I'm going on vacation in late Sept. and will return mid-Oct.  I'm putting my account on Vacation Hold from 9/1 to 10/11, so I don't have to worry about mailing things right before I go.  I won't have computer access while I'm gone.  Due to the post office's hours, I won't be able to get my mail until 10/13.

I have my Wish List on Auto Request and plan to build up some credits before then.  If wish list books become available and I have the credits, will Auto Request take care of it?  Will it make the senders crazy and create problems if I can't mark books as received right away?  I don't want to get into trouble.  Thanks!

I have my Wish List on Auto Request and plan to build up some credits before then.  If wish list books become available and I have the credits, will Auto Request take care of it?

Yes. (From the Help Docs)

• If a Wish List book becomes available while an account Vacation Hold is in effect, and the Wish List book IS set to auto-request:
  • if you have credit(s) in your account to request the book, it will be requested for you automatically, and sent to the mailing address on your account.
  • if you don't have any credits in your account, you will be passed over for that copy, and retain your place on the Wish List.

If you place a book on your Wish List while an account Vacation Hold is in effect, that Wish List item will not be hidden by the account Vacation Hold.

Think of your non-auto-requested Wish List items as a birthday present.   Whatever is on your Wish List will be "wrapped up" by the Hold when it goes into effect, and the birthday present will be "hidden" from view by the Wrapping; anything placed on the birthday present after it has been wrapped (any newly Wishlisted books) will not be hidden from view. Auto-request items are not hidden by the account Vacation Hold; however, they will be treated as though they are hidden if you have no credits at the time a copy of the book becomes available when your account is on Vacation Hold.

However, you seem to be gone a long time. If you get a wish granted towards the earlier part of your time away, the book could go lost and cause uncertainty and anxiety for senders.  One possibility is to set up a RC which basically states you won't be marking books received for a while but someone will be receiving packages. They will be safe and marked received when you return. Those who need credits faster can use PBS - DC and/or Postage. I'm only recommending this because it seems the books go to a PO Box, so you are not informing strangers of your absence and your home address.

Good luck and have a good vacation.

I was gone for a week and during that time put my account on vacation hold and all of my WL books on auto-request.  As luck would have it, I was offered 3 WL books during that time, all 3 arrived, so the system works just fine. :-)

I agree with the above posts.  It should work for you. 

If you were going to be gone much longer, and books sent to you would be going "lost", then you should either take your WL books off auto-request or arrange with someone to check your mail and let you know what books arrive so that you could mark the received.

If you can get online during your time away, and if a book is mailed to you (especially during the first half of your vacation) you could PM the sender to let him know that you'll be home from vacation on such and such a date and will be checking your mail the next day (or whatever.)  That way if a sender notices that your account is on hold, he'll know he doesn't have to worry.

You could also put a note on your profile page indicating that you're away from home and requested books via auto-request. Let them know you will mark received books as soon as you're able after getting home.

That way if it's been 2 weeks since a book was sent and the sender is getting antsy and checks your profile and sees that you're on Vac. Hold, they won't panic--a lot of new folks or people who don't read the forums or use some of the features don't realize that you can request books (via the WL auto-request) while your account is on Vac. Hold.  If they check your profile and see that note., it will likely be reassuring for them. 

Cheryl

Actually, I don't think it'd do much good to put it in your profile.  It would never occur to me to look at someone's profile unless it was ready to be marked lost.  JMO   It can't hurt to put it there but I don't think many people check profiles.

Cozi, for me it wouldn't make sense to add a profile note either because I almost never look at profiles. But I have seen a lot of worried people posting questions in the forums with comments like, "I sent a book and it's been 2 weeks since I sent it, when I looked at their profile, they have their account on hold! Oh no! What now?" and lots of other passing comments regarding problem swaps with something like "I checked, but they hadn't made a profile" or "their profile hides how many transactions they've had, why do people hide that" etc etc...so I think there are a lot of people who DO check profiles, especially newer people who tend to watch every transaction with bated breath...you know, those who haven't developed "PBS Patience" yet. :-)

Anyway, it couldn't hurt.

Cheryl

i'm not sure what the solution is (unless, perhaps, you can ask senders to give you delivery confirmation #'s and manually mark them as received when the delivery confirmation says it's been delivered?)

but i just wanted to say, as a newcomer who has definitely not yet developed "PBS patience" as Cheryl says, i think it's really kind that you're concerned about the senders feeling frustrated because you didn't mark the books as received! 

hope you have a great trip!

I wouldn't worry about it if you aren't going to be gone longer than a month.  PBS gives about 30 days for books to arrive and no one should be freaking out if they aren't marked received within 2 wks.  

Unless someone posts a WL book to you right after you go on vacation and then mails it right away-you probably aren't going to run into a book going past the 2 wk mark anyway. 

Thanks for the advice.  I'm going to go with the profile thing, change my signature over here and post a response to some thread right before I go, and not do the RC because I've been turned down for WL books even when I've stated several times the RC concerns only 1 particular title (birthday present for Dad).  I hope I can get online at least once, but Mom says internet cafes are the only option overseas and that last spring, it was about $1.50 a minute.