What is mail forwarding ?

Mail forwarding services are also known as maildrops, accommodation addresses, mail box rentals, offshore postal addresses etc.

A mail forwarding service (maildrop) allows a person to use the forwarding service's address to receive mail and then have it forwarded to the address where the person actually wishes to receive their mail. Sometimes it's in the same city, other times on another continent. Mail is posted to the maildrop and is then placed unopened into another envelope and mailed to its final destination.

 What is remailing ?     Back To The Top

Remailing is a service whereby your outgoing mail is posted from another city or country without you having to be there.

Outgoing mail is sent to your remailer in a covering envelope. Your remailer opens the covering envelope and then places local postage on the enclosed letters and posts them.

 Tell me about your telephone answering service     Back To The Top

This is an extra service which you must pay for.  If you don't pay for this service you are not allowed to use our phone numbers on your stationery, website, emails etc.  This service is not designed for high volume users.

We always answer the phone as "Irish Office".  The term Irish Office is generic and could apply to any company with an Irish branch.  If someone phones asking for you, we will say that you are not in and that we will pass a message on to you.  If a phone message is not in English or is incomprehensible we be unable to pass it on.

 How can I avail of your services for nothing ?     Back To The Top

If you have a very busy website or some other means of advertising us, we would like to talk to you.  Email us with your website details etc.

 Do you allow delayed subscriptions ?     Back To The Top

Yes, we allow delayed subscriptions up to six weeks on annual subscriptions (Flat-rate or Standard). This facility can be useful in a business start-up situation where the you need your new Irish address in advance, for printing, advertising etc.

In a personal situation you could use this facility before you go on a long trip, to let people know in advance where you can be contacted after a certain future date.

Payment in advance is required    -   Your subscription starts when your first letter arrive

 How many names can I use to receive mail at my Irish Office address ?     To The Top

You can use up to two names.  These can be any combination of business and personal names.  All mail addressed to the two names will be forwarded to the name and address provided by you.  You can change this address as often as you wish.  Read this guide for help in choosing your names.

 How do I update my subscription information ?     Back To The Top

You cannot log into your account and make changes.  All requests for changes to your subscription information can only be done by e-mail request.  You must quote your subscription account number and your e-mail must originate from the primary e-mail address given when you subscribed.  We will confirm the changes to you by e-mail.

 What's different if I'm based in Ireland ?     Back To The Top

 What will my Irish address look like ?     Back To The Top

You will have a regular street address without an obvious suite number.  We can do without suite numbers because our database has excellent search facilities.  Your street address will be in a mixed residential and commercial area.  It will be very similar to this fictitious address ...

Your Name

24a Main Street

Dublin 1

Ireland

 Do you provide addresses outside Dublin or in the UK ?     Back To The Top

No - we can only provide you with a Dublin based address.  This may change.

 Can I use my Irish address on my stationery ?     Back To The Top

Yes - You can use your Irish address on your website, letterheads, business cards, leaflets etc.  You may not use our phone numbers unless you have paid for our telephone answering service.

 Why is subscribing to Irish Office a two part process ?     Back To The Top

We could easily have our credit card (cc) processor Paypal handle the whole transaction including all your personal information.  However, our method is much more secure as your private information is not passed to us via a third party.  Besides, we still need this form for customers who choose to pay us by E-Gold, Bank Draft, Postal Order etc.

When filling in the subscription form at Irish Office, please make sure you indicate the name you used at Paypal so that we can match your cc payment to the form you filled in at our site.  You do this by selecting one of three options buttons.  If, by any chance, the name you used on your cc does not match one of the three names you used filling in the subscription form, please indicate the name you used in the comments box at the bottom of the form.

 When subscribing, can I submit my information by post or fax?     Back To The Top

Yes - Make sure you give us all the information you normally would on our subscription page.

 Do you ever open my mail ?     Back To The Top

No, We never open your mail or letters unless you specifically request us to do so (usually for scanning the contents).  We simply insert your mail unopened into another envelope and forward it directly to you. (Packages / parcels may be subjected to customs scrutiny).

