Why have I been charged a 'badly addressed' penalty?

There are a few reasons that a badly addressed fee could be charged.  

1. Suite Number missing, incomplete or wrong
2. Postal address incorrect
3. Company name missing from mail for a premium or virtual office plan account

Suite Number missing, incomplete or wrong

On our standard Personal and Business plans you get a unique sorting number, which we call a ‘suite’ number when we refer to it.  The use of this number ensures we can identify your mail as yours.

We have a full article to explain the proper use of your suite number.  Please be sure to take a look and see the options you have to format your address and make your suite number visible.

As an example, a customer has signed up for an account with Private Box and has the following address:

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John Doe
Suite 1234
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037
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The above customer will be charged a badly addressed fee if his mail is addressed in the following ways:

Missing suite number

John Doe
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

Incorrect suite number

John Doe
Suite 1324
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

Incomplete suite number

John Doe
Suite 124
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

Postal address incorrect

If you have mail sent to Private Box, but you have used the wrong postal address you can be charged a badly addressed fee - even if your suite number is correct.  

When the postal address used is wrong there is a very high chance the mail may not even be delivered correctly to our office.

Examples of a badly addressed piece of mail

John Doe
Suite 1234
Level 6, 1 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037
---
John Doe
Suite 1234
1 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

---

John Doe
1234 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

---

John Doe
Suite 1234
24b Moorefield Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

Please note in the above example - Moorefield Road was a previous address we were located in, which we moved away from in 2020.  Since then, all redirection setup from that address has ceased and we no longer receive mail addressed to that location.  It will be very rare for any mail with the above address to be received at our offices now, and is more likely to be refused delivery and returned to sender.

I have a named account - why am I being charged a badly addressed penalty fee?

On our Premium and Virtual Office plans, you have use of our address and a suite number is not needed on the address.  Premium and Virtual Office are usually used for companies, and will look like this:

Acme Limited
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

You must always ensure that your company name is visible on your address.  Without the company name, we cannot identify who the mail belongs to.  Without your company name, it's very highly likely that your mail will just be returned to sender.  This is because it's more likely we won't know who this mail belongs to.

Premium and Virtual Office accounts are more likely to have mail returned to sender rather than have a badly addressed fee.

While it is possible over time for us to collect 'hints' so that we know who your staff members are, this isn't guaranteed.  So if you need mail to be sent to particular staff members you should address your mail with both their name and the company name.  For example:

Jack Frost - Acme Limited
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

If we do know that the person above is a staff member of your company, and we don't have any other customers on our database with the same name then you are likely to get the penalty fee if the mail arrives addressed as follows:

Jack Frost
Level 1, 6 Johnsonville Road
Johnsonville
Wellington  6037

What to do if you feel a badly addresses penalty has been charged to your account in error

Every once in a while, sometimes a badly addressed fee can be charged by our staff in error.  Simply send an email to our support staff and ask them.  They'll be able to tell you why the penalty fee has been charged, and if it is found that the penalty was charged in error our staff will be happy to reverse the penalty fee for you.

PLEASE NOTE: You must contact Private Box ASAP if you think you have been charged this fee in error.  We need to be able to look at your mail and check the addresses.  That way, we can confirm if the fee was legitimate or charged in error.  If you have had your mail destroyed or posted and the mail no longer exists here in our office, we have no way to check.