I requested a book a week ago.  Here's the details:

Why has no "will mail by" date been chosen?  This book had 15 copies in the system when I requested it, and I'd like to get one of them sometime soon.  Why is it taking so long?  Why hasn't the system moved on to the next person with the book?

I believe there's 5 days, so if they book isn't marked mailed tonight it will roll over to the next person at around 3 am.

It looks like they chose the Will Mail in 2 Days option. Which would mean it would time out tomorrow at 11 and roll over to the next person. 

ETA: it gives 2 full days to the 16th wouldn't count.

If they choose the will mail in 2 days option, wouldn't that date show up in the details?

Marsha, the sender is given 5 days to send the book to you from the date of acceptance (without a to mail date). The book will be canceled and sent to another sender at the end of today, around 3:00 a.m. in the middle of the night, if there is no more response from the sender before then.

If the book was accepted with a to mail date, then the book would be canceled two days after the to mail date.

if accepted is the only thing you see then it is 2 days but they have 5 days to marked it mailed.  if they choose another date that date will show up and then they have 2 extra days to marked it mailed.  Make sure you are looking at details.  After this it will time out and move to the next FIFO book.

have some patience, please. The sender does have several days since not everyone can get to the post office immediately to mail a book. If the sender fails to do his/her obligation, the system is designed to continue automatically to get you the book. The next sender will also have some time.

So, please be paitent. You're new, and you want your book now. That is very understandable. I expect by the time you've mailed out 3 or 4 hundred books yourself, you'll have a better understanding of why the senders are given several days to accept a request and then several days to mail the book.

Hang in there. The system does work and works quite well. Is it the fastest way to get books? No, just the best way. Welcoem to PBS.

Marsha, IMHO, the Help Center best explains the time limits on mailing. Try reading this page and see if it doesn't help you understand them:

Swapping Deadlines

Thank you for the information, everyone.  I don't think my problem was with patience or with understanding the time limits.  I was just confused about the details lacking a "will mail by" date especially after so many days.  When a book is requested from me, when I say I can mail it, I have to choose within 2 days, or choose a later date.  So I didn't see how a book could be accepted, without a "will mail by" date being chosen.  I guess the answer to this is that if they choose the "within 2 days option", a date doesn't show in the requestor's account.

All the other books I've ordered up to this point have shown a "will mail by" date.  When this one didn't after several days, I thought something was wrong.  I thought maybe the system had frozen up over this request.  That was the extent of my problem.  It wasn't a lack of patience.  I apologize if my original post was not clear.  I have no problem with someone choosing to mail later; I actually usually choose a later date myself because even if I'm pretty sure I can make it to the post office within 2 days, sometimes life interferes.

Connie--you were right.  The book rolled over to a new sender overnight.  Hopefully the new sender will actually send it!

I believe the "accepted" means that your request was accepted by the pbs system, not a specific sender.  It basically tells you we've gotten your request, now we're starting the process of locating a sender who will agree to send the book.  That's why there's no mail-by date yet.  Hope I'm making sense....

No, accepted means that the sender chose the "I will mail in two days" option when they received the book request. 

I'm more in line with Sara.  I just looked at my request tab and I ordered some FIFO books today from my RL.  The books I did today just say accepted.

Here's some dates from my Transaction Archive.  I chose the "I can mail later" option and chose the furthest day out, so the dates are:

Request Date: 8/18/2009 5:35 AM ET
Alternate Date: 8/23/2009 11:00 PM ET
Wrapper Printing(s):

• 8/19/2009 9:37 AM ET

Accepted just means that the sender chose "I can mail within two days" option.

From the help center:

There are three steps to the sending process (acceptance - printing - mailing).

