# Mail forwarding



## BUD7890 (Sep 21, 2013)

I have been in cancun, mexico for about 8 weeks and living here. When i left maine i went to the post office and asked them about forwarding mail to my address here in cancun. They said they would forward it for one year and then i will have to set up something else. They send out the mail every day and i havent received anything yet. I have called numberous times and no help yet. Does anyone know what i have to do to get my mail forwarded here to my address in cancun? Does the us post office use a private forwarding company. If so it isnt working for me yet
i changed it so they send my mail out once a week instead of every day. Anyones help will be appreciated. Thanks


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

BUD7890 said:


> I have been in cancun, mexico for about 8 weeks and living here. When i left maine i went to the post office and asked them about forwarding mail to my address here in cancun. They said they would forward it for one year and then i will have to set up something else. They send out the mail every day and i havent received anything yet. I have called numberous times and no help yet. Does anyone know what i have to do to get my mail forwarded here to my address in cancun? Does the us post office use a private forwarding company. If so it isnt working for me yet
> i changed it so they send my mail out once a week instead of every day. Anyones help will be appreciated. Thanks


I am surprised the the US Postal Service will forward to an international address.

If you have only been in Cancun for 8 weeks, it may be too early to expect to receive mail sent from the US. I find that it takes about 6 to 8 weeks to receive mail here. I used to get a weekly newsletter and it was always a month or two behind. It also arrived in random order.

As a more general comment, if there is anything in the mail that is important, it probably is not a good strategy to send it through regular mail in Mexico. Most everything that needs to be delivered goes by private courier or one the private delivery services (Multipack, Fed-Ex, etc). Even my electricity and water bills are hand delivered.


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## Chelloveck (Sep 21, 2013)

To the best of my knowledge, USPS forwarding is only available to domestic addresses, even if you pay for the premium forwarding service. I'm surprised they told you that they would forward your mail to Mexico.

I rented a mailbox at a UPS store and had my mail forwarded there. Then, you just call them whenever you want it sent to you, and they'll bundle it up and ship it to your Mexican address, for an additional fee.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

You can also forward your mail to the UPS store in Nuevo Laredo and they send it every day to Mexican MBE stores. We forward our mail from Vancouver Canada to there and then have a shared PO box in PV. It works fine and takes about 2 weeks to ramp up. It also works for online US deliveries.

(We do this because we rent our place in Vancouver so do not want to burden our tenants.)


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Pray-tell, why does anyone even desire snail mail these days? We have lived in Mexico for 13 years and haven´t received any serious mail in at least five of those years. Our P.O. Box at Lake Chapala is for spider webs and in Chiapas we haven´t even bothered to establish one. This year we are just going to cancel the Lake Chapala P.O. Box altogether. Friends and acquaintances these days communicate by e-mail and all bills and invoices I know of are electronically generated and also paid electronically. I would venture that, within a short few years, snail mail will go the route of stage coaches. Here in Mexico, while we have a checking account, we never write checks - ever - and always negotiate business transactions electronically or at a bank branch or OXXO outlet or some other such place. To add to that; the Mexican post office is notoriously inefficient and mail theft is rampant. We refuse to permit such vendors as issuers of debit or credit cards and such to ever mail us anything to the Mexican post office and insist on overnight couriers from such as FedEx, UPS and DHL or the Mexican courier Estafeda. 

As for such items as IRS refunds, those refunds can be transmiitted electronically to your U.S. or Mexican bank and you can access those funds at an ATM anywhere with a debit card. 

I´d say, move on, I remember when TV sets were bulky, heavy, cumbersome things with small round screens providing blurry B&W signals of some lady on an afternoon cooking class baking casseroles and the reason that show came off in the afternoon is that the TV stations always closed at 10PM or earlier. In fact, I hate to admit this, but I remember when there was no TV at all avalable to the general public. Believe me, you´ll get over this.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

We have gone all electronic but my wife enjoys her magazine subscriptions and hates reading online. Also Corporate Action Notice are always mailed and I have not been able to fix that. It is especially important with callable debentures.

But the amount of mail is small which is why we share the box three ways. Also it is handy for ordering stuff from the US. Our share is 700 pesos per year.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


kcowan said:



We have gone all electronic but my wife enjoys her magazine subscriptions and hates reading online. Also Corporate Action Notice are always mailed and I have not been able to fix that. It is especially important with callable debentures.

But the amount of mail is small which is why we share the box three ways. Also it is handy for ordering stuff from the US. Our share is 700 pesos per year.

Click to expand...

_kcowan:

You have enlightened me. I have no "callable debentures" but the one area of snail- mail notices I have not been able to resolve for precluding snail mail is notices from my U.S. broker that securities are about to mature - notices that come to me electronically on my computer every day instantly regardless of follow-up land mail notification. The other day when I telephoned them and demanded (politely) they stop sending me notices of maturing investment instruments, they insisted that this was a U.S. regulatory requirement and I informed them that, despite U.S. regulatory requirements resulting in procedures meant to protect its citizens, I had no need to be infomed of investment securities maturities by mail in hard copy and strongly desired they desist but they informed me that, as this was a requirement of the U.S. government they were compelled to continue this practice despite my wishes to the contrary.

Tell me what you think? We live in the land of "express kidnapping" and "extortion". Do you think, should you live here, that you would want a U.S. regulatory required notice of a maturing security for, let´s say, a $100,000USD CD in your mail box in a post office system noted for its corruption and theft? Yet, the U.S. regulatory system allows no leeway in this regard even after your specific objection. 

