After a few months of my trial with Virtual Post Mail, I think it’s about time I completed the series with part 2. A lot has changed since I signed up back in March of 2010, and I’m anxious to talk about my experiences. If you haven’t read it yet, my first post called Getting Rid of Snail Mail Part 1 will give some good background info on why I chose VirtualPostMail.com in the first place.
I’ll start out by saying this: Virtual Post Mail totally rocks, and it’s only getting better. I’ve been blown away by their customer service, their web app has never failed me (Chrome on Mac), and they’ve added some killer new features that I’ll get to in a minute. But first, I want to talk about what impressed me the most.
Virtual Post Mail Called Me On My Cell Phone
As you probably read in Part 1, my only gripe with VPM was the lack of phone number on the site – I wanted to know that a human was only a phone call away. Well, they cleared that concern up really quick. I was on my way to a round of golf when a strange number from California called me. I hesitated before answering but was pleasantly surprised when I heard “Hello, this is Joel from Virtual Post Mail, how’s it going?”. I couldn’t believe they actually called me! Joel explained that he read my blog post and wanted me to know that I can call him anytime I have a question or concern about my account. Awesome. We also chatted a bit about the technology behind their site, and I must say, these guys know their stuff and are continually improving an already impressive web app.
My Experience So Far
When I first started using the service, I had just signed up for a bank account and was getting flooded with mail. I went over my receiving and scanning limit (I’m on the personal plan) and had to pay some fees, but held off from upgrading. My mail volume has since slowed down and the basic package is sufficient for my volume of roughly 5-10 items a week.
Scanning mail is surprisingly quick – I’ve had letters scanned in as fast as a few minutes, but it has never taken more than a couple hours at most. The quality is great, and I can save it to my computer for backup.
Forwarding mail to my real physical address was a snap, although one thing did bother me. I forwarded about 5 or 6 letter envelopes and a box of checks, and it all arrived in a small cardboard box. When I opened the box, some of envelopes weren’t long enough to fit inside, so they bent them to fit. Nothing was ‘damaged’, but the letters were definitely malformed a little bit. However a few weeks later I had one letter forwarded to me, and it came in perfect condition.
New Features: Email Image Preview and Check Deposit
One of the best new features is a scanned preview of the envelope attached to your new mail email alert. This enables me to view the mail on my phone, so I don’t have to wait until I’m at a computer to see what mail I’ve received.
While I haven’t tried the check depositing service yet, it seems like it would be pretty convenient. The only problem is that it costs $5, so I’d save it for those really big checks 
Plus, I’ve heard about banks starting to adopt the deposit by smartphone feature where you can instantly deposit a check just by taking a photo of it with your phone and emailing/txting it to the bank – so you could send in the scan from VPM, or just take a picture of the check on your monitor and txt it in. Ah the future is bright!
I’m Here to Stay
Virtual Post Mail has completely exceeded my expectations and I’m glad I chose them. I’m getting ready to move into a new apartment, and one thing I WON’T be doing is filling out a change of address form! If you have any questions please feel free to post a comment and I will do my best to answer promptly!
As I sit on vacation and some of my snail mail gets forwarded to me and some doesn’t (no rhyme or reason) via USPS… the value of a paid service looks better everyday.
Thanks for the update to Part 1.
I totally agree with Mike. I’ve been using VPM for about a year now, and they run a tight ship. They always answer emails quickly and professionally, and they’ve never made a mistake. They’ve built up a lot of trust in a short time, and I expect to be a customer for the foreseeable future.
Hi Mike, thanks for both of your posts. Due to your recommendation I signed up with Virtual Post Mail today. Their service is exactly what I was looking for. I also went through the list you mentioned in post 1, and wasn’t impressed with most of the other services – at least not from first glance. VPM looks like an outstanding service, and I really appreciate you putting together these posts. Your site was the only one I found (in the first couple pages of google) that gave an actual review of any of the services.
Thanks again!
-Rich
[...] UPDATE: I’ve completed “Getting Rid of Snail Mail Part 2″ after using Virtual Post Mail for several months. Be sure to read the comments below and then check out part 2! [...]
Is it still working well? Are they still in business? From your reviews, they seem head and shoulders above the competitition, and I hope they take off, but I just wanted to check because there are very few reviews out there of any of these services.
