***plastic in summer located a few posts down****

hi there- please remember this (i will use my situation- you can think of (or add) your own

sometimes i use the blue box (i print my dc and postage fromt he site so if i can cram it in there- wooohoooo)

sometimes i mail from the post office

just because the post office puts a date mark on my package to you- that does not mean that is when i put it in the blue box or took it to the post office

scenario 1) lets suppose- i print my wrapper January 1 and put the date January 1 on it. i put it in the blue box. my lazy mailman does not collect the mail from the blue box (it is in an apartment complex) until it is sooo full we have to call and complain- repeatedly.... then my package does not get a post mark  until almost 2 weeks later. this happens... three times to my complex (so far, that we know of)

scenario 2) lets suppose- i print my wrapper January 1 and put the date January 1 on it. i go the the post office to mail my package. it sits and it sits and it sits- waiting for enough media mail to make it worth the pos time. then they post mark it and send it on its way (i know this happens- i have a friend who works at this branch...) so now a week later my package- that i took to the po on the 1st has a post mark of January 8.

my point is- the date of the post mark can have little or no relation to the time and date when the sender actually sent you the book.....

so please be more thoughtful when filling in the book rcvd survey- i do not care when my book is post marked. i got it and it is in good condition and that is what counts...

i have had media mail arrive with no post mark, some with no postage (and thankfully was not charged), with reused postage (a crime!!!)- all kinds of odd things...

oh well- i feel better now

I agree with your points here - I hate that the survey has that postmark question because I feel it is not an accurate reflection of when the book was actually mailed.  The only time I have ever filled out that part is when the book was a month late (it had been lost for a month before arriving, taking two months to get to me) and the postmark date was well past the date that it had gone lost.  With that time frame, I felt pretty safe in indicating the late postmark.

yeah- this mailman has been moved somewhere else- i am so sorry for the people where he is now

but he might be better than my moms  mailman (i have all my pbs mail sent to her)

it is almost that time of year when i have to add my dreaded rc (due to this guy). it goes somethign like this

rc- pleasepleaseohplease for the love of all that is bookly- wrap the books in plastic. the mailman likes to carry my books under his arm. for several blocks it seems. in louisiana. in the summer. in 90+ degree heat with 80+ percent humidity. by the time they hit my mailbox they are soaking wet with sweat and bound for the trashcan if not wrapped in plastic.... thanks so very much for your help.

he has been moved too but i think he has returned. i have seen him delivering the mail for tha last few days

i have gotten soooo much mail that just hit the trash- never to be opened. with the books- i set them outside to dry (praying they are wrapped in plastic), a day or 2 later when they are dry i attack them with a can of lysol. once the fumes clear and the black spots stop dancing in my eyes- i don rubber gloves i have especailly for this and open them up. i tried to time this for when the mailman would be coming so he could see me. i repeatedly begged him to stop doing that. i even took my soggy mail to the main post office- repeatedly... after about 10 trips we had a new mailman. but he is gone now (sad- he was sooo hot) and the drippy one is back............

so please think of me use plastic this summer.....

I fill in the survey (received) boxes (I thought we were supposed to), but I've never double-checked against the post by date; that is way too much work, and the book arrived, so I don't care about that date (and people really have the time/energy to check the dates??). I'm just happy to receive a PBS package; I figure it'll get here, when it gets here:)

some people are really rigid about the dates. but they really dont mean a thing- unless they are more than 3 weeks after the date

and i never fill out the survey- too much bother...

I am curious how your books are being postmarked later if you are using PBS postage? I have never seen online postage re-dated unless the sender takes it to the counter and asks for a zero meter strip. If stale postage reaches the PO form a blue box, they will just send it on or send it back before re-dating it.

I always fill out the survey, thats what it is there for. To me, if a member has a known problem in sending (like a box that does not get picked up) then they should find another method of sending the book. Some people do need their books in a timely fashion. I don't  care how late a book is sent, but I will always give the site the information they are requesting.

Melanie - some post offices do use the postmark stamp even on mail with metered postage. Not all, but I know some do. Mine is hit or miss depending on which clerk I see. And even though someone receiving a book should probably put the purchase date of the postage in the survey field, some people put in the postmark date instead. Which can be unfair (not always) if the package doesn't get postmarked until the receiver's home post office, quite possibly 3 weeks after the package was mailed.

I hope that anyone who thinks it's essential to have books wrapped in plastic has it in their RC's.   That's what they are for.   If not, no one should complain about no plastic since it's not required by the site. 

