What To Do about Mail Forwarding?

You could try opening a private mailbox with Mail Boxes Etc. They have a location on St Croix. Perhaps they are more flexible than the USPS.

Jim

Jim,

Mailboxes Etc. is the answer!! Thank you so very much for letting me know there is one on STX.

I just talked to a wonderfully helpful gentleman named Eddie at the STX/Sunny Isle Mailboxes Etc. You were correct -- MBE can set up a delivery address for you without having to be there in person. Eddie will email or fax you the forms you need -- all you need to do is fill them in and send them back with two valid pieces of ID (one must be a photo ID). The IDs can be from your current place of residence. If you fax these forms and copies of your ID back to Eddie, then call and give him a credit card number for the payment, he can issue you the mailing address right away, while the original forms are in transit via snail mail.

The cost for a small box is $12/month -- a medium is $18/mo and a large is $24/mo. MBE offers discounts for signing up for longer periods of time (e.g. pay for 6 months but get 7 months service, or pay for 12 months but get 15 months of service). There is a one time set-up charge of $10. The cost includes 24 hour secure access to your box, phone notification of any express or certified mail that is delivered for you (they call you the day it comes in and let you know it is waiting), and you can call them up to see if there is mail in your box before making the trip over to the store.

But the biggest advantage MBE has over the post office is that you can receive packages and other shipments from vendors who will not ship toa PO box because your mailing address is an actual street address instead of a PO box number. MBE accepts all size packages, regardless of what size mail box you purchase. They leave a delivery slip in your box to notify you there is a package waiting, and you can pick up the package from their counter during business hours.

Eddie even promised me that he would ensure that I got a box that was lower to the ground so I was sure I could reach it from my wheelchair. Now that is helpful!

I just managed to get a permanent STX mailing address set up for myself and my husband in less than an hour and with only a call and a fax to a really friendly and helpful guy. Now we can send in our change of address forms more than two weeks before we move, which should significantly reduce the delay in getting our mail forwarded to us after we move out of our condo.

If anyone else is interested in using Mailboxes Etc. on STX, call (340) 719-5131 and ask for Eddie. They have a customer referral incentive program, so if you do end up using their services, please tell them Penny (the woman who uses the wheelchair) sent you. *grin*

Thank you again, Jim, for suggesting that I check into this. Being able to know my mailing address before I move is well worth any cost differential between my MBE mail box and what the USPS would charge me.