I requested a book on 9/15 which supposedly was mailed on 9/22.   After receiving a 'lost in the mail' notice yesterday 10/18, I went out and bought the book.  Wouldn't you know the book arrived in today's mail.  Here's the kicker, though--it has APS postage dated 10/15.  Now I wouldn't be so upset about a couple a days - or even a week's delay in actually mailing a book that had been marked 'mailed', but 3 weeks is outrageous!  Am I really expected to let this person have my credit?????

rl

rl, I understand your frustration.  That kind of thing makes me so mad.  According to the help center:

Lost books must be marked received when/if they arrive, to keep your account in good standing.

That being said, make sure you complete the survey regarding the order and indicate the APS postage date.  R&R will handle the situation appropriately.

Unfortunately, yes...you must mark the book received. But, note in the comments section about the mailing dates. It is the only way for the system to keep a record of a member doing this type of thing.

• Go to your Transaction Archive:

  • From My Account: click the link "Transaction Archive" in the yellow bar at the top of the page
  • From anywhere on the site: place your cursor over My Account in the toolbar at the top of any page on the site and choose Transaction Archive from the menu that drops down
• Sort the Transaction Archive by "Requested by me" - "Lost in mail" - "Title" - "Descending"
• Locate the Lost transaction for this book in the list.
  • If there is more than one Lost transaction for this title, check the sender's name on the right of the transaction against the name of the sender in the return address on the package you received.
  • Click on the transaction.
  • The next pages are the regular Book Received pages: Click on the next page Provide more information about the swap on the next page
    • you will also have the option to send a message to the sender of the book
    • you will also have the option to provide comments on the swap that only we will see
• Both your account and the sender's will be updated when you have done this.

Lost books must be marked received when/if they arrive, to keep your account in good standing.

That really stinks, I'm sorry you had to spend the money on a new book.

I had a lost book recently and was looking up the rules about this. It says you should wait a few wks after it goes lost before reordering or buying the book. Someone recently posted they received a book that was post marked 7months ago.  They had given up on it ever being received.  You should PM the sender to find out if it was mailed late or returned to them for some reason.  The book that came to me late was in her DH's trunk. He was supposed to mail them and forgot about them.  Of course this is why I would never put books to mail in the trunk. Out of site, out of mind.

• Contact the sender, to find out if Mailing was delayed for some reason.
  • you can do this from your Transaction Archive, using the PM button on this Lost transaction in that list.

• If the mailing was not delayed, the sender should call 800-ASK-USPS or go to www.usps.com/postalinspectors (the Postal Inspection Service's website) and input the information online there . This will help USPS try to recover the book if it truly has been lost in the mail.
• Don't re-request the book for at least 2 weeks, unless you are willing to run the risk of getting two copies (and paying a credit for both).

Yes, If I have a question I always contact the sender. Sometimes things happen. LIKE someone supposed to mail... or it gets covered and you thought you mailed it.....

Communication is a wonderful thing!

Since you had just purchased the new book one day prior, can you return it, if you haven't begun to read it yet.  That might take the sting out a little bit.  Hopefully it was an honest mistake, but if not, please let R&R know as that is not alright.  Sorry that happened to you. 

Thanks, Everyone, for your kind words and advice.

rl

Here's a little more from Help Center on late mailings...

• Providing the late postmark in the survey portion of the Book Received page will generate an auto-email to the sender of the book, reminding him or her that late Mailing is not acceptable at PBS.
  • The email includes the information that the late postmark could have been entered in error
  • The email includes the information that sometimes postmarks are delayed a few days, even if the book was mailed on time
  • The email includes the information that if the late mailing was agreed to by the requestor, this is not a problem
• You can contact the sender using the text box on the Book Received page:
  • Please be gentle!  You can't know what might have delayed this shipment
• If the book was declared lost in the mail and you requested a second copy because you thought the first one was really lost:
  • You can ask for your credit back in your Personal Message
  • You can note this information in the Comments box at the bottom of the Book Received page: this will go onto the sender's record.
• A pattern of late mailing will cause account suspension and possibly termination of membership
  • Sometimes late mailing happens for very good reasons, but chronic late mailing will not be tolerated

Phooey on being tardy

What happens if you decline the second one? If it's a wishlisted a book, and the first goes lost, and you decline the second because the first *might* appear, do you lose your place in line? And then if the first never appears you have to start all over? Or else you're out two credits?

If you have a book go lost and it's a WL book, you go back to the top of the WL when it's declared lost in the PBS system.  You get your credit back if the book goes lost.

If you turn down a WL book, I think you lose your place on the WL and go to the bottom of it again.

If you've gone back to the top of the WL and get a second copy of the book, that's a credit.  If the first lost copy were to arrive also, you'd need to mark it as arrived and, yes, you'd be out another credit for that copy too.  But, you'd have 2 copies of the book and you could repost one of them to regain your credit.

Edited to add:  I looked it up and if you decline a WL book or don't respond to the hold, the book gets removed from your WL and added to your reminder list.  You can then put it back on your WL but you'd start out at the bottom of the WL again.