I’ve recently had an assumption challenged, which is usually a good thing.
I’m looking for a little clarification on “Change of Address” services offered by Canada Post, USPS, etc.
Specifically, how do they work?
Is all of your mail redirected at the sorting point, or only mail marked “No longer at this address” after being delivered to your old address?
I had always assumed that it was just so that they would no were to redirect rejected mail; it seems incredible to me that every single piece of mail would be checked against the change-of-address database before being delivered. Nevertheless, I am recently assured that this is so.
Really? If I put in a change of address anything addressed to an old address where I know the new tenants simply discard any mail that’s not for them will really and truly find its way to me?
How exactly does this work? Any Doper posties able to shed some light? Thanks!
Yeah, pretty much. I think some junk mail is excluded, though.
In the USPS, at least, the local post office at your old address keeps a list of addresses which have change-of-address notices on them. When they sort the mail, if a letter shows up for one of those addresses, they look at the name, and if it matches the forward list, they slap a new label on it and throw it in the outgoing pile. Anything without your name goes on to whoever now lives at your old address.
The USPS will do this for you for one year, free of charge.
BTW, you don’t even have to fill out a card anymore. Last time I moved, I did my change-of-address via the USPS website. They sent a confirmation letter to my new address to which I had to reply to confirm that I am real.
My wife worked at CFS (the department that does the forwarding). It is basically as **friedo ** explained. It doesn’t go all the way to your old house in the hopes that the new tenants will be kind enough to return it. The local post office is the one in charge of keeping tabs on who has moved. They set apart all the mail to be forwarded and send it to CFS. Over there, someone (or a machine in many places, now) checks your name and address with the database and prints a label (yellow) with your new address and sends them out again.
Not all mail is “forwardable”. Some mail is discarded but I don’t remember the rules for what is forwarded and what isn’t. I can ask the wife tonight if you are interested.
You can also ask for temporary change of address. You specify when it starts and when it stops (up to 6 months, I believe). Useful for snow birds and other people on the go.
Alas, the whole process is very dependent on the attentiveness of your mail carrier. I know several that just keep delivering to addresses with stop-mails and change-of-addresses. It is not that common, but it is a possibility.
You always do best informing your change of address to whomever mails you (bank, creditors, etc).
You know those plastic cards that hard copy filing systems have (things like medical records) that are place holders when a file is temporarily removed? It’s a bit like that. If you request a redirection, they won’t check every letter in the country to make sure it’s not going to you, but if you narrow it down to your old post office in your old town, then narrow it further to the individual postman who worked that particular beat where your old house was, then you’re getting a more realistic idea of how much mail they need to check. Before going out on his beat, the postman will sort the mail in order of streets and street numbers, and in the pigeon hole for your street (or apartment complex etc) will be a card with those yellow stickers on it. He peels one off, sticks it on your mail, and sends it back to the outbound mail. So it takes longer, but is more reliable than hoping the new tenants give a shit about your mail.
One piece of trickery that Australia Post does (and I would not be surprised if Canada Post, the USPS etc do the same) is that manually redirected mail (done by a new tenant with a ballpoint pen) is not given the same service as mail that uses the formal redirection system (because the post office makes nothing out of the former).
Being in Canada, Larry should note that Canada Post, on the other hand, will charge for the service. I seem to recall that a few years ago when we moved, it was about $30 for six months of the redirect service.
In the US, basically it is letters and magazines that get forwarded, but not advertising. I forget the exact rules, but I do want to mention that I’ve recently seen advertisements that for a certain price ($10/month?) they’ll forward absolutely everything.
Curiously I just set up mail redirection this morning.
In the UK it is about $70 for a year
Unless the system of postal sorting has changed radically in the last 30 years, then mail is roughly sorted until you get to the ‘walk’ level, which is what just one guy delivers.
Which means that the guy who sticks on the redirection label is most likely the same guy that physically delivers the mail - although I believe that it is not unknown for one person to do the final sort and another to deliver.
My post office is pretty good. When someone sent me a package to my old address seven months after I moved, they delivered it my office, even though I had filed a change of address to my new house. Of course, it is a small town and everybody knows everything about everybody.