Informed Delivery - a free new USPS service

[DayDreaming]

...What would be useful would be if you could do something with the mail..

I wish there was a checkbox to tell them please don't deliver this piece of junk mail, just shred it and save youself the trip!

 

[folivier]

Got my first image email today. It's really just a low res image of the envelope but it does give you an idea of who sent you something so when traveling if you're expecting a bill from somebody you know when it's arrived.
No verification needed since I already had an account setup.
Obviously there is a few hours delay between the mail being scanned and actually being put in or delivered to your box or home.

 

[travelover]

I signed up and have gotten a couple of day's mail images in my email box. Not sure if it is useful yet, perhaps when I move next month and am missing mail.

 

[mn54]

signed up for it yesterday. Very quick and easy to do. It does not tell you all of the mail you are receiving that day. Our mail delivery person sometimes mixes up the mail, delivering someone else's mail to us and visa-versa. It will be useful to see if we receive the mail we were supposed to receive.

 

[REWahoo]

It doesn't work for me.

I signed up a couple of days ago and it says I'll get a daily email message showing me what's to be delivered. Not happening. When I log into the Informed Delivery site and look at my Mail Dashboard, it tells me "There are no reported deliveries for this day" yet I get mail.

 

[CardsFan]

It doesn't work for me.

I signed up a couple of days ago and it says I'll get a daily email message showing me what's to be delivered. Not happening. When I log into the Informed Delivery site and look at my Mail Dashboard, it tells me "There are no reported deliveries for this day" yet I get mail.

I get the same.

 

[mpeirce]

My hope is that this is a precursor to a service that shows your incoming mail and lets you check which items should be delivered.

My ideal postal experience would be to have them collect my mail, show me the image of the envelope and give me three options:

1. destroy it - mail I would toss directly into the trash when I get it
2. hold it - keep there for later delivery or for me to pick up later (great when I'm not home)
3. deliver it

I'd be happy with just 1 and 2 with no delivery. Stopping by the post office once a week/month to collect the few items that are important would be fine with me.

Why pay someone to drive through the neighborhood everyday? At most - deliver mail once a week. More often is a waste of money.

 

[SteveNU]

It doesn't work for me.

I signed up a couple of days ago and it says I'll get a daily email message showing me what's to be delivered. Not happening. When I log into the Informed Delivery site and look at my Mail Dashboard, it tells me "There are no reported deliveries for this day" yet I get mail.

I signed up for it a few days ago and today was the first day I got the notification. So it must take a few days to get activated. It showed the two letters we received but didn't show the package they delivered with the mail.

And why do they leave the letters in the mailbox at the roadside but make the trek up to the front door with the package?

 

[audreyh1]

I got an email this morning with an image of a letter front. So we'll see what arrives in the mailbox today.

I think it does take a couple of days.

 

[ivinsfan]

I signed up for it a few days ago and today was the first day I got the notification. So it must take a few days to get activated. It showed the two letters we received but didn't show the package they delivered with the mail.

And why do they leave the letters in the mailbox at the roadside but make the trek up to the front door with the package?

In case you aren't home, they don't leave first class mail unattended outside of a mailbox.

 

[fritz]

I received a USPS email about this new service on 3-29. Stated that Informed Delivery was coming soon. We are registered with online USPS and have a P.O. Box for important mail when we travel, and winter in Florida. Many 1st class items are not forwarded per mailers request (new credit cards, statements etc). Would like to view what goes to P.O. Box - would eliminate having go there frequently.

Read this thread and signed up, even though USPS didn't email any follow up info that the service was available. Since we are signed up with USPS under our street address for the P.O. Box - wanted to know how to activate for a P.O. Box. Got this email response last night from USPS Online Technical Support.

The Informed Delivery Service is currently only available as a pilot program within certain ZIP Code locations in Northern Virginia, the lower New York region and two Connecticut sites.

I responded that I registered on the online website as it stated our Zip code was eligible, and that I was able to log on and access the Informed Delivery site for viewing mail (none available). Asked when the service was to be available in our area and got this response.

I have not been informed of any particular rollout date for any area. My best advice is for you to keep checking the eligibility page periodically.

Interesting to read people are signed up and able to view mail outside of the areas the USPS reply said was only available...

 

[braumeister]

Very interesting service.
I signed up but had to do the in-person verification (probably due to frozen credit).
So I printed the barcode and took it in. Not my local post office -- they gave me just a short list of area post offices that were equipped to handle it. Went to one on the list and was told they could do nothing because nobody there had ever heard of this program.

Can hardly wait for the next innovation from these folks.

 

[RunningBum]

This seems kind of interesting and normally I like this kind of new technology.

But -- I am struggling to see how this does anything for me.

Let's say I'm at home and I see at 10 AM what mail I am getting that day. So what? I can't really decide I won't go check the mailbox that day because there was nothing interesting in the images since it seems like you don't get an image of 100% of all mail.

And, let's say it is something important. We check our mail every day anyway. So, does it really help me to know a few hours in advance what I am getting?

...

What if that important mail doesn't actually show up in your box, or you find that any significant amount of mail isn't showing up? Now you know that your mail is getting stolen, or your carrier is making errors. Either is worth a call to your postmaster, and you don't have to waste time contacting the sender to see if they sent it.

