I sent a few books out but did not use PBS postage. I did however use the green delivery confirmation form from the post office. I see that the books have been received almost a week ago but still have not been marked received by the requesters.

I also have a BOB I sent that was marked delivered by the postal service almost 3 weeks ago but no reply from requester.The postmaster told me that if the packages was placed in a parcel locker (waiting for pick up ) it would have been scanned delivered; and a form placed in the persons mailbox.  He said usually parcels are picked up in a couple of days. I have e-mailed the requestors and am still waiting for a response.

I think from now on I am going to stick with PBS postage.

It is not that frequent of an occurance so hopefully you have hit your share and won't have any more for a while. I randomly use PBS postage, but almost always use PBS-DC at least. I think I have had only a couple of my books (out of over 600) not get marked received and those were books without DC  :(

I would send in Feedback using the Contact Us link in the lower right in regards to that Boxer. That is way too long and not responding to your PMs will be frowned upon. They will prompt the receiver to work with you.

If the books scanned as Delivered by the USPS are not close to their lost day, then I wouldn't start fretting yet. The receivers many just be away or the neighbor got the book and it hasn't made its way back to the right person yet. The Help Center lays out the process for this situation quite well:

If you sent the book with DC purchased elsewhere and it has been recorded as delivered by USPS but hasn't been marked received yet:

• First, contact the requestor from the active transaction (in the Books I've Mailed tab in My Account), or from the "lost" transaction in your Transaction Archive if the book has been declared Lost in the Mail by PBS.
• If the requestor does not respond to your PM within a few days, contact us and we will look into it.
• We cannot grant credit for DC purchased outside PBS, but we can check if this requestor has become inactive.
• If this requestor is inactive, your book should be marked received by the system.

If your book does not arrive by the 26th day (the 35th day if the sender or requestor is outside the contiguous US) after you marked it mailed, it will be declared Lost in the Mail at PBS.  This does not mean that the book is actually lost; it may simply be delayed en route.  You can read more about Lost books in A book I sent is lost in the mail!.

Out of the more than 600 I've sent (and I don't use PBS postage ever, and only rarely PBS DC (multi-book orders only)) ... I've only had 4 that were in danger of going lost.

And when I PM'd the requestors a few days before they were going to be marked lost ... all four were marked received along with various excuses as to why they "forgot" to mark them received.

I think it's pretty rare that people don't mark received within the month. (I think its a lot more common that the marking received might wait for a period of time after its actually been received, however, so I wouldn't get too worried yet).

If you never receive answers to your PMs regarding the books, then contact PBS about the non-responses. You should wait at least several days to give them time to respond. Some people don't sign in every day or they could be on vacation, etc.

I know last time I went on vacation I got PM'd about books that were scanned delivered (WELL before the "go lost" date, I might add) ... I just told them that I planned to mark them received when I got home.

Also the delivery scan doesn't mean it was delivered to the right address. I personally think DC is a waste of money as the DC fee soon out costs the missing credit.  I've had 1 I've sent go lost in over 600 books sent.  One enroute to me was scanned as delivered but it wasn't delivered to me.  Although the PBS postage is nice if you can't go to the post office.

Also keep in mind for the 3 that are a week old-it's vacation season. 

PBS doesn't usually get involved with problem transactions but if the boxer isn't responding to your PMs-you should contact PBS. They might send a reminder or suspend the account if they look inactive. If you didn't get your books from them they might give credits (if the other person had any) after they've sent a reminder to the receiver. 

Good reminder Mary, vacation season is upon us and we can probably expect to see more delays for marking books received (and other member activities) as people work around vacations and busy summer schedules.  Time to practice patience 

I have noticed a growing trend of people taking forever to mark things received.  I am spending the extra money on each book to insure the credit because of this.  Out of 3 books sent, 2 of them were "delivered" almost 10 days ago, the 3rd just a few days, and they are all still pending.  I generally try to mark my books received within 24 hours but I'm thinking I'm in the minority now.

