A person that I sent a book to has had their account on hold for the last month, when it goes past the date where the system marks it lost in the mail, what happens? I am sure it got there? So do I lose the credit because the book got lost in the mail?

No, the system will automatically credit you if the account's on hold when it goes lost.

No it won't automatically credit you if the person intentionally put their account on hold. If you go on vacation while you ahve books enroute-it will not automatically mark them received.  Also just because the account is on hold does not mean that they aren't around to mark books received. (my account is on hold now because I don't want any orders for a bit).

If it's an account that has been closed or suspended then they will mark it received for you. Sometimes they do it automatically and sometimes it'll go lost and you have to contact PBS and ask them to mark it received. 

If you think the account is inactive because they haven't responded to PMs then you can ask PBS to look into it for you.

If it's very close to going lost than I would send them a PM and ask if they received the book. 

I agree with Mary--first, don't panic! An account on hold may be just because they aren't able to send books right now and they have their wishlist autorequested. I periodically put my account on hold when my postage budget runs out, but I'm still here every day, marking things received and gabbing away.

If you have sent PMs that were not read by the person and you think they may be truly inactive, or away from home, contact PBS and they can mark the book received for you. At the very least, they may have more information about the person's situation.

If the account actually is suspended or closed, then the system marks the book received automatically.

Cheryl

Abby, I wouldn't worry too much, at this point.  I have often put my bookshelf on "vacation hold" to temporarily stop orders from coming, but continued to order books , etc.

I have my shelf on hold at the moment, but I am ordering books  and participating in the site. 

I have had my account on hold for the last month because of health reasons, but I continue to order and participate on here every day. I mark my books received as soon as I get them.

Well, the book was marked lost as of today. They did not respond to any messages. I was really patient. I emailed them again today. What do you think I should do next? Email PBS? I feel like they might have intentionally put the account on hold or something, but I am not sure.

Can you tell if it is a vacation hold?  If it is a suspended account, I'd contact PBS.

For a vacation hold, I'd follow PBS guidelines about lost books.

From help:

• If you don't hear back from the requestor within a week of sending a PM asking about the book, you should contact us to look into the situation.

I would send the info off to the team and let them know they have not responded to any PMs.  If the account is suspended or closed the system should automatically return the credit.    Here is the link Contact Us

Abby, you say they didn't respond to your PMs...did they ever read them? You can check by going to your PM page, click "from me" and then click on the "unread" button. Those that have not been read by the person will have checkmarks by them.

At any rate, since it has now gone lost, I would definitely contact PBS, especially if those PMs were never read...to me that would mean a truly inactive account, and maybe the team can release your credit that's been held hostage. :)

Cheryl