Still working well, no complaints so far. I’m still on the basic plan so I don’t process a ton of mail, but they always forward the mail promptly and I absolutely love their interface.
Hey Mike,
I just signed up for the service and will have a couple of checks sent to my virtual mailbox. I bank with bank of america but I’m not sure how I can cash the checks virtually. Can you elaborate on how you were able to deposit your checks?
Much appreciated.
Hey Mike, thanks for the comment.
Virtualpostmail simply mails the check to your bank and the bank makes the deposit. You can view the entire process in detail on their post “How to submit a check deposit”. Keep an eye out, many banks are starting to support deposits directly from a cell phone picture that you email/txt them. I know BankSimple.com is going to feature it, and I think Chase does it as well. Maybe Bank of America already does?
Howdy Mike – thanks for the great review and information here. Sounds like you’ve got a number of people heading over to http://www.virtualpostmail.com to sign up, including me. I’d be glad to mention you as a referral there and I imagine they would possibly provide a special “Promotion Code” to signify such, which would benefit you as well as the customers you’re referring. Check it out and let us know how to repay you!
Thanks for thinking of me! Unfortunately I just spoke with a manager at VPM and they do not have an affiliate or referral system setup yet. It’s in the pipeline, though. Thanks again!
Thanks for the review. I sounds like what I was looking for. The base price is really good. However, the forwarding price is more than some of the other ones I looked at, but the other ones didn’t have the scanning features I like with VPM. I am going to sign up for VPM. David
Mike,
I’ve been looking for a service like this and based on your experience I’m jsut about to hit the button to join VPM, but before I did I thought I’d check in and see if you’re still happy with them?
Still no trouble in River City? (still happy with VPM?)
Thanks for the review.
Peace,
John
Hey John-
No complaints so far – I really don’t get much mail anymore, so I only use it maybe once a month. But so far so good! Stop back and let me know how you like it!
Thanks for posting this information review. I’ve been hesitating with signing up with any type of virtual mailbox and finally got a little serious about it after viewing my local UPS store PO Box fees. In comparison and ease in use, so far I’m liking this company. I hope it continues!
Hey Mike,
so glad I found your blog. I will sign up with this company right now.
They offer FREE registered agent service as well, since I want to register a company in SoCal, best offer I found yet.
Thanks again for your efforts writing this posts, regards from Germany,
Dennis
Hi Mike,
I’m new to this virtual address thing and so Many thanks for sharing the story!
I’m planning to travel overseas for the next 1-2 years so it seems like it will be very helpful.
Do you know if we can use the virtual address provided as a home address in the official forms (e.g. tax return or driver license)? Are there any restrictions?
Thx for information.
I’m interested in having a virtual address with letter and package forwarding to my real physical address but with NO scanning and NO shredding. Does VPM allow for this?
Thanks so much for this. Can’t wait to get set up on their service!
This is amazing! I am so grateful you reviewed this site as I am currently doing research on my own. I will be bookmarking this blog to keep up with you
Nice job!
Hey there Mike – I just stumbled across your dual VPM posts and…
I whole-heartedly AGREE – “Virtual Post Mail totally rocks”!
I’ve been using them for over a year now here in Vietnam (a country that many mail forwarding services won’t even dare ship to). And yes, yes, Joel’s just the BEST – ever available and helpful with most any need.
I too posted a full review of VPM (with pics of their nifty interface) – it’s among my most popular blog posts to date: http://tinyurl.com/43uuc8v
Only thing I might add – more like re-emphasize – to your readers is that if you’re using a mail forwarding service as an expat overseas, best whittle down your snail mail (by setting all bank statements, etc. to online). I now only receive but a couple few snails per month in my VPM online interface, so the $10 account (w/ plenty of scans) works just fine for me.
And btw, those “bent” envelopes in the forwarded snail box with the box of checks? Likely ‘cuz Joel was trying to save you money, i.e. by squeezing as much as possible into the smallest of boxes. The lad seems to ever go the extra mile, and I feel my snail mail is in good hands with VPM.
One MAJOR advantage of Earth Class Mail – no sales tax in Oregon. While if you are ordering a product for use in a state, your are required to pay their sales tax, if you live internationally you don’t want to. Having an Oregon shipping address saves an enormous amount of sales taxes for me each year, including off of my phone bill and everything I order from Amazon.
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