I have a book I sent to someone who has a PO Box as their address.  The book is 8 x 10 and obviously didn't fit in their box so the PO left a "notice for pickup".  Well, it's been since the 27th of February and the recipient has not picked the book up.  I have sent her a PM but she hasn't replied.   I don't think I will send anything other than a paperback to a PO box ever again.  This book is a highly sought after quilting book that would have cost the recipient $24.95 to purchase new.  Since I sent it Media Mail, I won't get it back unless I pay return postage. 

My question is, since I can't remember, can you cancel a book request after you print the wrapper?  Printing the wrapper is the only way to find out the requestor's address so I will need to get that far to figure out if the address is a PO box.

I almost don't want to answer this since I've got a PO box  and it means you'll be cancelling on me...    but I am pretty sure you can still cancel after printing the label.

Yes, you can cancel after printing the label (but if you mark the book mailed, then it's too late to cancel).  But it may just be the case that the recipient is out of town.  I wouldn't assume that the book is going to be returned to you UNTIL the book is returned to you.  I've never had a problem with a P.O. box - and as a receiver of mail, I've had more issues getting mail delivered to my house now than I ever did when I had a box.  I've had multiple instances where DC for items coming to me were marked "delivered" when they never reached my porch.  Most turned up a few days (or a month!) later.

Kate,

I have a PO Box and ALWAYS mark books received immediately. Please don't punish everyone because of one bad apple.

If you have sent the book, you can get the address by clicking "details" (or "request details" from the transaction archive). But be patient -- remember, life happens sometimes and getting to the PO falls way down on the priority list!

Just to play devil's advocate...

some people with "street" addresses might live in an apartment building or have cluster mailboxes. these are also potentially small (or not) and won't fit a larger book, also resulting in a notice left. in fact, since they aren't as habituated to going to the post office, it might take them longer to pick it up.

so you might not be "safe" excluding PO boxes. or someone can have a huge PO box which can accommodate the book.  

Well, it's been since the 27th of February and the recipient has not picked the book up.

So the book was sent not even 2 weeks ago,  and it won't go officially lost for roughly another 2 weeks. 

Maybe they are on vacation/out of town and haven't had a chance to pick it up yet,  or even click "received book" on PBS.   JMO, but I think you prematurely emailed them.

Why not worry about something else until you get closer to the "go lost" date?  

PO Boxes are legit, so why worry about sending books to them?     

Stalking the DC notices is not the best use of anyone's time. 

So the book was sent not even 2 weeks ago,  and it won't go officially lost for roughly another 2 weeks.

I think she means since it was delivered. So it's been sitting at the post office for 10 days. Depending when she actually sent it, the go lost date could be coming up soon.

So the book was sent not even 2 weeks ago,  and it won't go officially lost for roughly another 2 weeks.

I think she means since it was delivered. So it's been sitting at the post office for 10 days. Depending when she actually sent it, the go lost date could be coming up soon.

My mistake!  Thanks for the clarification

Sounds like you used DC. So you would have gotten your credit already. Do you really care when they check it in if you got your credit already? I use printable postage and I don't care when they check it in. I've never emailed anyone about checking a book in. The PBS system will remind them after a certain amount of time passes as it is. But they could be on vacation afterall. I think refusing to mail to anyone who has a box is a bit steep punishment. I live in a town where they don't give you mail to your house and everyone has to get a PO box. To accept requests and then cancel orders once you discover they have a PO box is really in my opinion no way to act on this site.

Very well said Lisa. I am also one of those who have no choice but to have a PO box. There are things that a person cannot account for when ordering a book. Maybe they or a loved one fell sick. It's not always that they just decide not to pick up their mail. The cost of the book to you is irrelevant. You sent it, be it a 25 cent book or one that cost $100.

Too hasty...depending on the part of the country, part of that time had bad weather. I recently got worried about a shipment, but the person was unable to get out for over a week - that cuts the time you're counting in half.

Although the price of the book is insignificant in the context of PBS, most people order books because they want them, and I'm sure it will be picked up. Likely either weather or life intervened...it tends to do that, even to pbs regulars.

Sounds like you used DC. So you would have gotten your credit already. Do you really care when they check it in if you got your credit already?

Based on prior posts, I don't think Kate buys DC through PBS, but through Paypal, so she didn't get a quick credit.

Sounds like you used DC. So you would have gotten your credit already. Do you really care when they check it in if you got your credit already?

I do not use PBS DC.  The DC is through PayPal.  My concern about the book being sent back is that most post offices don't hold mail for a very long time.  When I have received notices to pick up mail, they are usually only good for about a week at the most. 

But they could be on vacation afterall. I think refusing to mail to anyone who has a box is a bit steep punishment. I live in a town where they don't give you mail to your house and everyone has to get a PO box. To accept requests and then cancel orders once you discover they have a PO box is really in my opinion no way to act on this site.

If you go back and read my original post, you will see that I said I would only do this if the book was not a paperback.  I also don't understand why someone would order a book and then go on vacation, knowing the book wouldn't fit in their post office box.  

This book is a really nice quilting book that was in giftable condition.  I was going to sell it on E-Bay, but I decided to share it with my friends here instead.  It also cost a lot to mail since it is rather heavy. 

