Just wondering if anyone out there has had any experience with using The UPS Mail Store for your mail forwarding service. We want to retain our permanent residence in the town where we now reside.
Guess, I'm full of thoughts today. Must get things done before Monday.
Judy
igotjam said
01:08 PM Jan 14, 2010
This does not answer your question but I have a comment from the other end. We use UPS when our mail is forwarded to us and pick it up at UPS on our travels. If you pick up your mail at a UPS Store, quite often the store will charge you a handling fee for being used as a pickup point. If you use UPS (not a UPS Store) as a pickup point there is no charge to get your package.
Dreamers said
02:39 PM Jan 14, 2010
igotjam wrote:
This does not answer your question but I have a comment from the other end. We use UPS when our mail is forwarded to us and pick it up at UPS on our travels. If you pick up your mail at a UPS Store, quite often the store will charge you a handling fee for being used as a pickup point. If you use UPS (not a UPS Store) as a pickup point there is no charge to get your package.
The problem is, we need an address for our mail to go too! Then have it forwarded via whatever means, etc.
igotjam said
04:41 PM Jan 14, 2010
Yes I know my response did not answer your question. A lot of dreamers use a service like you are suggesting so they can answer better than I. I use a friend who accumulates mail and forwards it to a UPS depot for us to pick up as we pass by. I just thought my experience on pickup locations might be useful. (even though you did not ask that)
ken and cindy said
04:48 PM Jan 14, 2010
We have had UPS as our address for over 2.5 years, they have been great. Normally they will mail forward once a week, I believe the cost is like $12 per mo for the service.
bjoyce said
05:11 PM Jan 14, 2010
I think this one depends on your local UPS Store since I am sure they are a franchise. That means experience varies. We did not have that good of luck using our local UPS Store in 2002/2003, which is a long time ago and things might have changed. That store was used to forwarding to fixed addresses and had a tough time with address changes. Once they sent the mail to the previous address and another time they didn't send it for almost a week after they said they would.
Workinrvers said
08:01 PM Jan 14, 2010
we have used them for the past 10 months and no problems. They send us an email when our forwarding pkg has been sent and have called us to get instructions on larger packages we have received.
soos said
11:01 AM Jan 15, 2010
we have also been using them, with great success. we call them or email them when we want our mail forwarded and just give them the address to ship to...they have our cc on file and just charge the shipping rate, plus the envelope charge....
Our guys know our situation and are always accommodating and fun to talk to....they give us the weather report for MI when we call, especially when our address is "pacific beach drive"....lol
Sue
TXRVr said
06:14 PM Jan 15, 2010
I've used the US Postal Service, as opposed to UPS, for mail forwarding. It works 100% of the time, but cost more than I'd like. The UPS method sounds like a good idea for what might be a less expensive method for mail forwarding, but I'm a bit confused by all of the different posts. Can someone get this down to the two digit IQ level for me?
Basically, I'd like to know:
1- How much does it costs to mail a single package full of forwarded mail once a week? 2- How plentiful are the UPS pickup points? That's important because if I have to go out of my way to find one, I'd rather pay for the convenience of having a Post Office on every corner where I can always get my mail at general delivery.
Workinrvers said
10:08 PM Jan 15, 2010
Basically, I'd like to know:
1- How much does it costs to mail a single package full of forwarded mail once a week?
depends on the weight. The UPS store sends ours to us through the regular poastal system (this is what we instructed) to wherever we specify. Works the same as all the other "popular" mail forwarding companies Rvers use, ie: Escapees, My Dakota Address etc.
2- How plentiful are the UPS pickup points? That's important because if I have to go out of my way to find one, I'd rather pay for the convenience of having a Post Office on every corner where I can always get my mail at general delivery.
Just have your UPS store send the mail package wherever you want including General Delivery. You are not required to ship and or p/u at a UPS store. We have instructed them to forward our mail via the post office and simply provide them with the address to send it to. We have money on our account to pay for the packaging (usually a manilla envelope) and the postage.
soos said
10:29 AM Jan 16, 2010
Phil Bob wrote:
Basically, I'd like to know:
1- How much does it costs to mail a single package full of forwarded mail once a week?
depends on the weight. The UPS store sends ours to us through the regular poastal system (this is what we instructed) to wherever we specify. Works the same as all the other "popular" mail forwarding companies Rvers use, ie: Escapees, My Dakota Address etc.
2- How plentiful are the UPS pickup points? That's important because if I have to go out of my way to find one, I'd rather pay for the convenience of having a Post Office on every corner where I can always get my mail at general delivery.
Just have your UPS store send the mail package wherever you want including General Delivery. You are not required to ship and or p/u at a UPS store. We have instructed them to forward our mail via the post office and simply provide them with the address to send it to. We have money on our account to pay for the packaging (usually a manilla envelope) and the postage.
