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Kind of an odd question--well, considering the upward trend in these, maybe not that odd--but I also don't want to telephone DPS near the holidays and stay on hold. So...

Just did my super-easy and quick online second renewal. If I call DPS, do they ever allow an applicant to pay extra and have the plastic sent via FedEx or UPS?

Reason I ask is that my neighborhood uses those (opinion withheld due to forum language rules) cluster mailboxes, the ones that are outside on their own platform every couple of blocks...like P.O. boxes but standalone. Seemed like a good idea when I got the house, but they've nothing but a pain. And it means that the mail carrier will not deliver any mail to the house unless it's signature required or a parcel that's too big to fit in the large lockbox things designed for that purpose. Not only does the carrier literally every week stick mail in the wrong slots, but now the cluster boxes have become a favored target of thieves. Evidently it's fairly easy the pry open the back panel, the one the mail carrier unlocks to stick the mail in the boxes, and then just dump all the mail in a bag and away you go. I've heard rumors that there are even copied "master" keys floating around so that some theft can go unnoticed because there's no visible damage to the clusters.

The ones on my street have been vandalized three times this year. Based on replies on Nextdoor.com, many of surrounding streets--I guess partly based on where the cluster boxes are located, i.e., visibility to through traffic (I'm on a low-house-count cul de sac)--have been hit a similar number of times. That has to be over two dozen incidents in 2021 in just my surrounding area. The first time, early last spring, I had an AMEX card stolen and someone used it for two sets of tires at a Tire Warehouse in South Houston. AMEX was great about taking care of the fraud, but that meant a canceled card and issuance of a new one with a new number and the worry about additional identity theft. Clearly Tire Warehouse never asked for ID along with the AMEX card even though the purchase was over $2,000. That or the ID presented was forged, as well. Which leads me to...

I would very much like not to have my LTC end up in someone else's hands. I'd be more than happy to pay for shipping plus a handling fee plus whatever.

But I have a feeling DPS won't do this. Am I right?

I had a mail box theft several years ago. I got mail box that locks and that put an end to that issue. It was the best $40 investment I ever made.

Deitz83 wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:34 pm I had a mail box theft several years ago. I got mail box that locks and that put an end to that issue. It was the best $40 investment I ever made.

Yep, but I have no control over the cluster boxes. They stay locked, but that hasn't stopped the theft. All the houses on the cul de sac block share the same unit of boxes. It looks like this:



It seems to be really easy to defeat the locks, and the thieves are breaking open the back panel, which exposes all the individual boxes...and from the at zero dark thirty it's a lot harder to see someone lurking close to the back of the unit than in front of it.

Might I suggest renting a PO Box at the local post office. They are secure inside the building and thefts definitely get investigated by the postal inspectors.

srothstein wrote: Fri Dec 24, 2021 1:47 am Might I suggest renting a PO Box at the local post office. They are secure inside the building and thefts definitely get investigated by the postal inspectors.

I did check into that, and may go that route. But the nearest location is an 8 miles roundtrip, and it's $342 a year. A real pain when the USPS vehicle drives by your house every workday. It looks like a DPS change-of-address form might need to be submitted to accomplish getting separate residence and mailing addresses on file.

But the renewal deed was already done, and with no option present to add a different mailing address anyway. So I guess I'll wait until January and try calling DPS about it.

Just a follow-up that shows I'm not alone in this bit of frustration:

No mailbox fix from USPS until neighborhood Turns to Ted
https://abc13.com/usps-postal-service-b ... /11393565/

Upscale neighborhood in northwest Houston; took 10 months to even get those vandalized cluster mailboxes replaced. They'd become a beehive in the meantime.

Man; I wish I had the money to get out of this place and move somewhere more rural with a little bit of land...and no HOA...

You can sign up for USPS informed delivery, of course it won't stop crime but you will see if due in your box https://reg.usps.com/entreg/LoginAction ... tion_input

striker55 wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:15 pm You can sign up for USPS informed delivery, of course it won't stop crime but you will see if due in your box https://reg.usps.com/entreg/LoginAction ... tion_input

Great idea. Thanks. Looks like I need to wait until after the 1st to call DPS. I tried yesterday, but stayed on hold for almost 30 minutes before something on their end, or the phone company's, disconnected me. Barring the more predictable solution of a common carrier that comes to my door, being able to at least get an idea of when the plastic should hit the cluster mailbox would help. I'm not expecting the license until around the end of January or early February, so the other possibility is that the cluster boxes get vandalized again between now and then and I can spend 30 minutes in line at the post office waiting to get the mail that was held there due to the damaged boxes.