[Prevent mail theft; sign for USPS Informed Delivery]

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
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catdude
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[Prevent mail theft; sign for USPS Informed Delivery]

Post by catdude »

[Title was "Postal Service -- "informed delivery", see update on Page 3. --admin LadyGeek]

Hi Bogleheads -

Just mentioning this FWIW... The U.S. Postal Service has a new service that I'm finding to be quite handy. A few months ago I signed up for "informed delivery". (I think it's still in beta test mode). Each morning I get an email showing me scanned images of my snail mail to be delivered that day. When I don't get an email, I know that I can skip my trip to the mailbox that day. (I'm lazy that way). If your USPS email indicates that you're getting an account statement from your credit card company, and that piece of snail mail doesn't show up in your mailbox, you'll know that someone has stolen your mail, and you can take immediate action. Like I said, pretty handy.

You can sign up for the service here:

https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/p ... learnmore/
Last edited by catdude on Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
catdude | | All generalizations are false, including this one.
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batpot
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by batpot »

I pay for a mailbox that can accept packages from every carrier (i.e. USPS, as well as UPS, Fedex and others), and they send me an email for each package they receive.
SVT
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by SVT »

Yeah I just found out about this about a week or so ago. I signed up and find it pretty useful. Just get an email each morning with a picture of the front of my mail so I can see what's being delivered that day.
abner kravitz
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by abner kravitz »

What'll they think of next!. I just signed up, as my mailbox is about 500 yards from my house and this will be helpful since we have a lot of late afternoon thunderstorms here - I can skip the trip if nothing is coming. Thanks for the tip.
123
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by 123 »

I've noticed these advance mail delivery notifications at various times over the past few months on my usps.com account. I think they're useful. The one thing that would help would be an image of the package label instead of just the bar code and scanning history. On a package an image of the mailing label could give you some clue about what's inside and possibly it's likely size. With just a source post office and bar code scanning history you don't know if the package weighs 1 pound (or less) or 70 pounds. Granted that most packages are going to be things I've ordered but there are some that are surprises. On the surprises I don't know whether it's an easy carry home from the local PO or whether I'd be better off with the car or requesting re-delivery.
The closest helping hand is at the end of your own arm.
runner3081
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by runner3081 »

It is so great to have scans of the ads that come to the mailbox everyday :)

We don't get many items in the mail that are not packages.
hicabob
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by hicabob »

catdude wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:32 pm and that piece of snail mail doesn't show up in your mailbox, you'll know that someone has stolen your mail, and you can take immediate action.
Mail theft seems to have exploded around these parts over the last few years with many community locking boxes pried open and mail removed. I suppose it's a side effect of the Amazon economy but a most unpleasant one.
TravelGeek
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TravelGeek »

Wow, thanks OP! This will reduce my trips to the mailbox, some 1000 ft away from my couch, and thus reduce the chances of hitting my daily goal of 10k steps :twisted:

No seriously, I like it. Just signed up!
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mhc
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by mhc »

Thanks. I just signed up. It will be interesting to see how well it works.
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Iliketoridemybike
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Iliketoridemybike »

Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
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8foot7
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by 8foot7 »

Love this service. +1,000
TravelGeek
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TravelGeek »

Iliketoridemybike wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:51 pm Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
Most is junk, but that's what makes this service even more useful, because now (assuming it proves to be reliable) I won't go to the mailbox if there's nothing of value in the email. (our mailbox is in one of those mailbox clusters that cover the entire neighborhood, and a key is needed to access it)
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heartwood
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by heartwood »

runner3081 wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:24 pm It is so great to have scans of the ads that come to the mailbox everyday :)

We don't get many items in the mail that are not packages.
Thanks for the information,

I just signed up and see ...

4 pieces of junk mail.
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mhc
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by mhc »

Iliketoridemybike wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:51 pm Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
I still get birthday cards, Christmas cards, and personal letters in the mail. Not everyone in the world has access to electronics.

Unfortunately, the IRS likes to send letters that cannot be ignored.
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runner3081
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by runner3081 »

Iliketoridemybike wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:51 pm Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
Less than 1% of the mail we receive is opened and not tossed in recycling immediately.
TravelGeek
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TravelGeek »

heartwood wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:16 pm
I just signed up and see ...

