Escapees Mail Service

[accumack]

Has anyone else started having problems with the Escapees Mail service?  

 

We started having problems when Escapees discontinued their push emails confirming they received and will process our web mail forwarding instructions.  When our mail was not received, we called and learned "none of the web email requests from that day were processed" - why not send a broadcast email to all members telling us to check to see if our requests were handled or, if not, resend forwarding instructions; that there was a problem with Internet mail requests of a certain date? 

 

We added $25 to our postage balance but it never posted to our account - had to call and negotiate with Escapees who informed that the Internet transaction number did not match; finally Escapees checked another list where they saw our postage deposit received from our VISA,  Days later Escapees finally posted our deposit to our account.  

 

Now, check your postage history list; you will see that the balance is always rounded, or rounded down to $X.00 (so stealing everything over $.01).  

 

We had a certified letter, that was so correctly and clearly addressed to us with our correct names and address in LARGE type, with a cashiers check for $1,000.  Escapees personnel personally/physically handed our $1,000 cashiers check to another Escapees customer with a totally different mailbox# and name.  And Escapees charged me their regular $.75 for "special handling" for receipt of our certified package with the $1,000 cashiers check).  So I paid $.75 for Escapees to give away my CLEARLY LABELED check package to another person and delay my receipt fo a $1,000 check.  Thankfully the honest person that received our $1,000 cashiers check returned it to Escapees; only after taking our mail home and opening it.  Escapees promised they would expedite sending our returned cashiers check to us, as clearly addressed, at Escapees expense but yesterday we were charged a $6.90 FedEx fee. Today we just found that Escapees deducted $6.90 for a FedEx charge that was not ours.  Was it yours?  Whose account should have been hit for a $6.90 FedEx charge of 4/5/19?  Not mine.

 

We also had a package take three weeks to arrive; Escapees offered no help or assistance in research on where our mail was lost; our mail went from Houston to California; back to Houston then other places until reaching us 3 weeks later; maybe a USPS screw up but I would have hoped that Escapees had some clout with USPS to explore.

 

While Escapees has a great business model, Escapees mail service has a lot of technology and service problems to be trustworthy.  We had no mail problems for the first few years (we joined Escapees in 2012) but it is starting become too much of an issue.  We are spending way too much time watching our mail, watching our postage balance and handling Escapees screwups rather than enjoying our retirement travels.

 

Does anyone know of an alternative to Escapees mail service?

[SWharton]

We have never had any problems with the Mail Service and we have used it for 21 years. Out of curiosity I checked our postage balance and it is $18.60 so I don't know what you are seeing. Never had a lost letter or delivery problem. Mail has always arrived when scheduled except for major weather events. 

As part of their exceptional service, we had a new cell phone delivered to Livingston that had to be activated within 6 days(I don't know why). The phone arrived on Thursday and I wanted it shipped before the weekend so I didn't lose those days. On Thursday afternoon they found my package, packed it and all my mail and sent it out on Friday, due for delivery on Monday. 

Several years ago I had a call from Mail Service that they had received an empty box from Directv. Did I want it shipped? Of course, my answer was no. To this day I have no idea how Directv managed to find my Escapees address as at that time we had an S&B.

I don't know why you are having such problems. Problems with the service are rarely mentioned on the forum. 

[Kirk W]

We have used Escapees mail services since March of 2000 and to date the only time we had any problems it was caused by my mistake in the instructions.

[accumack]

The problem only started  a few months ago. I'm hoping it is an anomaly, But we have had several in a short period. That is why I posted. I'm hoping we just got it all out of the way.

 

[Kirk W]

I just checked and I am still getting an email to confirm the sending of my mail on the date of it leaving the mail service as well as an email to confirm my instructions when they receive them. I sent instructions for our mail on March 4 and got a response on March 5. Then when my mail was sent out to me on March 14 I again got an email that informed me of that. 

[mptjelgin]

We've had the service for about ten years now with none of the issues you describe. I just checked our postage balance and it is $28.85...

