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Topic: Envelope arrived. Book is missing.

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Subject: Envelope arrived. Book is missing.
Date Posted: 7/25/2009 7:53 PM ET
Member Since: 4/10/2006
Posts: 882
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Last Edited on: 2/3/15 8:58 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 7/25/2009 8:07 PM ET
Member Since: 12/18/2008
Posts: 166
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I've never had this happen but I would complete the form with any information you have. You never know, the book may be set aside where it was ripped from the envelope and they may be able to still deliver it to you. Not sure what kind of shape that would be in at that point though. It's always worth a try though.
Date Posted: 7/25/2009 8:09 PM ET
Member Since: 7/31/2007
Posts: 2,690
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Too late now but, I do know that first you were not to mark the book received...since you did not receive the book.

here is what the Help Center said:

If this is a book you requested, you should not mark the book received, since you did not get the book.  You should contact the sender to let him or her know what happened.  

  • The sender should call 800-ASK-USPS or go to http://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/forms/MLNtRcvd.aspx  and input the information online there. This will help USPS try to recover the book.

    • The form is titled "mail Theft"; this does not mean that you can use it only if you think the book was stolen.  "Received without contents" is an option on the page.
    • The choice to make under "Class" on the form if Media Mail was used is "Parcel Post".

  • If you think that the Wrapping method may have contributed to the loss of the book, please do give (gentle) feedback to the sender; you can refer to All Help documents about bookwrapping if you like. 

  • If you have marked the book received by mistake (or if the system marked the book received for you while you were absent from PBS), you can also discuss this with the sender, who got credit when that happened. See How do I contact another member? for instructions on how to contact a sender from the transaction in your Transaction Archive.

If you have not marked the book received yet, do not do so.  You will continue to get the usual auto-emails from PBS asking if the book has arrived; open and read them, and follow any instructions within. 

If the book hasn't arrived by the 26th day after it was marked mailed, then PBS will declare it lost in the Mail and you will get your credit back.  If the book does arrive after that, you should mark it received from your Transaction Archive.  

Date Posted: 7/25/2009 8:11 PM ET
Member Since: 7/19/2008
Posts: 15,446
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Whoops.  Posted the same info from the help center. 

There is a Rifling report.  It is also called the mail theft report.  I have heard of books coming separate due to the filed report.  But I have also had a whole box of books that were never recovered.  It is good to file the report so the problem will be recorded.



Last Edited on: 7/25/09 8:15 PM ET - Total times edited: 1
Date Posted: 7/25/2009 8:49 PM ET
Member Since: 4/10/2006
Posts: 882
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Last Edited on: 2/3/15 8:58 AM ET - Total times edited: 1
Subject: If it helps...
Date Posted: 7/25/2009 10:03 PM ET
Member Since: 6/14/2009
Posts: 4
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...if the envelope breaks in your local PO, the chance that you'll get the material is pretty good. If it broke 500 miles away in transit, maybe not.
Date Posted: 8/6/2009 5:44 PM ET
Member Since: 7/8/2007
Posts: 10
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This actually happened to me today - a first! I actually burst out laughing when I pulled the empty envelope out of the mail box - then I looked deeeeeep into the box to see if it was there. A real drag - it's a book I really wanted and took a while to get because it's rarely posted. My guess is the book was too big for the envelope (a Tyvek self-sealer with no tape as backup) and it popped open somewhere.
Date Posted: 8/6/2009 6:15 PM ET
Member Since: 12/11/2005
Posts: 3,672
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I once received only part of an envelope along with a sticky from a GA post office that said "sorry, here's what is left"  It was a book I had sent to someone in a swap. NY to GA.  I filled out the lost in the mail form. While they never found the book....I did receive a "sorry we never found the book" letter about a year later.  So it isn't like they receive those forms and throw them away. Someone is reading them!  Good luck

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