| General > General Technical Chat |
| Do you have a physical mailbox at your house for receiving mail? |
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| james_s:
--- Quote from: Ed.Kloonk 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. --- End quote --- Here only USPS can deliver to PO boxes, even curbside mailboxes which by some odd quirk are legally property of the postal service even though they are typically homeowner purchased and installed. UPS, Fedex, etc are legally forbidden to deliver to a PO box or mailbox. |
| SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: james_s on March 07, 2023, 05:59:08 pm --- --- Quote from: Ed.Kloonk 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. --- End quote --- Here only USPS can deliver to PO boxes, even curbside mailboxes which by some odd quirk are legally property of the postal service even though they are typically homeowner purchased and installed. UPS, Fedex, etc are legally forbidden to deliver to a PO box or mailbox. --- End quote --- Yes, it's similar over here. Oddly enough (given the amount of goods we now buy online), there aren't that many services yet, widely available everywhere, to act as more general "PO boxes" where people can have their orders shipped to, for all carriers, and that are secure enough. I think the market is definitely there. What has exploded though are local shops providing this service, but I don't find that very secure. Many even don't ask for an ID when you go get your parcels. |
| CatalinaWOW:
This must be very location specific. I have a box, about 3/4 kilometer (notice the clever use of fraction units in the metric system) down the road on a stand with all the other neighbors boxes. The USPS provides email notification of first class letters upon request. There are a couple of larger lockers adjacent and the postman places larger packages there and leaves the key in our box. If the box doesn't fit the lockers, or if there are more large deliveries than lockers the postman will usually drive to our house and leave the package on the doorstep (along with the days letter mail). All of this service is free. There has been an upturn in mail theft in this area, so ours is a locking type that allows insertion of letters and small packages but requires a key for removal. About two years ago all of the non locking boxes on our stand were pilfered, and whoever it was left a fine clear fingerprint on ours as he/she attempted unsuccessfully to get ours. Once upon a time mail theft was so seriously pursued by the postal police that it was a rare crime. Apparently not so much anymore. I see no benefit to using a PO box. I would have to pay the fees for the PO box, and periodically have to make a 10 km trip to the location for the box. Or use a closer one (about 3 km) that has a very sketchy reputation on social media for reliability. In this country a PO box is not a defense against junk mail. While junk mail will not be forwarded to a PO box, it takes the purveyors of this trash very little time to find out where to find you, as I discovered when using a PO box during a temporary relocation. I am sure this is one of the "benefits" of big data. |
| m k:
Our system is now quite a bit different than it used to be. Actual post offices are gone and agents are now the norm. My case is now better since agent is 24/7 major Shell. They will also collect all leftover packets of their system. Postal services are not 24/7 though, they do few hours of system updates some time after midnight or so. (beer is also not available from 21 to 09, it should go so that what you're carrying when the bell rings is legit but cash registers are what do the real counting) Other systems have packet automates and door to door deliveries, the Post also of course. All this means that giving a phone number to sender is a must. Later you'll get a text with an automat code, or a packet ID if agent has it. I'm not sure but I think the packet card is history, so no phone no delivery. Customs is also texting so real number is better. |
| Red Squirrel:
Yes I have a mailbox on my house, I get a lot of mail, mostly junk but odd more important thing too. At one point our government was trying to end door to door delivery and you'd have to go get your mail at a community mailbox but they backed out of that decision. They were not accounting for elderly or disabled people who may not be able to trek through snow to get to these mailboxes, and theft is also a very bad issue so these would get damaged all the time from people stealing mail etc. |
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