Last Friday (8/5), I mailed three books.  All three books went out Media Mail, and they all had Delivery confirmation.  Two of the books went to different towns in New York, and the third went to Virginia.  My problem is this:

DC says that all the books have been delivered.  One book was delivered on 8/8, and the other two were delivered on 8/9.  But they haven't been marked received yet. 

I've had books go out and DC says that they've been delivered and the books will be marked recieved a day or two later.  But its going on 5 days that the books haven't been marked received, and I've never had three books at one time do this.

I have a little note prepared to send to the recipients, but I don't want to PM them and piss them off for a book that they may have not recieved.  And I've already got my credit for the books, so I'm letting it bother me for no reason.

Would you PM the other person now or wait until the book was about to be marked lost?

I think PMs are always nice. I have had a nice exchange with someone and we have worked out a problem just this week. It is my first full week on the site and I admit I don't know as much as I should, but I accidentally sent the books for two people to the opposite person's house. I just refunded credits and made it right. I think being open and letting them know the situation and just being polite as a courtesy/follow up is actually something I as a customer would like! Makes you feel acknowledged and cared for. After all your intention is to make sure that they get this book and enjoyed it as much as you did the last time, right?

Benn

A book having been scanned as "Delivered" does not necessarily mean that it's actually reached its destination. It may have been scanned, but not yet delivered, or it may have been delivered to the wrong address. It's also possible that the requestor happens to have been out of the house for the past few days for some unexpected reason. While a polite message regarding the matter may be in order, the Help Center document "How to use PBS Delivery Confirmation" says to wait a week after the "Delivered" scan before sending a message to the requestor.

"USPS sometimes scans a package as "Delivered" when it reaches the requestor's local Post office

• there may be a few days' delay before the package reaches the destination address.
• If your package has been scanned as Delivered and has not been marked received a week later, please contact the requestor first using the PM button on the transaction.  If she or he does not respond to your PM within 3 or 4 days, please contact us, and we will look into it."

Personally, I would not appreciate a PM about this. The member could very well be on vacation, out of town on business. You have your credit. The only time I think that a PM is necessary is just before the book is about to go lost: that is when I PM them to assure them that I did mail it when I said I did, to verify that they haven't received it, and to ask them if it arrives after going lost to mark it received in their transaction archive so that I may receive my credit.

I wouldn't trust the deliver scan if you just mailed them a week ago and they were scanned delivered 5 days ago.  I would not appreciate a PM a week after a book was mailed.  If you used PBS DC you have your credit.  It's vacation season.

Do people really devote so much time to watching DC scans? I mail 'em and forget 'em and I've only had 1 book go lost out of a couple thousand sent between 3 trading sites, games and when I was a Boxer. 

Sally and Mary, I can understand both of your positions. At the same time, I'm fairly certain the Help Center document on using Delivery Confirmation is taking into account the fact that the sender in this scenario has their credit already, and still recommends a message one week after the "Delivered" scan. While you may personally take offense, it's the prescribed method of following up on any DC-mailed book that has been scanned "Delivered" and not marked received. They even ask that members in this situation send a message to PBS if the requestor hasn't responded after an allotted amount of time. It is 100% ok for the OP to send a PM on the 15th.

I never use DC.  It leads you to believe your mail has been delivered to the address on the package.  Unfortunately, this isn't always true.

My personal opinion is that it's a waste of $$.  Your mileage may vary!

MaryF

If a person has not marked a book received I send them a PM a week after DC states it was delivered. I am always polite and ask them to PM if it has not been received so that I can notify the post office it was lost.

In every case the person marks it received quickly and I usually get a PM back thanking me for the message stating they thought they had all ready marked it.

I've seen it both ways. The most frustrating when its showing that you received the book and you know you haven't! I know in one instance like that I never did receive the book BUT usps said it was delivered. Post master and I both came to the conclusion that someone was taking my mail b/c there was other things going missing of my mail too. 

Yes, I pm if there appears to be a problem with the transaction.  Always trixy to decide what is a decent amount of time for the receiver (after DC shows delivery)...especially this time of year when many families are super busy or out of town.  

