I am a bit miffed about a book I received yesterday.  The book was about to go lost in the mail when I finally got it.  I checked the date the book was marked mailed in the PBS system against the date it was actually postmarked.  The date in the system is May 6, the actual postmark is May 23!!  The book was mailed over 2 weeks later than marked.  Anyway before I had a chance to marked it received it was declared lost in the mail so I went into my transaction archive to mark it received.  What I am miffed about is that there didn't seem to be anyway to let the system know that it was mailed late.  I didn't get any communication from the sender, which if I had had saying it was mailed out late, I would not have been concerned.  It is not worth sending a separate email to PBS but I wish I could have at least attached a note or something in case this sender is habitually mailing later than marked.

Enough said, thanks for letting me vent!! :)

Did you not get the survey page when you marked the book received from your transaction archive? If you did see it, there was a place there to put the postmark. PBS uses that info to track later mailers.

No, from the transaction archive you just mark the book received.  There are no options to add information or a comment box.  I had a book go lost last week also, it was coming from Hawaii.  It arrived two days after going lost, and I really wanted to note that the counter postage was dated April 23 and the date the book actually arrived in my mailbox wasy May 27th.  I felt the sender deserved to have the facts posted, and TPTB made aware the delay was entirely USPS.  Unfortunately....there's no place to enter any of that information.

Do you not get the new receiving process when marking the book received from the TA? With the new receiving process late mailing is one of the things listed in the options for a problem swap. I have also always gotten the place to input the mailing address even on the old system when you marked it received it should have just taken you to the normal receiving process. I haven't had the occassion to receive a book from my TA since the changes were made.

These are the new options for received with a problem which should be accessed from the TA the same as the EnRoute window:

To mark a shipment received with a problem:

• Login and go to your My Account main page
• Click the En Route to Me tab under the Message from the Librarian
• Scroll down if necessary to see the incoming shipment in question
• Choose "Received with a Problem" (or "Problem with 1 or More" for a multiple-book shipment)

Then

• Select the type of problem from the dropdown menu:
  • Damaged by Sender
    • this means a book that did not meet the club standards as described in Book Condition Criteria for 'Swappability' at PBS  when it was mailed
    • books that are missing accompanying media items also fall into this category
  • Damaged by USPS
    • this means a book that was damaged by USPS during its journey
  • Requestor Conditions not Met (this option will be available only if there were RCs attached to the request when it was submitted)
    • this means that the book did not meet the conditions you specified on the request
  • Wrong Book - Different Title
    • this means that the book is totally wrong (wrong title/author) - usually caused by the sender putting the wrong book into the wrapper, or mixing up two book shipments.  See I received a book I didn't request! for more information about this problem.
  • Wrong Book - Wrong Binding/Version
    • this means that title/author DO match but the book does not match the listing's ISBN and/or binding type and/or it was listed as Large Print and the book is not Large Print. Note that cover image does NOT have to match the listing.
    • Inappropriate items - ARCs, pamphlets or leaflets without ISBNs, unbound pages, etc - also fall into this category.
  • Late Postmark
    • this means that the postmark on the package was later than the date the book was marked mailed.  See My requested book arrived with a late postmark! for more information about this problem.
  • Book Missing from Shipment (this option will show only on multiple-book shipments)
    • this means that the book was not included in the package with the other books (either the sender forgot to include it or the package tore open and one or more books fell out)
  • Empty Wrapper
    • this means that no book was received at all - just some packaging material, with or without a note from USPS about the damaged shipment
  • Insufficient Postage
    • this means that USPS required you to pay postage to claim the book.  See I received a book postage-due! for more information about this problem.

My question would be was it counter postage or a postmark over stamps that you are going by?  Remember, a "postmark" can be applied anywhere along the route, not always done at the initial post office.

You'd be able to tell if a postmark is applied along the way because the zip and city show in the stamp. If the stamp shows the member's hometown it was applied in that town.

With the new receiving process late mailing is one of the things listed in the options for a problem swap. 

But it should be noted that using it does NOT mark a book RWAP. It marks it received normally and generates the email to the book sender about late mailings, same as marking the survey used to do.

I got the notice from PBS, but guess I didn't read it enough, or I hadn't received a book since the new process went into effect, as I got a book today that was marked mailed on May 2, and actually was mailed on May 20, and when I went to mark it received, I didn't think it was RWAP, but now I'll know to check that box when a book is mailed late.  Thanks. Pat

I had a question from a member this morning about this because she received a late book and didn't see any options of putting in the postmarked date when she marked it received from her TA.   It's been so long since I had to mark a book from my TA, I just couldn't remember the process. But this is taken from the HC:

When a lost book arrives, you must mark it received.

To do so:

• Go to your Transaction Archive:

  • From My Account: click the link "Transaction Archive" in the yellow bar at the top of the page
  • From anywhere on the site: place your cursor over My Account in the toolbar at the top of any page on the site and choose Transaction Archive from the menu that drops down
• Sort the Transaction Archive by "Requested by me" - "Lost in mail" - "Title" - "Descending"
• Locate the Lost transaction for this book in the list.
  • If there is more than one Lost transaction for this title, check the sender's name on the right of the transaction against the name of the sender in the return address on the package you received.
  • Click on the transaction.
  • The next pages are the regular Book Received pages:
    Click on the next page
    Provide more information about the swap on the next page
    • you will also have the option to send a message to the sender of the book
    • you will also have the option to provide comments on the swap that only we will see
• Both your account and the sender's will be updated when you have done this.

Apparently, the regular book received pages aren't there as stated in the HC.

Do you not get the new receiving process when marking the book received from the TA?...  No idea Melanie, I rarely have to use this option.  When I marked mine received, the only options available were received with a problem or received without a problem.   After choosing the received without a problem option, there were no other screens or input boxes at all.  But now I'm curious about the other option.

Yes Hunter, it would seem that portion of the PBS guidelines may be out of date after the recent changes.