My box is 2 miles away. If this works as advertised, it tells me if it's worth making a stop on my drive home, or a special trip to go pick it up. If it's just junk mail, I'll skip it. I don't go every day now, but with this I can be more efficient about when I stop.

I've signed up. I hope this works for me.

 

[ERD50]

It doesn't work for me.

I signed up a couple of days ago and it says I'll get a daily email message showing me what's to be delivered. Not happening. When I log into the Informed Delivery site and look at my Mail Dashboard, it tells me "There are no reported deliveries for this day" yet I get mail.

It also took a few days for mine to start showing up. But I've got emails early AM the past few days. Some people seem to get them right away, not sure why.

To some other posts:

I think it's handy. If I am waiting for something important, and it's not in today's mail, I can plan my day around it, and plan on waiting for tomorrow. Or vice-versa.

I got a note the other day that stated specifically there was added mail not scanned (turned out to be a magazine). So I guess we aren't left hanging whether it got them all or not, but we will see.

-ERD50

 

[Lakewood90712]

I wish there was a checkbox to tell them please don't deliver this piece of junk mail, just shred it and save youself the trip!

They must deliver the junk mail because they are paid by the sender.

An idea for a new paid subscription service at usps , pay a small monthly fee to have the carrier put 1st class in the regular mailbox and bulk rate in the "auxiliary mailbox "

 

[Beldar]

I wonder if the system can be queried for missed deliveries in the past...

I'm still waiting for the $40 of stamps I was promised for completing one of their mail diaries / survey last December. I suspect it was mis-delivered and the recipient said "Whoopee!".

Never again.


_B

 

[zedd]

Gentlemen DO read others' mail -- maybe rewrite it too

Why haven't the conspiracy theory nobs gotten a hold of this?

Sure sure. Nod nod wink wink. The USPS is photo scanning the mail. What's really happening is a secret guvment agent is actually using high tech methods to not only electronically capture the image of the exterior of the envelop but they also have an algorithm to digitally capture the content therein. In other words, they are reading your mail.

Bonus points. Not only can they read the content but they can also rewrite the correspondence. Whoosh. All in the time that it takes for the envelop to run thru the "scanner".

I'm thinking we have a plot for a book or even better a serialized movie. Where's Al?

 

[Major Tom]

I went to one of the local Post Offices that is doing sign-ups, to complete my in-person verification. The lady knew what I wanted, as she had done one for a fellow just recently. She scanned the barcode from my phone, swiped my driver's license, and gave me a receipt with a printed confirmation number. Shortly afterwards, I received an e-mail informing me that my identity had been successfully verified.

So far, so good, but I have a sneaky feeling that this service is not going to be of much use to me. Oh well - it was a good excuse for a bicycle ride up into Berkeley and lunch out, in this lovely sunny weather.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

A couple of notes about the service that might answer a few questions (I have been using it for about 3 weeks).

1) If you already have a USPS account and your account is frozen then you will NOT have to go to the PO to get verified. If you *don't* have an account and your credit is frozen, expect a trip to the PO and expect to get the service you would expect.

2) Once you are signed up, it will take a few days to get your first email notification. It took me 3 days, but now I get them daily. The time the email is sent is not consistent. Sometimes it's early, sometimes it's after the day's delivery has been made. But if I have gotten First Class mail, there has been an email.

3) Using the service for 3 weeks, there has yet to be a piece of "important mail" that wasn't scanned. If it's not a normal sized envelope, it will NOT be included in the email. I have had 3 pieces of "normal sized" mail that wasn't first class and wasn't included in the email.

4) The email has a link to report any mail that didn't arrive that is supposed to. I have not had this happen, so I am not sure what the email would do.

So, all in all, I am pretty happy with this, especially considering it is from the USPS which we all know has "sketchy" customer service, at best. I especially appreciate that there is no additional cost for the service so that adds a good bit of value for me.

After a couple more weeks of "beta testing" I will probably adjust my mail-getting routine. We rarely get anything worth a damn, so I would probably only check it every 3 or 4 days. Or on trash day when I can walk it from the mailbox directly to the recycle bin.

 

[jebmke]

There are a couple of towns close by that don't deliver the mail. This would be great for them. Save people a lot of wasted trips to the post office. Other than that, I can't see much value for me personally. We rarely get anything other than junk mail.

 

[braumeister]

1) If you already have a USPS account and your account is frozen then you will NOT have to go to the PO to get verified.

Not true in my case. I had an active USPS account and my credit was frozen. I still had to go to the PO. Of course they had never heard of the program, but that's a different issue.

 

[REWahoo]

2) Once you are signed up, it will take a few days to get your first email notification. It took me 3 days...

+1

I signed up three days ago and just received my first notification email.

 

[googily]

I got my first one just now, after signing up on Thursday. Didn't have to do anything other than fill out the form, so must have already been verified (longtime usps.com user, maybe that was it).

Strangely, my husband got a single one a few weeks ago, despite never signing up. That was how I first heard of the program, but forgot until you folks reminded me. Great for traveling or when you are waiting on something important.

 

[Golden sunsets]

I signed up on 4/19 and am still waiting.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[MichaelB]

I signed up a week ago, and received my first notification this morning. Two pieces of mail. One for the prior homeowner, the other a mis-address" whose mail I have been receiving for years.