with Beijing....
From Ruthin to Bylchau via Beijing... the card that missed Xmas Mar 27 2006
Staff Reporter, Western Mail
A CHRISTMAS card has just been received by a North Wales grandmother three months late - after postal staff got the village name mixed up with a famous capital on the other side of the world.
It should have been delivered to the tiny Welsh hamlet of Bylchau - but it ended up in Beijing.
Royal Mail officials have admitted that someone got it badly wrong, but argued that it was extremely busy over Christmas when it handled two billion items, most of which went to the right place on time.
The Christmas card was posted in Ruthin on December 16 last year.
It should have been delivered to the village of Bylchau, which is only 15 miles away on the edge of the Denbigh Moors.
Grandmother Gwenfyl Williams, 82, has just received it - after someone mistook the Welsh name Bylchau for Beijing and sent it thousands of miles away to the Chinese capital city.
Mrs Williams, who has seven grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren, said she assumed the error must have taken place in the sorting office in Chester, said to be one of the most modern in the world.
"I couldn't believe it that a Christmas card posted by a friend in Ruthin, which is only 15 miles away, has been around the world and back before I finally received it," she said.
"It took three months, less two days."
Mrs Williams opened the envelope and was surprised to find a Christmas card inside.
"I thought, 'a Christmas card, at this time of the year?'
"I took another look at the envelope and the address was correctly written but there was no postcode. But stamped in blue on the envelope were the words 'mis-sent to Beijing.'"
"I cannot understand how any postal worker, even someone who doesn't speak Welsh, could confuse Bylchau and Beijing.
"They don't look the same and I am sure there is a vast difference between our little village here in North Wales and the Chinese capital."
Mrs Williams said the envelope was as a good as new and didn't look as if it had travelled thousands of miles. She said, "I rang my friends at Ruthin, which is only down the road, to thank them for the Christmas card - they couldn't believe it."
Daughter Eleri Jones, of Clawddnewydd, near Ruthin, said, "I couldn't believe it when my mother first told me.
"I think someone needs to get a Welsh dictionary - or an atlas. But when you think about it, it's really impressive that once the mistake was made here in the UK, they were able to get it back from Beijing to Bylchau."
A Royal Mail spokesperson in Cardiff said, "This incident seems to have been a case of human error. I am sorry the letter was delayed for so long by its diversion overseas.
"We handle over 83 million items every day and the vast majority arrive safely and on time.
"This item was posted during the extremely busy Christmas period when we handled two billion items over the festive season.
"If the customer would like to contact Royal Mail Customer Services we can look into it further and offer some form of compen-sation for the delay."
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/your...----the-card-that-missed-xmas--name_page.html
From Ruthin to Bylchau via Beijing... the card that missed Xmas Mar 27 2006
Staff Reporter, Western Mail
A CHRISTMAS card has just been received by a North Wales grandmother three months late - after postal staff got the village name mixed up with a famous capital on the other side of the world.
It should have been delivered to the tiny Welsh hamlet of Bylchau - but it ended up in Beijing.
Royal Mail officials have admitted that someone got it badly wrong, but argued that it was extremely busy over Christmas when it handled two billion items, most of which went to the right place on time.
The Christmas card was posted in Ruthin on December 16 last year.
It should have been delivered to the village of Bylchau, which is only 15 miles away on the edge of the Denbigh Moors.
Grandmother Gwenfyl Williams, 82, has just received it - after someone mistook the Welsh name Bylchau for Beijing and sent it thousands of miles away to the Chinese capital city.
Mrs Williams, who has seven grandchildren and a number of great-grandchildren, said she assumed the error must have taken place in the sorting office in Chester, said to be one of the most modern in the world.
"I couldn't believe it that a Christmas card posted by a friend in Ruthin, which is only 15 miles away, has been around the world and back before I finally received it," she said.
"It took three months, less two days."
Mrs Williams opened the envelope and was surprised to find a Christmas card inside.
"I thought, 'a Christmas card, at this time of the year?'
"I took another look at the envelope and the address was correctly written but there was no postcode. But stamped in blue on the envelope were the words 'mis-sent to Beijing.'"
"I cannot understand how any postal worker, even someone who doesn't speak Welsh, could confuse Bylchau and Beijing.
"They don't look the same and I am sure there is a vast difference between our little village here in North Wales and the Chinese capital."
Mrs Williams said the envelope was as a good as new and didn't look as if it had travelled thousands of miles. She said, "I rang my friends at Ruthin, which is only down the road, to thank them for the Christmas card - they couldn't believe it."
Daughter Eleri Jones, of Clawddnewydd, near Ruthin, said, "I couldn't believe it when my mother first told me.
"I think someone needs to get a Welsh dictionary - or an atlas. But when you think about it, it's really impressive that once the mistake was made here in the UK, they were able to get it back from Beijing to Bylchau."
A Royal Mail spokesperson in Cardiff said, "This incident seems to have been a case of human error. I am sorry the letter was delayed for so long by its diversion overseas.
"We handle over 83 million items every day and the vast majority arrive safely and on time.
"This item was posted during the extremely busy Christmas period when we handled two billion items over the festive season.
"If the customer would like to contact Royal Mail Customer Services we can look into it further and offer some form of compen-sation for the delay."
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/your...----the-card-that-missed-xmas--name_page.html