I printed out a wrapper with postage for a book two days ago but didn't have a chance to mail it before today (I needed to buy a padded evelope because it is an awkward sized paperback and wouldn't ship well with just a wrapper).    

Today is the the PBS "mail by" deadline.    I just checked my account and the receiver had sent several emails over the past two days asking me to mail it as soon as possible (it's a health-related book) and then finally just asked me to cancel the transaction and refund the credit because he had bought a copy.

I went ahead and did so, but now I'm out over $3.00 postage.   Should I just let it go?   I am sorry I took longer than I said to mail the package (which is unusual - one of the reasons I print out postage so I can just put it in the mailbox right away), but I was still within the PBS deadline for mailing.   On the other hand, it doesn't make sense for the receiver to pay the postage since I didn't mail the book.  I guess I could have mailed it anyway and got a credit, but that seemed mean since he had tried to communicate with me.

I guess the lesson for me here is to not print the postage unless I'm sure I'll mail it that day.

I just checked my account and the receiver had sent several emails over the past two days asking me to mail it as soon as possible (it's a health-related book) and then finally just asked me to cancel the transaction and refund the credit because he had bought a copy.

Personally, I think the requestor was out of line for asking you to mail it more quickly, and then for asking for and expecting you to cancel and refund the credit.  In asking you to cancel, it removed the book from your shelf and you lose your place in the FIFO line (as well as the postage you lost). 

I personally would ask if they could return the book to the store and get their money back, since they would be able to completely recoup their money, whereas you are out postage and your place in the FIFO line.

A requester cannot cancel a transaction once the label has been printed. You should have explained that you were within the time limits given by PBS and sent the book.  You shouldn't lose a credit, your postage cost and your FIFO spot just because he was impatient.

I would have said "I'm sorry but I already paid the postage for this book"  There is a reason why people can't cancel once the label is printed to prevent a book being cancelled while you are on your way to the post office.  You had no obligation to cancel once you paid for postage. It ws nice that you did so but now you are the postage money. 

It was very nice of you to cancel the request, you didn't have to do that. If a requestor asks you to cancel, you should use the Contact Us link at the bottom of the screen and ask the team to do it for you. If you cancel, the request gets sent along to a new sender, and your book is removed from the FIFO order. If you let the team cancel it for you, then they can put the book back on your shelf and prevent the request from being passed along. They might even be able to refund the postage.

Thanks, everyone.   I'll give the requestor a pass because they were very concerned about the health issue (which the book was about) and have enough stress in their life - it's not worth the $3.00 to add to it.  And I don't have an issue with losing the FIFO status because it's a wishlist book.   But it's very nice to get the feedback that I hadn't done anything wrong.

Tracy, it was nice of you to cancel the request and not add to the stress of the requestor. It seems that the book was needed for an urgent matter and PBS likely wasn't the best method to use for getting the book. I think you should try going to the post office and see if they can refund the postage you are out or maybe apply it to the book when you mail it to the next requestor.

It was very nice of you to cancel the request so as not to add to the member's stress. I agree that if a medical book is needed urgently, PBS is probably NOT the best choice for it--if it was a wishlisted book, he might have even been waiting a long time, so I'm not sure I get all that "urgent need" thing to go out and buy the book, especially after you had already accepted the request. (Ah well, but people are funny sometimes...)

But anyway....printable postage isn't refundable so you are out that, plus the padded envelope--although you can certainly use that for the next requestor in line. The thing is, hopefully they removed the book from their WL because once YOU cancel, they go back to the front of the WL line, so if you repost it right away, it would go back to them unless they've removed it.

I use pretty much exclusively the PBS postage, and most of the time I don't print until just before I'm ready to wrap and mail, for just this very reason. If people want to cancel before I print the label, no problem, but once I've printed postage, I would not do so myself.

Cheryl

I agree. Once the label is printed, it is too late to cancel. Them's the rules.

Now, if you were late in sending it, that would be another thing -- but not when you are stil within the deadlines.

And, since the PO went to postal zones in their pricing some time back,  the printable postage is based on where the book is going, so you cannot even re-use the label with a different address to send the book to someone else.

Using PBS when you are in a hurry (health-related or otherwise) is just silly.

Actually media mail is a flat rate no matter where it goes. But the DC is tied to the address it was printed for as well as all the little barcodes.  So you couldn't just slap a sticker on it with someone else's address.  The printed postage labels cannot be cut up or anything because of the deal PBS has with the post office for being able to supply teh postage.  There's a thread about it on the postal board explaining it all.  They are also picky bout the date on the printed postage.