What happens if the receiver doesn't mark a book received for whatever reason? I haven't pmed him or anything, so I don't know what could have happened to it.. all the other books and dvds I mailed out that day were received so I don't think it was a problem on my end, but maybe from his post office. The "date of system action" is in a couple of days, what happens? I don't have a printer so I don't use printed postage and I'm not about to buy DC at regular price for every book and dvd I send out, I'd rather just eat a credit once in a blue moon (been sending out tons lately thanks to cleaning out our storage building, lots of obscure, WL'd titles). So this isn't really a complaint.. just curious how the system deals with it. Do I get a chance to dispute it at all or does it just automatically not give me any credit? Does it look bad on our account to have books not received?

Remember, we just had a holiday and your receiving member could have been out of town. I always PM the receiver a few days before the book is slated to go lost, letting them know that I did mail it on such and such date, and asking politiely that if they have received the book to please mark it received so that I can receive my credit. I also tell them that if the book arrives after it has gone lost that it needs to be marked received in their transaction archive. I ask that they PM me back to let me know if they have received it or not.

If the member has not receivd the book you will not receive credit for it, without purchasing DC through PBS. However, if the receiving member has become inactive (and this is why I ask the member to PM me back), PBS will sometimes mark the book as received if you contact them and let them know that the member did not respond to your PM. I have sent out thousands of books and there have been maybe ten that went lost in the mail. Several times the receiving member will have moved without changing their address in the system here, assuming that the PO will forward the book...USPS does not usually forward media mail, and when they go back to their old home, there is the book. Or they were "crazy busy" and hadn't found the time to mark the book received, or their neighbor received the book and did not give it to them right away...at least, this has been my experience.

Just an idea....

On the rare occasion when I've had a book about ready to go lost, I've PM'd the person and said something like, "I'm so sorry you haven't received the book I sent yet.  Just wanted to let you know I really did mail it on August XXnd.  I don't know what could have happened.  Hope it shows up to you soon!"

Each and every time, it's been marked received almost immediatelly.  Sometimes I think people get busy and just forget.  A polite e-mail might be just the nudge they need to mark it received.  Never hurts to try.

Hope you get your credit soon!

Yes, send a PM, that's what I do too.  I've only had to send the PM maybe 8 times out of 1000+ transactions ... .and only 2 items ended up never being marked received after the PM.

I do not usually use DC, either, it's way expensive if your an active member with a lot of mailings.

The site keeps track of both receivers who have an unusual number of books not marked received and senders who have an unusual number of items lost in the mail. Eventually, either case will trigger someone to review the account. Having 1 or 2 lost items is not a big deal

To add to the preveious posts--if the book hasn't arrived by the time the system declares the book lost, but shows up later, the receipient can go into his/her transaction archive and mark it received from there.  If that happens, a credit will be transferred from the receiver to you at that time.  Note for anyone marking books received through the Transaction Archive--make sure the correct transaction is marked received as a credit will automatically be transferred when marked and can't be undone.
 

I am very careful to word the PM as a positive reassurance that I mailed it, not an accusation or question about them receiving it. 

But PBS also sends out one or more reminders to mark a book received.

PBS sends out two reminders.  One about a week before the book is declared lost.  One just when it is rolling into lost status.

As already mentioned, a polite inquiry just before (or just after) the book goes lost is acceptable.  It's best to assume the receiver has done nothing wrong, so aim for helpful rather than accusatory.

Without DC/Tracking, there is no real way to know if a package has been delivered or not, regardless of whether or not other packages mailed the same day have arrived.  Occasionally, even a DC package is scanned delivered but isn't...some members report their incoming books being delivered to the wrong address (same PO scan) and sometimes they get them and sometimes they do not.  Once in a while a member posts that they received a book package months after the lost date (even a year later) and yet the postmark/postage is dated exactly when the sender reported mailing the package. 

thanks all!

Not marking books received is why I buy DC on every book I mail out.  It's only 20 cents through Stamps.com.  If a book isn't marked received within six or seven days after its received, I send a polite PM noting that DC shows it was delivered on X date and would they be kind enough to please mark it received on PBS.   If the lost date approaches and it's still not marked received after DC shows it was delivered, I will send another polite PM.  The book is nearly always marked received after the first PM, but there's been a handful of times over the years where the other person never marks it received.

I had one woman recently respond that she didn't get the book, though DC showed it was delivered.  After exchanging a few polite emails wondering where the book might have ended up, she ended up marking it received, then discovered she'd not updated her address on PBS.  It was at her old post office.  She had to pay for forwarding it, but she did get the book in the end.