USPS Forwarding Problems

[SpeakEasy]

First of all, this isn't specifically an RVing issue, but I am looking for your experiences and expertise.

We spent the month of February renting an apartment in Raleigh, NC. We had our mail forwarded. (Home address is in NYS.) My understanding was that all first class mail and magazine subscriptions were supposed to be forwarded. We got very little mail. We got NO magazines. I was supposed to receive a check for some consulting I had done, and it never arrived. I learned yesterday that a piece of mail from my bank was returned to them, and I was charged a fee for this.

My question is, to whom do I issue a complaint? Is there a specific person at my local post office who can be held responsible? Or am I totally wasting my time thinking that this can be addressed? Soon we'll be heading out on a 6-week RV trip, and I have to figure out what to do about mail. Mrs. S says we should just have them hold our mail, but I'm not sure.

Any advice?

Thanks,
-Speak

[Toolguy5]

i have made several calls to Customer care over the last several weeks. It appears that I was not the only one with issues this year.

[ljr]

I had several similar experiences to those described by others. I finally got a box at the UPS Store which I have since used as my primary address. It’s more expensive but they will accept anything from any carrier and forward in any manner I choose.

[soren]

Toolguy5 wrote:
I see we are not the only ones with issues.
Our post office will only hold for 30 days. If we know we will be gone longer then that I have been forwarding our mail to my sons house. It worked great for 2 years. This year it is all screwed up.mi filled out the paper work when we left. When we cam home I stopped the forward. At that time I started getting my sons mail as well. Went to my post office to complain. He had me fill out a change of address for my son. Things still aren't right. I called customer care service and she told me the local post office gave me wrong forms. She walked through everything and made corrections while on the phone.

I have to block a sign in the mail box saying change on file or the jerks will deliver mail when we are gone.

Does anyone use any of the forwarding services like Escapees on a temporary basis. If so how does that work.

Wow, this dredged up some bad memories. I forgot that a few years ago, when we hit the road, fulltime, I used my son's address as a domicile address. When it came time to move our address to our new sticks and bricks house, it was a mess, with the USPS delivering my son's utility bills to our new home, well after they were due, and other Serious issues. We snowbird now, and forward our mail to Saint Brendan's Isle mail service in Florida, for the winter months. We use their digital scanning and handling system and are thrilled with their competence. They have provided us years of flawless service. When USPS does their job properly, typically our entire snowbird season is pretty trouble free, when it comes to actually receiving first class mail and magazines. Got to keep my fingers crossed on that though, since when the USPS decides to screw it up, they really screw it up...........

[soren]

We have been doing seasonal temporary forwards for about five years. Some years it's a flawless process, some years it's a disaster. The process is handled by the USPS computer system, and yelling at your local postmaster is a vast waste of time. They can do little but check that your start/stop and forward info. is correct. One huge misconception is that your local "home" post office forwards your mail. If the system is working properly (and for us it typically is) a piece of mail, addressed to your permanent address, is diverted as soon as it hits the system, it should not travel from the sender to your permanent address, to your forwarding address.

One year, in the recent past, we had roughly three weeks prior to Christmas where we received zero forwarded mail. This included everything from a lot of Christmas cards to bills, and other important stuff. I then discovered that it's a vast waste of time to try to do anything but confirm that all the data is correct in the system. Obviously, a lot of my mail hit the trash, but USPS employees will vigorously deny that this is a possibility at all, claiming that it's a crime, and NEVER happens, which is BS. The best defense to all of this it to avoid the post office as much as possible by making everything in your life as paperless as possible. Good luck.

[cmcdar]

I lock my mailbox closed. I also tape the mail slot so nothing can be shoved in.

I Lock my front storm door so nothing can be stuck in there either.

After first year I came home and found an old, extremely weathered, Sales flyer hanging out of my mailbox. I spoke at length to my mailman about it and he finally admitted that HE put it there as a "flag" to other fill in carriers not to leave mail there. (?????) I WAS FURIOUS.

It took me quite some time to make him understand that that flyer was also a "FLAG" to N'er-do-wells that no one has been home in a long time and therefore will not miss all of their copper plumbing, etc.

