(the misadventures of an expatriate corporate dropout)

Monday, June 9, 2008

day 33 helpful tips.

One of the loose ends remaining to be tied is ... what to do about mail? I mean I already have mail going somewhere I don't reside and then I'm moving in 33 days and who do I know who can pick up my mail and then what to do with it all?

Well, you folks may already be on the money with this one, but for those who aren't I did a little research and came up with Earth Class mail, a mail handling servicer located right here in Beaverton, Oregon! They offer real street addresses (Seattle, Beaverton) and a number of PO Box addresses scattered across the U.S.

This company receives your envelopes and sends you online images of the outside of the envelope ... you select which you want destroyed (shredded) or opened and further scanned, page by page, for your review and resolution. You can also have them forward you the physical mail to an address anywhere in the world. They will retain an archive of your mail, per your request.

They are bonded and insured. They hire employees with government security clearance (including many retired veterans). In fact, they don’t allow any recording devices into the mail handling area, not even pencils. You pay a flat fee based on your volume (starts at $9.95/month), and they also offer business service. You have to submit a notarized request of service which proves it is YOU requesting your mail change. So it would be pretty difficult for someone to defraud by way of this service. They have a first month free offer, which I have enrolled in and will report back to you with my evaluation of their service.

If it works, it sounds perfect. I have a similar, independent bill payment service (Paytrust) which I've used for years with success.

Here are some independent assessments of the service I located via Google. By independent, I mean they weren't obtained from the company's testimonial page: Review #1, Review #2 and Review #3.

7 comments:

La Belette Rouge said...

You are a genius. If you don't want to hear that any more just forward my messages to Earth Class Mail and they will shred all further messages from me when I tell you what an organized smarty you are.

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

LBR~never! who could tire of the kindnesses meted out by such a charming belette? let's keep our fingers crossed ... if my mail is all screwed up I'll help others avoid the pitfall...

B said...

This is a truly incredible find. What a great service!! I am looking forward to hearing more! This might be a better option for me than allowing my father to go through my mail... some of which mysteriously ends up opened!

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

b-I'll be posting about it again. Tomorrow I go to get my approval notarized and then it should all begin fairly quickly.

La Framéricaine said...

I do agree that if all goes well, this is a very interesting option for the mail. I have been looking at different possibilities since June 2003 when I began my "stop the junk mail" campaign. I have succeeded in choking my junk mail off to a trickle compared to the flood that used to exist.

If one is going to relocate I would definitely recommend going online to the DMA--Direct Marketing Assoc--site at:

https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/proto1.php

and get your name off all of the catalog and 3rd-party mailing lists.

Then, get off the pre-screened/pre-approved credit offer/credit applications.

If you are leaving California or one of the other states that now allows credit card/security freezes for your credit reports, it is worth it to pay $10 per credit reporting agency--TransUnion, Experian, Expedia--to "freeze" your credit. That way only creditors with whom you currently have a relationship can look at your credit but NO one can open new credit in your name without a secret code number. It's a huge reassurance if you need to allow others to access your mail and want to be sure that no one can steal your identity while you aren't looking.

I will look right away at the Earth Class Mail AND the Paytrust for an elderly friend.

Thank you again for the great resources!

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

thanks for the suggestions, LF!

Unknown said...

i think the best options for virtual mailbox companies to choose between them are Earthclassmail, postscanmail and maillabs, now i'm using maillabs and they provide professional services, i can recommend them for anyone looking for virtual mailbox, virtual address, virtual po box, virtual mailroom, mail forwarding and mail scanning service.