4 pieces of junk mail.
Did you literally just sign up and immediately see today's mail? The website shows me for today and the past few days "There are no reported deliveries for this day." even though I know I picked up some letters from the box yesterday. My assumption is that they scan whether you sign up or not.
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verbose
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by verbose »

I have this because my mail is a quarter mile away in a community mailroom.

The service doesn't tell you about periodicals and bulk mail. If you have a small mailbox (I do), then it can still be full. If the mail carrier can't fit more mail in, your mail can be held at the post office.

In addition, I've received two pieces of mail that were not included in the emails, but should have been. One was a priority mail envelope containing my new passport and the other, about a week later, was a first-class mail envelope containing my expired passport. I don't know if mail from the Feds enters the system downstream somewhere??
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verbose
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by verbose »

I went to their site and answered my own question about why the two passport mailings didn't show up. The only mail that is included in the service (at this time) is letter-sized mail that passed through the automation equipment. Envelopes containing passport books would not go through the automation equipment due to bulky contents. Large flat envelopes are also not included in the emails.

So, while Informed Delivery can positively tell you some of what will be in your mail, it cannot positively tell you what will not be in your mail.
mouses
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by mouses »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:27 pmThe website shows me for today and the past few days "There are no reported deliveries for this day." even though I know I picked up some letters from the box yesterday. My assumption is that they scan whether you sign up or not.
Yes. They scan to give the information to the government, no joke:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/mo ... -mail.html

So I guess the Post Office decided to pass this info along to customers, since that just probably involves some automatic emailing.

I also find it useful in terms of do I want to walk out to the mailbox or not. They do say they don't send images of everything, I forget what's missing. They skipped a postcard once. so if you're a crook perhaps you should send coded messages on postcards :-) or maybe that was a random scanning mistake.
Atilla
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Atilla »

Pervasive government surveillance turned into a consumer benefit!
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neurosphere
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by neurosphere »

This is also an advertising feature. Mailers have the option to include images representing the mailing in the email. Imagine a postcard advertising a new restaurant. A "representative" photo of the postcard comes via email (for your eyeballs) and and then the actual mailer comes (for your finger and your eyeballs and your recycle bin). :D

This presentation explains how it works:

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/infor ... erview.pdf
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catdude
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by catdude »

Atilla wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:58 pm Pervasive government surveillance turned into a consumer benefit!
Hi, OP here. I read somewhere that the USPS has actually been doing this kind of mail scanning since the 1990's. It's only recently that they developed this informed delivery service....
catdude | | All generalizations are false, including this one.
Ron
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Ron »

Iliketoridemybike wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:51 pm Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
I still receive all household bills in the mail. Since I either charge them to my credit card or do a direct debit to my checking, my wife has no knowledge of how the bills get paid (or even what they normally are). I've always paid the household expenses from the day we were married - some 48 years ago. The bills are all marked "auto-pay - no remittance due" and I have it noted on our budget spreadsheet which CC or checking account they are paid from.

If I drop dead, at least my wife would receive the bills and can take action to have them put in her name, along with having my CC's/checking transferred to her. If I only got notice via email (she never reads mine), she would not be able to easily transfer all the bills/payments.

- Ron
TravelGeek
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TravelGeek »

Ron wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:14 pm If I drop dead, at least my wife would receive the bills and can take action to have them put in her name, along with having my CC's/checking transferred to her. If I only got notice via email (she never reads mine), she would not be able to easily transfer all the bills/payments.

- Ron
It's a good point that triggered a to-do list item for me :sharebeer

But I think I don't need to get every bill every month via USPS to make sure my wife has the relevant information. She has access to my password vault and I'll record somewhere (death book?) what autopayments come from what account and what the account numbers etc are.
Iliketoridemybike
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Iliketoridemybike »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:16 pm
Ron wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:14 pm If I drop dead, at least my wife would receive the bills and can take action to have them put in her name, along with having my CC's/checking transferred to her. If I only got notice via email (she never reads mine), she would not be able to easily transfer all the bills/payments.

