Coronavirus Update March 25, 2020 – Mailing Continues

LetterStream continues to print and mail your critical business correspondence.

Arizona, home of LetterStream, Inc., has yet to implement a shelter in place order but even if they do so, both the State and Federal language around Essential Services should allow us to remain operational for the foreseeable future.

Governor Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order on March 23, 2020 which classifies mail and shipping businesses as Essential Services.  A similar order came from the US Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on March 19, 2020 stating that “Postal and shipping workers, to include private companies” are a part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure.  That said, we believe we will continue to process your mail even if conditions worsen across the country.

Additionally we are taking extreme steps to make sure our workforce is practicing CDC recommendations as well as embracing preventive measures as quickly as we implement them.

To improve Social Distancing we have taken three key actions.  First, we have asked that all administrative employees to work from home.  Secondly we have extended our normal operating hours allowing fewer people to be working at any one time.  And finally we have temporarily suspended the use of our Express Letter job type (click to learn more – Express Letter Temporarily Unavailable ). Each of these actions along with the commitment of all the amazing LetterStream team members should keep us positioned to get your mail out.

Thank you for your continued support of our business and for trusting us with your critical mail.

LetterStream – Coronavirus Update March 18, 2020

LetterStream is paying very close attention to the Coronavirus situation and is meeting and taking new actions daily.

At this point, we are still fully operational but we are reducing the number of active employees working at peak times in order to increase “social distancing” for our team.  And while we expect minimal impact, we do know that the amount of mail we can get out the door the “same day” it arrives is likely to be diminished.

Keep in mind that FedEx, Certified Mail, and Expedited mail will have the same priority as always and we believe we will continue to hit those targets.  The change will be in USPS First-class, NonProfit and Standard/Marketing Mail where customers may be accustomed to loading a job at 3pm and seeing it mail the same day, without paying for expedited service.  We foresee this being the most impacted and highly unlikely for weeks ahead.

Here are some things you can do to help us stay in step with you about your mailing projects.  If you need the mail delivered quickly, we highly recommend our FedEx overnight and 3-Day options.  If you absolutely need your mail processed quickly by LetterStream, pay to have your job expedited through rush or expedited services in the shopping cart.  If you just wish your mail would go out faster, I’d recommend trying to load your jobs earlier in the day. Lastly, please anticipate that delays are going to be occurring all around us and all around you.  Please work on plans to compensate for the new normal so that your mailings will go out as needed.

As always, if you have any questions you can contact our awesome Customer Service team, all of whom are working remotely.  Also, our website provides a lot of good help, solutions, and information via the Help button floating in the lower right corner of the screen.

Thank you for your business, for your frequent kind words and for trusting us with your critical mail.  Stay well and hunker down.

USPS Postage Rates 2020

USPS Postage Increase (1)

Mark Your Calendars!

The proposed price changes that the United States Postal Service (USPS) filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) back in October, were approved. Starting January 26, 2020, these new prices will officially be in effect.

LetterStream prices will reflect the rate changes starting on Friday, January 24th at 5pm Arizona Time (6pm EST), so we recommend planning ahead and approving your mailings before the price increases are officially in effect.

As it goes every year, any job in our system that has been approved and paid for prior to 5pm on the 24th will have the old postage prices, even if we mail it on Monday the 27th.  Following is a list of postage changes for some of our primary products.

Here’s the list of items unchanged by the 2020 rates:

  • First-Class stamps staying at $0.55
  • First-Class Postcard Rate staying at $0.35
  • Extra Ounces staying at $0.15 (for letters, not flats)
  • Flat base rate staying at $1.00

And some items that are experiencing an increase, such as:

  • International Rates going up from $1.15 to $1.20
  • Certified Mail going up from $3.50 to $3.55
  • Return Receipt going up from $2.80 to $2.85
  • Electronic Return Receipt going up from $1.60 to $1.70
  • Registered Mail going up from $12.40 to $12.60
  • Flats Extra Ounces going up from $0.15 to $0.20

Sorry, this year we didn’t find any fees that went down for the products that we offer.

