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8 years ago
I have been a customer at Orinda Mail Call since 2012. They provide a small number of private mail boxes (PMB's) of different sizes and provide you with a street address to get FedEx and UPS deliveries, just like competitors The UPS Store and Postal Annex do. They have a total of 120 small mailboxes to rent and 32 medium ones. The main difference between them and other mail stores is they are a single store (not a national company with franchises) and rent mailboxes for much less money: $90 for 13 months for a small mailbox, if paid for the year in full (they throw in the 13th bonus month if you pay in full). If you pay by the month, the cost comes tout o a little more. Compare this to $200-$400 a year at most of UPS Stores. You also have to pay a refundable $5 deposit for the mailbox key and another refundable $5 deposit if you want a key for 24-hour access. (They didn't have that latter key available for me when I first signed up, and it took a few weeks for them to get one since their locksmith they used was not available sometimes.) Otherwise they are open from 10 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday, and 10 AM to 5 PM on Saturdays. They are closed Sunday. The USPS post office, should you need that, is also in the next plaza, just literally a 1 or 2-minute walk away. There is also a UPS Store and FedEx Office nearby. USPS mail is delivered there usually at 10 AM, and they finish putting it in the mailboxes by noon. It is such a small space, like the size of a household bathroom. I have rarely seen any other customer in there. I like small and personal! The reason they are so inexpensive is they are part of McCalou's, a chain of small, old-time department stores in northern California. One of the McCalou's locations is next door, and is actually connected to Orinda Mail Call from the inside. (McCalou's also owns Hollyhock Cards & Gifts.) The employee only works there a few hours a day putting mail in the mailboxes. But if you need someone or have to pick up a package, all you do is ring the buzzer and they come right away from McCalou's. If for some reason no one comes in a few minutes, just walk next door to McCalou's and get someone. I've only had to do this once. Usually they come in a few seconds. They have always been so kind and courteous, and you get to know the people there. Joan is the former manager, who retired, and now Jane is (I think that is her name--I should really know as I have seen her enough times). They have always happily talked to me. They usually have one of the other employees work there on their day off. I have no complaints. They have never lost any of my mail and do not give me grief if I don't come for a month or so to get my mail, like my old post office in another state did. I don't think they provide service like The UPS Stores do, like shipping services or forwarding all your mail to another place (at your expense) when you request it (though the former manager Joan offered to do it for me since she liked me). But I am sure if you called in the would tell you what mail you have. Also, if you have Certified Mail from USPS or the like, I think they give you a slip and you have to go to the actual post office to sign for it and pick it up. I have never received Certified Mail here, but I like this option since it allows you to refuse the letter if you want (like if you are trying to avoid service), rather than them automatically accepting it. You have to realize that they are not really there to compete with other mailing stores, especially at $90 a year. They just have always provided this service, mostly to the locals, and I am sure they do not make much of a profit. This is the only mail store McCalou's has; the other locations do not have them. I am so lucky to have found them. I had to do my research, as they do not advertise. read more