[Barbaraok]

First, I send an email to mailservice@escapees.com telling them to forward our mail to whatever address we are using.  We then get an email back stating the day that it will ship, and then an email with the tracking number the day it is shipped.  

I checked our balance, it is $69.97.   We have auto-reload set up, so I don't have to worry.    We have purchased a car this winter and the minute our new licenses plates were delivered to Escapees, they got it in the mail we had scheduled to go out the next day.   Yes, it took 5 days to get it - but not because of Escapees, but because the USPS had it tour the Lancaster, PA sorting facility for 2 days before getting it sent to Arizona.   We've been with them since 2006 and only once did we have a delay in our mail being sent out.      

I don't know why you seem to be having such problems - it is totally out of character for those of us with a long history of satisfied service.

[2gypsies]

By chance, was there an ice storm in the period when you had problems?

About 20 years ago as we hit Beaumont, TX a horrible ice storm was encountered on a Sunday. It was so bad that even the entrances to parking lots from the highway wasn't possible.  So we kept driving the backroads to the SKP park in Livingston.  When we arrived we were greeted with "Are You Nuts"?  The next morning the mail room workers couldn't get into the park so they asked for volunteers to sort the mail.  We volunteered.  It was eye-opening what a process it was and that was before it was automated.

Months later as we were traveling we were talking to a fellow SKP.  He said the SKP mail service lost his tax forms in January.  We had to laugh because that was the time when there were volunteers working the mail room!

Seriously, we never had a problem with the mail service.  Hope it was just a fluke time for you!!

[kb0zke]

Last year we visited Livingston for the first time, and had our mail sent to General Delivery in Livingston. There was an ice storm in Houston, and EVERYTHING stopped. Store shelves were empty, mail didn't get delivered, etc. Our mail arrived at the Livingston PO about 30 minutes after we left Livingston. We told the PO where to send it, and it was waiting for us when we arrived.

While we were in Livingston we toured their mail facility and were impressed. They handle a HUGE amount of mail each day. Since people are involved, there WILL be mistakes made. Given the large number of issues the OP has had, I'd suggest that a phone call to the supervisor may be in order. Better yet, a personal visit.

[LindaH]

We have always received a confirmation email when they receive our request for mail delivery and another email when they ship it out with the tracking number.  I haven't checked our postage balance, but I've never noticed them "rounding" the amount.

The only problems we've ever had with receiving our mail was totally caused by the USPS, not the Escapees.

[Twotoes]

I always get an email confirmation that my mail request was processed and sent out. The only negitive I have is being charged $1.00 for EVERY piece of mail sent to my Escapees So Dakota address that has to be forwarded to Livingston TX. I use Livingston for most of my mail, and have e-bills and online payment for most things, but my insurance still needs to be a SD address and the insurance keeps sending junk mail to the SD address and I am charged by Escapees to forward mail between Escapees addresses. If you are going to offer a SD address I should not be charged to send the mail from SD to TX. 

[SWharton]

Two things you need to do. Call the insurance company and tell them you have a service address(SD) and a mailing address(TX). They should be able to accommodate this. Second, change your level of service to Class B, 1st class and magazines only. That should get rid of the junk.

[Georgianne]

On 4/6/2019 at 4:43 PM, accumack said:

 

We started having problems when Escapees discontinued their push emails confirming they received and will process our web mail forwarding instructions.  

 

We added $25 to our postage balance but it never posted to our account - had to call and negotiate with Escapees who informed that the Internet transaction number did not match; finally Escapees checked another list where they saw our postage deposit received from our VISA,  Days later Escapees finally posted our deposit to our account.  

 

Now, check your postage history list; you will see that the balance is always rounded, or rounded down to $X.00 (so stealing everything over $.01).  