But if the book is truly missing, the sooner it's reported to the PO the more likely it could be recovered (hey, no snickering...it happens...once in a while).

It's hardly been any time since they were mailed and apparently delivered. Give it some time. I have mail delivered to the post office and go there once a week, a few time this year I had to skip a week. The D/C would show the book(s) as being delivered, but not physically in my hands.

I'd give it some time. As others suggested, vacation time is here, problems with computer, real life intruding. I once bit my nails on a book that was sent less than 50 miles from me, other books mailed the same day went to the west coast and were delivered/marked received within a few days. One other person had a medical emergency with a parent and hadn't been at the computer for well over a week.

It's new transactions, give it some time.

This can get very frustrating. I've had to PM people a couple of times because they took more than two weeks to mark the book received after DC said it was received. I don't usually do pbs postage and DC, so I'm waiting for my credits. I also am slightly on edge while I'm waiting for a book to get to its destination (silly, I know! It's just how I am!) so I always feel better when the person gets the book and marks it received. I understand that a week is reasonable, but more than a week? That's ridiculous. If you are on vacation or out of town and can't mark your books received, then either have your spouse, roommate or older child mark the book received for you or don't request any books during this time. This kind of delay has made me feel like the person will never respond or will never mark the book received.

Just my two cents.

Personally, I might be a little annoyed by a PM but would simply tell the sender, truthfully, that I will register it as soon as I pick up my mail at the PO, which will be a few more days.

I have a PO Box which I usually can check on only Fridays and Saturdays.  If I happen to be out of town those days, visiting family from Thursday to Sunday, I may not get my mail for 2 weeks.  When the PO puts books with DC into my box, I'm sure they're marked as "Delivered" in the USPS and PBS systems.  Still, I may not register the book until 2 weeks later because that is when I actually get my mail.

Ok...update:

Two of the books have been marked recieved.  The other is still out there somewhere, either at a PO or in the mailbox waiting to be received.  I think I may have jumped the gun just a bit, but it was kind of weird to have three books that had been mailed on the same day not be marked received after the DC said that had been delivered.  Like I said, I have my credit, so I'm worrying over nothing. 

Glad your mailed books are mostly accounted for Becky.

Feel free to disagree with me on this one.  But I've lived very rural and understand that some things can only happen once a week (and some work schedules only allow members to pick up packages at their PO on the weekend).  But any PBS member that regularly goes 2 weeks without picking up mail and logging books in, IMO should seriously consider a different arrangement.  PBS allows 4 weeks (or 26 days?) to allow for mail time and possible USPS snafu's...I've seen no indication that TPTB considers delayed log-ins acceptable (ie delayed mailings are penalized). Sending members have taken the time to post, wrap, and mail the book in a timely manner....I would expect the receiver to extend the same courtesy...to pick up their mail and log in books in something less than two weeks (when possible, less than one week is even better). 

The majority of PBS books are mailed without DC or guaranteed credit, and members are waiting for you to log the book in/transfer credit.  Let's be good neighbors, humm?

Glad your mailed books are mostly accounted for Becky.

Feel free to disagree with me on this one.  But I've lived very rural and understand that some things can only happen once a week (and some work schedules only allow members to pick up packages at their PO on the weekend).  But any PBS member that regularly goes 2 weeks without picking up mail and logging books in, IMO should seriously consider a different arrangement.  PBS allows 4 weeks (or 26 days?) to allow for mail time and possible USPS snafu's...I've seen no indication that TPTB considers delayed log-ins acceptable (ie delayed mailings are penalized). Sending members have taken the time to post, wrap, and mail the book in a timely manner....I would expect the receiver to extend the same courtesy...to pick up their mail and log in books in something less than two weeks (when possible, less than one week is even better). 

The majority of PBS books are mailed without DC or guaranteed credit, and members are waiting for you to log the book in/transfer credit.  Let's be good neighbors, humm?