- Ron
It's a good point that triggered a to-do list item for me :sharebeer

But I think I don't need to get every bill every month via USPS to make sure my wife has the relevant information. She has access to my password vault and I'll record somewhere (death book?) what autopayments come from what account and what the account numbers etc are.
I just created a document with all the accounts, sign in, etc.
littlebird
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by littlebird »

Thanx for the info. I was able to sign my P.O. Box up. I usually only go to get my mail there 1x a week, but this way I won't even have to go if there's nothing that needs attention. I get all my bills and financial mail there. I will give my daughter my password for this for when she might need to see what has to be taken care of. Looks like this might be a great tool for disability planning, which is about the only kind of planning I have left to do. :annoyed
BanditKing
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by BanditKing »

Crazy website. I went to sign up and create an account. It says I already have an account.

OK, great. Please send me my username.

Can't do that, you have to create a new account. Ok fine.

Sorry, can't create a new account, you already have one.

*facepalm* :oops:
TravelGeek
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TravelGeek »

BanditKing wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:01 pm Crazy website. I went to sign up and create an account. It says I already have an account.

OK, great. Please send me my username.

Can't do that, you have to create a new account. Ok fine.

Sorry, can't create a new account, you already have one.

*facepalm* :oops:
Technical support: https://www.usps.com/help/contact-us.htm
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catdude
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by catdude »

BanditKing wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:01 pm Crazy website. I went to sign up and create an account. It says I already have an account.

OK, great. Please send me my username.

Can't do that, you have to create a new account. Ok fine.

Sorry, can't create a new account, you already have one.

*facepalm* :oops:
Well, this IS the postal service we're talking about here...😎
catdude | | All generalizations are false, including this one.
miamivice
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by miamivice »

I appreciate the information and signed up for the service since it sounded interesting.

With that said, I sincerely do not have the time to compare the letters received each day to the scanned images to make sure nothing is missing....
jef
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by jef »

Thanks for sharing catdude. Just signed up with no issues. My mail box is a mile away at the entrance to my neighborhood
buffalo
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by buffalo »

I've been signed up for a couple weeks and love it. Only issue is that I have a PO Box in addition to a residential mailing address. So far, I haven't been able to figure out how to set up informed delivery for both. I'm only getting scans of mail to my residential address; there doesn't appear to be an option to set it up for the PO Box that's also on my account. Any success from others?
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whodidntante
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by whodidntante »

I've signed up. Thanks.
JBTX
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by JBTX »

verbose wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:28 pm I have this because my mail is a quarter mile away in a community mailroom.

The service doesn't tell you about periodicals and bulk mail. If you have a small mailbox (I do), then it can still be full. If the mail carrier can't fit more mail in, your mail can be held at the post office.

In addition, I've received two pieces of mail that were not included in the emails, but should have been. One was a priority mail envelope containing my new passport and the other, about a whttp://www.ecocycle.org/junkmaileek later, was a first-class mail envelope containing my expired passport. I don't know if mail from the Feds enters the system downstream somewhere??
You may want to try some of these to reduce clutter.

http://www.directmail.com/mail_preference/

https://catalogchoice.org

https://dmachoice.thedma.org


http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Doom&Gloom »

I just signed up, thanks to this thread, but the "plus 4" digits of my zip code are different from what I've always had. I tried to change it or omit it, but the USPS site was having none of that. I can't wait to see if this thing works. Or to see if my "plus 4" digits have actually been altered.
littlebird
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by littlebird »

buffalo wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:23 pm I've been signed up for a couple weeks and love it. Only issue is that I have a PO Box in addition to a residential mailing address. So far, I haven't been able to figure out how to set up informed delivery for both. I'm only getting scans of mail to my residential address; there doesn't appear to be an option to set it up for the PO Box that's also on my account. Any success from others?
I just set one up for my p.o. box tonite. I used the same e-mail address, but it forced me to have a different password than I have for my regular USPS account.
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digarei
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by digarei »

I am amazed at the number of Bogleheads posting to this thread who would think of this as a beneficial service.

Please read the documentation carefully. In my mind, the primary benefit is to the mailer not the mail recipient. There is a plethora of reasons why a mailer would want this. We (the mail recipients) are not USPS clients — we're just consumers.
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mouses
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by mouses »

BanditKing wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:01 pm Crazy website. I went to sign up and create an account. It says I already have an account.

OK, great. Please send me my username.

Can't do that, you have to create a new account. Ok fine.

Sorry, can't create a new account, you already have one.

*facepalm* :oops:
I wrestled with this. The only way I found to get around it was to create an account with a different email address.

