USPS Mail Hold

[RMulieri]

We have in the past, but now we have a trusted neighbor that gets our mail out of our box while we are gone and we reciprocate when they go out of town

 

[gillep]

we always have it held if we are going to be gone more than 3 days and always use the online system it has always worked really well for us!!

 

[sam_gordon]

We just have one of our neighbor's pick up the mail and paper.

 

[sjms71]

Another for holding mail while away. We go away at least 3 times a year for a minimum of 10 days at a time. I always hold it online. Never have had a problem. My inlaws live only 3 miles from us so they also usually stop by the house to make sure everything is ok.

 

[mrstomrice]

I just put mine on hold yesterday. FYI...you can only place a hold online 2 weeks before your hold begins.

 

[distherapy]

I have no idea who told you NOT to do it, but that's some of the worst advice I've ever heard.

Ahh - but that's assuming your only 2 options are to hold with USPS or let it pile up. I've always heard that it's best to let as few people as possible know that you're out of town, so we have a friend get our mail and newspapers and we return the favor. Having our vacation dates on a list at our very busy post office doesn't make me comfortable.

 

[lucyem]

Ahh - but that's assuming your only 2 options are to hold with USPS or let it pile up. I've always heard that it's best to let as few people as possible know that you're out of town, so we have a friend get our mail and newspapers and we return the favor. Having our vacation dates on a list at our very busy post office doesn't make me comfortable.

We have to have a farm sitter so she grabs the mail. If we did not have animals I would have a neighbor or friend stop in to grab mail and check the house out. Once we did have the heat shut off in the middle of winter while we were away

 

[SkinsFan76]

We always have our mail held when we are gone for more than a couple of days. Doing it online is great and easy. Never had any problems with it and is a nice piece of mind for us.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You know what I think is funny? It's a federal offense to tamper with the mail, and that includes stealing mail. Yet I, too, happen to be somebody's "mail stop" friend. I drive over there in the early afternoon on my way to work, hobble up the steps, open the mailbox in full view of the neighborhood, and walk off with the mail. Only the neighbors directly across the street know me, yet nobody ever questions me.

 

[sydneysmom]

we always hold the mail using the online system. For us, it's so much easier because our post office is all the way on the other side of town and we can never seem to get there when they're open. We pick the start day and the day you want the mail resumed. Like someone else said, it's usually the day after that when you actually get everything.

For us, it's always worked like a charm.

 

[ironz]

Having been burglarized twice while I was out of town for work, I'll tell you another reason why to NOT stop the mail...if someone is watching for inactivity at your home, seeing the mailman bypass your house for several days in a row gives them the idea that the house is unoccupied (and burglars love a house where there are no people).

BUT... you don't want the mail to pile up. So if you don't hold the mail, you need to have someone come pick it up every day.
(and to this, I say, have the person who picks it up hang around a little...I just went through this with my mom, who gets my mail when I'm gone...because I feel that if someone is observing the activity in my home, seeing someone get the mail out of the box and just leave is just as indicative of an empty house as having the mailman walk by).

All that said...I mix it up. I'm out of my house about 26 weeks a year for business and pleasure travel combined. Sometimes I stop it and sometimes my mom comes to get it (or other friends), or sometimes a combination of both (mom picks it up for 3 days and I hold 3 days).

The online system is super easy and has been very effective. And no, my worry about who knows I'm gone doesn't include my mailman...in fact, he's the one who called 911 when he found my front door open one day when I was out of town.

If you live where your mail goes to a more central box (like some neighborhoods have multiple boxes all together)...then holding the mail makes the most sense. Mine is delivered to a box attached to my house (a tradition I'm sad is going away with new neighborhoods--though it makes sense from a postal efficiency perspective).

 

[TLinden16]

Since this doesn't have to do with the theme parks, I'm going to move this to our community board.

 

[a1tinkfans]

We have used the online USPS mail hold multiple times with no problem. We usually have it held the day before we leave, just to verify that they got it right.

I have it delivered the day After we arrive home...just to settle in a bit