Michelle Prefers

So if you are running a business online, or even offline, most of us have to find a way to have mail sent to us discretely.

If we work from home, we don’t want the entire world to know our home address, and getting a traditional Post office box doesn’t work in most cases, trust me, I know.

For over 3 years I used a UPS (used to be Mail Boxes Etc.) post office box out of Buffalo New York because I needed to have a US address (I live in Canada) in order to get a US merchant account.

I didn’t talk to the people there often, but some of the time when I did, I wasn’t always thrilled, as I found them to be cold in personality.

I moved around a couple of times & they didn’t seem to have a computer system, so sometimes they got my old address mixed up with the new one when it came time to send me my mail.

They didn’t like the fact that I didn’t want my mail sent to me monthly. They clearly wanted to make more money off of me, & being a business person I understand that, but the fact that they mentioned this occasionally as if they were “doing me a favor” by sending me my mail every 3 or 6 months didn’t sit well with me. I shouldn’t have to be forced into having my mail (only a couple bank statements) sent to me every month.

At first they only charged me a $5 fee to send me the mail, but then I started to notice that they were raising up the prices to $6, & I didn’t like that. To be clear, this was for 4-6 sheets of paper most of the time.

Also another problem was that they didn’t send out their mail until Friday, so if you needed it right away, well I assume they would charge another fee to expedite their process.

One time they charged me $16 just to forward a small package to my assistant who lives in Ohio.

They refused to send me the small package directly (they were bank checks), so I had to have it mailed twice.

When my assistant sent it to me, it only cost him $7 (remember, that’s to Canada), & they charged me $16 to send it within the States, so yes, I felt I was ripped off.

I should have changed addresses & P.O. Boxes a long time ago, but I was told that the bank that holds my merchant account wouldn’t be happy, so I didn’t want to risk it. Finally I made the choice to change from UPS to an online mailing system.

It was a bit of a struggle only because my address changed to a different State, so Amex wanted to redo my application, but after that was done, I was amazed at how easy it was to use this new post office mail forwarding system.

Not only did I no longer have to pay to have statements sent to me, any statements that I would have needed immediately, like chargeback notices, was no longer an issue.

When you get a chargeback, you have to respond immediately, & when I used the traditional UPS post office box, I always went over the bank’s deadline because I had no idea I had even received a chargeback. This was always very stressful for me.

With this high tech post office box, I receive an e-mail notice from them that I have mail.

I then decide if I want to scan the mail, or have it forwarded/mailed to me (I have yet to have ANYTHING forwarded to me).

Once they have scanned it, I open up the PDF, & either forward it to my bookkeeper, or save it on my hard drive & then I’m DONE!  It’s really THAT easy.

I do have to tell them to shred them afterward of course.

And if I ever wanted to get a package sent to me, I know the prices would be a lot cheaper then what UPS tried to charge me & there would be no attitude.

In fact, their customer service is very good. I’ve talked to them a few times already.

So, if you live outside the US & you want to get a US merchant account (I can help you get one) & you have to come up with a US address, I recommend you use this service.

Even if you live in the States & you don’t want to divulge your home address because you work from home online, I recommend you use this service.

I did have my assistant compare this mail forwarding company & a couple of others, & this one ended up being the best value for the buck.

When he did all this comparing I also came to realize that I was spending a lot more with UPS per month then with this company. Add to that not having to wait for my mail & not having to ever have it forwarded to me because everything is done with the computer (Internet) well, I’m definitely a happy business owner.

Let me know how it goes for you.

Michelle