Mail Forwarding Raising Monthly Rates!

[ductedfan]

I've only had the FMCA mail forwarding service for about 1.5yrs. At first it was a free benefit, nice one at that, so I joined. Then some months (01Jan09) after subscribing to the mail service I was informed that they would need to start a policy of charging $5 per month for a service fee. I thought, probably not a bad idea, so no problem on my part.

I just read in a FMCA magazine that the mail forwarding service will "double" the service fee to $10 starting 01Jan10! Wow, a 100% increase in just 1yr?

As much as I dislike the idea, I will certainly have to look at another mail service option.

[tbutler]

Welcome Ductedfan,

No one wants rate increases. Even at $10 per month, I suspect you'll find it a hard price to beat. Our service is one of the least expensive and it costs $125 per year plus a fee of $1.00 for each mailing. When we signed up it was $100 per year and the fee for each mailing was $0.50. Of course we have to pay the actual cost of the postage and any packaging for each mailing as well.

The fact is that not all FMCA members use the mailing service so in effect all dues paying members of FMCA were contributing with their dues to pay the cost (or later, part of the cost) of the mailing service for you. Faced with increasing costs, the choices were likely raise the fees for those who use the service or raise dues for all members. Dues have already been raised several times during our membership so there is pressure to keep the dues from going higher.

I would guess that the new fees probably reflect the actual cost of providing the mailing service for those members who use it. It still looks like a pretty good deal to me.

[ductedfan]

Tom, I understand what you're saying. And I agree that others shouldn't necessarily pay for my activities, benefits, if they aren't using that service.

But my frustration is the 100% increase, no matter what I'm paying for I just don't like that kind of markup on anything. If I could see the justification numbers it would be easier to chew on, but since that's not the case a doubling in the cost just seems..........

I'll get past this soon I'm sure.

Thanks for your input it was a help.

John

[banditrider776@gmail.com]

I've only had the FMCA mail forwarding service for about 1.5yrs. At first it was a free benefit, nice one at that, so I joined. Then some months (01Jan09) after subscribing to the mail service I was informed that they would need to start a policy of charging $5 per month for a service fee. I though, probably not a bad idea, so no problem on my part.

I just read in a FMCA magazine that the mail forwarding service will "double" the service fee to $10 starting 01Jan10! Wow, a 100% increase in just 1yr?

As much as I dislike the idea, I will certainly have to look at another mail service option.

I'm currently looking at going fulltime in about three years so a mail service is high on my look at things. I also belong to the Escapees RV Club so I thought I would look it over after reading this thread. Here is what I found, YMMV.

Category A

Annual Fee = $85

Postage Deposit = $50

Enrollment Fee = $15

Cancellation Fee = $35

For a Total of $185

* All mail received is forwarded first-class

With dues, $60, this comes to $145 per year.

You can take the enrollment fee off since it is a one time fee, and cancelation fee off since it also is a one time fee at the end of your subscription. The $50 covers postage and so would include the "actual postage" charge. This makes the yearly cost $85 + postage, with no monthly fees. The cost for the FMCA mail service comes out to: $125 yearly cost + $10 per month ($120) for a total of $245. Now add in the yearly dues of $35 and the cost comes out to $280.

http://www.escapees.com/MailForwardingServ...erviceRates.asp

I also looked at Good Sam, of which I am also a member, and they do not offer a mail service.

[tbutler]

Since we've been full time we've used My Home Address, Inc. in South Dakota. It is a commercial company and like Escapees, they provide a home address. Unlike Escapees, they provide vehicle registration as well. It is set up to be a home address so you will need a South Dakota drivers license for vehicle registration. The costs are very reasonable and the web site will give you some good reasons for choosing to register in South Dakota. They will ship your mail when/where you want. They ship mail via first class or priority mail (whatever you want to pay for). They will also forward only those classes of mail you want forwarded. If you tell them to forward only the first class mail, that is what you will get. We send them the mailing address to use via e-mail or you can call on their 800 number. There are several other companies out of South Dakota. Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls and Hart Ranch in Rapid City are two that I have on file. One other resource for mail forwarding is storefront operations in most medium to large cities, Mail Boxes, Etc. or other similar operations. These are available nationwide if all you want is to have the mail forwarded.

One of the considerations in choosing a mailing service for full timers is the choice of state of residence. Going with a full service program allows you to establish residency in the state where your mail is handled. If you do this, you should look at all the costs, registration, property tax, drivers license requirements, inheritance laws, etc.

[Xplorer]

GoodSamMail Also Know as American Home Base

Used them for almost 4 years fulltiming,,,,,,,,no rate increases,,,,,,,,,excellent service,,,,,,,,,,even registered, titled and licensed New MH,,,,,without a hitch,,,,,(actually, the MH had a hitch for towing)

[fossfactor]

Good Morning! I was cruising around the internet the other day and found this website rather interesting. Most of our bill pay is online, but for the small fee of 15 dollars a month/180 yr this is the virtual age of mailbox forwarding. http://travelingmailbox.com/