I used PBS postage and it says the book was delivered on 12/3..  I hadn't heard anything and it was still in my "Books I've sent".  I sent a PM to the person and she says the book never came.  

What happens now?  I know the part about contacting PBS after the action date and she will get her credit back.  Should I give her a credit back?  Will a credit be deducted from me when PBS gives it back to her?

If you used PBS postage, you have Credit Assurance and you should not try to return the credit yourself, you get to keep it. PBS will return the credit to the receiver when it goes lost in the system, that's what the fee you pay for the postage goes towards.

No, you shouldn't give her a credit now.  The system will automatically refund her credit.  You will not lose a credit because you have proof that it was mailed. 

I had a similar problem, although I contacted the recipient about a week after the d/c showed delivered and suggested she contact her PO to see if it could be located. She indicated she'd had several items go lost and would check. I never heard back, and it went lost in the system. I only occasionally use PBS dc, but it was a new and unopened unabridged audio book on cd, so I was glad I had!

Is this true if you use PBS DC only and not PBS postage too?  Well worth the money sometimes!

Margaret, I use PBS DC and buy counter postage.  This way all my packages show "acceptance" scan.  If anything happens enroute, at least there is proof the book was actually in the mail.  Also, my credits are secure if the book goes missing.  The requester would receive a credit and I would retain my credit also. 

Not as sure about other postage and blue box options, but assume they are similar.

If you buy PBS DC and put it in a blue box, then there is a chance it will not get scanned.  Depends on your local PO policy.  Many POs are cutting back on scanning books, waiting for them to be scanned at the sorting facility.   If it does not get scanned along the way, you don't get credit.  (PBS postage gets more of a guarantee than PBS DC, referred to as "instant credit".  PBS DC gets you "quick credit", applied only after a scan.)

Emily is correct. I don't do the counter postage, I either give them to my carrier or drop them in the slot inside the PO. They "usually" get scanned at the sortfing facility in Jacksonville the next day, although sometimes they don't get scanned until further along their way.

If a member uses just PBS Delivery Confirmation without PBS postage, they still have credit assurance if the book goes lost or is misdelivered by USPS, it just may take longer than it does when PBS postage is used.

If a member's sending record is good and the book goes lost or was never scanned, then the member needs to contact the Admin. Team and they will receive their credit.

From the Help Center:

If your package is not delivered and is never scanned by USPS, the PBS system has never been told to give QuickCredit. 

• In this case, CreditAssurance comes into play--contact us, and if you have a good sending record, you will get your credit!

I have a similar problem right now the book shows delivered on Dec 1 and I send it on Dec 27, I pmed them and they said they havent been home. I think they are just trying to wait until the date to get their credit back, what should I do since now they are not repsonding to my PMs?

What makes you assume the person isn't away?  It's perfectly possible they haven't been home.

They are likely not responding to your PMs as the situation hasn't changed, and your initial question was asked and answered.  There is still a week or two before the book goes lost.  If you used PBS DC, you will not lose your credit whether th requester's credit is returned or not.  If you did not use PBS DC, wait until the book is about to be declared lost and check in again.

actaully in 8 days it will considered lost, I just assume if people are out of town how do they request the book and also I thought there was something like a hold on the account if you are away.

just a little edgy because this was the first book I sent

Sorry if I sounded harsh!  Welcome to PBS.

But, seriously - so many people are on vacation this time of year, it sounds pretty plausible.

Jamie, it's also possible the book was delivered, but not to the correct address. DC just means it was delivered somewhere--there is no proof of where that was. I've had a couple books I sent be scanned delivered and upon checking with the receiver when the book was about to go lost, they had NOT gotten it. We even checked with our post offices and filed lost package forms, but were never found. I have had books with DC intended for me that were mis-delivered to a neighbor, also. Fortunately they were honest and brought them to me, but if they weren't...well, it was scanned delivered, but I sure wouldn't have gotten it.

Keep in mind that if a person has a lot of books go lost (whether they're ordering or sending) their account gets flagged and they could be terminated--so it's really not in their best interest to try to 'scam' the system, and those that do so don't get to play with us for very long. :)

As caviglia says, if you used PBS DC, you have your credit already and there's nothing else you need to do. If you don't use PBS DC, there really isn't anything you can do--the extra fee you pay to PBS for their DC is what guarantees your credit.

I should also mention--welcome to PBS! Didn't realize you were so new. :) Most people here are very honest and most trades work just fine, so try not to worry too much!

Just FYI, you have to manually put your account on vacation hold, and not everyone uses it even if they are away. People can access PBS from computers or their phones while on vacation and thus order books (or perhaps it was a wishlisted book that was set to auto-request) but just not been home to check the book in, so that is an entirely possible scenario.

Cheryl

thank you for the info

Jamie,

Mail is much slower around the holidays than it is the rest of the year.

I mailed a book out in the middle of November that was in danger of going lost, so I PM'd the receiver, and she had not received it yet. It actually was delivered to her just 2 days before it would have gone lost. (I believe her).

I also had a first class book coming to me just this past week, that was mailed out on 12/6 and showed up yesterday (12/16). 10 days to receive first class mail is quite a bit longer than usual, too.

December is just very very slow for both mailing and activity on accounts for a number of reasons. I wouldn't worry about it too much, if your receiver said that they are out of town I am sure it is true ... and that they will mark your book when they are back. I might send a PM that asks when they are planning to be back, just so that you know when to contact them again if your book isn't marked received in the meantime.

The forums can give people the impression that there are lots of problems with transactions (because people don't come to ask questions about the perfectly fine transactions) ... but actually almost all transactions go very smoothly ... it's just unfortunate that your very first one might be one of the ones that is unusual for some reason. I've mailed out about 800 books and I can say that only about 5 or 6 transactions were something that I had to do any worrying about ... the other 795ish were completely normal.