That postal database is especially problematic for those who live in rural areas with no postal delivery. We need a better database system than the one that USPS maintains because it affects a wider range of services.
Two years ago I moved to a house with no postal service, so I got a PO box in town for regular postal mail. I am able to get FedEx, UPS and other non-USPS package deliveries to my residence. Google Maps knows right where I live. For most purposes, this arrangement is fine. But not all.... The first thing I noticed is that Verizon Wireless was unable to update my 911 location to my physical address because they are pulling from the postal database. I tried working through Verizon support a couple different ways but no one knew how to fix it. I finally complained to the FCC and after a couple months someone at Verizon went in and manually updated my address. I'm sure other people are in the same boat. Yeah, hopefully E911 gets a fix in an emergency but I'm not counting on it, especially when I'm inside and I see the Maps application on my phone putting my location at a nearby cell tower. The next issue is that it is impossible to apply for credit cards and probably other loans online. The banks (more than one I've tried) use the postal database and do not recognize my street address and do not accept PO Box input. Another issue is that Amazon (and possibly other online retailers) are charging me and my neighbors excess sales tax based on the ZIP code associated with a town I do not live in. There's a way to complain and have it reversed.... for every single purchase. I know this is out of our hands as network operators, but maybe some day one of you will be in a position to help. > On May 29, 2024, at 7:14 PM, Aaron C. de Bruyn via NANOG <nanog@nanog.org> > wrote: > > > I'm guessing someone in the community has experience dealing with this. > > About 3 years ago my street got typo'd in some sort of national database of > addresses. Two characters were transposed. i.e. "Mian St" vs "Main St". > > It's causing no end of issues with ordering online, pretty much every shipper > has picked up the bad address, and some of the mapping tools too. Google and > OSM appear to be the exceptions. > > Any idea where to go to get this fixed? > > -A