A sender has 5 days to accept a request.  Once accepted, they have 5 days to mail it.  As a receiver, I don't think it's too much to say...it takes 5 days for me to pick up the book once "delivered" and 5 days to mark it received.  So I guess I have to disagree with you.  Not all senders accept a request the same day and mail it out the same day or next.  Some take the full time to accept, print label, and mark it as mailed (taking almost 2 weeks).  So to assume that they mail in a timely manner isn't always correct. I have no problem with someone taking their time marking it as received.  I see no indication that TPTB find delayed log-ins UNacceptable.  The 26 days doesn't just count mail time.  Receiver's have lives too.

They may not "need", but they have every "right" to it.  Personally, I have a mailbox at my home.  But many people don't and must go to the post office.  Who are we to say..."Hey!  You know you have a book coming, so you need to go to the PO daily and mark it received ASAP!"  I don't think we should assume that everyone has easy access to their mailbox.  I was blasted once before because I said someone could print postage and put a book in their mailbox.  Apparently, I was wrong.  So if someone doesn't have a mailbox readily available to send mail, then it's safe to assume that some don't have it readily available to receive mail either.  The site gives 26 days from mailing for the post office to do their job and a book to get marked received.  Everyone expects courtesy for the sender, but you should extend the same courtesy to the receiver when you don't know the situation they are in (why they aren't marking it received ASAP).  Because, you just never know.  As long as it's done before it times out, I don't think anyone should worry about it (especially in this case when they ALREADY have their credit).

Becky - please follow the timeline that Jimi has copied from the Help Center. Members may not like getting PMs, but that is what the site has asked us to do. It doesn't matter that the sender already has the credit. The site is the one covering that Quick/Instant Credit and it is best to get the post office looking for a misdelivered book as quickly as possible if there is any hope for them to remember what they did with it. A week is plenty of time for someone to come home from vacation (or PM you to let you know they are gone), if a post office is violating procedure and scanning before delivering they should get it out within a week. It is courtesy to the site to promptly follow up on books that should be delivered and aren't being marked as such and it keeps the cost of that credit assurance down.

Kellie - though your opinion may be that a receiver should be able to take days to check their mail and 5 days to mark a book received once they have it, I doubt that is what the site means when they say  "It is important to mark a book received as promptly as possible after you receive it, so that the sending member will get credit for sending it. " More time is alloted to a sender because they may not be expecting a request and must get the supplies, the book ready, and get it mailed. No where is it said that the receiver is given the same time lines so I wouldn't assume they are. No timelines are given for a receiver, it is expected that they be courtious and log the book promptly. A receiver is requesting a book and knows it is coming. Once they receive the book, it shouldn't take more than a day or two to open it and check it to log it in. If their life is so busy that they can't be bothered to check their mail or log in the book, then they probably shouldn't be requesting books.

My point is...you don't have a clue what may happen to a person during the time they are waiting for a book to arrive.  And it would be courteous for the sender to wait closer to a book timing out before they start to PM them about it.  Who knows...maybe they lost a family member in Indiana when the stage collapsed, maybe their car broke down making it impossible to get to the PO, maybe there was a fire & they lost everything.  I'm tired of people assuming that the reason someone isn't marking books received the day DC shows it delivered is because they are trying to scam the system or disrespect the sender.  I'm just asking for perspective.  She had her credits and was upset because it had been a few days since DC showed it delivered.  A few days is unreasonable.  I'm not saying that all receivers should take their time about marking items received.  But again...life happens.  Show courteous to the receiver by not assuming the worst.  Just because some people live on this site, doesn't mean everyone does.  Come on and let's be reasonable.  I'm tired of everything being on a sender's time.  When I've received the book in my hands (not because DC says so), and I have time to properly look over my book.  I will mark it received.  Everyone does (or mostly).  Credit assurance is a great thing!  Mail the book, enjoy your credit, and don't worry about it again (unless it times out...then help docs are great).  We all lives!  LIVE IT UP and STOP WORRYING SO MUCH!!!!

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you Kellie, in regards to RL emergencies and occasional unforseen situations (although in such cases, communication is certainly appreciated).  

The objection would be to delayed log-in on a day to day (routine) basis.