Okay, help me out here.  I requested a book on 6/28.  The book was accepted and the label was printed on the 6th.  It was supposed to have been mailed by 7/8, which really means 7/10 with the two day grace period.  That is today and it still hasn't been marked sent.

What happens now?  Will the system automatically cancel the order and send my request back to FIFO?  What happens if the person sends the book anyhow?  Can I mark "REFUSED" on the package and send it back?

The system will cancel the order when he/she times out, and you'll go back on the waiting list for the book. If it should for some reason get sent anyway, and you've already ordered another copy, you aren't obligated to pay for or return the extra book.

Can I mark "REFUSED" on the package and send it back?\

You can, but that's really unnecessary punative to the sender...they will already not get the credit, the book and are out the postage if it happens the way you fear it might (and you could be right). If you refuse the sender will have to pay *again* to get the book back.  Most people just keep the second copy and post it or pass it on.

Yes, unless it was a WL book the system will cancel this order and roll you over to the next copy in line; you do run the risk of getting 2 copies if that happens.  You could send a PM to asking if they have mailed, although PBS *is* already doing that.

This is the Help Center info on the situation you could end up having: (getting 2 copies of the same book)

Scenario #1 (the most common scenario):

• You submit a request, which goes to Sender #1

• Sender #1 does not mark the book mailed before the deadline, but still mails the book.

• Then the request cancels and gets passed to Sender #2, who also sends the book.

• You end up with two copies.

  This situation (the requestor ending up with 2 copies of the book) is part of why marking a book mailed before the deadline is such an important part of the swapping process.

  The bottom line here: always mark your books mailed, so you don't become Sender #1!

In both Scenarios #1 and #2: When you receive 2 copies for a book after submitting only one request, you are not obligated to give a credit for the extra (canceled) copy.  You are obligated to mark the properly sent copy received.
 

• When you mark the book received from the active transaction on your En Route to Me tab on your My Account page, Sender #2 will get credit. 

• • Sender #2's transaction is the only active transaction for the book on your account page.
  • The transaction with Sender #1 moved into your Transaction Archive when it was canceled, as a canceled transaction.

• You are not obligated to give a second credit for a canceled copy of a book when you submitted only one request
  • You are also not obligated to send the book back (although this is a nice thing to do if the sender is a new member).
  • You are obligated to mark the book received that is on your En Route to Me tab on My Account.

• If you do wish to give credit to Sender #1, you can mark that copy of the book received from the canceled transaction:
  • Go to  your Transaction Archive:
  • • place your cursor over My Account in the toolbar at the top of the site
    • Click Transaction Archive in the menu that drops down
    • you can also click the link 'Transaction Archive" from the My Account page

• • Scroll down to see the canceled transaction for this book.
    • Check the sender name and Details to be sure it is the correct transaction
    • There are sometimes several canceled transactions for one title
  • Click on the transaction
  • The usual Book Received screens will come up from there.
  • When you mark a canceled book received, the credit is taken from your account and given to that sender.

• Again,  you do not have to mark the canceled copy received.
  • If you like, you may Post the extra copy of the book into the system for others to request.

Well, if I mark it refused and it is sent back to the sender, at least he/she will have the book to repost to another person to recoup the credit, right?

Yeah, but by then they've already paid the shipping twice. So they would be paying for shipping three times for just one credit.

I would just keep it and let it be a lesson learned for them.

You can always PM them and ask them what they want to do, though.

The book may have been mailed, but they forgot to mark the book mailed on the system.  This happens A LOT

I would be more concerned if the label wasn't printed. 

I recommend sending him a PM and ask if the book was sent.  Your concern is if it was sent, he didn't  mark  the book mailed, the system will cancel the transaction, it will roll to the next sender and you will end up with two books.  Per the help docs, you do not have to mark his book received and he will be out a credit.  To please confirm the date he mailed the book.  If he confirms it is mailed and it rolled over to the next sender, I would cancel the transaction and wait for his book to arrive.  If the label is printed and you can't cancel the second senders request  then you keep the book and post it and do not mark it received, it would be his loss.

However, in the spirit of PBS it would be best to resolve this amicably if possible, especially if he is a new member.

I just received a book, I went to mark it received and couldn't because she didn't mark it mailed and it had not timed out in the system.  I PM'd her that I received the book but until she marks it mailed I was unable to mark it received.

The member has been active since 2006.  She has 1000+ books on her shelf but the number of books sent and received is blocked.  She has "0" forum posts.  The system will time out in approximately 10 minutes.

Grrrr.

Since the label was printed-I would PM this person and ask if they just forgot to mark it mailed before I ordered another copy.  You can put the book on hold on your WL and give them a few days to respond.  If it's a FIFO book you can cancel the next order up until they print the label.  Maybe they got busy and just forgot. 

But if you end up with 2 copies because they don't respond or the 2nd request was picked up and printed too quickly then just accept the book.  Accepting the book will be less of a punishment to them. You can always PM them and ask if they want to give you a credit to send the book back. If it was me, I'd just tell you to post the book because paying a credit to get it back to repost just seems stupid.  Like someone said they'd be paying postage 3 times to get a credit for it.