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Topic: Requests can be cancelled after wrapper with postage is printed
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Recently I had a request for a book, and after I printed the wrapper with postage I got an email canceling the request. Looking at the transaction archive, I see that the cancellation occurred a few minutes before I printed the wrapper, but I didn't know about it until I got the email notification a few minutes after I printed the wrapper.
The system did allow me to mark the book as mailed, but did not show the shipment in books mailed and did not give credit for the book. I still have the book and have gotten no response from PBS on this issue.
It appears that there is, or at least was, a window where the system would allow a request to be cancelled and still allow the label to be printed as if the request had not been cancelled. I'm hesitant to print any more wrappers if I stand to lose the cost of the postage, etc.
I just got another request for the same book, so I should be able to use the original wrapper by cutting and pasting over the original name.
What I'm plan to do in the future is to send a PM asking the requester to confirm that they do want the book before printing the wrapper and paying the postage fees.
Lynn Last Edited on: 7/28/08 5:28 PM ET - Total times edited: 2 |
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I hear where you are coming from and how this must be frustrating. However, I would imagine that what you just experienced is extremely rare and unlikely to happen again. You'll get a response from PBS, sometimes it just takes a day or two. I see a problem in your proposed solution though. I imagine that there will be people who want the book but don't respond to your follow up email for whatever reason - either they don't have the time, they forget to do it, they are confused as to why you are emailing them, whatever. So, do you plan to cancel the request if you haven't heard back? That's a lot of potential credits you could be losing, in my opinion. As I said, the likelihood of this ever happening to you again is so small. I think you'll find the email thing to be a much bigger pain in the long run. |
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I feel your pain but, your Subject line is quite misleading...the request for the book was actually cancelled prior to you posting the book...the fact that you printed your postage about the same time is a misfortune but, you can't cancel a book after the label has been printed. As Lisa said...that is a quite rare...and you are going to run into many more problems PMing folks before you actually mail...for instance I leave books on Auto-Request when I go on vacation so, if you PM me you aren't going to get a response. If you cancel the request you aren't going to be able to post that book again until I get one from someone else or it will keep coming back to me. Don't give up...PBS will respond. |
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Last Edited on: 6/5/11 12:05 PM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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It sounds like a rare glitch to me and I would see what PBS has to say first. PMing everyone who orders a book from you will be a big pain. Not everyone comes on everyday. Some people only come on if they have an email saying they have a WL offer or a book request waiting for them. So what do you do if they don't respond by the mail by date? If you let it time out-it goes on your record-the book gets removed from your shelf. A bunch of time outs can cause your account to be closed by PBS. If you cancel the book and it's available in the system, it's taken off your shelf and you have to start at the end of the FIFO line again. If it's a WL book that you cancel, when you repost the book, it'll just offer it to the same person again. |
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I agree that it would bother me too! I think I may now refresh my "my account" page just before I print. That should cut way down on the already small chance of this happening. |
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I chose the specific wording for the title because I felt that *the system* had not completely cancelled the request when I printed the wrapper, but the alternative view is also valid. I first contacted PBS on 7/15, and again a day or two later, and they had not responded yet when I wrote my original post, so I was more patient than some of you assumed. ;-) They *did* respond this afternoon (I'm on PDT) after I left a voice mail and another PM, and there is a loophole which they plan to close. The comments about my PM idea are correct; it wasn't a very good idea at all. Thanks for all the comments and support--this is a great community and a fantastic resource. Last Edited on: 7/28/08 8:39 PM ET - Total times edited: 1 |
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