I have found no way around the following, however. If you sign up for notices of packages arriving, it will send the notices to the email address in the old account, and there's no way you can change that. It looks for the first account it finds with a matching address, is my guess.

Forget trying to fix it with technical support, even if you want to wait through the forty minute hold times. Forget writing to the Ombudsman, who refers you to technical support. Forget writing to the Postmaster General, whose office apparently sent the letter to a local customer support person who suggested I contact technical support.

This is the first time my writing to a CEO equivalent did not fix a problem of similar stupidity.

I have been a long time supporter of the Post Office, but I am beginning to think the technical and administrative side is staffed by morons.
miamivice
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by miamivice »

I'm still chuckling at the notion that using the service to compare the mail that I did receive versus the mail I should have received on a daily basis is a good use of my time.
IMO
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by IMO »

digarei wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 12:54 am I am amazed at the number of Bogleheads posting to this thread who would think of this as a beneficial service.

Please read the documentation carefully. In my mind, the primary benefit is to the mailer not the mail recipient. There is a plethora of reasons why a mailer would want this. We (the mail recipients) are not USPS clients — we're just consumers.
I don't understand why one wouldn't want the ability to verify that some piece of mail is potentially important should actually be in your post office box? Mail theft is an ever growing issue being the primary concern. Even if you go all electronic on accounts, etc, important things still are mailed. Just today I was wondering if a check someone sent me had arrived or not, the sooner both parties know if a check wasn't received, the quicker that could be remedied. Not to mention mail is often put into someone else's box due to postal service mistake.

Others seem to want the convenience to know if they need to walk out to the post office, or drive to check their PO Box.

Sounds like system isn't perfect concerning various types of mail/multiple mailboxes, etc. , but it's a positive start. Hopefully it will be further improved in the near future.

Having an elderly parent with vision loss, this can also help with remote (another state) mail management assistance to check if something looks important vs. having to have someone with reduced vision having to shift through the hundreds of donation requests yearly.
vtMaps
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by vtMaps »

IMO wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:59 amNot to mention mail is often put into someone else's box due to postal service mistake.
+1. This happens to us every week. Really makes me want to go paperless... but that won't happen... must keep paper statements so DW can manage our affairs when I am dead or unable.

--vtMaps
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heartwood
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by heartwood »

TravelGeek wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:27 pm
heartwood wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:16 pm
I just signed up and see ...

4 pieces of junk mail.
Did you literally just sign up and immediately see today's mail? The website shows me for today and the past few days "There are no reported deliveries for this day." even though I know I picked up some letters from the box yesterday. My assumption is that they scan whether you sign up or not.
I signed up two location addresses using two different emails. I was able to see the reports for both online (not by the daily email they talk about). One had the 4 pieces of junk mail, three of which I could see are addressed to "our neighbor" or other generic name, one with my name but still junk. The other address showed no mail for that location.
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Sheepdog
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Sheepdog »

Ron wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:14 pm
Iliketoridemybike wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:51 pm Do folks still get things of value in the mail? I switched everything to paperless billing. I occasionally get replacement credit or debit cards in the mail, but everything else is junk.
I still receive all household bills in the mail. Since I either charge them to my credit card or do a direct debit to my checking, my wife has no knowledge of how the bills get paid (or even what they normally are). I've always paid the household expenses from the day we were married - some 48 years ago. The bills are all marked "auto-pay - no remittance due" and I have it noted on our budget spreadsheet which CC or checking account they are paid from.

If I drop dead, at least my wife would receive the bills and can take action to have them put in her name, along with having my CC's/checking transferred to her. If I only got notice via email (she never reads mine), she would not be able to easily transfer all the bills/payments.

- Ron
Same here. This is important to my wife.
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered you will never grow. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
SeekingAPlan
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by SeekingAPlan »

I signed up for this awhile back.

I have been unpleasantly surprised by how often the scanned mail does not show up in my mailbox. Just yesterday there were two scanned items that were not delivered.
Mostly the missing items show up a few days later but some pieces never arrive. As many have noted, most mail is just junk but I am now more determined than ever to go electronic delivery where possible.
docbrown
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by docbrown »

This would have been useful 20 years ago. Today, all of my USPS mail could go straight into the trash and I wouldn't miss anything important.

