STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE PO Box Billing Process
1. On the 1st business day of every month (First Notice – Informing customers fee is due by the end of this month for their next term, i.e., 6 month or 1 year which begins the following month)
a. Print billing labels from WebBATS (under Reports | Billing | Labels).
b. Place labels on Notice 32-N (Group E Verification), Notice 32–B, PO Box Fee Due (FIM B Marking), or Notice 32–C, PO Box Fee Due (FIM C Marking).
c. Place Notice in the customer’s PO Box.
Note: Do not use the reminder letters for the first notice!
2. On the 10th day of every month
a. WebBATS sends an email notice of renewal to those customers who have provided a valid email address.
Note: Email notices are not sent to Caller/Reserve and Group E box customers.
3. On the 20th day of every month (Reminder Notice)
a. From WebBATS, print letters under Reports | Billing | Letters. (Letters will only be printed for customers who have not yet paid or presented their Group E Verification letter.)
b. Place letter in the customer’s PO Box.
4. On the 1st business day of every month after the due date
(Prevent Access to Box ~ for customers who have not paid their box fees or returned their Group E Verification letter by the last day of the previous month)
a. WebBATS sends an email notice to those customers who have provided a valid email address and not renewed by the due date.
Note: Email notices are not sent to Caller/Reserve and Group E customers.
b. Prior to plugging boxes for nonpayment, employees (box clerks) should run the “Delinquent Report” and only plug the boxes on that report. With online renewals, employees must use WebBATS prior to plugging boxes.
c. Plug the lock or change the combination if a box customer fails to pay the fee by the due date, submits a change–of–address order, or otherwise indicates that the service is ended.
d. For any payments received between the 1st and the 10th of the month, the box clerks can run the “Receipt by Date Report”, daily if needed, to see if any new payments were received so they can unplug boxes.
Note: For Group E PO Boxes, unplug the box immediately after receiving the Group E Verification letter.
e. When a PO Box payment is made online (Group E PO Boxes cannot be managed online) for a box that is in a past-due status (between the 1st and 10th after the due date), an alert announcing this payment appears on the WebBATS News Page. The alert includes a link to the Online Transaction Report. The report asks the user to unblock the box. Alerts are not generated if a box is renewed online on or before the due date.
Note: As a reminder, customers should not be handed PO Box mail between the 1st and the 10th after the due date (during the delinquent period). PO Box mail should be made available once payment is made by unplugging the box. This applies to any overflow mail.
5. On the 11th day of every month (Box is closed ~ Stop Delivery to the Box and return all mail to sender for customers who have not paid their box fees or returned the Group E Verification letters which were due by the last day of the previous month)
a. Pull the mail from each of the boxes listed on the WebBATS Auto Closed Report.
b. Treat that mail and any subsequent mail addressed to the customer at that box as undeliverable mail.
6. Change the lock
Fee PO Boxes (Within 48 days of closure)
a. Print the Auto Closed by WebBATS Report (under Reports | Payments | Auto Closed by WebBATS).
b. Pull the PS Forms 1093 for the boxes listed on the report.
c. Locks must be changed immediately after a PO Box is closed if the office has a shortage of available PO Boxes.
d. If there is no shortage of PO Boxes take the necessary steps to ensure that locks/combinations are changed within 48 days of the box being closed.
Note: It is preferred that locks are changed after 30 days.
e. Log into WebBATS and update the key and lock information.
Group E PO Boxes Only!
a. Print the Auto Closed by WebBATS Report (under Reports | Payments | Auto Closed by WebBATS).
b. Pull the PS Forms 1093 for the boxes listed on the report.
c. Change the lock immediately on the 11th. A lock change fee can only be charged if the lock is physically changed.
Note: We do not charge the handling/late fee for Group E PO Boxes.
d. Log into WebBATS and update the key and lock information.
NOTE: WebBATS will automatically close all unpaid Delinquent PO Boxes (including Group E Boxes whose primary box holders have not returned the Notice 32-N by the dates described above), Callers, and Reserves. The News page will show you how many boxes/callers/reserves were closed and allow you to view a list of the closed boxes/callers/reserves.
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