Mail not forwarded

[blrdck]

We spent a month last winter in Florida. We had the USPS forward our mail to our address at the RV park. Even though we completed the forwarding request well in advance and had confirmation of our forwarding request being received, it was almost two weeks before we received any mail in Florida. Then upon returning home we learned that they did not forward any financial Mail, such as 1099s, or mail from medical facilities. In fussing at my local postmaster, he had no explanation as to why this happened other than they will not forward something that is marked "Do not forward". I get that. They send such Mail back. I showed him that that there was no such marking on any of the envelopes. He had no explanation. Has anybody run into this? Im in a quandary as to what to do this winter season.

[roadrunner7410]

A friend of ours that has a home in Florida ran into a similar problem last winter. In talking with our local post office staff, they suggested that the most reliable way to get our mail when we head for Texas is to have family get the mail and forward the important stuff to us. For several years we have had a family member retrieve the mail and send the "good" stuff to us by Priorty Mail. Not sure if that will work for you but might be worth thinking about.

 

Dave

[pjstough]

How did you eventually get the mail that was not forwarded?

[mkc]

We spent a month last winter in Florida. We had the USPS forward our mail to our address at the RV park. Even though we completed the forwarding request well in advance and had confirmation of our forwarding request being received, it was almost two weeks before we received any mail in Florida. Then upon returning home we learned that they did not forward any financial Mail, such as 1099s, or mail from medical facilities.

 

If you're only gone a month, you might be better off having the mail held for you rather than forwarded. That way you also don't risk mail arriving after you've already left Florida.

 

Another option might be the USPS's premium forwarding service, which is supposed to forward ALL your mail (including junk mail) once a week via Priority Mail. The downside of this is there is an initial fee, plus a weekly fee.

 

That said, I know from our financial institutions, statements and 1099's will not be forwarded via traditional mail forwarding. The latter looks like a change of address (albeit temporary) to the USPS system so this is likely due to security/identity theft concerns.

Edited November 15, 2016 by mkc

[AFchap]

We have that problem with our local post office ... medical bills are often not forwarded, but sometimes are, they say because of the "Do Not Forward" thing. A few months ago a personal letter was returned stamped "Vacant ...unable to forward." Excuse for that one was "there was a substitute carrier". When the USPS is handing the mail it is a crapshoot...

[pjstough]

We have that problem with our local post office ... medical bills are often not forwarded, but sometimes are, they say because of the "Do Not Forward" thing. A few months ago a personal letter was returned stamped "Vacant ...unable to forward." Excuse for that one was "there was a substitute carrier". When the USPS is handing the mail it is a crapshoot...

 

 

That is interesting because it is my understanding that mail that is forwarded does not usually get to the local post office, but since about 2005 the USPS instituted the Computerized Forwarding Service which is supposed to intercept mail that is to be forwarded as soon as it is recognized by the computerized sorting system, and directed to the new address at that point, but I have been out of the USPS since 2005, so maybe there have been other changes since then.

[coachmac9]

We tried filling out all the forms but it did little good. We still had part of our mail not forwarded so we did as one of the other posters suggested above...use a family members address and either go by and collect it once a month or pay them to forward anything important. In our case it works great but I am sure that it would not work for many of you.

[motojavaphil]

We winter in AZ and my magazine subscriptions become victims of the forwarding beast. Bulk versus 1st class we were told.

[pjstough]

We winter in AZ and my magazine subscriptions become victims of the forwarding beast. Bulk versus 1st class we were told.

Yes, you definitely need to know what will be forwarded and what will not be before filling out the form, and I believe there are different rules for a temporary forward as opposed to a permanent forward.

[Al F]

We have used the forwarding service for 4 to 8 months every year for the last 5 years and have had good service.

 

We also use the hold mail feature which will hold mail for up to 30 days. We did have a problem once when the regular carrier was on vacation and the substitute did not bother to check for the hold mail notice for that route.

 

Some mail is marked by the sender do not forward, so that gets sent back to the sender.

 

Magazines are only forwarded for 2-3 months and then they are thrown away. Do a change of address for magazines.

 

I was told by our very experienced mail carrier that most if not all forwarded mail is intercepted by the computer sorting machines well before it gets to your local post office. Most likely by the very first sorting center near the senders address.

 

At our sticks and bricks the mail is delivered to a mail box at the house. When we are home I make sure to introduce myself to the mail carrier, learn their name and talk briefly to them every chance we get. I also try to tell them a day or two before we leave we went online and did the forwarding or hold mail thing. That doesn't work so well for neighborhoods with mail boxes for 10-30 houses in one metal thingy.

[Al F]

One additional thing, we very seldom get anything really important by snail mail. Every piece of financial stuff I can, I set up for online operation, including things like 1099's, bank, CC statements, etc

[Pat & Pete]

We're 'online' as much as possible as well . We do use a forwarding service with no complaints . We do have items ( parts pieces or bits of whatever delivered by USPS , so , if at all possible , like Al , I like to talk to the route driver to let them know ...

 

Of course , it's the route subs that screw it up , occasionally .

[lenp]

Long before we started full time we moved from rural delivery to a private mail service (mail box store in town). Primary reason for change was mail theft and mail box vandalism. When we went full time it was a natural fit. The mail service receives our mail and when we land at a place we are going to be staying at long enough I have them send everything via UPS.

