when a book is declared lost in the mail, isnt your credit returned to you? i had one that went lost a couple days ago, and i still have not received a credit for it

Yes, but then the book may also be reordered for you if there is another one available in the system. Has the book returned to your ordered or in route tabs? Look at you credit archive to see if the credit came back and then went back out.

it is one that i have mailed out to someone else

If you are the sender then there is no credit to "return". You will not be awarded another credit until the book is marked received. If you use PBS printable postage, you are awarded a credit when you mark the book mailed. If the book is declared lost in the mail, the requester will have their credit returned to them, since they have not "received" a book.

i thought if it was lost both the sender and receiver got their credits. maybe im thinking about one of the sister sites