anyone use the U.S. Postal service for forwarding mail ?
- Thread starter mslater
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Dance Chick
Well-known member
We're using it right now since we're gone for 2 months. We're having both personal mail and two different business mail forwarded to our son's home. So far, no problems we're aware of. We were able to set it up online...gave a start and stop date.
Ken & Sheila
Site Team
This is fine if you plan to be in one place the entire time. But folks like us on a 6 month trip all across the US and the Maritimes cannot use this. Hence all our mail goes to South Dakota and they forward it wherever and whenever we tell them. We give them a date and they send it, that would not be possible with the USPS. Most of the time this is a one shot deal as we are moving on.
Sheila
Sheila
B
bucks2
Guest
We have a neighbor collect and then forward our mail in a "if it fits, it ships" box. It works like the mail forwarding places do, but has a person we can talk to if there's a hiccup anywhere in the system. Like we decide to change locations earlier or later than planned, or if we get something in the mail that looks urgent.
Of course our system depends on a reliable and trustworthy neighbor but it's worked for us so far.
Ken
Of course our system depends on a reliable and trustworthy neighbor but it's worked for us so far.
Ken
Our experience is that the USPS forwarding works great as long as you are forwarding to one place. We tried their "Premium" service that is supposed to follow your travels upon notification, like a mail forwarding service, and it was an unmitigated disaster. We started with mail forwarded to a neighbor (she went in hospital and mail did not get sent to us), and eventually settled on UPS store. USPS forwards mail to UPS box (using temporary forward) and UPS accumulates and sends mail to us on demand.
Bobandpamlemay
Well-known member
Prior to this year, we were using the Priority Mail Service for our extended stays in Arizona and Texas. We were generally there about 2 months so it worked fine, albeit a bit expensive. This year we tried the temp forwarding for 2 months and then the mail hold for the last 3 weeks of our trip. Worked great and was cheap. I don't think junk mail is forwarded but that's fine with us.
Bob
Bob
ArdraF
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2006
- Posts
- 10,695
Many RVers join Escapees which is known for having an excellent mail forwarding service. If this is a one-time thing, perhaps it won't be worth it, but if you intend to keep traveling then Escapees is a good idea.
ArdraF
ArdraF
Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram
Moderator Emeritus
Here's an interesting wrinkle to an interesting problem. We have used Escapees mail service for three years without issue.
However, sometimes for prescriptions, that's not a solid solution. So we use the local RV park (most public parks don't allow this, but commercial ones typically do).
The wrinkle came that we could not predict which park we would be in when the drugs came, so we used General Delivery, also an option most everywhere. The wrinkle was, we left town before the drugs got there. Then we used Mail Forwarding in the new location and General Delivery there, to move the General Delivery from the other location.
Complicated, yes. But when you don't want to backtrack a hundred miles for a piece of mail, it's still a solution.
Moral of this story - you have to think about your problem before you deliver the solution - there's always more than one way to skin a cat. 8)
The Postal Service can work, but you have to understand some stuff.... ;D
However, sometimes for prescriptions, that's not a solid solution. So we use the local RV park (most public parks don't allow this, but commercial ones typically do).
The wrinkle came that we could not predict which park we would be in when the drugs came, so we used General Delivery, also an option most everywhere. The wrinkle was, we left town before the drugs got there. Then we used Mail Forwarding in the new location and General Delivery there, to move the General Delivery from the other location.
Complicated, yes. But when you don't want to backtrack a hundred miles for a piece of mail, it's still a solution.
Moral of this story - you have to think about your problem before you deliver the solution - there's always more than one way to skin a cat. 8)
The Postal Service can work, but you have to understand some stuff.... ;D
Bruce Patterson
Well-known member
I have a private mailbox service in Seattle, that I had before I started full timing (more than 25 years ago). I have my own FedEx account with a pretty darn good discount. They forward my mail to me anywhere in the world once a week (every Monday) using my FedEx account. When I'm in Brazil, I have them send every two weeks and hold the junk mail. I send my current address to them by email when it changes. I've been on the road full time since 1991. I used UPS at first, but they suck. FedEx rocks. I doubt the USPS will forward to you by FedEx. Also they don't accept FedEx, UPS, and DSL packages.
SeilerBird
Well-known member
I use a forwarding service called Mail Link in Las Vegas for years. There are many advantages of using a forwarding service. When I receive a piece of snail mail they send me an email to tell me about it. I have the option of telling them to discard it, mail it to me or open it and scan the contents or do nothing. Every few weeks I have them ship me my mail. It beats the post office forwarding service by a mile and it is well worth the $10 a month plus postage.
Hfx_Cdn
Well-known member
The service we have used for years is our daughter, who checks our stick home and collect the mail. As Kim pointed out, sometimes you have to think outside the box, so what she does, remember it's our daughter, she opens what mail she deems might be of an important nature, scans it, then emails it to us. That includes our income tax reportable income sent by our bank/broker, deduction receipt, etc or personal letters. We usually get them within a few days of receipt as opposed to a few weeks via snail mail.
Ed
Ed