 

Sure, it costs me shipping charges but I KNOW I will get ALL my mail. And using UPS I can actually track the delivery and I KNOW when it will arrive. The mail box company would sort first class out if I asked but, hey, I like to get my Escapees magazine. In my opinion, the USPS is a joke - including their tracking system!

 

Lenp

[AFchap]

We winter in AZ and my magazine subscriptions become victims of the forwarding beast. Bulk versus 1st class we were told.

 

My magazine subscriptions are forwarded on a temporary forward. I think they are 2nd or 3rd class?? Only the bulk junk mail is not.

[SWharton]

Be careful with "held" mail. It is another gotcha. We were away 3 weeks and had our mail held. All they held is the first class mail, all the junk mail was still delivered to our mail box. It was stuffed full.

 

When we forward our mail it is mostly medical bills. I don't understand the medical profession. You can pay your bill online but they can't/won't bill you online. That is basically the only mail that ends up being forwarded now.

[Kirk W]

It would seem to make a big difference which postal branch you happen to be using. Our local office is very user friendly but they sometimes have had problems in getting the Dallas sorting center that all of their mail passes through to forward some things as directed. On two different occasions we have had medications that were forwarded to Escapee mail service get hung up with the sorting center claiming "no such address" while moving other mail right on through to our Escapee address as directed. Even the employee in our Lindale branch can't figure out why they seem to pick one and not forward it.

[ms60ocb]

Anything important I will not send by USPS First Class as the so called 10 business days has turned out to be 12 business days for 1100 miles and 17 business days for 400 miles. I use routinely use USPS Priority Mail.

And then there is the absentee Ballot issue from Livingston Zip 77351 to 77399 of still not received after 30 days or is the P.O. to blame???.

Clay

[blrdck]

Someone asked if we eventually got our mail. We don't know for sure if we got it all. I was working at a fundraiser for Rotary two weeks after getting home and my banker knew I was going to be there and brought with him my 1099s, which had been returned to them. My employer called to let me know that he had gotten my W-2 back. A couple of medical bills we found out about when they sent "Second Notices". We have no family in town to pick up our mail so I will probably ask a neighbor to pick it up each day and then every couple of days call us and discuss what has arrived over the phone. We can then decide on what needs to be forwarded. I hate to have to ask him to do that but I don't see a trustworthy alternative. We are not gone long enough or often enough to use a mail service.

[pjstough]

There has to some reasonable explanation of why this mail was not forwarded. If there was no endorsement on the mail that would prevent it from being forwarded, how would the postal service's computers know to return it to the sender?

[blrdck]

I have no explanation, nor did my postmaster. I showed him the envelopes and there was nothing on them about not forwarding.

[Randyretired]

We have had many problems with forwarded mail. Most times we get it but every year there are things we dont get. Sometimes it is returned to the sender. We have learned when we forward mail to put a note across the front of the mailbox, otherwise we will find it full of old mail. When we spoke to the Post Office they just shrugged their shoulders. One time about a month after we returned our mail suddenly stopped. At the Post Office we found the carrier who told us we never turned in a stop. The counter person interrupted and yes they did. The answer to that was "oh". We still forward our mail but we try to change all of the important stuff to online.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Randy retired

[justRich]

Beware the difference between "forwarding" mail and a "temporary change of address" at the post office website.

Forwarding did not work well on our first year of snowbirding.

I switched to temporary-change-of-address for the last few years without problems.

 

That said, the PO will forward ONE issue of a magazine subscription - but only one.

I don't know what happens to subsequent issues.

So, it's best to file a change of address with the magazine if you want to continue getting it.

 

I have to make notes in my calendar as to what I've done, the proper contacts and when to make changes. That includes mail-hold, change-of-address, start and end dates, magazine contacts, etc. etc.

 

 

[SWharton]

The one thing I do like, though it costs $1, is the ability to put the forward in online. I then get emails back confirming everything and I think I even get an email near the end of the forward saying it will be stopping. So much easier than going the the PO and getting a form etc. I also usually do my forward 1-2 weeks before we are leaving to make sure everything is working as anticipated.

Edited November 17, 2016 by SWharton

[Vette Racer]

We had the same problem when trying to forward our mail, only the junk gets forwarded, any credit card renewals, financials, and other important stuff labeled do not forward or address correction required will not be forwarded.

 

Since we live in a rural area and don't have anyone to pick it up my solution was to install the largest lockable mailbox I could find and let them dump it all in there. Since we are usually gone only two or three months this works for us, I have all the important stuff electronic and if something did happen to come that needed our attention, well, too bad, we'll deal with it when we get back.

[Al F]

Beware the difference between "forwarding" mail and a "temporary change of address" at the post office website.

Forwarding did not work well on our first year of snowbirding.

I switched to temporary-change-of-address for the last few years without problems.

 

That said, the PO will forward ONE issue of a magazine subscription - but only one.

I don't know what happens to subsequent issues.

So, it's best to file a change of address with the magazine if you want to continue getting it.

 

I have to make notes in my calendar as to what I've done, the proper contacts and when to make changes. That includes mail-hold, change-of-address, start and end dates, magazine contacts, etc. etc.

 

 

I just went to the USPS.com website and I am not seeing a difference in the "forwarding mail" and the "change of address" sections at USPS. They both take me to same "Change of Address" page.