I've recently started using the PBS postage, and can now see when a book has been delivered. I've noticed that a lot of people do not immediately mark the book as received - one waiting three weeks before acknowledging that the book had arrived, others several days or a week. This seems rather bizarre to me. When a PBS book arrives, I always mark it received immediately. I know I can be a bit uptight about things like this at times, so I'm wondering what others think about this. Do you mark a book received right away or do you just wait until it occurs to you at some point when you're online?

usually the day I get it...now and then I'll forget and mark it the next day.

DC doesn't always mean that it has been delivered to the address.  sometimes it is at the post office or it was delivered to a neighbor or somewhere else. 

I mark received the next time I get online, which is usually that night or the next morning.  Occasionally a book will slip through the cracks and I'll get the email reminder to mark it received, but that's pretty infrequent.

Usually the day I get it out of the mailbox.  However, some days I forget to check the mail, so it might be day later.

As soon as I open the package & check the book.

Like Leslie said: The DC being scanned in the area of it's destination or saying delivered doesn't actually mean it's made it to the person's house yet.  I've seen them show as being delivered to me for a good week before I actually found it in my mailbox.  The other day I found a PBS book wrapped up in my newspaper in my newspaper box.  I don't know what happened there.  But in my mailbox was mail for a house on a totally different street.  So I don't know if a neighbor got it by mistake and put it in with my newspaper (my house number is on the newspaper box) or if the mailman just goofed up.

Usually I mark them received right away. But sometimes I can't get on the computer until later. The other day I actually forgot to mark one for a couple days. 

I mark my books the next time I get on the computer and since I am on daily, it usually isn't more later than the next day.  The only exception is when I'm away. 

I've had the DC show a package delivered to me once but I didn't receive it until 2 weeks later.  Don't know if it was misdelivered and the recipient eventually put it back in the mailbox or what.  My mail delivery person frequently misdelivers the mail. 

I mark a book received the very next time I get on the computer. 

I get home from work, check the mail........  If books have arrived, I open them, check to make sure they are the books I ordered and are in postable condition. I then proceed to my computer with wrapping in hand to mark them received and fill out the PBS survey with postmark date and postage amounts. I never wait to mark them received because I would probably forget so it is easier for me to mark them as soon as I get them.

Usually no more than a full day passes before I mark the book as received.  Of course, last week our phone line (we still rely on dial-up out here) was out for about 4 days and it took me that long to be able to get online and mark a book as "Mailed"...I had a person not mark a book as received until right before was considered "lost"..well..I used DC (not PBS), but I still had confirmation if needed.  Ya think some ppl. aren't in a big hurry to mark a book received when they see PBS DC?  They know the person got their credit, so maybe they think there's no rush on their end to mark it as received?!?!

I usually mark that evening.  Sometimes it's a day or two later--if I have guests that weekend the mail often just gets stacked up until Monday. 

As soon as I get back in the house from getting the mail.  I open them up and mark them recieved.

I mark it as soon as I bring it in from the mailbox.  It takes less than a minute, and I have a low tolerance for leaving unfinished business laying around for later.   If it was mailed with DC, I very often have it marked recieved before the delivery scan has entered the system.

I try to do it the same day I receive the book.  However, I will admit that there are times it may take me a couple of days...which reminds me ...

I do mine right away as soon as possible.

I too have noticed the same - but since I use quick credit I don't overly worry about it.

The next time I go online.  If not that evening then the next day.

On Saturday I had some computer software for someone else get mixed up in all my PBS packages.  It had a DC #.  I have no idea if it was scanned as delivered or not, but it was not delivered when it was scanned--at least not to the right person (I had a sub mailman that day).  I left it back in my mailbox today.  So even if he gets it tomorrow, that's 3 days after it was marked delivered.

As soon as I bring in the mail and open the package to make sure it is in postable condition.

I mark them mailed as soon as I open them. Sometimes that's right after I bring the mail in, sometimes it's a few hours later. It's always the same day I get them.

My experience with DC is that it's great for quick credit but it's pretty unreliable as an actual tracking tool. Also sometimes people are away and their mail is being held but the post office marks it delivered anyway.

I try to mark it the same day it arrives.

as soon as I can get to a computer after I check the book.  Sometimes on the weekends if I am really busy it will be late night.  Saturday I was busy and didnt check the mail unti sunday, so the two books I got were marked as recieved sunday.

I carry my mail straight to my desk and if I have PBS packages with it, I log in and mark them as I open them.

As soon as I can.  I had one batch that I forgot in the back seat for a couple of days and I felt really bad about those!  And another time that I had to wait a couple of days because I unplug my computer when we have lightning going on.  Other than that, as soon as I get home, I usually open the packages and mark them received.

But my mail goes to a P.O. box, so just because it says I received the book, it's not necessarily in my hot little hand.  When we had all the ice last winter, I was getting PMs from a lady who insisted that I had received the book and I had to mark it so.  It was almost two weeks before I was able to get out to the post office and she wasn't too happy.  Turns out, neither was I -- the book was RWAP and after that she didn't want to talk to me anymore.  ;-) 

Thanks for the responses, everyone. It had not occurred to me that it might be a matter of the DC not being completely accurate. I had also wondered, like you, Paula, if it was possible that  the receiver seesthe DC and does not worry about posting it as received asap. Anyway, it looks like the general consensus is to do it as soon as possible, and that's what I was wondering.

Thanks!

Happy reading!

As soon as I get them and open them up.  I check to make sure they're ok (re-postable) and mark them.  As my computer is on from the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night, it's just a matter of opening them.  Pat