I received a message from a member that said he got an empty package (but said it wasn't, just the closest choice). It was a CD set that I'd purchased at a thrift, taped shut everywhere. I opened it to verify the disks were all there prior to mailing. But although I'd return the credits, the book has vanished completely from my transaction archive?? I can buddy them, but then it seems there is no record of me doing the right thing....or even of mailing the book?

Jodi, because I've done this as well, do you have a sort option set up top that is preventing you from seeing the right things?  Like, is it set to "Items I requested" instead of "Items requested from me"?

If he didn't mark the book received, you don't need to return the credit -- it will eventually go "Lost" in the system, and his credit will automatically be returned.  As the sender, you should also use the USPS Lost Mail Form to report it, so that if the CDs are found, the post office can return them to you.  There is a link and more details in the Help Center under "USPS Lost a Book I sent!"
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When you say "you received a message," does this mean the other member marked it as RWAP? Or did he just send you a PM?

If he didn't officially mark it RWAP yet, the transaction would still be in the "My Account" area, not the Transaction Archive. I'd tell him to wait until the request goes lost and the system will return the credit(s) to him.

If you buddy him the credit(s) now and he lets it go lost, he would get double the number of credits returned. It could be someone who is impatient, unfamiliar with how the system works, or a scam.

I first searched by books requested from me. I thought it was marked RWAP, since I received this message: "Problem: Empty Wrapper ReceivedThe member to whom you shipped your book 'X. ' has sent you this personal message:"This is NOT an empty wrapper, but that was the closest option I could choose. Unfortunately, disc #1 is missing. Is it possible to send me that one disc?"

Since he apparently chose an option...I figured RWAP. But, it is still in my books sent area of my account.  But the email header from PBS doesn't say...you've received a personal message, it says Problem with your PBS book.  

The new RWAP system has some options that just acknowledge the problem without marking the book received, since they're problems that could possibly be fixed and result in the transaction being able to be marked received problem-free. So, they're options that are set up just to let the sender be notified of the issue so it can hopefully be fixed.

ETA: If you think about this one logically - an empty wrapper would mean no book received, would mean no book to mark received, but the sender should still be notified of what happened. That's the logic on this one.

Yes, Tiffany is correct ... in the case where you report empty wrapers or missing books from packages, the items in question remain on your active transactions until they get marked lost by PBS, at which time they will be placed in your Transaction Archive.

If you want to resolve the issue more quickly, then you, as the sender, need to contact PBS and ask them to cancel the transaction. Once they do that, the credits will automatically be refunded to the other member, so you would have no obligation to give him additional credits (which you haven't received anyway, since the item had not been marked received, (unless you used DC or PBS postage)).