As has been noted before, delivered doesn't mean the person it was meant to receive it has actually received it. I have had things marked delivered by the PO that I don't receive for several days. I'm sure that if someone is watching on the other end they are thinking "I mark my stuff received in a timely fashion. Why can't she?" when in truth, I do exactly that.

susan/vt

I understand that Susan.  However, is it seriously unreasonable to expect someone to check their mail within a 10 day period?  The only exception on my account has been when I'm traveling, but as I have mail delivered to a PO Box, it will show as "Notice Left" so the person who has sent it knows it's here just not picked up yet.  Again, well worth the money to not have to babysit people with PMs.  I just let the system do it's message reminders to the receivers but at least I'm not going to lose a credit over it.

yeah but what you've spent in DC would probablly buy a whole lot of credits.  I figured it out one time and if I'd used it on every book I sent I would have spent around $200 just in DC fees. I'd rather put that towards new books to add to the system.   I just don't stress about credits that much. 

Anyway: I think Susan wasn't saying that she doesnt check her mail for that long at a time but that thing show as scanned delivered but aren't delivered.  Not all postal carriers have scanners in their vehicles.  So they scanned as delivered at the local PO. Then it might take a few days to actually get onto the right mail carriers pile and into the mail box especially if there's a weekend and a Holiday in there. 

Also not everyone has a computer access everyday.  They may rely on library or friends/family access.  Although going 10 days w/o logging on would cause them missed requests. But you get what I'm saying.

However, is it seriously unreasonable to expect someone to check their mail within a 10 day period? 

My vacations have been 10 days or longer at times. I try not to order books that I know will arrive while I am on vacation ... but if I order a book say, 3 weeks before I am leaving, and the sender waits 5 days and then picks the longest mailing out date ... well, they just might be waiting for me to mark it received on my end until I get back... 10 days or 2 weeks later.

I'm not trying to be mean, but that's just how it happens sometimes.

I can chime in from the other side of this story.  There is a book en route to me with the DC showing received on the 12th.  I still haven't gotten it.   I did PM the sender after a few days to assure her I would mark it received as soon as I get the book.  I'm afraid one of my neighbors has a nice new book.

I have been on both sides of this scenario too....I've sent books that were scanned delivered but conversations with the receiver made it clear they had NOT received the book. I've also been the receiver and seen the scans marked "delivered" several days previously but I did NOT get the book. I check my mail every day and mark books received as soon as I get them and have checked them over to make sure there's no problems. I have personally had PBS books mis-delivered (and scanned as delivered) to a neighbor, who was fortunately honest and did bring them to me so I got them several days after the delivery scan. This has happened to me before, too, with packages from other sources, not just PBS.

The only way to ensure that the right person actually got the book is to require a signature on delivery...DC just means it was delivered "somewhere." Personally I have had so few books go lost, I really don't think it's cost effective to use DC if it's just for that reason. I use it on all my books but only because it's required with the PBS postage--which I use for convenience sake.

Cheryl

The only way to ensure that the right person actually got the book is to require a signature on delivery...DC just means it was delivered "somewhere."

Really anyone can sign those. I've signed for packages for my sister and parents before.

Even at work I sign for packages and I'm not a supervisor or manager. They come through the front entrance on Saturdays and I sign away. A manager told me it's ok to do, but still, it's technically addressed to our general manager and they're having a cashier sign the delivery confirmation. Half the time I go to lunch and then the package is gone when I get back. I only assume it got to wherever it was supposed to go within the store.

So if the mailman has the wrong house and someone just blindly signs for the package, it could still be misdelivered. I know I've never looked at the package before signing for it here at home. I just assume it's for someone else that lives here so I sign, take the package, and then check it out before putting it on the table.

Okay, Amee....I rarely have anything to sign for, so just assumed "signature required" meant that it was the person it was addressed to signing. I guess then we move up the ladder some more....certified or registered mail? Or can any Tom, Dick or Amee sign for those too? LOL

Cheryl

Well, I guess I'm in the minority here but I am concerned about the credits and also about books that are sent being marked received in a reasonable amount of time.  I always just have a credit or two in my account and I look forward to spending them! My wish list and reminder list are long

I think a pm saying that you will be out of town or not available to mark any books received right away is a courtesy that doesn't leave the sender wondering what is going on. It also helps to keep in contact so that should a problem arise, everyone is aware of it right away and steps can be taken to fix it.

 I'm using PBS postage from now on (lesson learned)..............but this is just me. I realize everyone is different.