 

We had a certified letter, that was so correctly and clearly addressed to us with our correct names and address in LARGE type, with a cashiers check for $1,000.  Escapees personnel personally/physically handed our $1,000 cashiers check to another Escapees customer with a totally different mailbox# and name.  And Escapees charged me their regular $.75 for "special handling" for receipt of our certified package with the $1,000 cashiers check).  So I paid $.75 for Escapees to give away my CLEARLY LABELED check package to another person and delay my receipt fo a $1,000 check.  Thankfully the honest person that received our $1,000 cashiers check returned it to Escapees; only after taking our mail home and opening it.  Escapees promised they would expedite sending our returned cashiers check to us, as clearly addressed, at Escapees expense but yesterday we were charged a $6.90 FedEx fee. Today we just found that Escapees deducted $6.90 for a FedEx charge that was not ours.  Was it yours?  Whose account should have been hit for a $6.90 FedEx charge of 4/5/19?  Not mine.

 

We also had a package take three weeks to arrive; Escapees offered no help or assistance in research on where our mail was lost; our mail went from Houston to California; back to Houston then other places until reaching us 3 weeks later; maybe a USPS screw up but I would have hoped that Escapees had some clout with USPS to explore.

 

 

4

Good morning Mr. Mack, 

First, sorry for the delayed reply to your concerns. I wanted to check with our member services team to confirm some information before I misspoke or overstepped. And, I am sorry that you feel so frustrated with our mail service. As seen from the replies to your post, the situations you've encountered are not the typical experience of our mail service customers.

We have not discontinued the confirmation emails regarding mailing instructions. Our system isn't fully automated, so the emails you reference are not responded to until we can confirm that we have done, or are doing, what you ask. If you don't get a confirmation response within a reasonable time, it's always a good idea to follow-up. We do our best to be timely and efficient, but mistakes do happen sometimes. Over the winter, we also had several issues with weather knocking out power or internet/phone access at headquarters (the joys of being in a rural location!). Depending on when your issue occurred, it may have been related.

If you'd like to discuss your personal account information with us, feel free to give us a call or email clubbusiness@escapees.com. I won't discuss your personal details here, but I can confirm that we do not round balances, either deposits or payments.

Now the unfortunate situation with the letter. Yes, we did make a mistake and gave that piece of mail to the wrong person. For that, I and our mail service staff are deeply sorry. There was also miscommunication in expediting it to you- though it should have been at no cost to you, our team mistakenly charged your account. That charge is being reversed and credited back to your account. I am very sorry for the trouble and stress our mistake caused you.

Regarding the three week delivery, unfortunately, we don't have much pull once mail leaves our facility in the possession of USPS. Believe me, we wish we did! We can assist with preliminary research but don't have the power to alter delivery instructions or routes.

I hope this helps clear up some of your concerns. I'm happy to help further if I can or put you in touch with someone on our member services team.

[rynosback]

No problems on my end.

postage shows $33.26

 

I do not like the new way of ordering mail.  This was the first time I have done it online and probably the last.

[Fhkw9DPJ8V1g]

Just checked our postage balance and it is $35.00. It is always $xx.00 and gets rounded off regardless of what the postage paid is. If postage is below $xx.50 it gets rounded in my favor and if postage is $xx.51 it gets rounded up in Escapees favor. I never bothered to check before because we only get mail every 6 weeks or so but I have to ask why a business would use an accounting system like that. I would certainly prefer to NOT have my balance rounded since it usually is in Escapees favor.

I'm also wondering why some people have postage that seems to be exact, like rynosback and then some that don't. Mine comes out to $xx.00 as far back as my history will allow me to see, every time.

Now I will say that in our 4 years of using the service we have only had one occasion where something was delivered to someone else. It was of course at the worst possible time when we were expecting something important but it got sorted out.

[SWharton]

I hope Escapees find out why a few people have their postage rounded to .00. Seems strange that it is affecting a limited few, most seem to have the postage amount correct of those who have responded.

[Barbaraok]

1 hour ago, DonCoyote said:

Just checked our postage balance and it is $35.00. It is always $xx.00 and gets rounded off regardless of what the postage paid is. If postage is below $xx.50 it gets rounded in my favor and if postage is $xx.51 it gets rounded up in Escapees favor. I never bothered to check before because we only get mail every 6 weeks or so but I have to ask why a business would use an accounting system like that. I would certainly prefer to NOT have my balance rounded since it usually is in Escapees favor.