What we really need is a way to opt out of bulk mail like they have in the Netherlands. We can't have that because it would kill the USPS. The Post Office was meant to provide universal mail service, but as organic mail volume and revenue has fallen off a cliff, the service has been captured by and is now dependent upon marketers.

I protested this once by refusing to remove mail from my mailbox. I was living in a house that received an extraordinary amount of mail in other people's names. After a month of ignoring the mail, an exasperated mailman was pleading with me to pick up my mail. I refused politely. For the next three years he would occasionally complain about not being able to do his job but I just ignored him and his mail. Why does doing your job involve creating work for me -- work that adds no value to my life. I did not consent to spending my valuable time as an involuntary disposer of trash. I ignored the mailbox for three years (I used an alternate address for IRS and other official correspondence, so absolutely nothing delivered to my house was useful). At my new house, I get about one item a week, so I don't have to do this.

They should rename it the United States Trash Delivery Service.
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SmileyFace
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by SmileyFace »

I opt into all paperless services and have been doing so for years. My mail is 99.5% junk - the only important mail I usually get is misdelievered mail for my neighbors which I redeliver promptly. I actually find it very sad that mail service has gotten so bad.
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verbose
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Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by verbose »

Thanks, but I'm not sure any of this will help. My mailbox is so small. The mail that fills it on the day it's delivered is the stack of local flyers. This stack doesn't even have an address on it. I don't think I can opt out of it. I get very little other junk mail due to opting out years ago.

Actually, it's so difficult to fit this mess of flyers into all the tiny mailboxes in our neighborhood mailroom that the mail carrier started leaving a pile of them in a corner. Anyone who actually wanted one could take one and the rest were recycled when the next stack came in. This seemed like a win-win, except for the marketers. The mailroom already has recycle bins in it. If it didn't, some people would just throw all the junk on the floor. So I guess the carrier didn't see the point of stuffing all the mailboxes just to see almost all of that back in the recycle bin the next day. It has to be disheartening.

But, the mail carrier got into a lot of trouble for that from USPS. Now they are shoved into our boxes with the mail we might actually want wrapped inside. The flyers fit like a tube in the box, making it difficult for the carrier to put more mail in if the tube is still in there the next day. I have to be sure to empty the box in case it's the day those were delivered. Some residents have not done that and the mail carrier has stopped their mail due to a full mailbox. Our neighborhood has a terrible relationship with our mail carrier, the local post office and apparently the postal inspector too. They are really tired of hearing us complain about mis-delivered mail, missing mail, opened mail and missing packages. Go figure.

So, I do go to the mailbox nearly every day. I don't want to end up in a tit-for-tat tussle with the mail carrier like some of my neighbors. It's stupid, but...
JBTX wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 11:16 pm
verbose wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:28 pm I have this because my mail is a quarter mile away in a community mailroom.

The service doesn't tell you about periodicals and bulk mail. If you have a small mailbox (I do), then it can still be full. If the mail carrier can't fit more mail in, your mail can be held at the post office.

In addition, I've received two pieces of mail that were not included in the emails, but should have been. One was a priority mail envelope containing my new passport and the other, about a whttp://www.ecocycle.org/junkmaileek later, was a first-class mail envelope containing my expired passport. I don't know if mail from the Feds enters the system downstream somewhere??
You may want to try some of these to reduce clutter.

http://www.directmail.com/mail_preference/

https://catalogchoice.org

https://dmachoice.thedma.org


http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
mancich
Posts: 1219
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2014 2:05 pm

Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by mancich »

Good tip, I signed up too.
TerryDMillerMBA
Posts: 123
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:32 pm

Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by TerryDMillerMBA »

Atilla wrote: Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:58 pm Pervasive government surveillance turned into a consumer benefit!
Similar thinking here, but I worded it a little differently in my mind. For security, they already had been getting the images of the mail for some time now. Why not let you see some of them?
Iliketoridemybike
Posts: 572
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:03 am

Re: Postal Service -- "informed delivery"

Post by Iliketoridemybike »

Where I live the box is a common box for about 3 dozen homes. The entire panel opens to expose all 36 boxes at once. So I don't go to my box for a few days or a week and the junk piles up. The mailman opens the box on a windy day, my personal mail starts blowing around the 'hood. Not something I'd want. So I go to the box everyday, gather my 99.99999% junk, tear it up and recycle.
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