I would honestly rather not receive PMs from people going on vacation, as long as they mark their books received before they go lost I don't pay that much attention. Don't plan on ever sending PMs about this either.

it just comes down to how active you are on the site, I think. I've mailed more than 600 books in the last year, never had any that were not ultimately marked received, and if I had purchased DC for all of them that would have been more than $276 just on DC .... obviously not worth it at all. That is the shipping cost for mailing out more than 100 more books here ... I could get at least 100 more credits for that amount of money, rather than buying DC.

I would probably feel a lot differently if I was only mailing a couple of books out a month, though. Then each credit might be worth the extra cost or worry to me.

My DC cost would have been $317+.  That's over 100 credits I could buy from someone in the book bazaar.  Or 100+ more books I could mail.  Or around 55 mmps I could get from Amazon under their 4 for 3 deal. 

Yes I am bored tonight to take the time to figure that out.  I should be readign one of the 900 books I have here but I keep dozing off.

All that being said. If I didn't have time to go to the post office-I'd probably use the PBS postage for the convenience factor.

I guess then we move up the ladder some more....certified or registered mail? Or can any Tom, Dick or Amee sign for those too? LOL

Well I can tell you that my sister once got a certified letter and she specifically was required to sign for it. I think the signature upon delivery sort of confirmation just doesn't matter. Or maybe all the mailmen I've encountered are just lazy and didn't bother reading who it was for or asking if I was in fact the signature a person wanted upon delivery.

IIRC Amee, some postal rates that require signature can be specified who can sign...addressee, agent, etc.  Mostly, any signature at the addy will suffice...delivery peeps have done their job, and somebody signed on the dotted line.

that are sent being marked received in a reasonable amount of time. 

As long as the receiver marks it received by the go lost date that in my opinion is a reasonable amount of time...life happens, people are away from home and away from computers.  I personally don't want to PM every tom, dick, jane or harry that are sending books to me and say hey..I'm going out of town for xxx number of days I'll mark the book received when I return.  To me, and yes this will sound paranoid but, stranger things have happened but, that leaves my home vulnerable with numerous folks knowing my home will be vacant for xxx number of days.  Security experts say that one should not advertise that they will be gone from home.

Also, with media mail taking awhile sometimes how am I to know that the book will arrive before I return?  Just because a book has been marked delivered does not mean at the correct address....there is still one out there that was shipped to me, marked delivered 18 months ago and it has yet to land upon my doorstep or in my mailbox.

I actually had someone get very impatient with me a few weeks ago about not marking a book received.  I hadn't gotten it yet, hence not marking it received.  There were still a little under 2 weeks left before the book was marked to go lost.  I do understand that people want their credits ASAP, but  in addtion to everything this person waited until the last possible minute to accept my request THEN marked the longest possible mail time and mailed the book at the end of that period.  I was totally fine with all that (I am a patient person), but thought it was really funny that this sender was OK with dawdling on sending it but ALL OVER ME when I didn't mark it received the day DC said it arrived in my city. 

My mail delivery person frequently delivers our mail to our neighbor. They live together but have broken up and are in the process of cleaning/repairing their house to put it on the market. She and I do not get along, while her ex-boyfriend is good friends with my husband and myself. Usually, he's home first, but she recently quit her job and has been staying home.  Last week, he came up having been packing up boxes and found a stack of our mail that was delivered to our house and she claimsshe never noticed it wasn't their mail. In it were some Netflix movies that I'd never received last month, along with some books that the Post Office had said were delivered a couple weeks ago, but they hadn't been delivered to the right house. Usually, I post received the same day I get the book, but in this case, I didn't because I'd never actually received them.

Some times, it can be the mailman's fault.

IIRC Amee, some postal rates that require signature can be specified who can sign...addressee, agent, etc.  Mostly, any signature at the addy will suffice...delivery peeps have done their job, and somebody signed on the dotted line.

That's what I figured, but since I didn't know the exact rules, just what I've experienced, I figured maybe I really wasn't technically supposed to be signing but the mailmen let me just because.

Anyway, my point was that delivery confirmation (with or without signatures) is never certain.

I do understand that people want their credits ASAP, but  in addtion to everything this person waited until the last possible minute to accept my request THEN marked the longest possible mail time and mailed the book at the end of that period.  I was totally fine with all that (I am a patient person), but thought it was really funny that this sender was OK with dawdling on sending it but ALL OVER ME when I didn't mark it received the day DC said it arrived in my city. 

Yes, exactly!!!!!!!

PBS teaches you patience, coming and going!