I'm also wondering why some people have postage that seems to be exact, like rynosback and then some that don't. Mine comes out to $xx.00 as far back as my history will allow me to see, every time.

Now I will say that in our 4 years of using the service we have only had one occasion where something was delivered to someone else. It was of course at the worst possible time when we were expecting something important but it got sorted out.

That is simply a website show or the balance to the nearest  whole dollar, not your actual balance and when it hits $25, you are sent a notice that it is time to add more funds to your account.   If you look at your email when something is sent it gives you the total amount of postage required for that shipment.AND  your current balance to the penny.  

When I  access the MMS Dashboard it gives my balance to the penny, which currently is $69.97 and if I click on the View Payment history It gives each transaction and the balance to the nearest dollar, in this case $70.00.    I believe that you are mixing apples and oranges in not understanding how the programmer set up that page.  

 

[Barbaraok]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

I hope Escapees find out why a few people have their postage rounded to .00. Seems strange that it is affecting a limited few, most seem to have the postage amount correct of those who have responded.

It isn’t, it is the web page design.  Your balance is shown to the penny as I explained above.  Might just be different ways different browsers are interpreting instructions.

[ms60ocb]

I have no problems with the Escapees Mail Service. BUTTTT...... the USPostalSerivce. I had used First Class Mail 5-6 years ago but mail arrived sometimes in 16 days so I have been using Priority Mail since. Now 2 Day Priority mail arrives most of the time in 2 days. This last December was the worse series of problems. A couple problems with recorded by Priority Mail

Mail set 3 days in Houston.

Mail was posted at local Postal Office and several hours later posted at another Post Office, 3 days delay.

Clay

[accumack]

11 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

It isn’t, it is the web page design.  Your balance is shown to the penny as I explained above.  Might just be different ways different browsers are interpreting instructions.

If it is not correct why bother having it. It is stupid that you have go back through the postage emails as it should not be that hard to have it define to 2 decimal places instead of rounding also this does not address the problem of  charges and balances being out of order. As I said before this is requiring way too much of my time to find errors in charges. The issue  exists on all browsers that I have tried.

 

[SWharton]

When I get an email that a package has been shipped the email tells me what is left in my postage balance to the penny. If I log on to my account the amount left is clearly stated to the penny on the mail service screen. If the amount goes to low, Escapees charges me and adds more.

I don't understand what the problem is that someone of us are concerned about. You are clearly informed as to what your balance is, if you need to add money and it is not automatic you have the opportunity at that time.

[Barbaraok]

32 minutes ago, accumack said:

If it is not correct why bother having it. It is stupid that you have go back through the postage emails as it should not be that hard to have it define to 2 decimal places instead of rounding also this does not address the problem of  charges and balances being out of order. As I said before this is requiring way too much of my time to find errors in charges. The issue  exists on all browsers that I have tried.

 

So it has been explained to you that you can, at any time see your EXACT balance, and you still claim you can't.   No need to go back through emails.     Unless you are using some browser that doesn't let you access the MMS dashboard, I fail to see what the problem is. 

[2gypsies]

As I recall, the balance is also printed on the mailing label unless this has changed.

[Fhkw9DPJ8V1g]

16 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

When I  access the MMS Dashboard it gives my balance to the penny, which currently is $69.97

 

3 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

So it has been explained to you that you can, at any time see your EXACT balance, and you still claim you can't.

When I access my MMS Dashboard it tells me that my balance is $35.00. It appears to be rounded. I am another that does not see an exact balance. This is from the MMS Dashboard.

 

 

[accumack]

It appears most people have no problems.But being told It was explained shows you don't understand that there is a problem. MMS dash board shows rounded also the order of charges is incorrect. It is not a browser problem!

6 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

So it has been explained to you that you can, at any time see your EXACT balance, and you still claim you can't.   No need to go back through emails.     Unless you are using some browser that doesn't let you access the MMS dashboard, I fail to see what the problem is.