The Post Office is looking for me

P

pwdeb

New member
We get our mail at a P.O. Box. This sometimes causes problems with contest entries that say "No P.O. Boxes." I usually fill in the Apt./Suite space with our number and leave off the phrase P.O. Box. Postmaster says she can't (by law) deliver anything with a street address BUT as long as my box number shows up somewhere in the address, then she can deliver it.

For the first time in all her years working for the Post Office, she had an email Saturday morning from Harrisburg (the distribution center) asking for verification of an address -- mine -- so she gave them my P.O. Box number. Then on Tuesday she had a phone call again asking for verification of my address. She says it is obvious that the PO is trying to get something to me and that if it made it as far as Harrisburg, they are not going to return it to the sender.

I am beside myself trying to figure out what could be coming and all I can think is that it has to be a prize. I had two packages that I ordered arrive this week and the addresses on both of those packages was perfectly fine, so there is no way that the PO was questioning those items. What can it be? What can it be?
 
:headbang: Hope you get the package. Just wondering if you could use the Post Office address with your box number after it.
 
This is all because of people who were greedy and cheated by entering sweeps/rebates with multiple PO boxes, so instead of accomodating the small number of people who prefer to use a PO box, or those that have to because of where they live, they just refuse to allow them. :nono:

That said, if it was from a sweeps that had that stipulation in the rules, I'll be surprised if they send it to you.

Keep us updated pwdeb :sunny:
 
Does your post office do home delivery? (One little town I lived in didn't and everyone HAD to go to the post office). If they do, couldn't they deliver that which comes to you with you PO Box number on it to your box and what comes with your street address to your home? When we moved here we opened a PO Box and most of our mail went there. Over time as I entered more and more sweep using my street address I got more and more mail delivered to the house so I closed the PO Box. good luck!
 
No, our Post Office doesn't do home delivery, strictly boxes. Home delivery is available but we have to list our town as one that is 12 miles away instead of the town we actually live in. Try explaining that to people! Sad thing is that if people look us up in the phone book, they get the street address with the name of that other town and then they send mail there (for example, Christmas cards). That Post Office says, "Hey, they don't have a street mailbox so we can't deliver to them," and either sends it back (nice) or trashes it (not nice). Our substitute postmistress has subbed in that office and says she is shocked at the way mail is handled there, but they are doing it "by the book" so there is nothing she can do. They will not even correct the address and send it on up to our town. We didn't get a street box when we moved here 22 years ago simply to avoid confusing people about where we live. Then we realized that we would probably be replacing a street box every few months as the kids tend to vandalize them, so decided to stick with the P.O. Box. And I feel safer with my mail locked up in my box at the Post Office than with it sitting out on the street for any goofball to take.
 
I also have a major gripe with contests that do not accept po boxes. That is fine if they want to send everything UPS or fedex, but when they don't accept po boxes and mail the prizes through the mail, it causes problems for those of us that do not have a choice but to use the post office (undelivered prizes). I was going through the rules for each contest to see if po boxes were allowed but have now started putting my street address on the first line and my box number on the second line/apt number as #444. My thinking is if the post office receives most of my mail addressed this way, it will become normal for them and I will have less chance of something being returned as undeliverable.

I do not think not accepting po boxes is the best way to avoid fraud. I believe that they could match name, birthday, and zip code to make sure someone isn't entering multiple times, just wouldn't help for ones that limit to one per household.
 
My sister sweeps and she has a PO box because she lives in a rural area and has no choice. She uses 5 (her box number) Main Street ( the street the post office is on) and she has no problems getting her wins.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top