I have a bunch of books to mail tomorrow.  I printed all of the labels with DC and it was working fine until I got to a book going to an APO.  Then I got a message that said "We are sorry but Delivery Confirmation is currently not available for this address."  I was able to print DC for other books after as well, so I know it isn't a problem with the Endicia.  I know I have used PBS DC on other APO books in the past.  Does anyone know why I can't today?

I do not know about the past or DC w/PBS. But in my everyday life sending packages overseas to APO's , DC's only track as far as New York and then the military has custody of the mail. At least that is the way it was explained to me as a military Mom.

Yeah, that has been my experience as well, but I still like the credit assurance.

All of the APO I've sent went with DC and were scanned enroute and at delivery. I would try it again later, that is the error you'll get if Endicia is having issues. A lot of members use DC on the APO so they get the credit quicker since deliver can take a lot longer.

I wonder if it's because they're weird addresses. 

I think it depends on the specific APO.  From a press release from a while back:

"This holiday season, the Postal Service is able to make Delivery Confirmation available for almost all APO/FPO destinations."

Note the "almost all".

I created a mailing label with PBS DC on it last Friday for an APO address with no problem.      I don't think it's the APO address.  It's just that every once in a while you run across an address for which DC doesn't work.

It's fine if the DC is available to "almost all" APOs,  I just think the PBS required RC or the Help Documents should make that clear that it isn't always an option. (Or at least in the RCs of those that are affected.) It clearly states in the RC that you can use PBS DC or Postage to get your credit faster.

Lynne, I don't understand why you can sometimes run across stateside addresses that doesn't work for DC.  When I moved last year, my address was not recognized by USPS, so PBS wouldn't let me use it here.  I was told that it was because DC had to be available to members.  I had to get a PO Box to remain a member here.

In order to use eDC, you have to have an address that can be validated at USPS. You can go to the USPS website: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp, enter your address, and see that it is displayed on a page that says "Full Address in Standard Format". If you have an apartment number and you leave that off, then you will get the list of valid apartments in the building and the message at the top of the page will say something like "units in the building". You can't use a building address with eDC, you have to use the full address, which is why PBS requires the same thing. Usually you can get the full address by putting the apartment number of suite or whatever on the address line, but some addresses just aren't in the USPS database and can't be used here.

You can also have a "non-deliverable" address if your house is newly built, or if USPS stopped delivering there for a while due to a disaster, or if your address has changed for some other reason. Your address can change even if you don't move if you start renting out your garage as an apartment and now you have unit A and unit B on your property; or if your property is annexed into a town and the street is renamed; or if a ZIP code is changed. I'm sure APO addresses can also get changed and become non-deliverable for a variety of reasons, including USPS error in maintaining their database.

PBS only checks addresses when they are typed into the system. If your address was valid when you entered it and has since become non-deliverable (or non-existent) according to USPS, then other people can no longer use PBS DC to send packages to you. This is almost certainly what happened with the APO address that you are trying to mail to. If you type it into the USPS site I gave above, it is not going to come back as a standardized address. Likewise, your home address has probably been added to the USPS DB by now, and if you see it there, you can switch your account settings to use it.