Forgive me if this has been discussed before, but I searched both the archives and the message boards and couldn’t find it.
I recall reading that the Post Office was going to require people and businesses that use PO boxes to stop calling them “Suites.” Obviously, it makes the person/business sound much more impressive.
I do not wish to debate the merits of such a move. I simply want to know if this regulation is indeed in effect. I currently work for an organization which uses a PO box and calls it a “suite,” and I want to know if we’re gonna get into any trouble.
Is this a real PO Box, at a US Post Office, or is it at a Mail Boxes Etc or something? IIRC, there was a law passed awhile back that restricted the use of the word “suite” in MBE addresses.
If it’s a genuine PO Box, the I’d ask the postal employee behind the counter. Politely. Very politely.
According to the folks who play host to my private mailbox, only real suites – as in suites of offices – can be called “suite” in addresses now. USPS boxes are now officially P.O. Boxes, and all other boxes are PMBs (for "private mailbox, I assume).
I don’t know if you’d get in any trouble calling your box a suite, but I was told that you did run the risk of having your mail rejected. Definitely check with the people who own the box.
I used to work for a newspaper company, and we were very interested in all the valid addresses in our subscription area. We paid a large amount of money for a database of valid addresses, and kept it current with monthly updates.
I don’t know if any of your business partners go to this extent, but if so, they might realize that your address doesn’t seem right. (We gave our sales force a list of questionable addresses to investigate.)
How embarrassing would it be to be caught? How many times do you think you would be caught? My suspicion is that this risk is pretty small.
I agree with black455; your biggest risk is losing mail.
I have a PO box at an actual post office here in Canada.
When I signed up for it, I wanted to give out the address with the word suite, but the people at the post office specifically told me that I could not do it.
I COULD do it at one of those independant mail box places, such as mail boxes etc. However, I decided against using that for 3 reasons.
It was more expensive
I would be screwed if the place went out of business
It would likely take an extra day to get my mail, since the Post office boxes are right there.
When I first started giving out the address, I was supposed to give it out like
wooba
PO Box 123
City, Province
Postal Code
But instead, I found out the actual address of the post office and gave it out as the format
9898 Some Street #123
City, Province
Postal Code
Although recommended not to do it by the post office, I never had any problems receiving mail there.
EXCEPT, people would frequently send stuff by courier… and what a pain in the arse that is!
It totally wasn’t worth the hassle, so now I give out the address is the format I’m supposed to.
If you wish to use suite and have stuff courier, then somewhere like mail boxes etc is your best bet…