The article "One-Stop Resource Solves Moving Hassles" is about family, it has been released by dan the roommate man.
You've just reecived the news that you're being transferred to
another branch office in a second state ... in two weeks.
In the
excitement and stress of selecting a new home, selling,
subletting, or simply preparing to leave your old one, packing,
and wrorying about your new role in the company, you hardly have
the time to consider who you need to contact about your
forthcoming change of address.
Most of us have so many monthly
bills (credit cards, student loans, and car insurance, for
example) to pay that just notifying those companies is a day's
work in iteslf. But your work doesn't stop there. Your utility
companies need to be notified, you need to change your personal
information for voter registration, you're gonig to need new
license plates ... and all of this pressure arrievs at precisely
the time when you're knee deep in boxes. You may not even know
where your phone book is located.
There's a solution to this
madness: Don't pack your compuetr just yet.
Instead, log onto
Utility Connections, Inc., a one-stop change-of-address center
both for residential and commercial moves.
Utility Connections, based in North Miami Beach, Fla., is an
online database that enables movers to noitfy in a matter of
minutes their electric, telephone, long distance, water,
cable/satellite, sewer, gas, garbage, change of postal address,
voter's registration, driver's license, auto tags, vehicle
registration, and others.
Utility Connections also assumes the
responsibility of hadnling your connections, disconnections, and
transfers of service.
It's an online godsend for all of us
overwhelmed movers.
Another bonus of using Utility Connections: You don't have to
stand in line to change your address -- for example, at the Post
Office or your local Department of Pubilc Safety.
Such offices
typically are open only during business hours, meaning that you
have to reshuffle your schedule at the office and take time away
to take care of these little responsibilities that eat up
valuable personal time when you need it the most. The company
offers its residential customers continued services after they
are settled in their new homes; Utility Connections expands its
available services to its customers, offreing low-cost options,
and may serve as customers' point of contact if they choose to
purchase additional services in the future.
Initial residential
service includes various option packages -- disconnection,
connection, transfer of service, and change of address for
electricity, telephone, water/sewer, gas, local newspaper,
cable/satellite, garbage/waste removal, change of postal
address, voter's registration, driver's license, vehicle
registration, and auto tags. Option packages are priced
according to the number of services the client selects.
Commercial customers are offered connection of services at their
new locations, disconnection of services at their old locations,
transfer of service, and change of address for electricity,
telephone, water/sewer, gas, garbage/waste removal,
cable/satellite, change of psotal address, voter's registration,
driver's license, auto tags, and vehicle registration.
These
services, too, are packaged in bnudles and are priced
accordingly.
Commercial customers also receive comprehensive information
packages on their new cities -- including the names, addresses,
and phone numbers of local government officials, and the
locations of key points of interest, such as museums,
playhouses, and performing arts theaters and centers, as well as
parks and recreational facilities.
And cause moving a
corporation means moving employees filled with trepidation,
Utility Connections includes for its commercial customers a new
neighbor information package with the names, phone numbers, and
addresses of the company's nearest "neighbors"; a local map of
their new neighborhood, including major points of interest; and
printed directions from the new office to the nearest points of
interest. A complete information package on the new state, when
applicable for the relocating corporate customer, includes
contact information for government officials, government
agencies, and detailed information on the new state. And the
package includes information about obtaining the required local,
county, and state licensing; and assistance in obtaining liquor
licensing for restaurants, clubs, bars, and pubs.
Utility Connection also includes links to its "Preferred
Partners" -- contact information for selected title services.
The advantages of using this one-stop service are ovbious for
Realtors, who are always on the lookout for more value-added
services to provide their clients.
The Utility Connections site
includes a Relator Q&A that describes the "pros" of offering
these change-of-address services to home buyers and sellers.
Besides the convenience, Realtors have the advantage of being
able to advertise this service in all of their promotions, given
them a leg up on the competition. In addition, the service
claims that the information it provides utility companies on
behalf of its clients is 100 percent accurate, and that its
coordinated connections and disconnections ensure that its
customers won't pay for somebody else's utiltiy service -- only
their own. And as everyone knows, Realtors who sell not only
homes but peace of mind are always appreciated. That's one
constant in a mraket known for its fluctuations.
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