Domicile / mail services

[bacil]

I work with this nice lady over at Americas Mailbox. They are helping me with everything related to domicile and mail including replacing my lost CA license (i haven't used it in last 3 years and misplaced it) with SD as well as we have now their help with our MH registration and all the other related issues.

But here comes my question, how about clubs like Escapees would they offer same services as this independent provider ? I know they have mail forwarding, and legal advice, can we get same help with DL for exaple etc. ?

Also how many of you using similar independent provider vs. big club

[Bill_Satellite]

They are not Mom and Pop but they still provide all of the services that I need. YMMV!

[bacil]

thank you all for your insights, i know escapees are much more, i was just thinking that, because they are so big and have so many activities, if they still have this personal touch as ma & pa in SD have.

[Bill_Satellite]

Escapees is so much more than a mail service, to try to compare the mom and pop SD services to Escapees is impossible.

[BarbaraOK]

doxiemom11 wrote:
We have a different mail service in SD also and I do not think Escapees can offer the same type of services. Example would be getting your license plates. We did it over the internet, submitted forms and check to the mail service. They personally went to the county treasurers office and licensed our vehicles and purchased the plates, came back to their office and mailed the plates and documents out to us. I don't think escapees has a physical presence in S Dakota ( I could be wrong) so therefore cannot handle those type of things in the same way.

A simple call to the Polk County Assessors Office and they walk you through the process, give you exact amount you need to send them and then mail new plates/sticker to where you are staying while making the purchase. EVERYONE in Polk County seems to understand what fulltiming is all about.

[doxiemom11]

We have a different mail service in SD also and I do not think Escapees can offer the same type of services. Example would be getting your license plates. We did it over the internet, submitted forms and check to the mail service. They personally went to the county treasurers office and licensed our vehicles and purchased the plates, came back to their office and mailed the plates and documents out to us. I don't think escapees has a physical presence in S Dakota ( I could be wrong) so therefore cannot handle those type of things in the same way.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

bacil wrote:
This was meant more in line of services one can get from either, eg. that help with my lost DL. If the big clubs would be also open to help to its customers/members with things that are slightly outside of the standard. )

Escapees was founded to help with “outside the standard” problems. The Rainbow parks, mail service, etc came years later when a need was determined that wasn’t being filled by other commercial companies.

Mail forwarding isn’t a new idea. I have read several books by long distance/ around the world sailors- they were using a Florida mail forwarder in the mid-1950s.

There is / was a Florida based correspondent school that worked with sailing families, diplomatic families, remote based military families to keep their kids on track with US schools 60+ years ago. I was stationed on a US Navy base with a two teacher K-6 DOD school. Grades 7-8-9 used the correspondence school as individual study supervised by the teachers. Grades 10-11-12 kids were flown to England to be boarding students at a DOD high school. (There were seldom more than 1 or 2 kids above the fourth grade at the base.) With the internet, all of this has gotten easier.

The advantage of Escapees in my opinion is that helping RVers with the unusual issues is their business. Mail forwarding is just one of their services. It is a big part of their operation certainly, but it is not their main purpose.

One thing Escapees has worked with for several years is health insurance for both Medicare and pre-Medicare full-timers. They are the only ones I know of who work on helping RVers with end of traveling issues, including injury recovery and end of life care.

As mentioned, if you are happy with your mail forwarding, great. If you want more, I recommend joining Escapees, and/or a visit to Livingston, Texas to see all that they offer.

[bacil]

Nooooo 🙂 its an example my question is if the big ones also do that extra step as small providers do.

[avan]

So you are focusing this thread towards an even more limited group? ... those who full time who also have private mailbox services and also have lost their drivers licenses while out of the country?

[bacil]

This was meant more in line of services one can get from either, eg. that help with my lost DL. If the big clubs would be also open to help to its customers/members with things that are slightly outside of the standard.

I am happy with services that i am getting, just wanted to discuss this someone who is more experienced than me. I am not bothered about health insurance as i am paying one already that covers me all around the globe. (although i am now waiting 2 years for payment for treatment i got in Prague after stepping on rusty nail :-))) )

[Dutch_12078]

There's no reason not to keep your current mail service that you like and join Escapees as well. You don't have to use the optional mail service to enjoy the other benefits that Escapees membership offers. Many RV'ers, both full-time and part-time, find the other benefits well worth the modest membership cost.

[Bill_Satellite]

I did the SD thing for awhile but health care became an issue quickly when the changes made service unavailable outside of SD.
We went to Escapees in TX and got everything done without issue. They both do a good job with mail forwarding but Escapees seems to be more responsive when we want information about whether a particular piece of mail has arrived.
If you are happy with SD I don't see any reason to change services but the Escapees group is much larger and has actually gotten involved with legal issues determental to RVers and had them resolved. They are much, much more than a mailing service.

[kerrlakeRoo]

Escapees offers about the same services and can set up mail forwarding for SD domicile also, but they still base most everything out of Texas. There are some advantages like their training programs for when you are getting started (Bootcamp) that some apparently feel are useful. Also there are discounts at some rv parks for their members as well as Escapees owned and operated parks.