I have been waiting for a book 19 days now (mailman has already run) from California.  Typically books can take a week or so from there.

I have also been getting emails from PBS asking if I have received this book.

I checked the details again today when it did not arrive in the mail.

Please explain if the book was mailed on the 1st why the label was reprinted on the 15th.  In addition, this member has not sent any comms regarding problems sending, etc.

That "date last printed" date will change any time the sender accesses the label.  Maybe he/she was wondering why it hadn't arrived yet too, and pulled up the label just to see where it was going.  I've done that before.  It doesn't necessarily mean that they actually printed the label, just that they accessed it.  I wouldn't worry about it.  Media mail is unpredictable- sometimes it's really fast and sometimes not.  That's why PBS allows 4 weeks for a book to arrive.

There could be many of reasons why they viewed the label again. As Lesley mentioned they could have been looking to see where it was going since it was taking so long. I will sometimes print a label on a book that is about to go lost because I have no way of getting the address after it is lost, in order to try to track the book. Someone could have sent it incorrectly (not taken to PO over 13 oz, not enough postage, packaging fell apart) and it can back to them so they had to remail it.

Yes, they could have also printed the label and marked it mailed, but failed to do so. Its not very considerate to mail so late without letting you know, but something serious could have come up, and as long as the book makes it to you before the lost date in the system, there is no penalty to the sender, you still must mark it received. Make sure to record any post marks on the the book when the system asks. They will get a warning and if they do it a lot, the site admin will have a talk with them.

Thank you for the input.

I am hoping it is just curiosity that had them check twice in a two minute period on the 15th and that they did indeed mail the book.

I have only had one book take a long time to get to me and it was coming from overseas.  For the most part, 20 days from CA seems extreme, but could be lost.

I am hoping they mailed when they reported they did.  Time will tell.

One other time I had a book the system marked "lost" and never received it.  Interestingly enough, the sender's Bookshelf had that book showing after that....

Thanks

I've actually accidentally clicked the reprint button when meaning to click the details button.  It could be something as simple as that.

When the book does arrive, make sure to fill out the dates in the form.  After all, the FIRST print date was after the mail by date.  The system tracks late mailings from the short question page.  If this person has a habit of mailing late, TPTB will then have a record of it only if we fill out the form.

"When the book does arrive, make sure to fill out the dates in the form.  After all, the FIRST print date was after the mail by date. ......  If this person has a habit of mailing late,"

Actually this person did not mail late...there is a 2 day window after the Mail by date that a person has to actually mark the book mailed.  They were still within that time frame.

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions.  I do always take the time to completely fill out the receipt form including the type of packaging, handwritten or not, and the date postmarked. 

If the book is in particularly good shape or if the sender appeared to take exceptional care when packaging, I typically send a "Thank you" PM as well.

The book could also be going on a detour.  I have a book enroute to me from a game.  It only had to go from OH to MD but it's taking close to a month now.  I put the DC into the PO website and they sent the book to WA for some reason. 

IIRC there are conditions to the two day mailing window.  The button says 'mailed' not 'will mail'.

I echo everyone's comments about the unpredictability of the mail.  I once mailed a book that arrived the final day before it would have gone "lost," and it was sent first class!  Hopefully that book will arrive shortly, Barbara.

Barbara, I always send a thank you to the person who sent me a book, not just if it is in exceptional condition, etc. I've always wondered why everyone doesn't. Most of the time I get a thank you for books I send also. Just wondering, why don't you always send a thank you?

Many members don't see sending a thank you as a good thing since it means (or used to) logging-in just to see a thank you.  They get annoyed.  Another reason is that the members have agreed by joining and postiing books that it is a resonsibillity to send books requested and doing so is just part of the transactional requirement.   Therefore why thank someone for doing their job?    In the end it just comes down to expectationsl  And tbere have been numerous threads debating this issue.   It is a thread that recurs in cycles.  You just have to decide whether you feel you need to thank people and then not to take it personally if you don't get ones in return.

Ruth

As far as not sending "thank you's" for each and every book, Ruth F. explained my reasoning.  Not everyone wishes to be troubled for PMs thanking them.

UPDATE:

The book I reported that started this thread....

I finally received a response back from my PM inquiry in the wee hours this morning.

Basically they claim they were moving and the book got packed in a box and then they had sporadic internet.

Now, I would like to believe this is the case, however, consider this:

They had internet access to reprint the mailing label on the 15th (twice), yet they could not take an additional moment to type a PM at that same time while they had that internet access explaining the problem and that the book actually had not been mailed on the date it was reported mailed to the system?

If I had found I had made such a huge error, I would not have been waiting for an inquiry from the person waiting, I would have immediately contacted via PM and explained the problem with profuse apologies for my error.  I only received an explanantion because I sent an inquiry on the 19th.

Nothing to do now but wait and see the actual mail date, which I now know was not 1 June.

This is why I do not mark books mailed until they are actually enroute.  I understand that some folks have time constraints where they may forget, etc, but if I have a book to mail, (such as this morning), the book is wrapped and labelled waiting to go out in the very next mail day. 

Benefit of the doubt, I suppose.  Will keep posted here when/if it arrives.

Hopefully it will arrive before the lost date, but at least if not you know not to re-order another copy. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt too, but so far every single time I've had someone reprint the label days (or weeks!!) after it was marked mailed, the book has been sent after the second printing.

It could happen that people hit the button by mistake I suppose, but I don't know why you'd hit the details button anyway. Since most of the details about a book you've sent show up right on the main page like this...(copy/pasted from one of my 'books I've mailed)....

En Route To: CO
Requested: 6/15/09 10:21 AM
Last Printed: 6/18/09 11:08 PM
Mailed: 6/19/09 4:36 PM

...I don't understand why anyone would need to hit the details button, which only gives the person's name and actual address in addition to that information. And knowing that information isn't going to help you, as the sender in any way, is it? If you need to PM them, there's another button for that.  ::shrug::

Anyway, I hope it all works out for you, Barbara!

Cheryl

There have also been cases where the book package has been returned by the post office & to remail it, they printed the label the second time.

Yes to all of the above, however, in this case, the sender admitted in PM that they "accidentally" packed the box as they were moving and had sporadic internet access.  Yet they had access on the 15th to reprint the label (if there is a date on it when printed, it cannot be sent two weeks later with that date) yet did not send a PM while logged in to say "hey I made a mistake, it is now on its way."

In addition, knowing for certain the book was not mailed as claimed, I still get the nag emails, "Have you received the book 'X' yet?"

No, but just as soon as I do, I will log in and report it received.

The new mail date is unknown, the 15th was a Monday, that is a week ago now.  Or was it mailed even later?  The proof will be on the package, if/when it is received.

UPDATE:

Book ordered and marked shipped by sender on 1 Jun arrived today.

Postmark indicates book was shipped 15 June.