Hello, I am coming to AC for an extended stay, and am thinking of using a mail forwarding service. They offer a US street address (not a PO Box), and good international shipping rates (including combining packages before forwarding). Some of the services that I like to use require a US street address, so this seems like a reasonable solution.
Just wondering if anyone uses a forwarding service, specifically mailforwarding.com. Impressions?
I read the 'mail delay' topic also, and will be very careful about bills and other mail that is time-sensitive.
i would recommend having someone you know personally send your mail every week, or every other week vs. mail forwarding services. Just my opinion. I had looked into that option, and not gotten good feedback on it.
You may want to consider a Bill Pay arrangement with your bank that can be accessed via the internet. :p
I agree that's the best setup, I use bill pay and electronic statements for everything. That's actually what I meant about being careful, I should have explained.
The thing is, some of the companies I use need a US street address and CC number billed to that address, even if statements and billing are electronic. That's where the mail forwarding service comes in. The service requires a USPS form to verify that I am who I say I am, keeping the whole process safe and secure. And, they forward documents and ship packages through services like DHL and FedEx only, not USPS. More expensive, but I might actually receive the mail. :-)
I hesitate to ask family or friends to be responsible for our mail and packages, I wouldn't want it to turn into a hassle for them.
[And I mis-typed, it is mailforwarding.biz]
Thanks!
I use USABox.com and I have been happy with the service. The only shortcoming is that their preferred shipper is DHL and my first shipment took 6 weeks and was a total nightmare. I have now instructed them to use FedEx and I am now receiving shipments timely.
We also established a stateside phone through FunnelBox...www.funnelcomm.com. Great service! We now have Vonage and no longer use it.
Like you, I did not want to burden family with mail responsibilities.
Good luck and welcome to our beautiful island!
USABox was another that I looked at, thank you for the info about your experience with that service. I'll be sure to stick with FedEx as well, they seem to have good service around the world.
As much as possible, I plan on a combination of Vonage and IM for keeping in touch.
Thank you for the warm welcome, and looking forward to seeing your bookstore!
Call Laura Esquivel at One Bin in Belize City, they offer these services and are also Fed Ex reps in Belize.
www.onebin.com
White water, private message me because you do not have private messaging as one of your options on your posts. Wanted to give you some info on keeping in touch/phone services.
I tried hard to do business with One Bin, but after about 3 weeks I gave up. Their web site was not working correctly (you could not set up an account), emails went unanswered. Did not give me a warm fuzzy at all, would recommend you not waste the time I did.
CINDYB, DO YOU HAVE VONAGE SERVICE IN SAN PEDRO ? IF SO "HOW" WITHOUT BROADBAND AVALABLE ON THE ISLAND?
We've had DSL broadband service for over a year and a half.
Yes, I am using Vonage in San Pedro.
I am using my DSL line at the bookstore. There is a bit of "delay" over the connection when calling the states, but for the price I don't mind. Other than that seems to be working just fine.
Voice chat is another nice option for keeping in touch, if your friends and family are comfortable with the technology. I'm mucking around with something called Gizmo (my friend's project), and yahoo and google also have applications.
Taking the thread further off course, does Coral Cable offer net service? Or is DSL the only option?
for broadband there is DSL and cable modem. People have said their are no delays/ problems with cable modem and it works better. It is much cheaper too.
Advertised prices for cable are same as BTL.
and the deposit? I believe $1000 bz when I went there for dsl and a long contract vs. no deposit, $75 BZ installation and no contract for cable modem at coral cable.