One customer is pretty angry. He paid $20 for something that could have cost nothing.
“You can do that change of address directly with the postal service for only $1 online or come into your local post office and submit it in person for free,” says Frank Schissler, US Postal Inspector.
Here is the problem: Many people do a random search for ‘change of address’ and wind up on one of a number of sites run by businesses. They might appear to be connected to the United States Postal Service, but they are not.
“Your credit card is being charged anywhere from $29 to $39 for them to change your address,” says Schissler.
Consumers have complained about various sites -including changemyaddress.com, that charge $1 upfront then later tack on additional fees for services.
“It is not illegal for them to charge these additional fees but people need to be aware they don`t need to pay them if people go directly to the postal service website,” says Schissler.
In fact, just this week – it was announced that 16,000 Ohio consumers are entitled to refunds from changemyaddress.com.
The refunds are part of a settlement of lawsuits that attorneys general from Ohio and Washington State filed in 2013 against the site.
