Josh Kim dot Org

Since I’m moving in about a week, I started making a list of address I have to change. It’s becoming longer and longer, including:

• Mailing Address (done): USPS
• Financial: Chase (done), Chase Credit Card (done), Charles Schwab (done), FNBODirect (completed), HSBC (completed), Zecco (screw it, I’ll do this later), Paypal (done)
• Work/Insurance Companies: Nessie (Oh dear lord, the illinois.edu change has made a mess… will do this later), Health, Dental, Vision
• Online Stores: Amazon (done), Ebay (done), ThinkGeek (I like the catalogs…, completed)
• Utilities (disconnected): Power (08.04), Water(08.04), Internet(07.30)
• Etc: Gamefly (done), Wired

Note to self: (done) means the new address, (completed) means new new address.

There should be an app that does all of this for a one time fee. I’d pay for it. I actually will be moving again in three weeks, after my new lease starts at my new apartment. When that happens, I’m going to have to go through most of these sites again. Ugh.

I bet, though, this is going to be near impossible other than hacking through some of these sites because of the lack of an API, or completely impossible if a service doesn’t have an address change form available online. Never say never, though.

Sidenotes Galore

I was met with some of the worst and the best UI on the Internets while changing my addresses. Just a few sidenotes, for my reference and for yours.

• Ebay Address Changing SUCKS: You have to type in the same information three times. There should be a “Change All”.
  • Registration address
  • Payment address
  • Primary shipping address: But this one is nice, because it matches up with your PayPal account
• I still hate HSBC’s User Interface
  • Minor nuisance: I had to go into “Customer Service” to change my address, labeling wasn’t clear
• Funding your Zecco account is still a pain. I’m going to continue to hold off on using a service with such a trashy money moving system.
  • The instructions are ridiculously convoluted.
• Whoa. The USPS Address Change form restricts me from copying and pasting my confirmation email address. Makes sense. More sites need to do this (even though it’s annoying for me).
• I love Mint. Just a few minor UI issues aside, it’s beautiful. I wonder if Mint is working on some glorified address changer. It’d make sense for them to do it, since they already have a universal login screen across multiple banks and financial institutions.
• Amazon’s Address Book: There’s a confirmation page for removing an address, but there is no easy to access cancel button.