We are certainly not wealthy people but for emigrants from the U.S. circus run by clowns to be susceptable to outlaw gangs in foreign countries is one thing while susceptability to mindless bureaucrats exposing your personal belongings for no compellimg reasons for nothing more than their fulfillment of inexpicable duties as 8:00 to 5:00 stooges is another.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

HD: do you have friends and or relatives in the US? Couldn't you just have that particular set of mail notices be sent to them? Or get a different PO Box, in the US, and DON'T have them forward anything.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


mickisue1 said:



HD: do you have friends and or relatives in the US? Couldn't you just have that particular set of mail notices be sent to them? Or get a different PO Box, in the US, and DON'T have them forward anything.

Click to expand...

_Good question, michkisuel:

I have family and friends in Alabama, Califonia, France and Mexico from Oaxaca to Chiapas to Jalisco and other places and we communicate freely and with video constantly via such services as SKYPE. We never use snail mali for anything; _NEVER._, The U.S. Post Office is in its final gasp. An agency with far too many useless employees with tasks that became obsolete in the last half of the last century.


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## kcowan (Jul 24, 2010)

We used to just transfer the mail to a PO Box at UPS and then have them package it up to send as needed. But it was more expensive than the Laredo hookup.


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## MichelleRN (Nov 4, 2013)

Hound Dog said:


> Friends and acquaintances these days communicate by e-mail and all bills and invoices I know of are electronically generated and also paid electronically. To add to that; the Mexican post office is notoriously inefficient and mail theft is rampant. We refuse to permit such vendors as issuers of debit or credit cards and such to ever mail us anything to the Mexican post office and insist on overnight couriers from such as FedEx, UPS and DHL or the Mexican courier Estafeda.


Are you saying that you can pay each and every Mexican utility bill online, specifically the
1) electric
2) water
3) propane 
bills are all payable online like most of the utilities are in the U.S.?

In Tijuana my ISP is Telnor, and I have it set up so I can pay them online, but the set up was far from seamless.


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

MichelleRN said:


> Are you saying that you can pay each and every Mexican utility bill online, specifically the
> 1) electric
> 2) water
> 3) propane


Yes, and cable, cell and landline. All straightforward enough even for a simple Australian like me.

:madgrin:


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## MichelleRN (Nov 4, 2013)

buzzbar said:


> Yes, and cable, cell and landline. All straightforward enough even for a simple Australian like me.
> 
> :madgrin:


Wow that's interesting, what is the name of your Mexican electric company and the name of your Mexican water provider that facilitates online billing?


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## buzzbar (Feb 9, 2013)

I don’t live in Tijuana but I assume CFE provides electricity across the country. The water provider is of course local, but I’d be surprised if a utility in a town that has a population 20 times smaller than Tijuana would allow online payments, but the one servicing Tijuana wouldn’t…… 

I was actually pleasantly surprised at the availability of online payments, given that my local friends all prefer to either attend utility offices and pay cash, or pay the bill at a Soriana or Chedraui checkout. I have found the distinction is between paying for something and making a change to something. For the latter, even if it’s just a minor alteration to a cable or internet plan, the response seems to always be: “attend your local office.”

Ok, as an ex-Melbourne boy I'm off with a few other expats to start celebrations for 'the race that stops a nation' ...:whip: good luck with it Michelle, and hopefully someone more familiar with TJ utilities can assist further.


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## MichelleRN (Nov 4, 2013)

buzzbar said:


> I don’t live in Tijuana but I assume CFE provides electricity across the country. The water provider is of course local, but I’d be surprised if a utility in a town that has a population 20 times smaller than Tijuana would allow online payments, but the one servicing Tijuana wouldn’t……
> 
> I was actually pleasantly surprised at the availability of online payments, given that my local friends all prefer to either attend utility offices and pay cash, or pay the bill at a Soriana or Chedraui checkout.


That's great info buzzbar, thanks for sharing and have fun at the celebration


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## lancekoz (Nov 6, 2013)

I am sorry kcowan, I can't find where you mentioned what type of box fee you are splitting three ways. Is that a US service that repackages or? Thanks.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We also share a mailbox at Lake Chapala in one of the several mail service businesses here. Such services have a US address, Larado, TX, in our case, and the mail is sent by courier from there to Lake Chapala, where we are notified and pick it up locally. There is an annual fee for the box, of course.
Alternatively, if you live in town, you may have a mailbox (buzon) on your house and receive mail via the Mexican postal system, or by renting a box at the Mexican post office serving your area. We get mail both ways, but still find it advantageous to have a US address in Laredo.


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## tijuanahopeful (Apr 2, 2013)

MichelleRN said:


> Are you saying that you can pay each and every Mexican utility bill online, specifically the
> 1) electric
> 2) water
> 3) propane
> ...


I'm also in Tijuana, and found it easier to just pay my Telnor and CFE bills in person. My landlord pays for water, and my propane is a tank.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Our CFE electric bill comes every other month and can be paid at many local convenicnec, grocery or big box stores at check-out counters.
Our water bill is paid annually at city hall (Palacio Municipal), where we also pay our taxes for the year.
Our propane tank is a bulk tank on the roof and they come whenever we call them. Our consumption is low, as we have a solar hot water heater and seldom ever have to turn on the gas water heater.
The phone bill is monthly from Telmex, and includes our DSL service. It can also be paid at many local check-out counters, or at the Telmex drive-through window in Ajijic.
ATM machines are everywhere and all bills are paid in cash, drawn from our US bank. We have no need for a Mexican bank.
*Mail Forwarding*, the topic, is from our mail service locally, providing us with a Laredo, TX address and local notification and pick-up. There is a fee for that. We live in town, so have a mailbox at our door and also receive mail via the Mexican postal service.


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## bajacooler (Sep 13, 2013)

Sometimes surprises have to come by snail mail (unexpected tax bills come to mind in my expedience). I would have gotten in more trouble by not maintaining my address and forwarding.


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