RJM62
Touchdown! Greaser!
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2007
- Messages
- 13,157
- Location
- Upstate New York
- Display Name
Display name:
Geek on the Hill
rant
I hate companies that use address verification.
This system, apparently designed for imbeciles who don't know where they live, attempts to "correct" the address that a consumer enters onto an online purchase form before the order is submitted by validating it against the Postal Service's records.
Here's the problem, in my case: The village where I live is stuck in the 19th Century. We don't get mail delivered to our homes. Everyone has a PO Box. My legal address is a PO Box. That's the address on my driver's license, my various FAA certificates, my credit union statements, my business certificate, my sales tax collector I.D., and even my voter registration. That -- the PO Box -- is my legal address.
We don't have "street addresses." Yes, we have 911 addresses. No, we cannot receive mail at them. If something is addressed to the 911 address that's being shipped via USPS, the Post Office is technically supposed to return it to the sender (although usually they'll deliver it to the customer's box, unless the customer has annoyed them recently).
Even private carriers like UPS and FedEx deliver their packages to the Post Office. They have some kind of a "last mile" contract with the Postal Service whereby they dump all the packages on the Post Office receiving dock, and the Postal Service takes them from there.
For the private carriers, the Post Office matches the 911 address to the PO Box, because the private carriers are not allowed to deliver packages that are addressed to a PO Box. So the postmaster accepts the package at the receiving dock, matches it with the customer's box, and either leaves a note in the customer's box if a signature is required; or else they leave the package in a giant box in the lobby, and the key to the giant box in the resident's itty-bitty box.
Again, this actually is a nice thing because you don't have to worry about staying home when you expect a package from UPS or FedEx. It'll just be at the Post Office with the rest of your mail. Makes life easy.
Except for one thing.
When placing an order from a company that uses UPS or FedEx, I must use a street address. UPS and FedEx are not allowed to deliver to PO boxes. I don't have a street address. The closest thing I have to a street address is the 911 address, which is not a legal address according to the Postal Service. So if I enter the 911 address, the address will be "corrected" to the PO Box -- which, of course, UPS and FedEx cannot deliver to.
The fact that the Post Office is exactly where the package is going to wind up anyway doesn't matter. UPS and FedEx are not allowed to deliver an item that's addressed to a PO Box. Period.
Some companies (such as Amazon) warn the user that the address was rejected, but allow the user to override the system. Other companies re-assign the shipment to go USPS. Still other companies simply won't accept the order. Sometimes you can call and explain the situation, and a human being can override the system, but other times not. For example, NewEgg simply will not ship to me because the "street" address verifies to a PO Box. I can explain till the cows come home why this is, but they don't care.
The first thing about this that bothers me is that, damn it, I do know where I live. Why do I need a machine to "verify" my address, and why do companies assume that I'm such an idiot that they'll accept that machine's ruling about where I live over my own -- even if it means losing the order?
The other thing that irks me is that the Postal Service explicitly tells shippers that its verification system is designed only for mail and packages that the Postal Service will be carrying. They acknowledge that some addresses may not be legal for Postal purposes, but are perfectly acceptable for other carriers to use. So really, unless a company will be shipping by USPS, they shouldn't even be using the USPS system to verify the address.
/rant
-Rich
I hate companies that use address verification.
This system, apparently designed for imbeciles who don't know where they live, attempts to "correct" the address that a consumer enters onto an online purchase form before the order is submitted by validating it against the Postal Service's records.
Here's the problem, in my case: The village where I live is stuck in the 19th Century. We don't get mail delivered to our homes. Everyone has a PO Box. My legal address is a PO Box. That's the address on my driver's license, my various FAA certificates, my credit union statements, my business certificate, my sales tax collector I.D., and even my voter registration. That -- the PO Box -- is my legal address.
We don't have "street addresses." Yes, we have 911 addresses. No, we cannot receive mail at them. If something is addressed to the 911 address that's being shipped via USPS, the Post Office is technically supposed to return it to the sender (although usually they'll deliver it to the customer's box, unless the customer has annoyed them recently).
Even private carriers like UPS and FedEx deliver their packages to the Post Office. They have some kind of a "last mile" contract with the Postal Service whereby they dump all the packages on the Post Office receiving dock, and the Postal Service takes them from there.
For the private carriers, the Post Office matches the 911 address to the PO Box, because the private carriers are not allowed to deliver packages that are addressed to a PO Box. So the postmaster accepts the package at the receiving dock, matches it with the customer's box, and either leaves a note in the customer's box if a signature is required; or else they leave the package in a giant box in the lobby, and the key to the giant box in the resident's itty-bitty box.
Again, this actually is a nice thing because you don't have to worry about staying home when you expect a package from UPS or FedEx. It'll just be at the Post Office with the rest of your mail. Makes life easy.
Except for one thing.
When placing an order from a company that uses UPS or FedEx, I must use a street address. UPS and FedEx are not allowed to deliver to PO boxes. I don't have a street address. The closest thing I have to a street address is the 911 address, which is not a legal address according to the Postal Service. So if I enter the 911 address, the address will be "corrected" to the PO Box -- which, of course, UPS and FedEx cannot deliver to.
The fact that the Post Office is exactly where the package is going to wind up anyway doesn't matter. UPS and FedEx are not allowed to deliver an item that's addressed to a PO Box. Period.
Some companies (such as Amazon) warn the user that the address was rejected, but allow the user to override the system. Other companies re-assign the shipment to go USPS. Still other companies simply won't accept the order. Sometimes you can call and explain the situation, and a human being can override the system, but other times not. For example, NewEgg simply will not ship to me because the "street" address verifies to a PO Box. I can explain till the cows come home why this is, but they don't care.
The first thing about this that bothers me is that, damn it, I do know where I live. Why do I need a machine to "verify" my address, and why do companies assume that I'm such an idiot that they'll accept that machine's ruling about where I live over my own -- even if it means losing the order?
The other thing that irks me is that the Postal Service explicitly tells shippers that its verification system is designed only for mail and packages that the Postal Service will be carrying. They acknowledge that some addresses may not be legal for Postal purposes, but are perfectly acceptable for other carriers to use. So really, unless a company will be shipping by USPS, they shouldn't even be using the USPS system to verify the address.
/rant
-Rich