I received notification in early Jan that a WL book that I wanted was available. I let the system know that I wanted it and it was marked as mailed by the sender on 1/5/08. Weeks went by and I did not receive the book. I also did not have any contact via PM from the sender. The book was marked "lost in the mail" on 2/5/08. I went back to #1 on the WL for this book and within 24 hours another copy became available and I requested it and it was sent promptly. Today, I get my mail and BOTH copies of this book show up, but the 1st copy (the one that was "lost") was postmarked 2/5/08 - the day that the system cancelled the transaction. The postage was printed at the PO so this is likely the date it was actually mailed. If I am reading the rules correctly, I still need to mark this book received? I just want to be sure I do the right thing here. Thanks!!!

the right thing to do is to mark both books received.

Nice thing though is that it was on a WL, so you can post one copy and get a credit quickly.

Well. I think since the person didn't mail it on time and hasn't PM'd you about, I'm not so sure you should be out a credit for the extra book. Yeah if it's WL you'll get a credit back by posting it but you'll have to pay postage to get that credit back. I don't know.  I guess technically you have to mark it received.  If you mark it received, mark it received w/ a problem.  That the book was mailed after the transaction was cancelled and you ended up with 2 books.  A simple PM from this person could have saved you from ending up with 2 books.  If the book came back to them for some reason they should have PM'd you.  They could have reposted the book and send it to the next person in line if you had already accepted the 2nd book offer. They could have posted it directly to your WL if the 2nd offer hadn't come through yet. 

Normally, lost books must be marked received to keep your account in good standing.  However, per the Help Center, there is an exception which your situation seems to fit:

"

• *If the book was mailed late and had already been declared Lost at PBS before it was mailed (and you re-requested the book and got it from someone else), this is an exception:
  • If a sender wants to mail a book that has been declared Lost at PBS already she needs to contact you with a Personal Message asking you to confirm that you still want the book from her, and
  • You would need to have confirmed that you still wanted her copy of the book in a Personal Message in reply to hers before she mailed it.
  • If a sender sends a book this late without getting confirmation from you that you have not gotten another copy in the meantime, the sender has made the mistake here; in this case,  you are not obligated to mark the lost book received nor are you obligated to return the extra copy. [emphasis mine]"

Cheers,

Catt

I had this EXACT thing happen to me yesterday, receiving two of the same WL'd books!  I went ahead and marked it received through my transaction archive.  Just make sure to fill out the whole survey including the date it was postmarked, and from what I read in the help topics, an email will be sent to them from R&R telling them that what they did was a no-no.

Technically you do not have to mark the first book as received if  the person sends it after the system has timed it out AND you receive a send copy ordered through FIFO. I am on a fence on this one. On one hand you have a extra book you can post and get a credit back. On the other, this person merely had to PM you to let you know they mailed it that day and you could have cancelled the other order. Do what is best for you. If you have the money to spare to send it back out and get the credit, or have plenty to spare, go ahead and give the first sender a credit. If you do not, you can ask the person to give you the postage money or just leave the transaction as it is in the system. You are within your rights to only mark the one sent correctly in the system as received and keep both books. 

I was just looking up the rules on this when I noticed Catt had beat me to it...that is where I go whenever I question something and before I give any advice.  Personally, I would PM the first person that sent it out after it was lost and explain to her that you had already had another one ordered.  She may agree that she did wrong and not feel bad that she doesn't get a credit.  I certainly wouldn't feel bad about not giving her the credit...she did wrong and you shouldn't have to spend 2 credits on the same book even if you can send one out right away...you'll be out postage.

Your call but, if I was the recipient I wouldn't mark it received.

Christy

Thanks for all of the help everyone. I think I'll mark it received and fill out the survey with all the details so that this transaction will go in this person's record. I'll also send a PM and explain what happened to the person who sent the "lost" book so that hopefully they can learn from this. I figure I can post it into the system and make someone else happy to receive a WL book. I'll just be out the postage.

Thanks again!

Kristin