Ditto....they charge whatever the cost is for that individual package, and ship it to whatever campground I am at, as frequently as I want, and they ship whatever way i want, ie. ground, 2nd day air, or overnight. We usually only get our mail once a month, since all of our bills are paid online....
elfrey said
11:26 AM Jan 17, 2010
My experience has been the same as Phil and Sue!
I have a CC on file and can call or email instructions to regular mail or UPS deliver to any address at any time.
I have used it only on a limited basis because i don't need my mail however I have had to have prescription medicine forwarded a couple of times.
When I go full time I will most likely be using it more frequently but certainly not weekly.
ED
TXRVr said
06:51 AM Jan 19, 2010
soos & phil bob > Appreciate the clarification.
We are no longer full timers. Now we are out several times a year for 1-3 months or a single 4-6 month period for work camping. So, if I understand this correctly, the lower cost factor appears to come with a couple disadvantages if one is an extended traveler as opposed to a full timer:
1- Unless I used the UPS store for collection all year long, even when at home, I would need to do an address change everytime I hit the road. Those are a hassle even assuming that the companies get it right the first time.
2- If I chose to have the PO temporarily forward mail to the UPS, then I have a major delivery lag. The PO forwarding process, the hold time at the UPS, and then the UPS forwarding time. Even with bill pay, it then might be difficult to be timely with payments. I also suspect that in the case of a box or package there would be an additional charge for the PO to forward to the UPS.
So if my thinking on this is correct, it appears that time saving convenience comes with a higher price tag and I'm stuck with the PO premium mail forwarding service.
soos said
09:30 AM Jan 19, 2010
yes, it sounds like you are in a different situation. we use the UPS AS our official address, since we have no house anymore.... I guess I for one read too much into your first post, thinking you didn't have a residence anymore.
can't think of a better solution for you.... :(
Sue
Dreamers said
01:57 PM Jan 26, 2010
Thanks to all for your help! We are seriously looking at UPS because we do not want to change of State of domicile.
From the majority of replies UPS has not been a problem with the mail but what about using it as your legal address for tags, licenses, voting, etc?
Judy
Workinrvers said
03:30 PM Jan 26, 2010
Judy,
was not a problem for us here in Indiana. We have changed our drivers license, registrations and have registered to vote using our mailing address.
We do always put our address down in the following format:
123 W. Main St. #101
Anytown, USA
98765
and have had no problems using it as our "home address".
soos said
03:31 PM Jan 26, 2010
In my experience (state of Michigan) you can NOT use it for voting (they told us we could be treated as homeless, and we could just give them the street corner we "hang out at") we could NOT use it for our drivers licenses...after arguing numerous times with DMV they canceled our licenses until we caved in and gave them an ex-neighbors address. We had no problem using it for license plates etc. We also had a problem using it for Fidelity Investments- no problem with most of our accounts with them but with one particular account they discovered it was a "P.O. Box" and froze our account until we gave them a physical address as "required by Federal Law". No issues with our other banks though....
Sue PS- the state of MI did not give us a problem until about 6 months AFTER we gave them our UPS address. We had already assumed everything was ok and had left the state...
-- Edited by soos on Tuesday 26th of January 2010 03:33:22 PM
Dreamers said
07:58 PM Jan 26, 2010
soos wrote:
In my experience (state of Michigan) you can NOT use it for voting (they told us we could be treated as homeless, and we could just give them the street corner we "hang out at") we could NOT use it for our drivers licenses...after arguing numerous times with DMV they canceled our licenses until we caved in and gave them an ex-neighbors address. We had no problem using it for license plates etc. We also had a problem using it for Fidelity Investments- no problem with most of our accounts with them but with one particular account they discovered it was a "P.O. Box" and froze our account until we gave them a physical address as "required by Federal Law". No issues with our other banks though....
Sue PS- the state of MI did not give us a problem until about 6 months AFTER we gave them our UPS address. We had already assumed everything was ok and had left the state...
-- Edited by soos on Tuesday 26th of January 2010 03:33:22 PM
I guess if worse comes to worse, we can always use the address of friends who live in another county. However, I do prefer to have the same address on everything. We may just have to fight the battles as they come.
Judy
Jim01 said
09:43 AM Jan 27, 2010
This is why most Full-timers use one of the mail forwarding services in states like SD, TX, or FL as their permanent address.
We have used Alternative Resources in SD since we went full-timing in 2001 and have never had a problem with investments or anything else for that matter.
Unless you have a very good reason for keeping Michigan as your state of residence, I would strongly recommend you do some research on one of these other states and change your address. (See Howard's article on "Selecting a home base".
By the way it sounds, Michigan will not be happy until you move back into a stix and brix house, and will continue to give you trouble.
When we went full-timing we moved everything to SD so we wouldn't have any hassles. We had enough of them when we had a house.
Life is short. Make it easy on yourself and enjoy the lifestyle.