"ok- i admit- i am too lazy to read the help docs" and "i never fill out the survey- too much bother.."   And yet you advise us on how to mark our book survey AND how to wrap?  Thanks for the help but I think I'll just follow the site guidelines. 

I have never pointed out in the comments section of the survey that a book was mailed late.  I do fill out the survey with the postmark dates, but that's where I stop.  If I'm filling out the survey then I've gotten the book and that's what matters to me.  I doubt that PBS goes to the trouble of pulling all the postmard dates to verify without any comments about it being made.  That would be so hard to do.

I agree with the wrapping in plastic - please do it.  But it's not a requirement so I don't mark it against anyone if they don't.  Using RC's is hit or miss since the requirements only come up when they accept and aren't there to check by the time they mail.  That makes it easy to forget.

Ruth

Molly wrote: my point is- the date of the post mark can have little or no relation to the time and date when the sender actually sent you the book.....

I would agree with that UNLESS there is a metered postage strip that was applied at the post office when postage was purchased. An inked postmark or even the PBS postage, yes--the date may not be the same as when you mailed it. But I have never seen a book with printable online postage that ALSO had an inked postmark on it on top of that. I never even pay attention to the dates on the printable postage.

As to the wrapping in plastic--again, anything above and beyond what PBS requires should be in a requestor condition. I'm sorry you have a gross, lazy mailman--I would be in that post office every time he delivered a stinky package asking the supervisor to take a whiff, and calling every time a letter or book that I put into the blue box that he didn't empty arrived late. Make a fuss. That is simply NOT acceptable! Surely in this economy they must be able to find some people to work at the post office who are interested in doing a GOOD job! And yeah, it can be very difficult to fire a postal worker or anyone in a union, but if they have enough documentation that they suck at their job, it can be done.

Cheryl

Well as long as the post mark is within the correct time period for mailing out a book, I would not write a complaint in the survey. However, if it's your postmark that is past the mail by date, then of course I will make a note of it in the survey.

thank you cheryl!!! and everone else who was nice, helpful, neutral, positive.....

I only put the postmark date in the survey if it is the printed out postage from the PO, or printed postage from PBS.  Those should be accurate.

Otherwise I figure the postmark date is mostly random, if it's even readable.

I always fill in the 'postage date' portion of the survey, and usually add wrapping notes in the comment section.  As long as the book arrives in the allowed time PBS should have no reason to review your account.  I've received hundreds of books and don't recall a single example of printed postage being stamped over with an actual postmark. 

If you want members to leave this box blank Molly, how would you suggest we make PBS aware of members who clearly mail 2 weeks late or more (based on actual postage purchased labels)?

I always put a layer of plastic, usually a plastic Walmart bag.  You never know when the postman will drop it on a wet surface and the plastic adds some protection.

Half the time, I can't read the postmark -- sometimes it's my eyes and other times it's the fuzzy printing by the PO. You're right in saying that the postmark may not even be completely accurate. If I mail from the blue box near my corner after 10:30 a.m. Saturday -- which still counts as mailing it Saturday -- it might not get picked up until Monday morning. But I still followed the rules. As long as someone is way off, I doh't sweat the postmarks too much when logging in to say that I receieved a book. (I mail most of mine from the PO, since it's easier (believe it or not) then the blue box based on the corners they're on.

I fill in the postmark date in the survey, as I thought we are supposed to do. It's not a complaint. I figured it was a way to track, to the extent possible, how long it takes the USPS to deliver.

I'm doing my best to live a plastic-free existence, so you'd have to make a RC for that, one that I'd probably have to turn down myself.

that's disgusting.... I agree with Cheryl - I would go in to the post office every time with the package and make a complaint... There's no excuse for your mail arriving smelling like b.o.

I fill in the postmark if I can read it. I agree - they shouldn't be putting a second postmark over the first. sometimes, I don't fill in the postage paid if more than one book was sent.

and... I send with plastic wrap anyways. so no problem there from me.

As to the wrapping in plastic--again, anything above and beyond what PBS requires should be in a requestor condition.

Agreed.

As for the plastic thing, I save the bags that my morning paper comes in. It's long and skinny; perfect for a book.

Or dog poop.

Whateva.

OMGoodness, Molly - that's awful (about your mailman); I hpe he gets transferred soon. I live in the high-humidity part of texas, and even moving mail from the Air Conditioned post office to the truck can cause condensation - so I'm always happy for plastic wrapped books!