Yesterday I finally got the credit for the book I mailed on 3 JAN to California--- you all may have seen several posts by me asking or fussing about snow delaying mail traveling thru Atlanta.  The receiver then sent me a PM last night saying they'd gotten busy with work and forgot to mark it received.  So I kindly replied  explaining how I'd posted comments about the delayed mail that week, guessing that the weather had been at fault.  SO, imagine my surprise today when I look at email and see a "nastygram" from PBS stating I had mailed it on 14 JAN, NOT 3 JAN as I had marked it!  Well, I have the PO receipt showing the date, destination, and method of mailing for that book and the one to Atlanta (only 6 hours from me) which still has not been marked received so obviously there was a USPS problem not only in Atlanta!  How dare someone question my veracity!

Jeanne,

The only way for you to have gotten that email is when the receiver marked the book received and filled in the postmark date.  If you did indeed mail on the 3rd, then it sounds like the PO may have run another postage label with a later date, which is what the receiver entered.

Edited because I hit Reply too fast.

Did you use stamps OR printed postage from the PO? Because the postage mark could happen anywhere along the route to CA.  Where as the dated postage shows the true day it was sent.  Most people are not aware that postage marks do not reflect the true day it was posted. Used to be that way but not anymore.

Don't worry about it. The email that you received is automatically generated, based on the date the receiver entered in, in the window. There will be no effect on your account at all, unless for some reason you were gettting tons of people entering in the wrong mailing dates on your packages, which would be very unlikely.

Unless you had a meter strip, it could be very likely that your package has a postmark from the 14th. PBS knows perfectly well that stamped postmarks are not necessarily accurate, so some of these on your account are nothing to worry about at all. Even a little bit.

Anyway, there are late mailers out there ... who mail late consistently, and PBS needs to have a way to note that in accounts. So, if over time, someone has a pattern of seeming to mail late, that might be somethign they would look into. But having one or a handful of them doesn't matter inthe least ... TPTB are way to busy to be worried about looking into accounts where books are arriving before they are get to be marked lost in the mail.

Printed postage from the PO so I saw it marked with the correct date I sent it, 3 JAN.

I just mark that I receive the book when it comes in so the sender can get his or her credit.  Why is it necessary for me to mark the post mark date?  I don't even fill that in.  I don't think it is necessary.  All that matters is that my book came in.

Sounds like maybe they marked the date as the day they received it rather than the day you mailed it. You said they forgot to mark it received so they probably got it on the 14th and entered that date in for whatever reason.

Kay I do the same thing.  If it arrives within a month I don't even look at the postmark.  I am just so happy to finally have my book.  I typically flip through it, then mark it recieved without a problem.  I don't fill in any of the other stuff cause I have usualy already opened the package and don't really care. 

And to the OP, maybe she mis-clicked on the date. 

I used to fill in all that stuff, but it got a bit tedious, so after a cursory look at the book I mark it received and move on.

-RD

A detail girl here, I usually take the time to fill in the mailing information. 

For good or bad, it might make a difference to another member some day should TPTB have reason to research a member.  And frequently (while checking postage meter dates) I'm pleasantly surprised how quickly packages have traveled across the country.  Makes me feel good about USPS and PBS members who mail promptly 

ETA - *hugs* Jeanne, and sorry the receivers inefficiency made you appear at fault on this transaction.

Thanks Amee and Erika for other things that could have happened!

Thanks Denise for the "hugs"-- I'm menopausal right now so maybe just over-reacting to the "nastygram" pointing the finger at me!

I generally only fill in the mail dates if the package was slow to arrive. I assume that if I leave it blank, PBS assumes they mailed the day they said they did. 

It's not a nastygram, it's a very necessary email intended to warn people that late mailings are not a good habit. Obviously you got it by mistake so there is really no need to take it so personally.

I got one yesterday too. I had advised the member of the snow and ice here in Atlanta, that the package was outside and the mail not running, but they put the postmark date in when they marked it received.

I just deleted the email.

The only thing I could have done differently was ask PBS to cancel the order, but since the ordering member only responded with a PM that said, "Thank You" when I PMed to let them know, I just waited out the weather and mailed it late.

I am glad once it was finally in the hands of the USPS it was delivered pretty quickly.

Plus I don't think it's asks you to "confirm" the date you put on the "postmark date" thing when you receive a book.  Cicking one week below the one you intend wouldn't be that hard to do.  But it really doesn't matter*.  I bet it's not that uncommon since I've seen other people post in here about it.  I once got one and got upset but then noticed the letter says something to the effect of, "If you and the member agreed to mailing out the book late, just disregard" or something.  So it's not like the member even went out of their way to notify PBS or anything.  Since they don't specifically say anything to you...just an automated letter. 

*Not that I am okay with mailing things out late!* 

If I get a book and cannot read the postmark date, I leave it blank.

However, if you mark it with the current date that could give the wrong impression, like the book was mailed late and it really was not.

On the other end of the spectrum, I got a book on Sat with a post office printed date of 2-2-11 which has yet to happen.  Mistakes happen. 

I'm sorry that happened to you, Jeanne.

I enter in the post date (from the package) in the form when I receive books because almost all my books come extraordinarily fast, and I want it on record what a good job the senders and the postal service is doing.  I have been most impressed with the speed of media mail.  Only one lost book (and 2 lost which were later received), but many received within 4 days of being sent, and a few times received the very next day.

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