Topic: MAIL and PACKAGES, Can I receive mail or send belongings before I get there?
For regular envelop type of mail you need to send see the very end of this entry...
For packages it is a bit more complex...
If you are sending packages to arrive with stuff you need for your time here:
The best way would be to put into the flat rate boxes the post office have — you can get a lot in them (they are acceptable as long as you can close them and seal them) and they don’t go by weight. There is a smaller flat rate (with two configurations of box dimensions) we can ship 5 bags of coffee in that is $9.80 and there is a larger flat rate that is $12.95. These go Priority, there is no such thing as Express Mail to here it will arrive at the same time as Priority and would be a waste of your money.
http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm
Everything to here is zone 8, so anything over two pounds (including the total weight of the box) will be cheaper in the flat rate box as 2 pounds priority to zone 8 is $8.25 and 3 pounds is $11.25.
I would recommend you send it to us at our post office box for several reasons...first it will be delivered to an inside rather than to an outside destination (at the Hao Kuni house they leave packages outside); second is we would have direct control whereas at Hao Kuni we are there when we need to be and that depends on guest turnover and when we need to go in for trash and grass cutting. Sometimes we are there 3 times a week, then sometimes once a week. We are only a few minutes from our post office box and we go there couple times a week rotinely, and if you tell me you have shipped or mailed something to the PO Box I know to go in in about 2 days and check special if we were not going that way anyway.
If you do not use the postal service Flat Rate Boxes and elect to use regular Priority Mail and those rates, try to use their boxes as they are already well marked with the Priority Mail emblems all over them.
If you use your own boxes MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that each side of the box has the PRIORITY MAIL stickers or their branded emblem tape visible. When the packages get sorted they WILL NOT take the time to look at the postage or look at the address side — they will pick the box up and if they don’t see the PRIORITY icons might very well toss it into the parcel post bin. If it gets into parcel post it can take three weeks as at the point it comes to Hawaii all mail arrive in Honolulu and if a package is identified as parcel post they do not rush anything for that class of mail and it comes over on a barge rather than a plane, then at this end (on our Island) again it is not handled until other more important mail has been processed. Our post office over here is very good but like other companies they only have so many people to process the massive volumes of mail and parcel post can just be left sitting for a while at several points in the chain.
We use USPS for practically everything and it works like a fine clock as long as you remember to put those stickers on every side or otherwise use the Flat Rate Boxes that are very visible and well recognized by the USPS staff.
Address it to us:
Michael Tucker
Kona Comfort LLC
P.O. Box 874
Honaunau, HI 96726-0874
Very typically, priority mail will get here in two days — even big packages. Sometimes three. The only incidents where it takes longer has been mailed on a weekend, holidays occurred between time it was mailed and time it was in the process cycle, peak busy periods like tax time and Christmas, and when we noticed the boxes were not well marked as Priority with the post office emblems.
Send it with a couple of days cushion (I say mail on a Monday and we should have by Wednesday or Thursday, do this AHEAD of your arrival week -- and they should get here and catch a ride with us to the rentals during our normal routines. We will bring them in and set them in the garage and they will be waiting for you. The garage many people have used it to store luggage, cycling bikes, for parts shipped in and it has worked well for everyone in the past.
IF you want packages while you are at the rental (or get pressed to the final minute before your arrival and you think the packages will arrive the same day you do or a day later and you will be around to watch (mail can come several times but usually in early afternoon). And you want to take the risk of them being out in the rain (we do have a mail box but packages not likely will fit). You can send them to the rental address...They are used to all types of names as many people stay several weeks or longer and sometimes they are workers and need parts, computer disks, etc., so you can actually use your name, or a combo like this:
(Your Name)
c/o Michael Tucker
74-1496 Hao Kuni
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740