I've been using the PBS printed postage, and I recently realized that I can look in details and see where the package is.

Right now, I have a book that was sent literally as far as I could send one and still be in the continental US. It says: 4/15/2008 9:34 AM - Notice Left - KENNEWICK,WA

I also ordered a book from this same person on the same day, and got my book from her on the 15th.

I'm guessing that this means she got one of those notes to come pick up the package at the post office and just hasn't picked it up? Or will it even spell it out when she gets it?

I'm a little nervous because it was a deal through the book bazaar and she's supposed to credit me when she gets the book.

Media Mail is sent on a space available basis. Just because her book got to you quickly doesn't mean yours will get there in the same amount of time. Also it can take a couple days after the last scan to actually be delivered.  I live on an island in WA state and sometimes books to me are scanned at the mail postal center on the mainland and don't get to me until a day or 2 later.  Inter-island mail is sent to this center to be sorted and then sent back to the island.  So I can mail my neighbor a letter and it could take 2 or 3 days to get to them.

Recently I mailed 2 books go to the East Coast.  Mailed on the same day, from the same blue box. One was going a state further than the other.  1 book left immediately and reached it's destination in 3 days-media mail. The other one stayed at the distribution center for about a week and took 3 wks to get to it's destination. 

I had a book finally marked received today. The DC said it reached it's final post office on 4/4.  The requestor PM'd me saying it had been delivered to a neighbor and the neighbor just gave it to them. 

yes, it means a notice was left.  i had one the other day where i noticed the DC said 'Notice Left'.  it now shows a line underneath that for 'Delivered', so i assume either the person went and picked it up or they re-delivered the next day.  it was marked received by the person before the 'delivered' was updated on the site.

so yes, it should be marked delivered when the person gets it.  but don't worry about it for a while - they may not be able to get to the post office for a few days, or only go once a week, or ...    maybe if the status doesn't change for a week you should send a polite note showing the latest DC info and mention that you weren't sure if they'd received the notice from the PO.

ETA: oh, and if you're using printable postage, you already received at least one credit since the package was scanned.  if it was a multi-credit deal you might not have received all the credits depending on whether it was a bulk order or not, but if it was just for one credit you should already have it.

Just wanted to put in a plug for politely PM'ing people to tell them what the DC information says - my delivery person almost seems to hate DC, and has sometimes failed to actually LEAVE a notice even though the DC record says he has! I eventually checked the DC record, discovered I was supposed to have gotten a message, and picked up the two packages involved, but it definitely can't hurt to let someone know.