I received a book today that I had requested on 8/22. The request was promptly accepted, marked mailed and I even received a PM from the member telling me that she had just mailed the book. Time passed, no book and in time it was marked lost, the book was put on my wishlst and I requested the next available copy which arrived last week.

Today I got the book from the original request, mailed 9/30 -- over a week past the date the book went lost, with no PM from the member after the original one stating that she had mailed the book. I went to my transaction archive to mark it received, knowing that I do not have to give the member credit due to the late mailing date. So when I click on the "received" button I was given several options: Yes, I want to give the member credit, do nothing or no, I do not want to give the member credit. I was surprised when I clicked no, it did not give me the option to enter any of the mailing info -- essentially, it was the same as do nothing. I am surprised that PBS does not give you the option of entering the mailing info, so that information goes on the sending member's record. I realize that the mailer has already penalized herself by sending the book late (the cost of the postage) and then not getting a credit, but I was just surprised that there is no way to report that without giving the other member a credit! (Yes, I know I can us "Contact Us" to report this member if I wanted -- I don't.) I have received over 2200 books and, happily, never had this happen before.

Any thoughts or insights?

PBS is already tracking both lost books and late books, so it probably just doesn't matter to them which one this was. Both are dings against the sender if they happen too often. I don't see any reason to use the Contact Us link and report the member separately. She's already got a lost book on her record.

 I reada bit ago about someone mailing out a book right away and for some reason the weight PBS gave for the book was not correct so she used stamps and it got returned to her for not having enough postage, this took a while of course, then she remailed and by then it had gone lost. Such things happen and most of us know to double check the weight for our books. Alas, if this was the case for the person who mailed the book very late for you I would think the person would have sent you a PM to let you know.

 I think you did the right thing, and agree with you, no need to contact the team!

If the sender experienced USPS difficulties, a simple pm could have avoided the OP re-ordering and the loss of her credit.

I had a book attempt to go lost.  I mailed with DC, so when it appeared to be having problems I pm'd the requester.  The book was mailed with PBS DC and counter postage, and mysteriously reappeared back in my mailbox awhile later (after having DC scans 1/2 way across the country).  Because I was in contact with the requester, I was able to re-mail, notifiy requester of new DC, and finally receive my credit.

UPDATE: Yesterday I heard from the member about this book...when the book was marked "Lost in the Mail" she felt so responsible that she acquired another copy and mailed it to me -- hence the mailing date after the lost date -- unfortunately, she did not PM me to tell me, so I requested another book. I felt sorry for this member, who through her own ignorance of how the site works ended up penalizing herself TWICE! I did send her credit to her because she was trying to do the right thing, but did suggest that she familiarize herself with how the site works -- this is not a new member!

Along the same lines of members not understanding how the site works, I requested a book from another member last week...only after she mailed did she PM me to say that she didn't have the book I requested, but she sent me two others "to see if that is what you're looking for." Why she did not just cancel the request I do not understand!? She did graciously say that if either of the books is not what I wanted to not mark them received. Every now and again, I do get frustrated with members who want to participate on this site, but do not take the time to figure out or research how it works. So in the meantime, I am going to be receiving two books that I didn't request and the system won't let me reorder the correct book because I already have a pending request for this book. AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

Yikes, Sally! That was nice of you to give her a credit...and thanks for telling her to learn more about the site. It's disheartening that in a site of readers, so many members don't take the time to read around to figure out how the site works. :)

Oiy Sally, you are attracting some fun ones!

I hope that you do not give the one who sent totally different books a credit no matter what. It might seem mean, but that kind of behavior should not be encouraged in any way.

. . . wow . . . *hugs*

People should buy a clue.  PBS is simple and user friendly, all members have to do is educate themselves to the guidelines and follow them.  As Jeri said, TPTB might cancel the transaction since you have a pm admitting the member didn't send the book you requested *head desk*

It wasn't a wishlist book and today the system let me re-order the book I originally requested so hopefully all is now well!  I got the books today and told the member that I was going to let my order "go lost" -- she was trying to do a nice thing, but I would have preferred that she just cancel my request.

 I find it interesting how people try and make the system work.... no, not by the rules, but goodness who thinks of such things? LOL Sending another copy when one goes lost and sending two wrong books rather than the right one....  It is just so odd! Alas, at least they are trying and hopefully they will read the rules and not cause anyone else issues! Thanks for the update!

Wow, Sally, I'm so sorry that such members seem to be drawn to you. Even though both members were trying to do something nice, they made the situations far more complicated than they needed to be. I hope everything gets set right soon.