Poll

Do you have a physical mailbox at your house?

Yes, I receive mail to it all the time.
76 (87.4%)
Yes, but I hardly ever use it.
9 (10.3%)
No, it serves little/no purpose for me.
2 (2.3%)
I wish I had one but it keeps getting blown up/damaged/stolen.
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 87

Author Topic: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?  (Read 6562 times)

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Offline HalcyonTopic starter

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I know this seems like an odd question, but in the 7-8 years of living at my current house, I've never installed a letterbox. My reasoning for this is that 95% of correspondence I receive from the various companies I deal with comes via email and I prefer the security of a PO Box for physical items.

Only on rare occasions do I actually receive letters, the PO Box is mostly used for receiving parcels which I can collect from the post office any day of the week (including weekends). Whilst crime is extremely low in my neighborhood, it eliminates the risk of anything being damaged due to weather, or stolen, particularly in cases where I am not home for days at a time (which is fairly often). Another advantage is that I never receive junk mail or advertising, plus it's one less thing I need to check everyday (if I get mail to the PO Box, I automatically get an email notification).

Today however, I'm told by my bank that "initial" cards are sent to physical addresses and require "management approval" otherwise. This was never an issue when I first opened my account with this particular bank (which have actually been pretty good to deal with in the past, so I don't want to name and shame them at this time). I personally think this is a rather stupid decision.

I honestly don't see the point of a letterbox these days? To me it's equally useless as a cheque book or purchasing newspapers to read the latest news and weather. I see having a letterbox in front of my house as something for spiders to live in and dogs to pee on.

EDIT: I've included a poll for shits and giggles.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2023, 02:31:59 am by Halcyon »
 

Online xrunner

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2023, 02:34:11 am »
The answer to your question for me is yes I do have a mailbox at the street. It's a security mailbox so the letters and boxes drop down and can't be removed unless you have the key to the bottom back door.

There is no real reason not to have it out there even if you want most of your mail to go to a PO Box.
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Online SiliconWizard

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2023, 02:34:57 am »
I do but we've seen a clear increase in stolen goods in mailboxes in the past 2 years. So I have practically stopped receiving anything in my mailbox. I could as well get rid of it, although over here I think you're supposed to have one, if just to be able to receive administrative mail, even if most of it these days is also by e-mail.
 

Online Ed.Kloonk

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2023, 02:48:13 am »
The new piss-off for me as far as postage goes is on-line sellers who are unwilling to send to a po-box in Australia, not understanding that despite the size of the box, it's available space and indeed the size of the parcel, the post office will deal with it accordingly. Unlike other countries.

As a result, I have to nominate the house as the address and now I watch on the camera the idiot mailman drive up the mailbox and even if all the auths-to-leave stuff is ticked, he 'cards' the thing and takes it back to the local post office.

Here's the rub. He does this to anyone receiving anything bigger than a business sized envelope. And the card he leaves in the letterbox says you can pickup after 4pm. That's because he has driven around all day with everyone's stuff and not dropped it off, and then returns to the post office, and they have to deal with it. For items that have tracking, this guy drives the whole system nuts.

Fucking madness.
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Offline themadhippy

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2023, 02:51:39 am »
fairly standard in the uk to have a hole in the front door with a flap over,we call em letter boxes,not big enough to get  large  stuff or burglars through,but  big  enough  for leaflets and junk mail.
 

Online xrunner

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2023, 03:03:14 am »
As a result, I have to nominate the house as the address and now I watch on the camera the idiot mailman drive up the mailbox and even if all the auths-to-leave stuff is ticked, he 'cards' the thing and takes it back to the local post office.

Years ago I remember if you weren't home UPS, FEDEX, and USPS would leave a note to get your ass down to the post office or, if UPS or FEDEX, we'll try again tomorrow. No more. It's all left at the door and Amazon takes pics of it to prove they left your shit. If it ain't there when you look out I suppose the thieves grabbed it.  :-//

Quote
Fucking madness.

Yep.
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Offline james_s

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2023, 03:05:26 am »
Up until around 10 years ago I had a regular mailbox on the street, now I have a section in locking cluster mailbox. I don't get a lot of mail, but I do get packets of various things on a somewhat regular basis, and stuff like tax documents and replacement credit cards. Anything that I order online that ships via postal mail arrives in the box or the attached parcel locker unless it's too large in which case it gets left on my porch.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2023, 03:07:06 am »
fairly standard in the uk to have a hole in the front door with a flap over,we call em letter boxes,not big enough to get  large  stuff or burglars through,but  big  enough  for leaflets and junk mail.

