OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
I manage a new co-working space in Memphis, TN and we just started to get questions from members about accepting their business mail. After reading through the previous email it sounds like you can’t assume that if a tenant adds Attn: John Smith along with our business name and address that their mail will come to our mailing address???
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
Suggestions, comments are welcome.
Thank you!
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When I took the CMRA forms to our local post office, they had never seen the form either and looked at me like I was crazy. But he signed and sealed it and gave me a copy even though he wasn’t sure if I needed it or not.
Then we talked to our mailman. Our regular carrier said he didn’t care who it was addressed to as long as it had our suite number and indicated he’d prefer not to have PMB #'s added.
We only have a few members using our address right now, but neither the USPS, UPS, or FedEx delivery people have seemed to mind delivering items addressed to our members.
Kiri
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On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:07:28 PM UTC-5, AK wrote:
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
Ours has helped us through all sorts of confusion with mail and appreciates that we think of him rather than going to the main office who doesn’t always really understand the nuances of his route.
-Alex
···
The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
When I took the CMRA forms to our local post office, they had never seen the form either and looked at me like I was crazy. But he signed and sealed it and gave me a copy even though he wasn’t sure if I needed it or not.
Then we talked to our mailman. Our regular carrier said he didn’t care who it was addressed to as long as it had our suite number and indicated he’d prefer not to have PMB #'s added.
We only have a few members using our address right now, but neither the USPS, UPS, or FedEx delivery people have seemed to mind delivering items addressed to our members.
Kiri
On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:07:28 PM UTC-5, AK wrote:
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
Suggestions, comments are welcome.
Thank you!
–
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Signed and sealed? She said she has no reason to sign anything…would I be pushing too hard? Truth is we get mail delivered in error all the time–service is sloppy –
so I’m thinking I should just run with it
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On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:32:20 PM UTC-6, [email protected] wrote:
Talk to your regular mail carrier.
When I took the CMRA forms to our local post office, they had never seen the form either and looked at me like I was crazy. But he signed and sealed it and gave me a copy even though he wasn’t sure if I needed it or not.
Then we talked to our mailman. Our regular carrier said he didn’t care who it was addressed to as long as it had our suite number and indicated he’d prefer not to have PMB #'s added.
We only have a few members using our address right now, but neither the USPS, UPS, or FedEx delivery people have seemed to mind delivering items addressed to our members.
Kiri
On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:07:28 PM UTC-5, AK wrote:
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
Thanks Alex…yes I spoke with her many times --she just says her boss is overwhelmed
···
On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:35:23 PM UTC-6, Alex Hillman wrote:
Big +1 for talking to your local mail carriers.
Ours has helped us through all sorts of confusion with mail and appreciates that we think of him rather than going to the main office who doesn’t always really understand the nuances of his route.
-Alex
The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.
When I took the CMRA forms to our local post office, they had never seen the form either and looked at me like I was crazy. But he signed and sealed it and gave me a copy even though he wasn’t sure if I needed it or not.
Then we talked to our mailman. Our regular carrier said he didn’t care who it was addressed to as long as it had our suite number and indicated he’d prefer not to have PMB #'s added.
We only have a few members using our address right now, but neither the USPS, UPS, or FedEx delivery people have seemed to mind delivering items addressed to our members.
Kiri
On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 2:07:28 PM UTC-5, AK wrote:
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
Suggestions, comments are welcome.
Thank you!
–
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups “Coworking” group.
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From the experience I had, the CMRA complicated things and the post office doesn’t know what to do. Operated years without it and then questioned if we needed it and we were told to not open that can of worms
Yea— so much for me trying to “play by the rules” – I just did not want to be shut down or have my clients mail trashed.
···
On Thursday, November 29, 2018 at 6:23:46 AM UTC-6, Jana Greer wrote:
From the experience I had, the CMRA complicated things and the post office doesn’t know what to do. Operated years without it and then questioned if we needed it and we were told to not open that can of worms
5 years of doing CMRA mail service for us. Talking to the post office and our mail carriers (they seem to change carriers pretty often) was a big help for us. The understanding they have now, and that works for us, is anything with our street address gets delivered to us. Period. It’s up to us as a CMRA to sort and distribute the mail, or to reject it and give it back to the post office with the appropriate rejection wording on it.
As far as the form to get listed as a CMRA, when we started doing this the postmaster knew nothing about it, checked with a larger office, and then took the form. I have a copy of it in my files, but nothing else. Now a few years later we have a new postmaster and she is a stickler for the 1583 forms being filled out correctly. So I figure the safest path is to follow their rules in case a new postmaster ever decides to audit us. If they want to be lax with adherence to their own rules, good for them - it’s their rules, they can do that. But if I do it, they have a reason to shut me down if the boss is having a bad day. It’s not worth the risk.
Every member gets a PMB# as that gives them a unique address. It helps to keep the businesses separate not only for Google Business and SEO reasons, but also in the event anything questionable (or even just unusual) happens with one of them. For example, we have a few lawyers here and have had court officers do the “you’ve been served” thing you see on TV. (In case you’re ever wondered, that’s what box #5 on the PS-1583 form is about. Restricted delivery is when mail is physically delivered to the addressee or an authorized agent).
Having to submit the quarterly updates to the post office only takes a few minutes, and if you ask your postmaster in advance who the forms should go to, you can mark it to their attention on a post-it when you hand it to the front counter staff. It saves a lot of confusion as they’ve never seen these forms, but they understand “Please give this report to Harry Smith.”
From the experience I had, the CMRA complicated things and the post office doesn’t know what to do. Operated years without it and then questioned if we needed it and we were told to not open that can of worms
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So…now that we can accept mail --how do we charge? Do most of you include it in your monthly memberships? I know people like having a real street address.
We’re just getting our business started, so this could be an incentive for new members?
I am aware of services that offer mail forwarding, etc…but we can review that down the road.
We also do not intend to buy a bunch of steel boxes at this time, so a good method to sort and store is helpful.-- but only during business hours as we want to keep it locked up.
Advice appreciated. Thank you!
···
On Wednesday, November 28, 2018 at 1:07:28 PM UTC-6, AK wrote:
OK… we filled out the form for the CMRA with the Post Office 2 months ago – after many calls since then, they finally called to say I was approved. I asked for a letter and they said it was not necessary.
I know my tenants will need to fill out a form in order for us to accept their mail, but I found it odd that `1/it took 2 months ( our local postmaster was not familiar with the form…never saw one before mine–but our city does have a UPS store…hmm)— and odd that I need no written approval. ( I am concerned that this could backfire)
You do not need to steel boxes. A secured filing cabinet and with folders would be sufficient, As far as mail tracking, forwarding and billing we’d be more than happy to assist, we’ve build a system that do just that. http://spheremail.co
So, Glen (and others)-we are open and the #1 item people want is the Virtual address only. They pay a monthly fee, but many do not get any mail. I find this very odd. What then, do they want the address for? What am I missing here?
Also, you mentioned a quarterly report for the postmaster? They came in one time after I was approved and said hello. Never asked for papers…nada.
I still wish I had some document that shows I am authorized since I took months to get oral approval.
I’ve heard similar feedback from Notifii users - they prefer to keep some sort of reporting on hand even if their local carriers are a bit lax, just to ensure they have no issues down the line.
One of the main reasons I joined the forum is to see what we can add to Notifii - which collects package acceptance and distribution data for co-working spaces and rental properties. Would it be helpful if we applied our OCR (optical character recognition) tool on mail so as mail comes in, you snap a photo and it saves it in a log that you can then export and use for those sorts of reports you submit?