• Acceptance
  • If you see "Waiting for Member"
    • this means the sender has not yet agreed to send the book (he or she has 5 days to respond).
  • If you see "Accepted" (with NO "will mail-by" date specified)
    • this means that the sender has agreed to send the book by clicking "I can mail in the next 2 days", and has 5 days from the date of acceptance in which to mark the book mailed.  (The deadline is at the end of the fifth day.)
  • If you see "Accepted" ("will mail-by" date specified)
    • this means that the sender has agreed to send the book by clicking "I can mail later", and has until 2 days after the mail-by date shown to mark the book mailed.  (The deadline is at the end of the second day.)

I always accept, print the label and then marked the book mailed within 24 hours of the request, if not within the same hour. It's always hard for me to understand how some members are able to wait until the very last possible momemt to mail out their books when *I'm* so eager to get my books mailed off as quickly as possible. But then I have internet access all day long and have the time and means to mail my books off immediately. I have come to realize that many members do not have this luxery. LOL Some people do not view book requests as "urgently" as I do, either - and that's perfectly ok. PBS is not like ebay or amazon and I know there might come a day where I will really appreciate the extra 4 or 5 days PBS allows me to mail out a book.

Some folks don't have the money to send the books until they get a pay check too.

Jessie I'm usually just like you.  Then last week my server failed for two days and the next two days the computer decided it needed a longer vacation.  I'd turn it on and it would shut off.  No PBS for four days!!!  Thanks goodness I didn't have any requests in that time.

 No PBS for four days!!! 

That's how I feel, too, Geri - the site is addicting!  And I have to come and check on things just to get some satisfaction for the day! LOL   :)   D.

Question:  "How long is'Waiting on Member'?"

Answer:  too long.  It is n't fair that a requestor only gets two days to jump on a WL offer but the sender gets 5 days to respond to your request, then 5 MORE days (or more if they choose a later date) to mark it mailed.

So, Chivalry - do you want to add days to accept WL offers?  Because there are lots of reasons why someone can't get a book out within 2 days.  Lots of reasons have been mentioned here and on other threads like this.  My main reason for using the farthest date out is I'd like to mail as many books out at one time as possible since the USPS isn't on my family's normal routes.  And I have to depend on family members to get books mailed out.  I may well get the books out much sooner than indicated, but if I need the extra time it's best to say so.

Ruth

And, don't forget, two more day grace period before the request gets cancelled if they don't mark it mailed.

This week, I must admit, I am using all 5 days of the "mail later date". I work 7 days on/7 days off, 12 - 14 hr shifts. I moved. My new town doesn't even have a post office.  I MISS the AUTOMATED MAILING MACHINE my po in Dallas had! I could always mail my books the next day, regardless of my work hours. It was soooooo handy. I used it soooo much.

The little ones are no problem, and those still go out the next day with PBS postage, but I have 4 items over the 13 ounce rule ready to go out as soon as I get to the post office.  Is there a way to print postage for those larger items without having to go to the post office? Ideas?

It's not so much printing the postage they are requiring, but the actual handing it over to a clerk.  This came about after 9/11 from Home Security, if I remember it right.       :)     D.

Patricia asked: Is there a way to print postage for those larger items without having to go to the post office? Ideas?

Homeland Security's rule about handing any package over 13 ounces to a postal clerk has a convenient exception.  If you use electronic postage, including PBS postage on the wrapper, you don't have to hand it to a clerk.  The reason is that the package is traceable to you through your credit card or Paypal account.

On my heavier packages, I use PBS postage and drop them in a blue box. 
(Long lines at my Post Office)

I used to use PBS postage for my larger things, but even when I used PBS postage, the screen says your book ways over 13 ounces and must be posted at the post office or something like that, so even if you use PBS postage, you still need to hand it to a postal clerk. is how I understand the note on the screen.

so, I am confused. It doesn't have to go to a postal clerk even though the screen says it does?

It's only if you use stamps to mail the heavier than 13 oz. books that you have to hand it to a clerk.  PBS postage is okay and you can just drop it in the mailbox.

Ruth

Patricia, you can drop larger books into the blue boxes if you use PBS postage.  If you use regular stamps to pay the postage for books heavier than 13 oz., you have to hand it to the postal clerk.