ANAL_ASSASSIN_aka_FATNICK
05-23-2006, 06:36 PM
I just wanted to start a thread about the great variety of record keeping and identification requirements with all the UPS Stores and Mail Boxes Etc. in my area.
Some UPS Stores I've called are now telling me that I can't even use an ATM or credit card as a secondary form of ID anymore! They are saying that's because of 9/11. When I said that 9/11 was about five years ago, and this was a recent policy change that I've never heard of before, they told me that the United States Postal Service has recently tightened up its own requirements for mailbox stores like the UPS Store to be able to issues mailbox accounts to its customers.
So apparently, UPS is tightening up its mailbox policies. Yet, when I've called a couple of other UPS Stores---as well as ALL the Mail Boxes Etc. I've called---they told me that the United States Postal Service NEVER implemented such new rules, and that the excuse of 9/11 and blaming the Postal Service was just a way for the UPS Store to explain away this new inconvenience to its new, potential customers.
Like I said, some of the UPS Stores I called--and all of the MBE stores--still accept credit cards and ATM cards as secondary forms of ID. I guess some UPS store owners encountered too many problems with people using fake ID to get boxes, and since they can't tell customers that they can't use a driver's license to open a mailbox account, the next best thing they can do is to restrict the forms of secondary ID that are used to open a mailbox account.
The UPS Stores I speak of that WON'T accept ATM or credit cards as secondary forms of ID are telling me that they will only accept IDs such as school, work and now even gym membership cards and insurance cards.
I said to them that this is nonsense, since these forms of ID also them give much more access to my private life (gym and insurance cards) then if they just required normal forms of secondary ID like credit and ATM cards.
Their response, in general: We don't care.
Now in terms of record keeping: I've found that some UPS Stores will keep records of old customers for YEARS, and some will destroy records after 6 months. Most of the MBE stores destroy customers' records 6 months after the account is closed. I even found one UPS Store that says it destroys customers' records after 3 months. But as I've said on other threads, I don't trust the UPS Stores, and never will.
So my advice is to just stick to Mail Boxes Etc. stores. And if you only have UPS Stores in your area, then find out which ones seem the most carefree about record keeping.
Or better yet, use out-of-the USA mailbox and mail forwarding businesses, like www.private-services.com, based in New Zealand.
Hope this helps.
Some UPS Stores I've called are now telling me that I can't even use an ATM or credit card as a secondary form of ID anymore! They are saying that's because of 9/11. When I said that 9/11 was about five years ago, and this was a recent policy change that I've never heard of before, they told me that the United States Postal Service has recently tightened up its own requirements for mailbox stores like the UPS Store to be able to issues mailbox accounts to its customers.
So apparently, UPS is tightening up its mailbox policies. Yet, when I've called a couple of other UPS Stores---as well as ALL the Mail Boxes Etc. I've called---they told me that the United States Postal Service NEVER implemented such new rules, and that the excuse of 9/11 and blaming the Postal Service was just a way for the UPS Store to explain away this new inconvenience to its new, potential customers.
Like I said, some of the UPS Stores I called--and all of the MBE stores--still accept credit cards and ATM cards as secondary forms of ID. I guess some UPS store owners encountered too many problems with people using fake ID to get boxes, and since they can't tell customers that they can't use a driver's license to open a mailbox account, the next best thing they can do is to restrict the forms of secondary ID that are used to open a mailbox account.
The UPS Stores I speak of that WON'T accept ATM or credit cards as secondary forms of ID are telling me that they will only accept IDs such as school, work and now even gym membership cards and insurance cards.
I said to them that this is nonsense, since these forms of ID also them give much more access to my private life (gym and insurance cards) then if they just required normal forms of secondary ID like credit and ATM cards.
Their response, in general: We don't care.
Now in terms of record keeping: I've found that some UPS Stores will keep records of old customers for YEARS, and some will destroy records after 6 months. Most of the MBE stores destroy customers' records 6 months after the account is closed. I even found one UPS Store that says it destroys customers' records after 3 months. But as I've said on other threads, I don't trust the UPS Stores, and never will.
So my advice is to just stick to Mail Boxes Etc. stores. And if you only have UPS Stores in your area, then find out which ones seem the most carefree about record keeping.
Or better yet, use out-of-the USA mailbox and mail forwarding businesses, like www.private-services.com, based in New Zealand.
Hope this helps.