I have been a member for several years and have traded lots and lots of books,CD's and DVD's and have had more books lost in the mail going and coming this year so far then all the previous years combined.. What is going on?  I ordered four books around the middle of April on the same day and two of them have been marked lost in the mail.. I live in a very small town and the post office knows me and my books, and when I talk to them they claim no knowledge of the books...I feel bad for the people who sent the book and do not get the credit and I am mad when I mail a book and lose the book and the credit but what can you do.. Tracking dose not help it just cost you more  money to lose the book.. it has got to the point if I send dvd series I insure them but the cost to do that on everything is to much..

Roxanne

I have never had one of my sent books get lost but have not received them because they were "lost". I have also had books show up weeks after the deadline ( after I had already received another copy because it was a wish list book) or received an email from the member stating that they either: 1. got busy and forgot to mail it. 2. gave it to their husband to mail and he forgot.

I have noticed that it takes longer to get books from the east side. I can get a book (to michigan) from California in 5 days but it takes 10 to 14 days to come from Pennsylvania. Doesn't matter if it is first class or media mail.

I always use DC so I can get my credit quickly. I NEVER mark a book mailed until I have actually mailed it  and I do not ask my husband to mail my books as I feel it is my responsibility.

Just thought I would throw in my two cents :)

Jane

I recently did not get 6 books I ordered from Virginia.  Never showed up and I ordered multiple books from multiple people at the same time and everything else showed up.

Earlier this year my daughter mailed some books that got separated from the packing.  It was interesting.  She got a letter from the post office with the mailing label which looked like it had be semi-neatly torn off the package.  They sent paperwork saying she could have the books looked for at the "lost book" place in South Carolina or somewhere like that.  Months later they claimed they couldn't find the books.  We live on the west coast and the books were going back east.

If you are experiencing an unusual number of lost items, either coming and/or going, you should report it to your local postmaster (and maybe regional) so they can look into it. 

I have had 3 lost in the last few weeks after never having lost anything before and they are all ones I sent and they all went through the Colorado sorting center. I think another 2 may be lost based on the fact that the tracking has not been updated since June but here is hoping. Funny al the ones I have sent that went through the California sorting center showed up just fine.  Also 3 of the books that went missing were mailed on the same day, so I do not know what is going on with them.

You are correct to be concerned, that is too many lost packages.

Do you use tracking of any kind Alicia?  If so, you can (and should) take your records down and talk to your postmaster b/c they can start looking for the problem.  Without records (tracking numbers) you can still talk to the postmaster  but they will have less information to work with.

I am curious what if you track the package and it is marked as delivered from the post office? I am not saying the person I sent the book to is lying but I want my credit. Books are expensive and paid for tracking, did everything right. I have had a few members tell me they haven't recieved a book but when I give the tracking #, they immediately change their story and say they hit the wrong button. So now I've not only lost $14 I paid for the book but the $4 for shipping. Trading is almost not worth the hassle anymore.

There are several possibilities here:

1) You purchased tracking through PBS and the book has been scanned after you marked it mailed. If this is the case, then you already got your credit.

2) You purchased tracking through PBS and the book has not been scanned. If this applies, then you need to scroll to the bottom of the page and use the Contact Us link to send a feedback to the admin team. They will give you a credit.

3) You purchased tracking at the Post Office or through some other service. You have contacted the requester and she has told you that the book did not arrive. In this case, you are out of luck. The Post Office makes mistakes and since you chose not to buy the insurance you would have gotten with a purchase of delivery confirmation from PBS, you are the one who has to take the loss.

4) You purchased tracking at the Post Office or through some other service. You have contacted the requester and she has not responded within a week. If this is your situation, then contact PBS by using the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page. They will investigate the other account and they may mark the book received if they are unable to reach the other member or if they see a pattern of problems with her mail delivery.

Also ask the receiver to check all areas the postal person might have delivered the book with no notice.  I once had this happen where I didn't think I had received the book and our postman had left it at an entrance we never use.

I also am having more problems with book delivery this year than I have ever had before. Some books ended up being mailed late because my husband has a car accident and the car was towed and fixed before the books actually got to the post office. I initially did not know that and that is my fault.  However, once the books got in the mail, the tracking began and the books were halted somewhere before delivery. Some books have been "out for delivery" several days but seemingly never delivered. Another went to a small town where it was supposed to be but then stopped there with "being processed" and no indications they ever went out for delivery, and it has been several days. The few times I have tried to inquire, I was unable to get any resolution.

Frustrating!

Hi,
I ordered a total of 4 books from 2 different people.  The PBS system says they were sent to me about 3 weeks ago.  They still have not arrived yet.  I pulled the tracking details (since they have the green check marks) and called my local post office.

My USPS said that they can see is the numbers were registered but the system does not see them as being actually dropped off to start the mailing process?  It sure seems like something has been going on more recently, since the books I sent and received in August were very speedy but things seemed to slow down around mid September (again). 

By the way, if you drop a book off by mailing at the counter, the receipt has the tracking number even if you are only paying for just the media rate with no tracking. You can put that number in then see where it is yourself.  It seems to be a minor glitch in the system.  Some of the local offices will give you a batch of the tracking labels so you can put them on yourself, which can save them a step.    Occasionally they get a new sticker placed over it so the number changes..