I sent two books out to different members both with delivery confirmations.  Both have been scanned as delivered, but neither member has marked received.  One was delivered 8 days ago, the other only 4.  I don't want to be rude, so I'm hoping someone can let me know an acceptable wait time before sending the member a PM reminder to please mark the book received.  I'm still new to this and don't want be obnoxious!  Thanks.

I'd wait a week then send a PM asking them if they received it yet. Sometimes the PO marks a package as delivered before it's actually put on the doorstep, they could be away from home, or it could have been left at the wrong address.

Regardless, they usually get marked received shortly after I ask about it.

If I send a book with DC, I might wonder why someone hadn't marked it as received, after the PO says it was, but I don't contact the person, as I've gotten my credit.  If they contact me, then I'd respond,but otherwise, besides wondering why they didn't mark it, I don't do anything.  Pat

There is an important reason to contact members who may have forgotten to mark a books received ... and that is the fact that even though you may have gotten your credit for yourself, PBS will refund an additional credit to the requestor for the lost book. That credit comes out of PBS's pocket, and as such, it should only go to people in cases where there was truly a lost book.

I only use DC occasionally .... and in more than 900 books mailed, I have only had 5 or 6 books even go close to the "lost" date without being marked received.

However, out of those 5 or 6, I PM'd them close to the "lost in the mail" date, and all but 1 had received the book but forgotten to mark it.

My advice is: 1. Do PM, 2. wait until about 3 or 4 days before the "go lost" date to do so.

The PBS rules state that it is OK to contact the other member about 7 days after a DC has been scanned as received, so if you don't want to wait until the "go lost" date, I woudl wait the 7 days.

Lots of people are on vacation in the summer.

Sometimes books are scanned as delivered BUT are not really delivered, too. This just happened to me in April ... a book I ordered was scanned as delivered on Apr 16 .... and appeared in my mailbox 15 days later. Don't know where it was or why the PO messed up so badly on it ... but there you go.

I don't use the DC on every book because I think it's a waste of money.  (and when I do I rarely pay attention to when it's scanned delivered).  If it's not going lost for a bit then I wouldn't PM.  They might jsut be super busy, on vacation, sick or without a computer or internet.  If you used PBS DC hten you got your credit. If you didn't then you wasted your money as PBS doesn't honor outside DC because it's unreliable.  I would wait until it's closer to going lost and then PM them. If they don't respond, contact PBS and they'll mark the book received if the account looks inactive.

I've had 3 books go lost enroute to me.  1 of them shows a delivery scan.  Don't know where they left it, but it wasn't at my house.  A few months ago, I closed my PO Box and had my mail forward to my house (5m from the post office).  After 3 wks of not getting any mail but junk mail and seeing books and Amazon orders being scanned as delivered, multiple calls to the post office-I found out that they were still stuffing my PO box with mail.  For 3 wks after I stopped paying for it and had submitted an address change. They scanned Priority packages (addressed to my house BTW) as delivered and then set them on a shelf in the PO and forgot about them.

So you really can't know what's happenign on the other end.

I usually wait about 7 days before I PM. Here is what the Help Center says you should do:

If you sent the book with Delivery Confirmation and it has been recorded as delivered by USPS but hasn't been marked received yet:

• Remember that the book could have been scanned as "delivered" at the local PO, before it went to the requestor's mailbox--the actual delivery can be a few days later  Also, the book could have been misdelivered.
  • The requestor should check with her mail carrier about this package.
  • The package could also be at her local PO being held for pickup; sometimes pickup notices left by the mail carrier go astray.
• You should FIRST contact the requestor using the button on the transaction on the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account when a few days have passed after delivery.
  • If the requestor does not respond to your PM within a week, and/or has not marked the book received by a week after the delivery scan, contact us.  We will look into it.
  • If the requestor responds and says she or he DID get the book, she or he can mark the book received one of two ways:
    • if the book has NOT been declared lost in the mail at PBS - from his or her active transactions (on the En Route to Me tab on My Account) as described in How to Mark a Book Received.
    • if the book HAS been declared lost in the mail at PBS - from his or her Transaction Archive (linked from the top of the My Account page)  as described in I received a book that was 'lost in the mail'.
• If you used DC purchased through PBS, or PBS Printed Postage, you will already have gotten your credit for sending the book.

If you sent the book with DC purchased elsewhere and it has been recorded as delivered by USPS but hasn't been marked received yet:

• First, contact the requestor from the active transaction (in the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account), or from the "lost" transaction in your Transaction Archive if the book has been declared Lost in the Mail by PBS.
• If the requestor does not respond to your PM within a few days, contact us and we will look into it.
• We cannot grant credit for DC purchased outside PBS, but we can check if this requestor has become inactive.
• If this requestor is inactive, your book should be marked received by the system.

If your book does not arrive by the 26th day (the 35th day if the sender or requestor is outside the contiguous US) after you marked it mailed, it will be declared Lost in the Mail at PBS.  This does not mean that the book is actually lost; it may simply be delayed en route.  You can read more about Lost books in A book I sent is lost in the mail!. 

I would agree with waiting 7 days myself. I have all my books (and all my mail) shipped to my parents house, since I sort of share my mailbox with the two other apartments here and I don't like the idea of everyone seeing all my mail.

And I make weekly trips to my parents to pick up my mail. So a week seems very reasonable to me!

A couple days is no biggie, some PO's don't actually deliver when they say they have.  But after a week, I would pm.  As Sara says, there are good reasons to do so and I'll add another...if the book is legimately missing, the longer it's in limbo before the PO starts looking for it - the less likely it is to be found.  If it's only been a few days, the PO staff sometimes remembers where it might have been mis-delivered.

Just be careful how you word the pm, because often the receiver really hasn't seen the book yet. 

I'm also watching one that says it was delivered 4 days ago 

I wait a week and then PM.  Invariably, the response I get is either "Oh, I forgot" or "Sorry, I"ve been out of town" (translated:  "Oh I forgot and I don't want to admit it."   )

I also wait a week and then PM. In fact I just did that on two books a couple of days ago. One of them just marked it received with an "Oops, sorry." The other one said something to the effect that it was a great book and they couldn't believe they forgot to mark it received.  I guess they started reading it as soon as they opened the package and got sidetracked.

Edited for spelling.

 "Sorry, I"ve been out of town" (translated:  "Oh I forgot and I don't want to admit it."   ) 

As someone who actually is out of town alot ... (like multiple times per month, since I travel for business regularly) ... I would take that one at face value.

I would wait the week then PM, that way they can look for teh book, contact their PO or mark it as recieved if they have it.  I

I had one about to be labeled as "lost" in a couple of days, so I PM'ed the person yesterday (Memorial Day) asking if they had received it, because I didn't want to file a lost/stolen book claim if they had.  Surprise, surprise--it was marked received a couple of hours later.  On a postal holiday.  The day after another non-delivery day.  So, all in all, it's pretty unlikely it just arrived when I sent the PM. :-)

Most active members have probably received books mailed late.  I recently pm'd a receiver 8 days after DC said it was delivered, and yes she had the book (she'd been busy...aren't we all). 

A reminder tho that this isn't always the case. I was waiting on a WL book from Hawaii, and the system marked it lost last week.  The sender & I had been in touch close to the system action date, so we knew it was likely just taking the slow boat.  The book went lost, I put it on hold, and it showed up in my mailbox 2 days later.   The counter postage was dated April 23, the package arrived in my mailbox May 27th...and I live on the West coast, wonder how much longer it would have been enroute if travelling to the East coast?