Click here to review the USPS press release for 2020 postage rates.
Click here to download and review the complete list of 2020 USPS rate changes.

We should remind you that LetterStream rarely raises our prices.  We simply increase our prices by the amount of the USPS rate increases, and you can expect the same this year as well.

Again, LetterStream will be implementing these changes on January 24th, 2020 at 5 PM, so make sure you approve any jobs you can before the 24th to get the old postage prices.

2019 Postal Service Holiday Shipping Deadlines

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Santa isn’t the only one busy this Holiday season!

We all get sucked into the hustle and bustle of shopping, wrapping, ordering, and MAILING!

The USPS becomes Santa’s little helpers as they deliver about 2.5 million pieces of mail this week alone and about 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Years. (WBRZ)

When sending out letters and packages to family and friends and want them to make it to the desired location by the big day, to do so make sure you follow the USPS shipping deadlines schedule.

Dec. 18 – APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express

Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)

Dec. 20 – First-Class Packages (up to 15.99 ounces)

Dec. 20 – Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

Dec. 21 – Priority Mail

Dec. 20 – Alaska to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail

Dec. 22 – Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express

Dec. 22 – Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express

Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express

If you want more information about these deadlines go to WBRC.com

Happy Holiday!

LetterStream gives back with The 2019 Code Red Water Drive!

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A quick update on the water drive for Phoenix Rescue Mission.
Brown Community Management (https://www.brownmanagement.com/) invited us to participate with them again this year to help the Mission replenish their water supply of bottled water for needy and homeless individuals. And we gladly joined them again.
The Phoenix Rescue Mission is committed to reducing hunger and homelessness throughout Maricopa County. Their annual fall water drive replenishes their inventories as they work to prevent heat-related deaths in the valley. The water drive is called Code Red (https://phoenixrescue mission.org/codered) and we certainly encourage you to get your company involved in assisting in this event or finding others as a great way to give back.
We’d like to thank Brown Community Management for inviting us to participate. And a big thanks to OPACS (OPACS.com) who provided a box truck with a lift gate and a pallet of water to make this a record year for Brown and LetterStream in our contributions. But the biggest thanks goes to the LetterStream employees who grabbed a pallet, a case or just a bottle and dropped it off selflessly for the benefit of those less fortunate. Our LetterStream team donated 7,800 bottles of water.
Our next event is our annual Toys for Tots toy drive. If you are inclined, stop by and drop off an unwrapped toy if you are in the area. Or better yet, find a way to bring your organization together and share in the joys of giving through an event that you organize.

LetterStream Celebrates Sweet 16.

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A quick but heartfelt thank you to all our customers, employees (present and past), vendors and encouragers who have cheered us on in some way over the years.

We say a big Thank You! October 2019 is LetterStream’s sweet 16th birthday.

It has been fun to serve all those who enjoy our service these many years. And one fun fact… as nearly 25 new users discover and sign up for our services each day now (including LetterStream.comOnlineCertifiedMail.com, and MailMyLetter.net), to send one letter or 10s of thousands, we signed up our 16,000th user this month too!

Thanks everyone!!

Las Vegas Debt Connection Symposium and Expo 2019

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LetterStream takes on Vegas!

Come say Hi, and meet some of our LetterStream team. There are many ways that you can meet us, but in this case, all you have to do is stop by our booth. Were talking about the Las Vegas Debt Connection Symposium and Expo being hosted at the Red Rock Hotel, September 10th-12th, 2019. Our booth at this Expo will be stocked with our fantastic and passionate staff.

