mailboxs and/or virtual office

A question about : mailboxs and/or virtual office

hi guys

after a mailbox for a business set up, many firms online that provide an entire virtual office at a cost, only need an address....does anybody have any experience of dealing with a repeatable firm at a cheap price?

thanks
annhan

Best answers:

• Mailboxes, etc., self-storage units, some dodgy-looking newsagents in London all do mailboxes.
  They can look suspicious though
• As others have said unless you run a business that you have a legitimate need to hide behind a mailbox, such as my friend who runs a business that deals with rehabilitation of offenders and who for obvious reasons doesn't wish to use his home address, then in many peoples eyes it makes you look dodgy. If you had to use a mailbox my personal opinion is that a PO BOX would be somewhat more professional although more expensive.
  The other option if its predominately for official correspondence then speak to your accountant, most offer a office address for this
• have a small biz and cannot afford storage space so keep products at my house, would like another address as a mailbox as this gives me more security. Anyhow i found a good firm that offer this service at dirt cheap price: any other very dodgy people may find this link useful...
  https://www.payasyougopost.com/
• Some of my clients have and still do use a postal address. I operate in the US and use one for my New York Office. I cannot be in the UK or US at the same time.
  I use a London address for my business to despite being based in the Midlands. I need to as being a Business Consultancy unless you are in London or New York the chance of getting work is far lower.
  There is nothing IMHO in using addresses, just make sure you pay a decent company, that in my case is around Ј80 per month.
  My phones are cheaper as I supply them anyway.
• They are con artists all they do is cross your address out and write redirect on it for your new address. Your mail is not insured, paid for or neither can they get proof of postage either as they do not buy any postage.
  You will get the fee 2 pay cards from royal mail to get your items too.
  if you want any more info please write back on here
• 1st SECRETARIAL aka PAY AS YOU GO POST are a RIP OFF BEWARE
  PAY AS YOU GO POST aka 1st secretarial are a RIP OFF BEWARE
  There are four levels of membership and they forward on any mail to you by simply sticking an address label over the existing address so they do nhot even incur extra postage though they do charge as if they did. We chose the low user option at Ј30 a year and up to 30 letters redirected a year. If you exceed usage you are then expected to top up before the end of the year. We used 5 letters out of 30 in 4mths and they then sent an email requesting more money for renewal. Ignored my emails and only have a premium rate number to contact them which they also trap you into a messaging system which costs dearly. Its a scam and far worse once you are entrapped in their system you will lose all your mail unless you cough up the extortionate rates. KEEP AWAY and report them withholding your mail to the police because it is an offence and illegal.
  They also operate under the guise of 1st secretarial
  Pay As You Go Post is a division of 1st Secretarial Ltd | Company Registration Number: 07823009
  Registered Office: 67-68 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8JY
  MLR Registration Number: 12659565 | Data Protection Act Number: ZA019556
• ^^^
  LOL
  a) The above registered address is a virtual/mailbox address
  (See post#2 by Wywth)
  b) The company has only ever submitted one set of accounts; those for the period ending 31/10/2012 which declared the company as DORMANT for that period. Later accounts were due 31/07/2014 so are now OVERDUE
  Thanks for the warning, but the signs were already there
  Edit: The premium rate phone number you refer to is presumably the 0871 number they display prominently on their website, and which you were presumably aware about before deciding to employ their services.
  Calls to this number from a BT residential landline cost 10.211ppm (inc vat, plus the usual BT connection charge.
  But if you really don't want to pay this, (or as a good MSE'er just prefer to pay less) then consult www.saynoto0870.com and you will find yourself an alternative geographic number. Admittedly, the alternative is not yet verified, but if you put the geographic number into google, there are several entries that relate this to 1st secretarial, so I guess it's genuine.
• I probably should have said
  THIS THREAD WAS STARTED IN JULY 2013
  ... and was last posted in in February this year until it was bumped by money08
• It may have been started in 2013 but the information / warning remains valid today, it seems :-(
  Earlier this year, I signed up for 12 months' service. To date, I had 2 "forwarded" letters - all they seemed to have done was to cross out the original address, write the new address in pen, and chuck it back into the post.
  More concerning is the fact that, after 4-5 months, I received a renewal reminder taking me straight to a payment form. The site did show the time remaining on my contract so, I suspect, a lot of people might just go ahead and pay (again).
  As I knew I had many months remaining, I e-mailed them - but all I had were automated messages telling me that they are busy and, if my e-mail warranted a reply, they would do so in due course. Several weeks later and I still have not received anything but automated responses.
  Lastly, and most concerning, is the fact that I paid Ј20 extra to use their address as my company's registered address. A company must, by law, show it's name and have copies of certain company documents available for inspection at it's registered address. At no point, however, did they ask me for this information or provided me with a place to upload the documents to them.
  Of course, they might argue that they never explicitly said they will do these things and that the "use as company's registered address" service means - well - exactly that for which you have already paid i.e. mail forwarding. In that case, however, I cannot see how a company can use this service and remain legal i.e. with company name and documents in place?
  So, on the basis of them trying to get renewals despite my service not being up for renewal, not replying within several weeks and - as far as I can see - not meeting the expected requirements for a legal company address service, I strongly advise people not to use their service.
  Now, can anyone recommend a better service that does not cost an arm and a leg? I have a still-non-trading company and simply wish to keep my home address private...
• I signed up with them 3 months ago, they have sent me ZERO post, I even sent a test letter, but still nothing. I have tried contacting them but just get a generic reply. AVOID!
• You guys should use https://www.ukmailboxdirect.co.uk
  I have sent 2 test mails throughout the year and now onto 2nd year with them, always received the mail
  You could also use https://www.londonpresence.com who have a ton of reviews but cost more for being in London