I had a wish list book become available Dec. 23 and requested it. The sender marked it shipped 12/23 and I have been impatiently waiting for it since then. I finally contacted the sender Monday Jan 5 and she responded that she would get it in the mail and I should have it by the end of the week. I still don't have it.

I thought that when you marked it sent you had to actually ship the book out. Is there any way to report this person for not shipping by the deadlines?

Well, I know this happens sometimes.  The sender actually admitted not sending it but would do so?  Did you notice how long this person has been a member?  I don't want to make excuses for people - that was wrong, but Dec. 23 occurred in a very busy time of year.  Who knows what happened?  The best scenario is that she meant to and forgot.  The worst one is that she needed or wanted the credit (if she used DC) sooner.  And it was wrong to do that.  Maybe she hit the wrong button.  Did you get the date the label was printed - or when the sender got the mailing info?  Find that under "Details" in the transaction area of your account.

When you get the book - fill out the survey and mention this. It is a infraction - don't know that TPTB would do anything about it right now.  I know it's aggravating - we just have to hope that no one else does that!

Ruth

When you fill out the survey after it's received, the late postmark will register with the system, and if the sender gets a high percentage of late mailings The Powers That Be will step in and let them know they need to shape up.

I'm wondering why you contacted her at all on Jan 5 if the mail by date was 12/23.  Granted you were right in that it hadn't been mailed. But I know if I had sent the book and you PM'd me that quickly that you hadnt gotten it yet, I would be annoyed.  There were 2 major Holidays in there and it was unreasonable to expect to have received the book by then. The system is set up to account for media mail sometimes taking 3+ wks.  If the book goes lost you'll get your credit back.  When you get the book mark it received from your Transaction Archive and put in the mailing date.  PBS will send a reprimand if she's frequently mailing late and having books go lost. 

Personally with the HOlidays just passing I'd cut the girl some slack.  Since the book is a WL book-put your account on hold for a bit if the 1st one goes lost.  You can set other books you are close to the top on to autorequest.  But this way if the book gets posted again you won't have to decide if you should accept it or decline and go to the end of the line.  Then you'll be out 2 credits and end up with 2 copies. 

I just put my account on hold because I have a book enroute to me in which I have several copies of on my WL.  I don't want to delete the othes as I worked my way to the top-but I don't want to have decline another one either.

I do think her offense serious enough that I would report it immediately. Please do not do this. The mailed book tab clearly states you SHOULD NOT contact the site about an order until after the lost date. They were wrong in marking it mailed without doing so. But, life happens. Fill out the info when you received the book and they will get a reminder by the system that they need to mail their books on time.  If you end up with two books, contact the site about them not mailing it on time then.

I also agree with Mary. I would be annoyed it someone started PMing me less than 2 weeks after the book was mailed to see if I'd sent it.

Please wait for the survey and report the problem then.  PBS has a system set-up to deal with problems like this.  Let it work.  The PBS Team is a small group of people who have set-up processes for a reason.

I have had similar experiences with books being mailed very late or not at all.  I have never had to contact another member or TPBS since the books always arrive right before or on the deadline. As a newer member ( about 6 months) I have debated if I should find another site to trade on. Most recently I had a book marked mailed on 12/18/08 and per the post mark was not mailed until 1/2/09.  I know that it is a busy time of year and if this was an isolated incident I would understand.  With each of these transactions I have made sure to note the mailing date when I report the book received and to add an extra comment about the dates.  Hopefully the process will improve.

 A BIG Thank You to those who do send out the books on time!  I really look forward to receiving them.

I sent out a book the other day where the requestor had an RC that stated - "If you cannot ship in 3 days, please do not ship."  I was able to do so, but thought that she must have had some shipping problems like you've described.  Pat

I did mark a few mailed that I am not going to get out until tomorrow after work.  I had selected to mail them by yesterday, but I didn't plan on the alternator going out on my car (on the way home with groceries in the trunk).  So, I couldn't make it to the post office to send them out (the one in town is open later and has an APC, so I can ge tthere tomorrow after work.

I did, however, have the courtesy to PM the requestor to let them know that it isn't being mailed until tomorrow, and why (I had marked it mailed this evening because I will most likely not be able to get online before the deadline to mark it mailed tomorrow night.

I'm going to add my two cents worth in here, and it's a Monday rant.   Yes, I think the OP jumped the gun by PMing when she did, HOWEVER, I will say that it  pisses me off when a member says they mailed on X date and when I finally get the book(s), the P.O. printed meter stamp indicates it was mailed well after the marking date.  I'm not saying a couple days later, but 5+ days later.  If you are unable to mail when you said, at least be courteous enough to PM the receiver and let them know.  If you need more time to read, do not accept the request till the last date and click the last date for mailing.  That gives about 10 extra days.  If you need more time, or don't have the $ for postage within that time, DON'T POST THE BOOK TILL LATER.  It's as simple as that. 

 Hi there:

I WILL say that when you get a book request, the timeframe that PBS gives you to mail something is 5 days max. And THAT is when you pick the "I can mail it later" option. Otherwise it's 2 days or right away.  And if a sender picks that option, then that's when they should mail it. 

I'd also like to point out it's in the rules you are supposed to PM the member you're sending a book to, if you're not able to mail it when you said you would.

(I've personally never gotten one of those types of emails despite having people send me books six plus weeks after they said they mailed it, but it is in the rules...)

Yep, this is one of my pet peeves, when people mark stuff mailed before they actually mail it. Yes, things happen. life gets busy, and heaven knows around the holidays swapping books can often take a back seat to family get-togethers and such. BUT...if your life is nuts at that time, why would you accept the request AND mark it mailed then if you KNEW you weren't going to mail it for several days??? Fine, you mark it mailed and are out the door to mail it and you get in a car wreck or get a call about a sick parent or something...THAT would be a legit excuse.

But then, why would you not, a day or two later, PM the person to say, "Gee, I'm sorry. I marked that book mailed, but then, __________ happened and I haven't done so yet, so it's going to be late." Communication is such a key here. I've had that happen a few times and while I still think it's wrong to mark a book mailed before it's in the mailbox/PO/blue box, I do cut the sender some slack if they at least let me know about it. The fact that the sender actually admitted, almost two weeks later, that they hadn't actually mailed it yet....well.

That said, I do agree that Pat queried the sender way too soon about the book, and I get annoyed with those type of PMs from people asking where their book (which was just sent a week or two ago) is and why haven't they gotten it? Especially given the holidays with two extra 'no mail' holidays in there, patience is esepecially needed during that time. While most books I send and receive do arrive within a week, I've had many that do take considerably longer, heaven only knows why.

Cheryl