I had this happen before and I kinda don't understand

I had a book taking forever to get to me...it was eventually labeled lost in mail and I got my credit back...like a week later I finally got the book, so I went and marked it received my credit got taken away and sent to the other person(I assume) now the only problem I have is that they say they will mail by so and so date and mark it mailed during that time period right...but then you get the book and it is post marked for like a week or more later then when they said they mailed it.

This irks me. I try to get all my books out with in the 3 days, if I think their might be a delay due to holidays, or just being busy with my family I will select that I will mail later and put a date that I know I can mail by so that the person receiving the book knows when to expect it. I think people that do what I described above should not get their credit back IMPO I can understand late mailings due to family emergencies or stuff like that but these people are deliberately not telling the truth, they are saying that they mailed the book on so and so day but they don't actually mail it for a week or more later. I would think that you shouldn't even hit that book mailed button until the book has actually been mailed right?

This is just part of the system.  The only way to combat the late mailers is to make sure you fill out the survey when the book arrives.  Every time a person receives a book that has been marked as being mailed late, they receive a message from R&R reminding them to mail things on time and a mark in the system.  Get too many marks in the system and your account can be frozen or cancelled.

One thing to keep in mind is how something is postmarked.  Where did the date come from?  Is it printed postage?  If so, you can pretty much trust that date.  I will say that you need to be sure it's not from the Automated Machine, because I will print off a bunch of postage and then use it for a couple of weeks.  But if you went by this date, the book might have been mailed before you ordered it,  :)  If you receive a book with the actual cancelation postmark, you do need to be wary of this date.  Because fewer PO are actually canceling stamps.  But if you book runs through the right PO, they might cancel it days or weeks into the mailing process.  I've heard of books being cancelled with the date they were delivered, because the PO it was delivered from was the place where it was finally caught.

But most of the time, it's just someone forgetting to put a book in the mail.  Or a book that slid under a car seat and only got noticed when the car was cleaned.  And then the sender never let the receiver know what was going on.  Not much a receiver can do about that.

Kerry

**If you do arrange late mailing with a requestor, you should mark the book mailed before the deadline to prevent the transaction from being canceled.** 

This is from the Help Docs.  They may have marked the book mailed before they actually mailed it to keep the transaction from being cancelled.  Even though I don't recommend doing this, isn't there someplace in the Help Docs where it actually says to do this if you can't get the book mailed on time?  I can't find it, but it seems like I've seen that.  Hmmm...

BTW, I have a book that is going to go lost in about 2 days.  I've PM'd the receiver to see if he received it and got no reply.  I assume I'll get my credit when it goes lost?  And what if he marks it received after that?  I suppose since I already got my credit, nothing will happen?

Lisa, if a book goes lost and you didn't use DC you will not get your credit...unless that member is no longer a member and then you will.

Lisa's right, expcept that it says you should do this only if you've made arrangements with the receiver.  To do so without prior arrangement is rude and cheating the system.  I always mark the date on the survey and make a note to PBS in cases like this.

Help Center sez:

• Can I send a book later?