A book sent to an active member at PBS will not earn credit until the requestor marks it received, unless PBS Delivery Confirmation is used to send the book.   The average time in transit at PBS is 9 days, which includes books mailed to or from addresses outside the contiguous U.S. 

If your book has been longer than 2 weeks in transit, and has not been marked received:

• Remember that the requestor may be away from home and unaware if the book has arrived. 

• If this is the case, he or she can mark it received when he or she returns home. 

  • If the book transaction is still active, he or she can mark it received from the En Route to Me tab in My Account.
  • If the book has been declared lost in the mail, it can be marked received from the requestor's Transaction Archive.
• A book sent to an inactive account (one which the system has deemed inactive because the accountholder is not logging in, despite emails notifying him or her that this is needed) will be marked received by the system.

• If you want to discuss the book, you can contact the requestor using the  button on the transaction on the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account. If the book has been declared Lost in the Mail, the transaction can be found in your Transaction Archive, linked from the top of your My Account main page.

  • If the member does not respond to your PM within 5 days, contact us and let us know.
  • Be sure your PM to the requestor specifies the title of the book.

If you sent the book with Delivery Confirmation and it has been recorded as delivered by USPS but hasn't been marked received yet:

• Remember that the book could have been scanned as "delivered" at the local PO, before it went to the requestor's mailbox--the actual delivery can be a few days later  Also, the book could have been misdelivered.
  • The requestor should check with her mail carrier about this package.
  • The package could also be at her local PO being held for pickup; sometimes pickup notices left by the mail carrier go astray.
• You should FIRST contact the requestor using the  button on the transaction on the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account when a few days have passed after delivery.
  • If the requestor does not respond to your PM within a week, or has not marked the book received by a week after the delivery scan (whichever is the later date), contact us.  We will look into it.
  • If the requestor responds and says she or he DID get the book, she or he can mark the book received one of two ways:
    • if the book has NOT been declared lost in the mail at PBS - from his or her active transactions (on the En Route to Me tab on My Account) as described in .
    • if the book HAS been declared lost in the mail at PBS - from his or her Transaction Archive (linked from the top of the My Account page)  as described in I received a book that was 'lost in the mail'.
• If you used DC purchased through PBS, or PBS Printed Postage, you will already have gotten your credit for sending the book.

If you sent the book with DC purchased elsewhere and it has been recorded as delivered by USPS but hasn't been marked received yet:

• First, contact the requestor from the active transaction (in the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account), or from the "lost" transaction in your Transaction Archive if the book has been declared Lost in the Mail by PBS.
• If the requestor does not respond to your PM within five days, contact us and we will look into it.
• We cannot grant credit for DC purchased outside PBS, but we can check if this requestor has become inactive.
• If this requestor is inactive, your book should be marked received by the system.

If your book does not arrive by the 26th day (the 35th day if the sender or requestor is outside the contiguous US) after you marked it mailed, it will be declared Lost in the Mail at PBS.  This does not mean that the book is actually lost; it may simply be delayed en route.  You can read more about Lost books in A book I sent is lost in the mail!.