Ok, I finally came up for a wishlisted book, it was accepted, printed and marked mailed on 4/28. I was waiting patiently for the book. Then on 5/18  the sender PMd that her relative had failed to mail the book and that she had mailed it out priority mail and that I should get it by the end of that week. I told her no problem and that I would let her know when it arrived. It did not arrive by that Friday so I contacted her to let her know that I would be away for the long weekend and that I would be sure to let her know when it arrived. I really expected that I would get it Sat if it went priority. On 5/24 it was marked lost in the mail and because it was a wishlisted bok and I somehow got lucky, another was sent right out. I again let her know that if it arrived I would be sure to credit her. So today it arrived. Priority mail, postmarked 5/25. So she hadn't even mailed it until after it went lost and well after the 18th when she told me it had been mailed priority.

I have marked it received, thanked her for it and then in the response to the PTB I let them know the dates that we talked and the dates on the package. This is the appropriate response, correct?

susan/vt

For a late mailing, I always fill out the survey when I mark ti received.  I make sure to put the postmark date in there and I add a note in the "anything else we should know?" box that the book clearly was postmarked on X when it was marked mailed on X so they know it's not a fuzzy postmark or anything and the sender truly did mail it late.

It'll go on their record that way and a pattern of late mailings could put their account in jeopardy.

This link might help...

My requested book arrived with a late postmark!

I must be a whackadoodle.  When I mark something mailed, I do it because I actually mailed it.  I have only ONCE been one day late in mailing a book and that was because I asked my DH to pop something in the mailbox and I discovered it on the passenger's seat of his car the next morning.  Grrrrr!!

I don't know what else to tell you but I feel for ya!

LeeAnne, I think that's what she originally did but she didn't find out until the 18th that it hadn't actually been mailed. What got me is on the 18th she said she had mailed it priority but she hadn't. That's was really bugged me. I filled out the survey just as Gingerkitty/Sarah suggested so I guess I'm good. I've still another copy coming but that was out of my hands. That all happened over the long weekend. I don't expect to have any problem sending it out.

In the big scheme of things this is just a blip. I just wanted to make sure I handled it correctly.

susan/vt

You did good Susan.  In the future, don't hesitate to send cousin Guido to handle these situations :-)

Now, I can't find it anywhere in the Help Docs, but I know it used to be that IF the sender actually sent the book AFTER the date the book was declared lost AND another copy was ordered, you did not need to mark it received or give them a credit for it IF they did not PM you to say they were mailing after the lost date. She did PM you it would be late, but then didn't follow through and didn't re-PM you to let you know it was mailed many days MORE after that--in fact, mailed the day after it was declared lost. (searching some more....)

Ok, maybe my brain is addled. (Now there's a rarity! NOT! LOL)  I guess I am thinking of when the first person you request from mails the book but doesn't mark the book mailed, the system cancels it and you get two copies. But I really seem to recall something about "mailing after the declared lost date" without notifying sender being another reason for the sender losing their credit. I just can't find it! :::grrrrr:::

At any rate, you've already handled it....it really doesn't seem fair that you have to spend 2 credits on the same book because of someone else's mistake. I would certainly be giving her a piece of my mind in exchange for that credit! :-D

Cheryl

No, I believe Cheryl is correct. If the person mails it so late that it goes lost and another copy is sent to you, that is the one time you do not have to mark a book received (after all, you're receiving two copies and spending two points). So, you did NOT have to mark it received, it was nice you did, it just possibly reinforced her "rule breaking" behavior. If it ever happens again, have your two copies and repost one, but do not feel you have to give credit to a sender who mails after the lost date.

That is correct Cheryl.  Here's what the help docs say:

There is an exception for late-mailed books:

• If a book was mailed more than 2 weeks late without notice to you about late mailing before it was mailed and
• was already declared Lost at PBS before it arrives, and
• you re-requested the book after it was declared "lost in the mail"  and
• you end up with 2 copies, THEN
• you do not have to mark the late-mailed-without-notice copy received.
  • Note: the late mailing must be confirmed- either the sender has told you this or the postmark on the package confirms it.  Sometimes Media Mail takes a long time, so a late-arriving book cannot be presumed to have been mailed late.
• The rules governing late-mailing are:
  • If a sender wants to mail a book that has been declared Lost at PBS already she needs to contact you with a Personal Message asking you to confirm that you still want the book from her, and
  • You would need to have confirmed that you still wanted her copy of the book in a Personal Message in reply to hers before she mailed it.
• The bottom line: If a sender sends a book late without getting confirmation from you that you have not gotten or requested another copy in the meantime, and you end up with two copies of the book, the sender has made the mistake here.  In this case (and ONLY in this case) you are not obligated to mark the lost book received (nor are you obligated to return the extra copy). 

Thanks, Sarah...Yay! I'm not totally nuts and hallucinating....just inept at searching the Help Docs apparently. LOL

Cheryl

I'm going through this right now. I ordered a book on 4-16 The mail by date was the 25th but didn't get mailed til the 27th. No big deal. I know things happen and sometimes you might need that 2 day grace. But no PM to let me know so I hoped that it was mailed.

This book was for my son. So every so often he keeps asking, did my book come in? You know how patient kids can be? For some reason I had a feeling this book was going to go lost. It did on 5-23. I PMed her politely asking if she had mailed it late. I didn't want to order the book again and have 2 copies. She said yes indeed it had gone out late and I should be getting it any day now. Well it's been a week and still no book. If it was for me I wouldn't be bothered by it and just hold off a week more before I ordered another copy. But it's for my son and he does not have a TBRP like I do. He's really disappointed at how long he's had to wait. If we don't have it by Monday I'll order him another copy.

Yeah, we talked a few times but while she intially mentioned that she was mailing the book priority because it was late she never mentioned thaat the second mailing didn't happen until days after she said it did. Not sure why not just come clean on it and be honest. It's funny, I waited for weeks for the book and now I'll have 2.

susan/vt

Most people don't "come clean" because they are embarrassed and don't want a confrontation.  They should have told you, but they didn't and this does happen often.  I hope that the books are WL'd books so you can get them to new homes.

Ruth