My aunt's house (in the USA) has one of those, but I don't think it gets used anymore. They worked fine when it was a postman on foot but now it's usually a mail truck driving around (right-hand drive incidentally) from box to box on the curb.
 

Offline HalcyonTopic starter

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2023, 03:29:41 am »
The new piss-off for me as far as postage goes is on-line sellers who are unwilling to send to a po-box in Australia, not understanding that despite the size of the box, it's available space and indeed the size of the parcel, the post office will deal with it accordingly. Unlike other countries.

Register for a "Parcel Collect" address for free via the Australia Post portal. It's a "virtual address" but linked to the physical street address of your desired post office. They will also accept some non-AP courier deliveries. It's great for pesky sellers who refuse PO Boxes.

But you're right, regardless of the size of the PO Box and the package, if it can be delivered by Australia Post, it can be delivered to a PO Box address, they just leave a card for you to go into the post office to pick it up (which is usually at the same location as you are already at).

https://auspost.com.au/receiving/collection-points/choose-a-post-office-for-deliveries
« Last Edit: March 07, 2023, 03:38:19 am by Halcyon »
 
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Offline TimFox

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2023, 03:56:00 am »
When we bought a new front door, we had a mail slot installed that met USPS regulations (basically, minimum height above base for ease of letter carrier access).
This works for everything smaller than parcels, and is common in city locations for single-family houses.
 

Offline mwb1100

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2023, 04:32:53 am »
Every house I've lived in has had a mailbox at the end of the driveway or a slot in the door.  Now that we buy everything except groceries online, the thing is crammed full half the time.  Larger boxes get left on our doorstep.

Fortunately I live in quiet neighborhood that's got no through streets (it's a web of streets that go nowhere - one way in, one way out) and I haven't heard of anyone around here having their mailboxes looted.  First I hear of it, I'm getting one of those security mailboxes.  I probably should do that proactively, but I'm nothing if not a world-class procrastinator.
 

Offline pcprogrammer

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2023, 05:54:17 am »
The poll is missing a "yes, I receive mail once a week or so"

I voted the "Yes, I receive mail to it all the time." but the only frequent thing that we receive is flyers from local shops. For the rest it is a package once in a while when I order something online, and some correspondence from the state, banks or friends and family sending post cards.

And stupidly enough mail for a previous owner, that no matter the actions we take keeps on coming even after us owning the house and living in it for more then 14 years. This once a year from a bank, that sends an overview of the empty account. We have been to that bank stating the person does not live at our address any more and they said to take care of it, but obviously did not.  :palm:

The only problem I had with a package gone missing was due to stupid google maps and a delivery guy leaving the package at another address and signing for it himself. Took me over a month to get my money back, after a lot of back and forth between the different parties involved.  |O


Offline Berni

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2023, 06:34:24 am »
Over here regular post is still the standard way of getting bills.

Most large corporate entities have switched to some sort of digital delivery, because it saves them money on the massive amount of mail they send out. But the digital delivery method is usually trough some website that you have to log in to see things, not just simply getting an email with all the info.

But anyone else still sticks to the classical method of sending that standardized payment form in the mail that you can pay at the bank or post office or whatever. Or more commonly these days scan the QR code on the payment form using your mobile banking app.

When it comes to package delivery, they don't tend to fit trough the narrow slot on the mailbox (all mailboxes here are the secure type where getting the post back out requires a key to open its door) so you either meet the mailman at the front door or convince them over the phone to leave it at the door, as otherwise it gets taken to the post office and a note is left. They are not supposed to just leave it at the door, but if your property looks secure enough they will (fence, front door not too exposed etc)
 

Online Bud

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2023, 07:14:33 am »
Utility companies send paper bills, insurance renewals papers come, banks send credit cards statements, the government sends tax correspondence, all to the home address. I am not sure how it is possible to not have a physical mailbox.
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Offline HalcyonTopic starter

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2023, 08:13:30 am »
Utility companies send paper bills, insurance renewals papers come, banks send credit cards statements, the government sends tax correspondence, all to the home address. I am not sure how it is possible to not have a physical mailbox.

In Australia, all of this is electronic (if you decide it to be). Even fines (if you get pulled over for a traffic offence) can be emailed to you.
 

