I ordered a book and it was lost in the mail. There are more books in the system. The email from PBS said to wait a week or two, but the book was mailed January 2, and on January 7 it says "Electronic Shipping Info Received."

When your books are lost, how long do you usually wait before ordering another copy?

"Electronic Shipping Info Received." doesn't mean the book was scanned.  If that's all there is after a month, I'd go ahead and reorder.

definitely wait until the system says it is lost and that is after 26 days and you are almost there but not quite yet on those 2 other books.

If the record says "Electronic Shipping Info Received" on 1/7, then that's the date that the wrapper was printed with DC (or DC and Postage). Since that's 5 days after the book was marked mailed, it's a bit suspicious. I would say PM the other member and just ask if she could let you know when she actually mailed it because you're confused whether it was the 2nd or the 7th. If she comes back with, "oh no, I didn't get to the P.O. until the 20th", then you know to wait a while longer.

You can also paste the DC # into the tracking box at www.usps.com and see if they have any more info than PBS does. Usually they don't, but occasionally you can see a record there before PBS picks it up.

I would at least wait until the system times it out as Lost...

I agree with Cathy about PMing the sender just to be sure where things stand.  Lost books do have to be marked received, from the Transactions Archive, so if you order a second and the first one is actually on its way...you'll end up with 2 copies and out 2 credits.  

To specifically answer your question: If I'm in a hurry, I will just order another copy right away, otherwise I give it a good 2 weeks or more as I have gotten books very late that were postmarked with the correct mailing date.  Sometimes, it really does happen.  Your situation with the printing date being AFTER the mailing date would definitely warrant a PM, IMO.

well, the book I had been waiting for has gone 'lost,' the sender has not answered my PM although it hasn't been 48 hours since I sent it so that may mean exactly nothing.. but I am going to go ahead and reorder the book from someone else.  If I end up with 2, I have someone in mind to share it with. 

I hate I waited so long for this book, my first 'lost' experience.

The "wait 2-3 wks" means to wait 2-3 wks AFTER it has officially gone LOST, not after ordering or shipping. The reason is that many books arrive within days after going lost.

Hi, Sherry, yes, I realize that the book may still turn up.  If it was fiction, I would not have reordered and risked ending up with two copies and spending two credits, but it is nonfiction, and I have a friend I would like to have a copy for anyway.  So actually, if I end up with two, I will be perfectly happy about it.  Don't worry, I will mark it received if it does make its way here!

I have not been a member very long; I''ve received a couple of books and sent out one or two. 

Back in October I requested a book; got the message that it was on it's way, but it never showed up.  PBS declared it lost at the end of November. 

I waited until about 3 weeks ago and then requested a different book, and it has not shown up either.  I received notification it was on it's way within a day or two of my request.  PBS has inquired once already,  if I have received it, yet; I am still waiting. 

Does lightning strike twice like this to very many members?  Do people not follow through with shipping the books or what?  I can't believe 2 different books, from 2 different sources have gone missing in the mail.  Unless the employees at the Post Office are reading them! 

When a book is lost in the mail when its on it's way to you , you  get your credit back. I have had a lot of trouble with lost books. (i also send and receive a lot of books) I have had books show up 2 weeks after they are lost. I blame a lot on the PO because I have gotten book from the other side of the country in 2 days media mail and one book took 3 days to move from one city to another in the same state. I think  my post office doesn't send media mail out until the bag they go in is full. One of the best things is printable postage you get your credit as soon as you mark it mailed so you don't have to wait. Another thing with the PO I sent a book to the next town in NY 6 miles away it took almost a month to get there because it went to Georga first.

There was one month, shortly after I joined, when I had several books go "lost."  Some were probably never mailed.  One was returned to the sender 4 months later (and returned for no apparent reason) and I received it on the second go-round.  I was worried that there would be a lot of "lost books," but it hasn't been the case for me.  It was just a bad month.  (So avoid October of 2006, at all costs!) :-)