I tell everybody I meet about this site.  The wife of one of my drivers was interested, joined, listed some books, and has had a request.  She said when she tried to print the label, her home address was not recognized.  It's there.  I swear.  What shall we do?

Hi Mrs Grim!

She needs to make sure she is entering her address EXACTLY as the USPS Website shows it.   PBS is linked with the USPS database and if there is a problem, she might need to speak to her Postmaster about getting her address updated in the database.

The USPS database is not accepting this address, so PBS cannot accept this address.  If the USPS website does not have this address, then she needs to ask her local Postmaster to have the address added to the USPS online database as a valid address. In other words, when someone uses the Find a ZIP Code tool at www.usps.com and enters this address, with the number, it needs to come back under the heading "Full Address in Standard Format".

If an address is not in the USPS online database that does not mean that PBS is saying
(1) the address does not actually exist or
(2) the address does not receive mail.

It is merely a clerical task to keep things working in the onlineworld in which PBS operates - the address must appear in the USPS online
database.

Getting the USPS database updated can sometimes take a few weeks. If her local Post Office is unable to assist, then she can call 1-800-ASK-USPS for help.

USPS needs to submit address to the company who manages USPS's online database. They submit the info, the company adds it to USPS's online database.

This is controlled by our postage server.  Which is based on the official USPS address.  It has to be an EXACT match of the format.  Having an abbreviation different can cause it to be refused.  A period in the wrong spot can get it refused.

To make this more complicated, there isn't really a standard format.  Different regions enter apartments and abbreviations slightly differently. 

I recommend going to the USPS zip code look up page and coping it EXACTLY.

PBS does not control this.  We are required to have the official address.  (This is especially frustrating for APO addresses.)

Thanks loads for your quick responses.  I just checked in with her and it looks like she went to the post office and got it taken care of between the time I heard about it and now.  It was her husband who told me and this is the first chance I've had to ask.  He was supposed to have told me quicker, I think. 

Dudes...

*******

Wowzers.  I blows my mind out that her address wasn't listed in the database.  It's in the oldest part of town, just 7 blocks off the main gate of the (still operatin') fort that housed some of the first Europeans to make it this far.  I'll bet the house is a hundred years old easy and it's not the first one to be there.  I've seen pictures.  Funny what slips past the computers.

*******

Hunter, I totally dig your siggy and bow to the QDD.  They can bite me too. lol

The post office local branches are paid based on the list of approved addresses.  They are usually very happy to add addresses to the databases.  But more often, it is the format.

My problem when joining - USPS has my street name spelled wrong.

I had this problem because my (new) address had never been entered in the USPS database.  My local post office just never got around to it.  Finally I called the regional office in charge of managing the database and got it taken care of.  USPS does have a website where you can look up the correct form of any address that's in the database.

Turns out the landlord listed the address as 123 Their Street, apartments A & B.  The post office, however, lists them as apartments 1 & 2.  It's all good now.  Thanks again for all the info.

My entire zip code didn't "exist" at many places (particularly gas stations) for about 2 years after their systems started requiring them for ID verification when you use your card to buy gas at the pump.

That was pretty annoying.

Wow, so interesting to hear about this type of problem.  When we moved into our new house 3 years ago (an address that had been a vacant wooded lot before we built the house), right away the address worked so I never had an issue with my PBS mailings.