Using UPS to forward your mail

[Orchidflower]

I believe this topic is in the right category on this board, so here goes:

Does anyone here have any real life experience using UPS to forward their mail to another State or country? I'm assuming that the UPS uses not a P.O. Box but an address, so it appears that you live there?
If I am correct on this information, how has UPS done with forwarding your mail? Are they expedient?
I see many RV'ers it on this board, and I know they must have their mail forwarded to wherever they are staying for some length of time. Others seem to have a UPS address and have a "vacation" home in another State, so they must have their mail forwarded. Anyway, I am hoping that there are enough here doing this to give some information out.
Has anyone tried any other national mail forwarding address like Mailboxes, Etc. or others?
Looking for opinions on how reliable they are. Can't afford to miss that million dollars I will be winning in the Reader's Digest Sweepstakes this year.

 

[farmerEd]

Haven't tried it, but I believe mailboxes etc is part of UPS...is it not?

 

[Trek]

I don't know about the UPS Store as I've never used them. But I wanted someone that specialized in mail forwarding and a place with a good reputation. UPS Store had high international prices and always seems to have a bunch of younger kids who don't know what their doing in there.

I use Voyagers Mail Service out of Florida. Voyagers Mail Forwarding Service - Mail forwarding services for boaters and people on the move.

Two reasons: One is that they specialize in it and come highly recommended by the sailing crowd and also because they are located in Florida which is where I'm from and I wanted to maintain a Florida address.

They are very personalized with their service, answer emails right away and on the months when I don't have any mail to be forwarded, they send me a little postcard telling me there is no mail, so I don't think they forgot about me. Very pleased with them so far.

Tell them the guy in Estonia recommended them, they'll know me being I'm their only Estonian client.

There is also this place in Florida that I know of and if you Google "mail forwarding service" you'll get a bunch more.

 

[audreyh1]

RVer's don't usually use the UPS stores to forward mail. They prefer companies who are more specialized to forwarding mail for travelers. Escapees is a good example and very popular with RVers. Good Sam provides a service. There are several others - some based in Florida, some in South Dakota. The US Post Office itself has a service.

It is easy for a forwarding service to send you mail using General Delivery - a pretty secure way to get your mail to a convenient nearby post office.

Audrey

 

[teejayevans]

It is easy for a forwarding service to send you mail using General Delivery - a pretty secure way to get your mail to a convenient nearby post office.
Audrey

I've never done this, but as I understand it, you can send mail/packages to
General Delivery
c/o your name
zip code

and the PO will keep it for you to pick up??
I assume you have to show ID of some kind?

Is this correct?
TJ

 

[audreyh1]

Not quite - you address it:

YOUR NAME
General Delivery
City, State zipcode

But FIRST - look up the post office on usps.com (easy by zipcode). CALL THEM, and verify that they WILL accept general delivery mail. Not all do, and in some cities, only the main post office will accept it. It's easier, in fact, to use smaller town post offices for general delivery.

Many post offices are even so nice as to go check to see if your general delivery package has arrived if you call them and ask.

Yes, all post offices we have dealt with check ID. They usually hold the mail up to 30 days, I believe, before returning it to sender.

This has worked out very well for us. We call ahead to a post office near where we expect to be in a few days to verify they will accept it, and then tell our forwarding service (family, at the moment) to send it via priority mail. It's usually waiting for us when we arrive!

Convenient and secure.

Audrey

 

[kcowan]

I know several people who live in Mexico and use UPS to forward their US mail. I believe it is forwarded 2-3x a week. Boxes such as ebay deliveries do not work well because:
a) UPS charges extra, and
b) sometimes they disappear (suspected to be in Mexico)

 

[pedorrero]

I'm not (yet) a customer but I considered vmfs and one service they'll provide that maybe the others don't is that they will pay your bills for you -- assuming, of course, that you leave them a "slush fund" to work from.

 

[Arif]

When we first arrived in Panama we used the local Mail Box etc. The service was reliable as it only took about 3-5 days to get our mail from their office in Miami. After a few months we realized it was much cheaper to use another service here called Aerocasillas. Most of these places charge by the total grams or pounds of the mail you receive in a month. For the mail forwarding our address looked like this:

Name
PTY (country code for Panama)
PO Box 12324
Doral, FL 33172

Funny thing is when I called my credit card company and they ask me how's the weather in Doral, FL? I tell them I have no idea and that I'm in Panama!

 

[travelingtoday]

take a look at Earth class mail

We have been using Earth Class Mail for months and a great service. We no longer worry about our bills or mail pilling up while we are traveling. We chose their OR address and all of our mail is sent there and anywhere we have internet access we can check our postal mail online. They can scan it, shred, recycle, or forward if we need. Most everything we print off PDF documents. Talk about a life saver forus