I mailed three or four books on May 29th, then a couple a week later.

All of my books have been received except for one book that was mailed on 5/29.

The book went from NJ to NY. Usually, this happens in a day. (If I mail on friday, they get it on Monday. Mail on Monday, NY gets it on Wednesday.) 

I know media mail is wonky, but this seems really long for it to arrive.

Also, I'm concerned because the book was sent to NY, but sent "c/o" someone other than the member. And the member's profile says they live in Iowa.

So, with only a week left before it goes lost, how can I politely word a PM to find out if the book has been received?

I don't ask if they received it, I just say "I see you haven't received the book yet, and I want to assure you I did send it out the day I posted it was sent. Hopefully it will show up soon." 

Well sometimes books go on detours.  I hosted a game recently and the books sent to me are the last to be received. So far they are taking 3 wks to go from OH to MD.  Because game books require DC, I looked the DC up on the PO website and they sent the book to WA on a 2,000 m detour. 

I had another game book take a month to go from MD to CT because they sent it to ILL first.

Fabulous! Mary has assured me that their is hope that perhaps the book took the scenic route. (To be honest, their really isn't much to see on the NJ Turnpike or the Parkway, so I guess I get why it would prefer the long way.)

And thanks to Veronica, I have a polite, non-confrontational way to PM the receiver. Thanks so much!

I like Veronica's way. I usually don't send any reminders just simply because PBS already sends 3 or 4 before actually marking it lost, so that should be enough to remind them to mark it received or check with their friend it's being mailed to.

I've only had one book I've sent go lost so far. It was enroute to NY & I've had 5 go lost just this year being sent from NY to me. (3 from 1 sender & another 2 w/ separate senders) Something must be up with their PO system!?!

If it hasn't been declared lost yet, I wouldn't pm. I had a book take about 4.5 weeks to arrive (goodness knows where it visited), and another took a trip around the US (went back and forth, it had DC, so I just watched it travel, arrived a day late). I've also sent c/o books, and they've arrived safely (although, the 1st time being a newbie, I pm'd just to make sure the book was going where it was supposed to). Sometimes books just like to take the time to travel :) 

I live in Michigan and was sending one to Vermont.  First it went to Chicago, on to Minneapolis then NY to land in Vermont on the last day!

I had another that I sent to Utah and that sucker sat somewhere in the city where it was supposed to be delivered for ages.  It was finally delivered on the very last day!  I wanted to PM, I didn't PM.  Should I, shouldn't I?  I ended up not on the advice of forum participants and didn't have to since the book was finally marked received.

I use PBS/DC so I had my credit and was still antsy.  I want the requestor to get the book from me, don't want them to go lost somewhere.

I've had media mail take over two weeks to go 10 miles - by the time it was marked received I began wondering if there were a pack of burros at the local sectional center!

There are enough reminder emails from PBS that you really don't need to contact the requestor until it goes lost....otherwise it can be annoying to get an email from the sender saying directly or indirectly did you get the book? 

Immediately after reading Mary & Veronica's advice, I pm'd the requestor. As it turns out, the book was not sent to the requestor, but her mom, and they live in different states. So, she kept forgetting to ask her mom if she received the book. Mom received the book, I received my credit, all is good in the world.

PBS will send the requester a note asking if the person they had the book sent to received it yet. 

I had one go from NY to CO and she used DC on it.  It got almost where it was supposed to go and then for some reason was back in NY and came back across to CO.  It finally got there, but I did get the PBS message asking if the person I'd had it sent to received it. 

Good luck. Pat

Back in the 80s, I lived in Birmingham, Alabama and attended college there. My parents lived in Centerpoint, an unincorporated suburb on the other side of B'ham from my school. Letters sent from them to me would take a week to cross town. I asked about this and was told that Centerpoint mail did not get sorted in B'ham; it went to Atlanta for sorting then came back. It had something to do with the attempt by Centerpoint to incorporate as a separate town and Birmingham's effort to have that attempt smacked down in the courts or the legislature.

Here is Memphis, my zipcode is 38115. The next zipcode over is 38141; what you would expect (38116) is not even nearby.

In other words, the mails can be very odd at times. Just part of what makes any day that I get something I wanted in the mail -- well, that's Christmas !

I had a large box of books go from Kansas to NY... got to NJ and disappeared. They are missing. I  just do NOT understand how USPS could lose a large box like that !!!