This Expo will be “focusing on networking and connection with clients, service providers, product suppliers, agencies, and attorneys- at a whole new level… This symposium and Expo’s concept is to have an opportunity to meet peers and other industry professionals, as well as finding new products and services that might make your job easier, better, more efficient, more productive, etc.”  (DCSE)

LetterStream is going to have staff on hand to explain why outsourcing print and mail projects makes the most sense, as well as showing how mail managers can get their important mailings out the door in as little as two minutes. We’re sure there will be many questions about how Certified Mail can be sent and tracked online without ever going to the post office, and will be more than happy to answer every last one of them.

Please stop in and see us about your first-class mailing, statement mailing, payment coupon booklet printing, FedEx letters, annual meeting notice, postcards, certified mail, and any other mailing projects that you might need for a better solution.

Be sure to stop by booth #202, and say hello. We will be awaiting your arrival. See you soon!

Welcome Ashlee, our New Customer Service Manager

Ashlee

Hold on, hold on, before you panic at this headline, Mike hasn’t left the LetterStream team.  He is now our Director of Customer Experience.  We figured that Mike could get a promotion if he could find someone just as awesome in customer service as he is.  That said, we didn’t think Mike would ever get a promotion.  Enter Ashlee.  We aren’t sure how Mike did it, but he actually found someone who can bring help and joy to customers as well as he can.  Ashlee has been with us a few months now, so some of you have already experienced her good nature, knowledge of our systems and overwhelming desire to help people out.

Ashlee has some 5-star training from Marriott hotels and resorts and has supported many different clients in an earlier payroll processing career.  These experiences are quite helpful to her on the job, but nothing can compare to the enthusiasm that she has to be a part of our team and her tremendous desire to support all of our customers.

Next time you call in, be sure and say “Hello and Welcome” to Ashlee.

USPS Postage Rates 2019

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It’s that time of the year again.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) filed their proposed price changes with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), which were approved.  The approved price changes will officially be in effect on January 27, 2019.

LetterStream will be implementing our new prices to reflect the rate increases on Friday, January 25th at 4pm Arizona Time (6pm EST), so we recommend planning ahead and approving your mailings before the price increases are officially in effect.

Any job in our system that has been approved and paid for prior to 4pm on the 25th will have old postage prices, even if we mail it on Monday the 28th.

Following is a list of postage changes for some of our primary products.

2019 USPS Postage Rates:

– First Class Stamps up from $.50 to $.55
– First Class Postcard Rate staying at $.35
– Extra Ounces down from $.21 to $.15
– International Rates staying at $1.15
– Certified Mail up from $3.45 to $3.50
– Return Receipt staying up from $2.75 to $2.80
– Electronic Return Receipt up from $1.50 to $1.60
– Registered Mail up from  $11.90 to $12.40
– Flats (.0001 – .999 oz) postage staying at $1.00
– Flats extra ounces down from $.21 to $.15

For more information, click here to review the USPS press release.

For a complete list of rate changes, you can download data files from the USPS website by clicking here.

LetterStream Participates in Code Red Water Drive

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While the summer winds down in Arizona, the food pantries around the valley have depleted their stockpiles of bottled water and seek to replenish their inventories.  Brown Management, a longtime customer of LetterStream, participated in the Code Red water drive this year and invited us to join along.

Code Red is the name given to the annual water drive that the Phoenix Rescue Mission promotes in order to replenish their water supply.  The mission, operating in the Phoenix area, is committed to assisting families and individuals with their physical needs with a special focus on the homeless population and frail seniors.  Their drive collects water for distribution throughout the valley to prevent heat related deaths.  According to their website (www.phoenixrescuemission.com/) over 100 people die each year in Arizona as a result of excessive heat.

A special thanks goes out to Brown Management for inviting us to participate in this important local event.

The LetterStream team, as they often do, rallied around the task and filled two pickups full of bottled water.  When all tallied up, nearly 2,000 bottles were donated by the team.  We love that the LetterStream team can come together to complete all sorts of projects, not just those related to printing and mailing.

Thanks team!

Printing and Mailing Company Water Drive LetterStream Participates in Water Drive