I recently had an experience where I requested a book from a person, it didn't come...didn't come...PBS eventually put it in my transactions as lost. 

I got a PM from the person asking if I had received it.  I was a bit miffed, only because I was like,  "Well, if I had received it I would have marked it, hello!"  But I sent her a friendly message telling her I had NOT received it yet, PBS marked it for lost, but if it did turn up I'd mark it as received in my transaction link. 

She sent back a message thanking me, saying,  "I was just wondering, as I'm from Alaska and books take longer to get here or get sent to other states."

I felt a little bad about my snippy attitude then, even though I was never snippy towards her...! 

Please remember-Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico books will take longer to get to us, or our books to them.  And, I did get that book!  :o) 

I'm a person who always PMs when a book goes lost.  Usually, I get a PM back that says, "No, haven't gotten it yet," but there was a time when I got one back and they said, "Oh yeah, I got it, it's just been a crazy time and I haven't marked it received."  So, I don't think it should be seen as offensive when someone PMs you about this...not everyone is as responsible as you and me.  :)

<<Please remember-Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico books will take longer to get to us, or our books to them>>

This is very true and, for that reason, when I can afford to do so, I try to send books to those destinations first class, rather than media mail, in the hopes they will receive them before the end of the decade :-)

Cheers,

Catt

Well right now I live in Wa state and a box of books I mailed recently to AK only took a week to get there MM.  I haven't gotten Hawaii or an APO/FPO address yet.  I'm moving back to the East Coast this summer and I'll have to remember to get them in the mail ASAP if I get any. 

I just mailed my first book to Alaska, but didn't realize it was Alaska. For some reason I thought it was going to Arkasas. I blame it on a momentary brain fart that I thought AK was Arkansas. When I got to work and marked it mailed the thought popped into my head that AK is Alaska. Durh!

I hope it arrives safely as I didn't wrap it in plastic. :(   We'll see I suppose.

LOL, Brook! I'm always getting those abbreviations mixed up, too. Good to see I'm not the only one! Have a margarita and join the club! :)

I live in Hawaii and every time I mail via media mail (I TRY to do First Class if the price difference isn't too much), the postal worker behind the counter looks at me very sternly and says "You know this goes on the boat, so it will be 4-6 weeks, right??"  As if I forgot that I live on a little island in the middle of the Pacific!

I also PM when a book goes lost or is about to, once it truly was lost the second time she forgot to mark it, It had arrived amid a lot of books and it was overlooked and forgotten so good thing I PM'ed her.

i placed an order for two books that turned out to be from a member in Alaska, and it arrived the very next day after being marked 'lost in the mail'.  so it's a good reminder!

i do always like to look at where the book is coming from to make a wild guess how long it'll take to arrive.

I have no problem with someone PM'ing me just to be sure. Entirely possible that a person sincerely intended to mark the package, but got sidetracked; yes, the main screen does remind people, but if someone has multiple books to arrive or doesn't actually log in regularly ..... My reply to a concerned sender would be along the lines of: "I'm frustrated that it hasn't arrived - I really want to read it, and I'm pretty compulsive about this kind of stuff, so it'll be marked received almost as soon as it's delivered!" 

I've only sent one book to HI (no AK, PR, etc. yet), which arrived in about 2 - 3 weeks I think. Kinda like a book I sent 10 miles away once. Our Postal members might know the specifics, but I thought that those packages don't always go surface, if there's room on a flight?