 Can you hold mail for remailing at a future date ?     Back To The Top

Yes - All you have to do is use paperclips to attach a note to your letter for future remailing.  The note should say something like this: "Do not post until 2nd June 2004"   To avoid confusion, please don't use numbered months.   02/06/04 could mean the 2nd June or the 6th February depending on which side of the Atlantic you reside. (Storage charges may apply).

 Tell me about your mail scanning service.     Back To The Top

If for some reason you don't want your mail forwarded to your address, we can scan it and email to you. We can then seal it up again and hold it or simply shred it - it's up to you.  We use our discretion and will not scan obvious junk mail or magazines.  Naturally we will have sight of your mail when we open it; but don't worry, we're so busy in this office we couldn't be bothered reading it.  Also, if it's not in English we will not understand a word of it!

Please e-mail us for a quotation on this service.  We will need to know the maximum number of pages per month you expect to have scanned & E-mailed.

 What happens to my mail when my subscription expires ?     Back To The Top

If we receive mail for you after your subscription has expired we will try to contact you for up to one month. After that your mail and your details will be destroyed.

 Tell me about my postage deposit account.     Back To The Top

Postage deposit accounts do not apply to flat rate subscriptions, which are all inclusive. If you have a regular annual or bi-annual subscription, you must also set up a postage deposit account. We use this account to fund postage for forwarding mail to you and remailing mail for you.  We also use it to cover the cost of postcards (supplied to you at cost). Your postage deposit does not expire - it is transferred from one subscription to another.  We just double the postage up to 250 Grams. This drops from 100% to 45% on a sliding scale. More info here.  Your postage fee covers the following . . . . .

 The € payment to my postage a/c was not converted to Euros at the market rate !

We are not bankers. We have to go by tourist rates.  These are about 3% - 4% less than the rates quoted on the financial news. The dollar/euro rate is quite volatile and can change considerably from one end of the week to the other.  We do the conversion within 48 hours of receiving your payment.

Once the conversion has been made to Euro your postage account is kept absolutely accurate to the exact cent.  If you are sending us a foreign draft or cheque please use tourist rates when converting currencies.

 What happens if I buy a new subscription before a previous one expires ?

We always recommend that you do this.  Your new subscription does not start until your old subscription expires. This applies to all subscription types. It also applies when you are moving from one subscription type to another.

 How often do you send out my mail ?     Back To The Top

Normally once a week. We can send it out more often if you wish. We can also hold it for as long as you want.  We will follow your instructions which you can change as often as you like. Storage charges may apply.

 When is my subscription activated ?     Back To The Top

Your subscription starts when we receive your payment.  If you have paid by personal or business cheque/check we will hold on to any mail until your cheque it has cleared - this can take several weeks.  If you are in no hurry to your receive your first piece of mail then cheques are fine.

 What is my renewal date ?     Back To The Top

We do a once-off adjustment so that your renewal date is always the first day of a month.  If you subscribed on the 1st - 10th of any month your renewal date is the 1st of that month plus 6 or 12 months. If you subscribed on the 11th - 31st of any month your renewal date is the 1st of the next month plus 6 or 12 months.  This means that you can loose up to 10 days if you subscribe early in the month and you can gain up to 21 days by subscribing later in the month.

<<<  You should renew one month before your subscription expires  >>>

 What is the best method of payment ?     Back To The Top

The quickest, cheapest and most reliable method of payment is e-gold.  It is also anonymous unlike credit cards which keep detailed records of all transactions for many years. Click here for information on e-gold.    << Everyone should have a free e-gold account >>

This is a full list of payment methods . . . . . .

 Do you accept mail that has to be signed for ?     Back To The Top

Yes - We accept all mail and parcels that have to be signed for..

