I did a special of 15 older books for 1 credit.

Mailed them with DC# but USPS never scanned them.

The person never got the box and thus they got put down as being lost in the mail.

Well low and behold here they showed up at my house today.

The DC# was blacked out with marker. They covered the recipients name and address with a sticker that was stamped - UNCLAIMED.

I've notified the person that I've got the box of books and to let me know what she wants me to do.

It cost me $5.03 to mail these books media mail b/c of so many books.

Now what do I do??? Spend another $5.03 to Resend ???

That would be $10 for just getting one credit. Sigh.

I think I would notify her that the books were returned to you, but that if she wanted to have you re-send them, she would need to cough up a few more credits. 15 for 1?? You're a lot nicer than I am. :)

Cheryl

I didn't mind sending them out the first time but this was totally not my fault and I'm out more than $5.03 b/c I paid for the PBS DC# - which USPS didn't even scan.

She got her credit back when they were lost in the mail, right?

If you received credit via PBS printable postage or PBS DC (once your book is scanned) then you keep your credit and the PBS "general fund" returns a credit to the requester. If the book goes lost and you didn't use one of these methods then the credit is removed from your account and returned to the requester.

Either way, for lost books the requester gets the credit(s) back. It is just a matter of where those returned credits come from.

Is the address correct? If so, it seems like either the post office or the requester must have messed up. I would try to figure out what happened. I don't think you should be out any more money on this one.

ETA Do they black out DC when there's a problem with delivery? I've never seen that before. I guess I'm overly curious about that because at this point you could just let it go. The requester has her credit back.

I only got Quick Credit so I never actually GOT the credit. The postmaster never scanned the DC# on this package and all the rest of the boxes and packages I mailed that day. However this is the ONLY one that didn't get to it's delivery point.

So Id say Her credit was returned to her.

I just went to the Transaction Archive and looked up this.

OMGosh !!!!

Delivery Confirmation Events

1. 4/14/2009 6:00 PM ET - Electronic Shipping Info Received - QUENEMO, KS
2. 6/23/2009 9:18 AM ET - Delivered - QUENEMO, KS

take it to the po.  they can figure it out and maybe resend it free of charge.  hopefully you had the recievers name and address correct.

I would definitely go to p o and question them on the blacked out dc and address, seems like it is their fault and should remail w/o recharging you.

 The postmaster never scanned the DC# on this package and all the rest of the boxes and packages I mailed that day. However this is the ONLY one that didn't get to it's delivery point

I'd be asking some questions at the post office. It sounds like they screwed up.

Charity - glad to hear that the 'mystery of the missing box is cleared up'' at least to the point that you now know where it is.  Let us know what your Postmaster says. "Curious minds want to know'.  LOL.  Pat

Alrighty I sure will let everyone know. lol

There is also a forum here about the post office where USPS pros answer questions.  They might be able to help you.

www.paperbackswap.com/forum/forum.php

ETA -link

Charity,

Don't send the books back until you hear from the person.  UNCLAIMED could mean any number of things.  The person could have failed to pick the package up at the PO after repeated notices that there is a package waiting for them. There is a timetable for sending back unclaimed items such as parcels, certified letters, etc.  The PO can actually close someone's box after so long if they haven't picked up their mail without instructions for holding or forwarding mail.  Lots of people move without letting their local PO know so that their bills won't catch up with them. They also could have picked it up but brought it back unopened, or just told the clerk to send it back. The person could have died or been in an accident or something and the family hasn't instructed the PO as to what to do with their mail.

If a parcel is marked unclaimed, it most likely means that the PO has made reasonable effort to deliver the item, but with no success. The PO probably scanned the item as unclaimed or refused, making the DC code no longer valid.  That is why they would have blacked out the barcode.

I wouldn't necessarily blame the PO for this one.  Sounds like the person never came to pick it up.

Also, a PO isn't obligated to scan the box when you send it.  It is a delivery confirmation, not a sending confirmation.  It may not get scanned until it's enroute somewhere.  We always do at our PO because we have the time, but we're not required to.

I hope this helps a little!

If the person got a note saying they needed to pick up a package the PO might not scan the box until that person arrives to claim it.
I say this because when I had something sent with DC, my mail box was being fixed and no mail could be put into it so ALL my mail was a PO pick up. The item that had DC did not show as being delievered until after I had picked it up. They even scanned it before handing it to me.

I would ask at the PO see what they can find out.