Maybe SD not such a good idea?

[flaggship1]

Dakota Post fka Alternative Resources just moved to a larger location and took on FMCA mailing

http://www.dakotapost.net/fmca/

They're in it for the long haul. I am a member of Escapees - PA - GS - KOA - etc. I spread my money around.

[docj]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

DOCJ:

We pay $95/year at Escapees and their highest fee is $135/year for extra services.


For $95/yr they will scan, read a piece of mail to you and review what mail you have.

For me the key difference is receiving an email every day that mail arrives. IMHO having to call to find out what mail I received would be a PIA.

As for cost, don't forget that you have to be an Escapees member to use the mail service. Yes, there are other benefits that may appeal to some people, but regardless it is a necessary cost. It may not balance the cost equation, but it brings it closer. Furthermore, IMO it's a ridiculous comparison to say "our services aren't as good as the competitor's, but we charge less for them."

Lastly, IMHO the Escapees "solution" to providing service in SD and FL is a kulge. I have no interest in having two addresses one for "legal" SD mail and a TX one for everything else. It was hard enough to arrange health insurance in SD (even for a Medicare recipient) and I would hate to have to explain why I claimed residency in SD but wanted my mail sent to a TX address. No thanks, I'll take a single address.

I'm glad Escapees works for you; it sure wouldn't work for us.

[Barbaraok]

A couple of thoughts. We get very little mail and the important stuff I know when it is coming. But there is no way I want someone else opening what few pieces of mail we do get.

Escapees dues have been reduced, so the price difference even with the dues isn't just change.

But everyone is different and each one of us has to decide which is better for us.

[Davdeb1]

If you have no need for private health insurance, SD sounds like a great option. If you happen to be one of the lucky folks retiring before medicare is available, it might be a smart move to keep your home state until medicare kicks in.
I was lucky. I kept Ohio, less than $100 per year for car & mh registration. $1200 yr insurance all vehicles and $303 per month for my young brides health care.
Not one penny in income tax this year, a bonus.
Everyone worries about mail, UPS mailbox, its a good solution.
Now, I'm lucky, I can use my sons address for registration purposes.
I hear Florida will let you use a UPS box for registration. No state tax and registration is cheap also.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

A couple of thoughts. We get very little mail and the important stuff I know when it is coming. But there is no way I want someone else opening what few pieces of mail we do get.

Escapees dues have been reduced, so the price difference even with the dues isn't just change.

But everyone is different and each one of us has to decide which is better for us.

X2. Nowadays we get very little mail. Everything is done online and people don't write letters. What little we received it is expected and I know when it's coming. Normally, we send for our mail every 4-6 weeks unless we are expecting something. I wouldn't like to receive an email everytime mail comes in. Naturally, we're all different in what works for us.

[docj]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

I wouldn't like to receive an email everytime mail comes in.

I understand that fervent Escapees will defend their club as if it can do no wrong, but claiming that the lack of a service is preferable to its existence is a novel twist. I'm not sure I can think of a situation in which lack of information is better than more information. That's definitely not the same world I live in.

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by docj

I understand that fervent Escapees will defend their club as if it can do no wrong, but claiming that the lack of a service is preferable to its existence is a novel twist. I'm not sure I can think of a situation in which lack of information is better than more information. That's definitely not the same world I live in.

You and I are in the same camp. I won't post a picture of my virtual mailbox with Dakota Post - but it's awesome. They scan the UNOPENED envelope and the pics are in my virtual mailbox. I get a "you've got mail" email with a link to log in and view if I Want To. From there I can direct what to do with it - whenever I want to. They suggest not deleting the image until you actually receive the mail. If it's junk click on shred. This is modern tech at its finest if you ask me.

So on another note. Drove through pharmacy yesterday to pick up some meds. Handed pharmacist my debit card. She swiped it and said - It's asking to use another card. As I was saying "try it again I know it's good", my phone started chirping - email and a text at same time. Opened the text - it said....

FREE TEXT from Bank of America: Message for Steve xyz re: Debit Card #xxx. To continue using your card, please verify these 3 transactions:

04/03 - CVS/PHARMACY #xxx - $123.31 (Declined); 04/02 - WM SUPERCENTER # - $127.93 (Approved); 04/02 - ATMWITHDRAWAL - $403.25 (Approved)

If you attempted all 3 of these transactions, reply YES. If you do not recognize one or more of them, reply NO. To opt out of text alerts reply STOP.

I told the pharmacist - hold on a second... I just got a text from the bank..

I replied YES

And got this back

Your account security is our top priority. Thank you for verifying these transactions. You may use your Bank of America debit card immediately.

I told her try again... BAM... this took about a minute!

That is awesome for a Full Timer. In all my life prior to going full time - a card was compromised once. Since going full time 5 months ago - 2 cards compromised. Both notified me within hours of suspicious activity. No cost to me. It's odd to - the police actually caught the guy with my info on him. They called and let me know. It was in our old home town of DFW. We were in the RGV.

Tech is great these days - but has its drawbacks too. The info coming from banks and Dakota Post is not intrusive. It's actually welcomed and appreciated.

I think there is a video of how the virtual mailbox works on the Dakota Post website. They may not be the cheapest around - I don't even know what they cost cause I don't care. This is one service that's
Not about the money.

[Barbaraok]

How many employees do you think Escapees would have to hire to scan every piece of mail that comes in and send a visual picture to the recipient? A tractor-trailer with a 53' trailer pulls up each day to be unloaded/reloaded with mail. They have between 10K-15K people receiving mail through them. Since there hasn't been anything in 9 years of fulltiming that I didn't know was coming and hadn't called to check to see if it was in, the extra cost for this service isn't something I need. I am sure that if enough Escapees wanted, and were willing to pay for, the extra service would be added.

Barb

PS - I just remembered that on this forum one is not suppose to talk about Escapees, so please forgive my faux pas.

[Route 66]

Not sure why you say that, but there is no problem with discussing SKP's mail service here.

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

Barb

PS - I just remembered that on this forum one is not suppose to talk about Escapees, so please forgive my faux pas.

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by Route 66

Not sure why you say that, but there is no problem with discussing SKP's mail service.

I was kicked off of a couple of forums (RV.NET and this one) about 4 years ago because I mentioned Escapees mail service.

Barb

[Route 66]

I can't find any reference to that, but you're welcome to post here at iRV2.

Now, back to the topic at hand.

[flaggship1]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

How many employees do you think Escapees would have to hire to scan every piece of mail that comes in and send a visual picture...

Not sure. I will check their business continuity plan and get back to you. I think many of their members would find a virtual mailbox as convenient as I do.

[docj]

Originally Posted by Barbaraok

How many employees do you think Escapees would have to hire to scan every piece of mail that comes in and send a visual picture to the recipient?

Maybe this is a way of saying that Escapees mail service is so large that it can't provide "modern" services to its clients. That's a good reason to go elsewhere.

As far as your statement that you know every piece of mail that comes to you, IMHO that's simply absurd. We, also, get very little mail but, for example, the unexpected letter from IRS is something that's worth knowing about sooner rather than later (IRS doesn't use email or telephones). Many of the really important items that come are unexpected such as the new "chipped" debit cards that our bank just sent. I want to know about such things immediately; if you are content to wait to find out I'm glad that works for you.

[Stickdog]

Originally Posted by docj

With all due respect you have turned this totally around. There are quite a few states that will try to make you a resident if you spend more than six months of the year there, but I'm not aware of any state that requires you to spend 6 months there in order to retain residency status.

Illinois does.