I think your criticism is rather harsh.  If I think that sending an expensive, heavy book in giftable condition is too much of a risk to send it to a PO box, then that's what I am going to do.  As I said before, I could have sold this book on E-Bay and chose rather to share it here.  So naturally I'm rather disappointed that the deal may be going south on me.

While I am not the receiver in question...

I have my mail sent to PO Box.  I just arrived back in town after being gone for about a week so will just tomorrow be able to go check my PO Box.  All of my items on my WL are on autorequest so a few were granted while I was gone.  Should I not have been able to get them because I was going to be away for a week or should the people have cancelled because it was PO Box?  I don't think so.  If you used the site DC, then you already have your credit.  There is really no reason to obsess over watching the DC status.  There is always the possibility that the people at the PO left notice in the wrong box also.  Things happen.  Life is entirely to short to let simple things like this cause any kind of stress or even a moment's thought.

I've had a p.o. box for 30 years and sometimes there are circumstances that keep me from going: weather, being sick, car trouble, or lazy and not wanting to go out if it's the only errand I have. My p.o. cut back their hours a year ago so I can no longer pick up my mail after work, and sometimes if I go before or after the window's available no one answers when I ring the pick-up bell so I don't go during off-hours any more. And don't get me going on computer problems so not being able to answer an e-mail or PM.

And sending a paperback to a p.o. box doesn't mean anything - if the lockbox is standard size and the person gets most or all of their mail at the post office they may still have to leave a notice if there's no room for the book.

And believe it or not: the clerk could have put the notice in the wrong lockbox. I get notices often when I'm not expecting anything and have to turn the card in to the clerk at the window. There are a myriad of reasons.

I am a little confused about why you think the delayed marking a book received would just happen with a P.O. Box. The same thing could happen mailing to a street address. Some books are mailed to friends so the book could be received by the friend and the member who ordered it hasn't had the time to talk with the friend. As some others have mentioned sometimes people take vacations. My wishlist is on autorequest so books have been sent while I was away and I picked them up at the Post Office when I returned.

I have to giggle.  There is a town near me that EVERYONE has a PO box.  There are no street addresses.  So none of the folks in ritzy Carmel would ever be able to get a book from Katie.  Clint Eastwood would be sooo disappointed.

I have a PO Box and ALWAYS mark books received immediately. Please don't punish everyone because of one bad apple.

Same here

I saw somewhere where people have 15 days to pick up their mail from a PO Box.

Connie,

I think it depends on the PO.  My office will actually hold items indefinitely if the box is paid up current unless it is an express mail item or the package specifically is stamped with a "return in x amount of days if not collected".  I was told this when I asked if I needed to do a hold when I travel which can be for 2 weeks at a time sometimes.

I think your criticism is rather harsh.  If I think that sending an expensive, heavy book in giftable condition is too much of a risk to send it to a PO box, then that's what I am going to do.  As I said before, I could have sold this book on E-Bay and chose rather to share it here.  So naturally I'm rather disappointed that the deal may be going south on me.

I'm sorry . I don't think I was harsh. If you wonder why they ordered and then didn't immediately check the book in or went on vacation or whatever, was it a wishlist book? Many of us put those on autorequest. If I got one of those in my mailbox while I was on vacation I wouldn't check it in until I got back. It happens. Rarely, but it happens. And the size of price shouldn't matter. A PO box or even someone's home box might be pretty small and they would still have to pick even paperbacks up at the post office window. If you are really concerned you should probably do DC through the site from now on to get a credit faster and guaranteed. It cost a bit more but I find I like that I don't have to worry about it .

let the system handle it. if it goes lost, and the person is out of town and comes back, then she can easily go to her transaction archive and mark the book received when she gets it. the OP has not indicated that the deadline has passed. Has it? if not, then really, just be patient and let the system handle it. If you cant be that patient, then use PBS DC as has been suggested many many many many times in this and many many other threads. PBS has solutions for potentially complicated scenarios. take advantage of these solutions.

I don't based  a book's postability by how much the cover says its 'worth'. A used book is not worth as much as a new book. if its not from a book store, its used in my opinion  no matter how nice it looks. if i think its worth more than the cost of a credit, then it goes to the UBS.

If you are a nervous or distrustful person, without PBS DC, every transaction can be frought with peril, lol! It's based on trust - and over 99% of the time, it works great. But if a person feels that everyone is out to "do them out of something," or to make life difficult, or to scam books, whether the value be .25 or $250, it won't be a fulfilling experience, because too much energy will be expended in "what ifs" and worry. You just have to relax and have faith the system works.

Occasionally books do go unclaimed, are lost or damaged, aren't sent or aren't marked received, it's discussed here. But on the whole, if you let the system work, it works well. I'm sure that there a lot of members who have never once communicated with another member, never posted in a forum, and happily and regularly trade books without worry.  

I sometimes use paypal d/c, but it's certainly not fail proof. I sent a large order to someone, with a PO BOX,  on a buddied credit deal, and the books "disappeared" when they got to the last sort station. They were finally delivered to her PO box - she'd asked several times - but, the label was never rescanned, and to this day, still looks as if the box is in limbo.  Most members are very trustworthy!

so, what IF you had sold it on Ebay and that person had a PO box...?