Jim
soos said
01:37 PM Jan 27, 2010
In my case, trust me, we did months of research on domicile and switching states, looking into TX, SD etc etc. They don't work for us, and it turns out we have very good reasons for keeping Michigan as our home state.
Hopefully we won't have anymore issues now that the drivers license thing is straightened out.
anyway, I was only giving my situation as an example of one potential scenario in answer to the question that was asked..... :)
Sue
Jim01 said
05:00 PM Jan 27, 2010
Hey Sue, that 's great.
Everyone has to do this full-timing thing the way that it works best for them. What works for us may very well not work for you.
Good luck, I hope it all goes smooth for you from here on.
Guess, I'm full of thoughts today. Must get things done before Monday.
Judy
I've used the US Postal Service, as opposed to UPS, for mail forwarding. It works 100% of the time, but cost more than I'd like. The UPS method sounds like a good idea for what might be a less expensive method for mail forwarding, but I'm a bit confused by all of the different posts. Can someone get this down to the two digit IQ level for me?
Basically, I'd like to know:
1- How much does it costs to mail a single package full of forwarded mail once a week?
2- How plentiful are the UPS pickup points? That's important because if I have to go out of my way to find one, I'd rather pay for the convenience of having a Post Office on every corner where I can always get my mail at general delivery.
Basically, I'd like to know:
1- How much does it costs to mail a single package full of forwarded mail once a week?
depends on the weight. The UPS store sends ours to us through the regular poastal system (this is what we instructed) to wherever we specify. Works the same as all the other "popular" mail forwarding companies Rvers use, ie: Escapees, My Dakota Address etc.
2- How plentiful are the UPS pickup points? That's important because if I have to go out of my way to find one, I'd rather pay for the convenience of having a Post Office on every corner where I can always get my mail at general delivery.
Just have your UPS store send the mail package wherever you want including General Delivery. You are not required to ship and or p/u at a UPS store. We have instructed them to forward our mail via the post office and simply provide them with the address to send it to. We have money on our account to pay for the packaging (usually a manilla envelope) and the postage.
Ditto....they charge whatever the cost is for that individual package, and ship it to whatever campground I am at, as frequently as I want, and they ship whatever way i want, ie. ground, 2nd day air, or overnight. We usually only get our mail once a month, since all of our bills are paid online....
I have a CC on file and can call or email instructions to regular mail or UPS deliver to any address at any time.
I have used it only on a limited basis because i don't need my mail however I have had to have prescription medicine forwarded a couple of times.
When I go full time I will most likely be using it more frequently but certainly not weekly.
ED
We are no longer full timers. Now we are out several times a year for 1-3 months or a single 4-6 month period for work camping. So, if I understand this correctly, the lower cost factor appears to come with a couple disadvantages if one is an extended traveler as opposed to a full timer:
1- Unless I used the UPS store for collection all year long, even when at home, I would need to do an address change everytime I hit the road. Those are a hassle even assuming that the companies get it right the first time.
2- If I chose to have the PO temporarily forward mail to the UPS, then I have a major delivery lag. The PO forwarding process, the hold time at the UPS, and then the UPS forwarding time. Even with bill pay, it then might be difficult to be timely with payments. I also suspect that in the case of a box or package there would be an additional charge for the PO to forward to the UPS.
So if my thinking on this is correct, it appears that time saving convenience comes with a higher price tag and I'm stuck with the PO premium mail forwarding service.
From the majority of replies UPS has not been a problem with the mail but what about using it as your legal address for tags, licenses, voting, etc?
Judy
we could NOT use it for our drivers licenses...after arguing numerous times with DMV they canceled our licenses until we caved in and gave them an ex-neighbors address.
We had no problem using it for license plates etc. We also had a problem using it for Fidelity Investments- no problem with most of our accounts with them but with one particular account they discovered it was a "P.O. Box" and froze our account until we gave them a physical address as "required by Federal Law". No issues with our other banks though....
Sue
PS- the state of MI did not give us a problem until about 6 months AFTER we gave them our UPS address. We had already assumed everything was ok and had left the state...
-- Edited by soos on Tuesday 26th of January 2010 03:33:22 PM
Judy
This is why most Full-timers use one of the mail forwarding services in states like SD, TX, or FL as their permanent address.
We have used Alternative Resources in SD since we went full-timing in 2001 and have never had a problem with investments or anything else for that matter.
Unless you have a very good reason for keeping Michigan as your state of residence, I would strongly recommend you do some research on one of these other states and change your address. (See Howard's article on "Selecting a home base".
By the way it sounds, Michigan will not be happy until you move back into a stix and brix house, and will continue to give you trouble.
When we went full-timing we moved everything to SD so we wouldn't have any hassles. We had enough of them when we had a house.
Life is short. Make it easy on yourself and enjoy the lifestyle.
Jim
Everyone has to do this full-timing thing the way that it works best for them. What works for us may very well not work for you.
Good luck, I hope it all goes smooth for you from here on.
Jim