Offline pcprogrammer

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #15 on: March 07, 2023, 08:17:55 am »
(all mailboxes here are the secure type where getting the post back out requires a key to open its door)

Here in France, or at least the region I live in, the mailbox is also a secure type with a key, but the mailman has a master key that opens all the mailboxes, so this way they can put even small enough packages in the mailbox.

Have not have had problems with this setup yet.

Offline pcprogrammer

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #16 on: March 07, 2023, 08:19:16 am »
Utility companies send paper bills, insurance renewals papers come, banks send credit cards statements, the government sends tax correspondence, all to the home address. I am not sure how it is possible to not have a physical mailbox.

In Australia, all of this is electronic (if you decide it to be). Even fines (if you get pulled over for a traffic offence) can be emailed to you.

Same here in France.

Offline JohanH

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #17 on: March 07, 2023, 08:51:13 am »
We have unlocked mail boxes (at least in less densely populated areas) and it's years since I've heard anything being stolen. Usually only small untracked packages and letters are put in the mail box plus an annoying amount of advertisements, if you allow it. Some institutions/companies are still sending paper letters, but usually you can opt in for electronic ones. I receive almost no paper bills or letters any more, most are electronic.
 

Offline Muttley Snickers

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #18 on: March 07, 2023, 09:20:16 am »
I very rarely use or even bother to check emails any more and I prefer that all important correspondence be by post. There are good and bad points for each medium, I despise marketing material in the letterbox as much as I hate spam in my inbox but the "No Junk" sign only works for one. Emails are much faster but only if you check them regularly which I don't.

I'm currently in an ongoing dispute with council and have asked that all future correspondence be signed, dated and posted as I am sick of their conflicting and contradictory verbal bullshit. I've also reported them to a higher authority so want documented evidence of their questionable conduct for others to hold them to account.
 

Offline m k

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #19 on: March 07, 2023, 10:25:23 am »
We have a possibility to have everything possible only in electrical form.
Obviously not all senders are supporting it and yes, I have a physical box also, not locked, the whole row of boxes is mainly not locked.

Down side of all electrical only is that when taxman send bills it's also electrical only, usually bills go directly to the bank electrically but taxman is one of exceptions.
Same goes with all reminders and it wont end well if you've forgotten you ticked that box of no official papers in paper when starting the service.
So finally a court sent a real letter of hey dude, call a repoman and pay your taxes.
It's not a real court order but since the court is an employer of repomen it doesn't diminish the effect if only general sender is stated.

Original problem here was that the service receive all kinds of "junk" that have no real meaning, like some info of this or that has happened but you don't need to do anything.
It can also be indirect, where one service is echoing, but only partially, what other service is doing.
Then when once in a blue moon something important happens you have a good possibility to miss it.
Yes, I'm not going to miss anything anymore, but still don't know exactly what all of those infos are stating.

One nuance, insurance.
I've mandated electrical bills but that is not all.
Before they sent letters with many papers.
Now when paper bills are no more the letter is still many papers but without the bill and world is saved.
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Offline TomKatt

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #20 on: March 07, 2023, 11:16:22 am »
I'd have one, but the postal carrier doesn't have 4 wheel drive to get to my residence in the woods  :P
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Offline rdl

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #21 on: March 07, 2023, 01:21:04 pm »
There's a central mail room accessible from outside the gated area. All residences have a locked box about big enough to fit a single shoe. Packages that don't fit are taken to the residence at left at the door. Apparently this is considered a safe area to do that. I'm retired now and at home most of the time so it doesn't bother me.
 

Offline jonpaul

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #22 on: March 07, 2023, 02:27:35 pm »
Most governments are 10..30 years slow to adopt new technology.

 France and USA, official notices, taxes, immigration, property are sent solely by post.
Thus every édifice or apartment or house must have a post box or door slot.

For privacy or transient situations one can rent a post office box or have post Foward to another adress.

Without a post adress, You cannot obtain a passport, drivers license or residence card

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Offline themadhippy

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #23 on: March 07, 2023, 03:15:11 pm »
Quote
Without a post adress, You cannot obtain a passport, drivers license or residence card
but i bet the buggers can find a way to tax you
 

Offline TomKatt

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Re: Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail?
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2023, 03:31:27 pm »
Quote
Without a post adress, You cannot obtain a passport, drivers license or residence card
but i bet the buggers can find a way to tax you
I thought the question was regarding a post address at your physical residence...   I do not, but the combination of a box receptacle at the Post Office itself and my physical address are sufficient for any legal requirement.   Occasionally I need a utility bill to prove the physical address.
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