I have sent and received so many books on PBS that I can't remember them all.  But my current transaction is taking forever.  I have never waited more than a week at the most for a book to arrive.  But I am still waiting for a book that was marked mailed on July 25.  I know the PBS system says it should arrive by August 21, but this is highly unusual for me.  What's going on?

You must be really lucky so far.

I find that most books arrive within the 2nd week after they've been mailed. I do get them in the first week of course, and the third week as well (rare to go all 4 weeks) ... but most in the first week? I haven't seen that.

I did get one book the very next day after it was mailed. That was pretty impressive.

aside from getting all books within the first week being highly unusual....have you looked to see where the books is coming from, that usually effects shipping speed.

LUCKY you!   Mine run anywhere from one to four weeks. 

Yes, I've looked to see where the book is coming from.  It's coming from Texas and I'm in Wisconsin.  I think I've received things from there before, so I don't know why this would be so unusual.

However, I do know that Media Mail can take a while because it's not a high priority for the USPS.  Maybe I've just been lucky so far. 

You just gotta be patient and let the "system" do it's "thing". This is why the books are not considered lost for so long. Media mail can be really dicey.

Paul -

Recently I had my very first book that went lost after a couple of years here; it showed up shortly thereafter. In my experience, most media mail either goes through right away (first class speed) or takes over two weeks. Not much middle ground.

John

I'm surprised to hear you live in Wisconsin, from what I have heard they have no end in trouble with media mail.

Wisconsin loooooves to inspect media mail, maybe your book got inspected and is being held up. 

It would be interesting to see if members in Wisconsin have a higher rate of lost books. 

I've had a book hang up for at least two weeks in Dallas.  Hopefully, your book will be on its way soon from wherever it is stuck.

If a book is either coming to Wisconsin or leaving it, media mail get  checked. There was big stink about media mail and Wisconsin a while back.

I've had books take longer than the PBS timeframe...and I've had 8 go missing.  It happens.

Wow, I had no idea there were issues in Wisconsin with Media Mail.   (Chalk up one more reason why I don't want to live in this state anymore.)

Oddly, I did receive an email from PBS over the weekend asking if I've received the book yet.  It was the automated reminder telling to give the credit if I have received the book but to keep waiting if I have not.  I guess I'll keep waiting.

You could PM at this point -- a friendly "Just wanted you to know that I'm not on vacation -- I'm watching for the book, but it hasn't arrived yet.  Let me know if you have any more info about it from your end."

I haven't received my book yet. Is it lost in the mail?

It may simply be delayed in making its way to you.

• USPS Media mail packages can take a variable amount of time in transit.
• The average is 9 days; some books travel much more quickly, some take longer
  • If a book is travelling further (ie, being sent from the Continental US to Hawaii, AK, PR, GU, VI, or an APO/FPO address), it will usually take longer to get where it is going.
• You will receive reminder auto-emails to mark your book received at regular intervals after it was marked mailed:
  • These are helpful to some requestors who forget to do this after getting a book.
  • Marking a book received as promptly as possible after receiving it is essential to maintaining your account in good status at PBS.

If the book has not been received by the 26th day (the 35th day if the sender or requestor is outside the contiguous US) after it was marked mailed by the sender:

• It will be declared lost in the Mail at PBS, and you will be notified by email.
• It is not uncommon for books that have been declared "Lost in the Mail" at PBS to arrive at their destinations.
  • For this reason, we do not recommend re-requesting a Lost book until it has been "lost" for at least 2 weeks.
  • When a Lost book is received, it must be marked received from your Transaction Archive, accessible from a link on the My Account page, or from the dropdown menu under My Account in the toolbar at the top of the site.

You are welcome to PM the sender of the book, to verify that (and when) the book was mailed.

• Simply click on the En Route book transaction to send a Personal Message to the sender.

Related Links:

A book I requested is lost in the mail. What now?
When can I expect to get my book?

I sent a PM already, but received no response.  I'll try another one.