Last week, Traveling Mailbox – a private mailbox and mail scanner service – saved Vanholio $170 by going above and beyond in customer service.
Their support guys sent me an email double checking that I really, really wanted to ship my package 2nd Day for mega-dollars. They held it up until I got back with them. And no, I sure as hell didn't want to pay $170 in shipping.
$170 Shipping? The Fuck?
Traveling Mailbox will accept packages on your behalf, besides just letters. They'll reship to you anywhere.
Now, normally I avoid doing this because paying to ship a package twice – once to them and once to me – is a waste of fucking money.
But I found myself recently in a trifecta of considerations:
- My purchase was back-ordered.
- The merchant couldn't say which carrier they'd ship by. (They switch up based on daily shipping prices.)
- My travel plans were in flux, so I couldn't predict a good receiving address on the road.
Sometimes you just gotta take it up the ass. Settled on the double shipping.
The package got into Traveling Mailbox last week. I knew I was going to be in Prescott last weekend. So I requested that 2nd Day forward to The UPS Store in Prescott. But damn, I didn't know it'd be $170 fucking dollars!
Kudos to Traveling Mailbox for the heads up. I have now redone my forwarding request for UPS ground shipping. Much more reasonable at $35!
Trustworthy With Big Checks, Too
Traveling Mailbox also done right by me with their check deposit service. If you get a check in the mail, they'll deposit it straight to your bank. Saves time over forwarding.
Last year, I got HUGE check in from a van I sold through a dealer on consignment. Gotta say: I was a bit worried having elves somewhere handle that one for me.
They deposited the check like they said. The money got into my account lickety-split. I've since trusted them with a few other checks. No issues.
Traveling Mailbox Perfect for Van Lifers
For $15 a month, you get a street address and mail scanning service. They'll scan your mail into PDFs so you can read them online. For small extra fees, they'll forward your mail and packages, and deposit your checks, plus other ad hoc services.
Vanholio ain't Consumer fucking Reports. I can't can't say Traveling Mailbox is the best in the business or anything.
I like their services, online tools, and quick support team; their prices are competitive; and they've always kept me happy. Check 'em out.
Also See ...
- How It Works (Traveling Mailbox)
- BBB Business Review: Traveling Mailbox, LLC (Better Business Bureau)
- Complaint Review: Traveling Mailbox LLC (Ripoff Report)
Disclaimer: Yes, if you click thru to Traveling Mailbox and sign up, I'll get a little affiliate commission. But everything I wrote above happened just like I said. I've been using the service more than a year and am happy with the company.
Hmmmmm... I've been unhappy with my mail forwarders, so this might be a solution.
ReplyDeleteCool! Hope it's what you're looking for.
DeleteAbout traveling mailbox-I would like to also use it renew my license and registration. Do you know if NC DMV accepts their addresses? I am going to use the Sanford NC address. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if NC is screening for commercial addresses. The DMV assuredly won't *want* you using a private mailbox address. In Texas, Escapees won a court case for clients to use their private mailbox addresses with Escapees as legal domicile, but that was against the tide. If the NC DMV database don't pick up that TM address is a commercial address, you'll get away with it. I'd say give it a try in enough time to work a Plan B if you have to.
DeleteA safe strategy to buy you time could always be to renew at your current address while making sure you've got USPS mail forwarding to the TM address. Call that Plan B.
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