I requested a book and the person wrote me a nice little note. They said they really tried to get it out but couldnt quite make it to the PO .They were leaving for vacation... I really appreciated that this person let me know what was going on.....

It makes waiting just fine, I know they tried and can certainly understand rushing around and trying to make errands happen before vacation. A little courtesy goes a long way!

I do love PBS

Yes, a little courtesy does go a long way.  Everyone has situations come up that cause them not to be able to ship as quickly as they might have thought they could.  Everyone occasionaly makes a mistake and has a book posted that they no longer have for whatever reason.  And, for the most part, everyone is accepting of these things and willing to work with people when they are just upfront about the situation.

This summer, before I left on vaca, I PM'd the people who had books in the mail to me and told them that the books would be sitting for a while and that I would mark them as soon as I got back, but not to worry that they had been lost.  I did this because I sent a book to someone once, just a 5 hour drive away, and it never got marked received.  Come to find out they were on vacation and I was worried about my book for no reason.  I would have liked a little PM in that case, so that's why I decided to do it, and the response was always favorable.  Thanks for bringing this up again.  It's a good reminder.