I ordered a book from a member several weeks ago. They evidently chose the option of tracking the package (I haven't done this so don't know a lot about it) so I can click on Details and see where it is. On January 21, the details page showed "Electronic shipping info received". It has never shown anything beyond that. When I went to the post office web site, it says this just means they were notified that a package was ready for pick up. It does not indicate that the package was ever actually picked up.

Its estimated arrival according to PBS is by 2/16. So should I be doing anything? I'm wondering if the book was never even picked up since the post office has no record of ever getting it. Should I contact the member and ask if they've really mailed it or just wait? I've never had an issue like this so I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

No, there's nothing you can do. Sometimes packages get scanned while they're on the way to you, sometimes they don't. You just have to wait.

For me, since the sender used DC and it's so close to the "lost" date I'd send her a PM to see if she mailed the book. It could just be that the post office hasn't scanned it yet. The status isn't going to change until the PO does its thing and different post offices do different things when it comes to scanning packages.

It also could be that the sender never mailed the book. I've had that happen a couple of times - why they'll put DC on it and then never mail it is a little wierd but it does happen. In that case, the book will just go lost and you'll get your credit back.

You'll get varied answers with this. Some hate PMs inquiring about books and won't send them and don't like receiving them. And still others, like me, don't mind getting the inquiries so in the case you've mentioned here, I'd send just a short, quick one.

This happened to me last week. The book was about to go lost. DC never scanned. The book showed up a few days before the lost date. The member sent it overnight mail, 3 weeks after the book was marked mailed.

No scans doesn't mean the book was never mailed. But, everytime that's happened to me, the book either never arrived, or the post mark date was weeks after the member said they mailed it.

I know other members have had different experiences, so I know my experience is not the rule. Though, when I look at the DC details and see no scans after about a week, I'll admit I get a little nervous as my past experience with non-scans has not been good at all.

Thank you for the responses. I think I'll just wait. I see the book is available so if this gets deemed lost in the mail, I'll just reorder. Luckily I haven't made it far into my current book so I'm not desperate for a new one!

DC is Delivery Confirmation and that's all it really is.  It isn't intended to be a tracking system, just a way for a sender to confirm that an item has been delivered.  There's no requirement that the PO scan it at any point up until actual delivery.

Hi Julie.  The Help Center actually has a section on this, lol.  I haven't received my book yet. Is it lost in the mail?

It's not a big section, but it does have some good info.  one of the things that it says is this: 

You are welcome to PM the sender of the book, to verify that (and when) the book was mailed.

• Simply click on the En Route book transaction to send a Personal Message to the sender.

As Susan said, the opinions about this are varied, (I admit, I'm one who doesn't care for them) but the HC says it *is* Ok to do it.  So, if you would like to, it's perfectly fine. :-)

I've had quite a few books with DC on them, both sent from me and sent to me, that never were scanned at all. Well, they were probably scanned at delivery, but since the PBS and USPS systems often don't update for several hours afterwards, books do get marked received before they're ever scanned.

I use the PBS printable postage, and to be honest I only do it for convenience since I send a fair few hardcovers or big trade paperbacks over 13 oz that I would have to haul to the Post Office if I just stuck stamps on them, and my work schedule means I can only get to the PO one day a week--I like being able to print the postage and drop them in the blue box in front of my work, which I can do any day using the printable postage.

i think the DC part of it is a waste of time and money and would happily do without it if I could. The DC isn't even a guarantee that it's delivered to the right person--just that it was delivered *somewhere.* I have had enough misdelivered books (and other packages not PBS related) over the years to know that really it's not worth squat when it comes down to brass tacks. Monday morning I sent off 14 book packages in the same blue box at the same time, and so far only half of them have a scan.

I would rest easy--you will get your credit back regardless of whether the book goes lost or if the sender never did mail it--although why they'd print a label and pay for DC and then not send the book is beyond me, unless they had some kind of emergency.

Cheryl