 What is the maximum acceptable weight of a package / Parcel ?     Back To The Top

The maximum acceptable weight for normal postage is 2 kg.  You will have to use courier services for parcels above 2 kg.  Courier and parcel rates are detailed here.

 Can I have my mail couriered to me ?     Back To The Top

Yes - We use Ups and FedEx for couriering.

Unlike regular post we do not charge double the postage for couriered items. At the moment we charge 45% of the courier fee to cover our costs (This may change).  We always e-mail the tracking number.

 What items cannot be forwarded to me via your service?     Back To The Top

The postal service has prohibited the following items: explosives, destructive items, guns,  weapons, ammunition, drugs, live material,. plants, food, some liquids and some pornographic items.  If it’s banned, the authorities will confiscate it, and we will be forced to cancel your account.  If in doubt, ask us first.

 Is there a storage fee for holding my mail ?

Yes. There is a charge for storing letters or parcels for more than about a week.  We cannot put a figure on these charges. It is entirely dependent on bulk / weight / duration.  Contact us with your anticapated usage and we will give you a quotation.

 What information do you need from me to set up an account ?     Back To The Top

If you subscribe to one of our flat-rate scan-only accounts all we will need from you is an email address.  If you want us to forward your mail, will need a full postal address and an email address. No other information is required.

 Have you any recommendations as to an email address ?     Back To The Top

If you want a free anonymous email address we recommend Yahoo Mail.  It has the big advantage that you can send and receive email using your regular email program without using the web browser interface (i.e. you have free POP & SMTP access).  If you want free pgp encrypted e-mail we highly recommend mailvault.com

We also recommend that you use Pegasus as your email program - it's great - it's free - it's html safe and it's not hacked and attacked like Outlook is.  The best thing about Pegasus is that you can preview your mail headers before choosing what to download.  If you get a lot of spam you can delete it on the mail server without downloading it.

 What Countries do you deal with ?     Back To The Top

All countries without exception.  We are trying to be as global as possible and get as many translations up on our website as we can.

 Can I re-open an old account / subscription ?     Back To The Top

Perhaps. All personal customer data is destroyed 8 days after an account is explicitly closed by a customer and about seventy days after an account has lapsed.  This includes all data backups.  If your personal information has been destroyed you must submit it again when opening a new account.

 Can I have more than one account / subscription ?     Back To The Top

Yes - you can have as many subscriptions as you like to the one service or different services.  These can be in different names or aliases.

 Is this service legal ?     Back To The Top

Yes 100% legal.  It is not illegal to have an offshore address or to use an alias.  If you use it for fraudulent activity or illicit goods then that use is illegal.

 What happens if mail does not arrive?     Back To The Top

Like all postal services, we cannot give an absolute guarantee of delivery.  The Irish postal service is extremely reliable and it is highly unlikely that mail will ever go missing.  If an item does go missing we will do our best to investigate it's disappearance.  At the end of the day we are not responsible - It is up to you to ensure that any valuables items are properly insured and/or registered.

 Do you give refunds ?     Back To The Top

We do not give refunds for unused or unwanted services.  If we have let you down in some way and not fulfilled our obligations to you, we will certainly give you an appropriate refund or free services - your choice. Refunds are at the decretion of Irish Office management.

 Do you have any testimonials from existing customers ?     Back To The Top

Yes, we have had dozens of unsolicited testimonials, but they will never ever be publicised.  They would mean nothing without a name and address,  however, giving that type of information would totally violate our privacy policy.  Besides, anyone can make up any number of testimonials, so they really mean nothing.

 What is your credit card policy ?     Back To The Top

Once Paypal.com have accepted a cc payment we do the following ...  We look at the registered name and address for that credit card.  If it is a different address but the same country as the forwarding address we usually look for some verification.  If it is a different country we always look for verification.
We verify transactions by posting a form for signature to the registered address of the card owner, or by phone.  When verifying by phone we always double check check the area code, phone number, district etc.  If these verification procedures might cause you problems, please choose another method of payment.

 Any more questions ?  -  Email Us