Mail forwarding question

[Bobg43]

We will be leaving Atlanta in Jan. for a two month trip to Arizona and will be staying at a campground in Casa Grande for the month of February.
I am trying to figure out the best way to handle mail delivery while we are gone. The Post Office will only hold mail for a month. Last year we were gone for two months and I had my mail forwarded to my daughter's house which worked great except that the Post Office automatically notifies senders after the first month that we moved to the address of my daughter. It took us months to get it fixed after we returned. I've seen ads from Good Sam, FMCA, etc. on mail forwarding services but they all seem to be complicated and seem to run the risk of messing up mail after we return.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Bobg43]

We will be leaving Atlanta in Jan. for a two month trip to Arizona and will be staying at a campground in Casa Grande for the month of February.
I am trying to figure out the best way to handle mail delivery while we are gone. The Post Office will only hold mail for a month. Last year we were gone for two months and I had my mail forwarded to my daughter's house which worked great except that the Post Office automatically notifies senders after the first month that we moved to the address of my daughter. It took us months to get it fixed after we returned. I've seen ads from Good Sam, FMCA, etc. on mail forwarding services but they all seem to be complicated and seem to run the risk of messing up mail after we return.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[C Driver]

See if you have in your area a MailBox, etc. or similar business ... they will usually hold your mail as long as your bill is paid and you can have the post office forward to them. They will also send your mail to you ...

[Gary RVRoamer]

Your post office will provide Temorary forwarding for up to six months. Unfortunately, any sender who marks the mail "Address Correction Requested" will in fact be notified of the forwarding address. Don't know why they do that when the forwarding instructions are marked "Temporary", but they do. Mail that does not have "Address Correction" should not generate any notifications if the change is temporary.

I have used Post Office forwarding for six months a year for many years and the only "notification" problem I have is with one credit union I belong to - they keep insisting I send them an official change of address. I explain to them, but their computer keeps pumping out the form letters. Ain't automation grand?

By the way, most forwarding services aren't complex at all. And since you will be in one place for two months, you could set it up so they forward there automatically, perhaps every week. But you problem remains the same - if you have the post office forward your mail to the mail service, there might still be notifications from the post office to the sendor.

[Tom N]

My neighbor gets my mail and sends it to me via UPS when I call him.

Also, in Feb/Mar he gets in his motorhome and comes to FL and parks near me. He brings my mail with him.

[Hitchhiker]

We fill out the yellow 'hold mail' card and mark on it that we'll pick up the mail when we return. Then, about once a week I'll call my post office and ask them to send it to me. Sometimes we'll use a General Delivery in a small town, other times we've used the campgrounds address.

The post office puts it all in a Priority envelope and I get it about 3 days later. Works for me.

[Tom N]

It's against post office policy and procedures to do this. The postmaster would have a problem if someone reported it.

[supercub]

On the yellow hold card, it states they will only hold it for 30 days.....but if the carrier doesn't have a problem with it, he will hold your mail longer. The carrier may check with his/her supervisor and they could say no.....but they could say, no problem too.something to ask your carrier about........All they do with the hold mail is to keep it in a tub at their case till you pick it up...so it's not a major deal.

[Hitchhiker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It's against post office policy and procedures to do this. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Whoops!

[Gary RVRoamer]

It's pretty much up to the local postmaster to set the procedures for his/her post office, but he's taking a chance by not following established national procedures.

My local P.O. used to accept phone-in changes, but they now require a signature. However I can mail them the standard change of address/hold form (no stamp needed) as often as I like, so I always have several on hand in the coach.

One other new procedure: in larger post offices the forwarding is now being handled by the reional sorting facility rather than the local PO. They catch your mail before it even gets to the local PO and re-direct it per your forwarding form. Nothing the local postmaster can do about it.

[DSouthw524]

BobG,
If you arre a W.I.T. member, you are entitled to a mail forwarding service through the club. You do have to have the mail forwarded to Forest City,IA. they will send your mail to you once per week to an address you provide in advance or call in and give them. All they ask for is money on deposit with them to cover postage. they can explain the whole procedure to you if you call them.

the commentary about the VISA charge requiring an address change is true. I even received a "gig" on my credit rating because the billing statement for a zero balance was returned (not to be forwarded). I have to make an address change if we are gone for a extended period of time and only use the postal temporary forwarding.

[Gary RVRoamer]

It depends on the issuing/billing bank. I've never had a ripple from any of my credit card issuers nor my local bank. Just that one credit union that had a thing about forwarding.

[Bobg43]

Thanks all for your feedback. I did find out about a USPS service called Premium Forwarding Sevice which appears that they do not notify mailers of a tempory address change. Here is the link:

http://www.usps.com/receive/premiumforwarding/welcome.h...ge=premiumforwarding

[Texas Bubba]

Post Office now has a new service. They will forward once a week via priority mail everything you get. $10 per month plus shipping fee's. Utilizing this service, they do not advise address correction to any sender. It is transparent to the one sending you mail. They will do this for up to twelve months. Hope this helps.