Anyway, I spoke with a new letter carrier the other day and she shared with me that other residents on her routes ALSO complained of NOT getting mail.

FWIW...

[Toolguy5]

I see we are not the only ones with issues.
Our post office will only hold for 30 days. If we know we will be gone longer then that I have been forwarding our mail to my sons house. It worked great for 2 years. This year it is all screwed up.mi filled out the paper work when we left. When we cam home I stopped the forward. At that time I started getting my sons mail as well. Went to my post office to complain. He had me fill out a change of address for my son. Things still aren't right. I called customer care service and she told me the local post office gave me wrong forms. She walked through everything and made corrections while on the phone.

I have to block a sign in the mail box saying change on file or the jerks will deliver mail when we are gone.

Does anyone use any of the forwarding services like Escapees on a temporary basis. If so how does that work.

[doxiemom11]

Don't use priority mail! Our mail fowarding service sent our mail by "priority mail" which is supposed to take 3 days. It was 8 days before it was delivered here in Yuma. It floated around between facilities in Phoenix for 4 days before it got on the truck to head to Yuma. Mail service here is terrible.

[cmcdar]

2gypsies wrote:

cmcdar wrote:
Two items were of great importance. One was our property tax bill from our town. NEVER received! Had to call to get info in order to pay on time. Second was an investment statement that comes once a year. Never received! Had to call to get info.

Generally, these types of mail cannot be forwarded by law.

They did get delivered the previous two years.

[2gypsies1]

cmcdar wrote:
Two items were of great importance. One was our property tax bill from our town. NEVER received! Had to call to get info in order to pay on time. Second was an investment statement that comes once a year. Never received! Had to call to get info.

Generally, these types of mail cannot be forwarded by law.

[John_Joey]

You need to talk to your Post Master so as to educate yourself. From what you stated, and from my own experience on the road, these are a few things I learned.

Magazines do not get forward unless you pay for premium service. Holding of mail is good for up to a month. If the envelope has the code on it for "do not forward" (i.e. that check) it will be sent back to the sender. Takes 1-2 weeks before you'll get mail at the new address. They seem to bundle it in the beginning.

Best to talk to the Post Master who knows the system better then me.

[cmcdar]

We are having the SAME ISSUE this year!

This is our third year snow birding. We have done the same thing each year. We have our mail forwarded to my MIL's house.

Last year we get even local ad flyer's. THIS year hardly any mail has made it through. Two items were of great importance. One was our property tax bill from our town. NEVER received! Had to call to get info in order to pay on time. Second was an investment statement that comes once a year. Never received! Had to call to get info.

Most all other "important" stuff I have email notification.

Spoke to local and home post offices and they could NOT help me!

[Sam_Spade]

Dance Chick wrote:

I really think you'll be wasting your time complaining to anyone. I suspect the good or bad service received is dependent on which town you're in and the particular post office management.

So.....you are in favor of letting laziness and incompetence just go unchallenged ?? That is a terrible thing to recommend.

[The_Owl]

We decided to set up a mail service account with a private service in town. This way we don’t have to worry about mail getting missed or stolen when we’re gone. For the cost it’s very convenient to keep as a permanent address and they will forward our mail if needed. We can also send packages through UPS or FedEx and not worry about them sitting on the porch and growing legs.

[2gypsies1]

For short trips like you're taking, holding the mail may be a better option for you.

Or... have the P.O. at home hold your mail

Or... if you have a relative or friend/neighbor you can trust, have them pick it up from your mailbox for you. You can call them once a week to see if anything of importance arrives and then give them an address where they can send it or else have them open it and let you know exactly what it is and if it needs attention. . or they can scan it for you and send via email.

Forwarding takes a while to get it started. You need to advise the P.O. a couple weeks before it's to begin.

Magazines will only be forwarded for 60 days. Magazines typically take longer to catch up with the forwarding address.

Financial mail sometimes has a 'Do Not Forward' notation on the outside of the envelope and those will be returned to the sender.

Again, for short trips don't forward.