I ordered two books from the same PBSer at the begining of february.  The order was accepted, marked mailed but never arrived - went 'missing' on Monday.  One of the two books was the only copy in the system.

Today, I find my wish is granted - my wish list for that book for which there were no other copies in the system.  I order book.  I go to look at the bookshelf to make sure there is nothing else I want.  And what do I find -

Same person who 'mailed' them to me on Feburary 3.  Both books he told PBS were mailed to me are back on his shelf.

What do I do? - I figure I'm back in the same loop - he'll accept again, mark the book mailed and I'll never get it.

Nothing much you can do at this point, unless you want to turn them down and go to the end of the line for people wishing for a book that doesn't appear to get posted often. I would give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he had an emergency and wasn't able to complete the mailing last time. He's reposted them now that he can send them and you could have your WL book soon.

You could always just pm and ask.  It could also be that they were returned for some reason.

I had that happen to me a few months ago. The book was returned to me AFTER it had gone lost, so I simply reposted it to the same person once I verified that it was still on her wish list. However I did at least PM her to let her know what had happened.

Well having just gone without power for almost 3 days after a severe winter storm-give him the benefit of the doubt. I had to mark 2 books mailed 2 days before I actually mailed them because I had to go to the library and use their computer. I wasn't sure when I'd have computer access again. 

He could have lost computer access for a bit. 

I've already ordered it again (I did it before I realized it was the same person) -

but mrslefty - Maybe I wasn't clear.  My previous request was Feb 1.  He marked them mailed Feb 3.  They went 'missing in mail' on March 2.  He reposted today.  He never got in touch with me.

We will see what happens.  But If the same thing happens again, does PBS take note? 

Yes, they will. I had the same thing happen to me a couple of years ago. Wishlist book posted, accepted, marked mailed...went lost. I went back to #1 on the list...a few days later, lo and behold, same person posts the book again. After 3 weeks not getting the book and no response from the person in PM's I contacted PBS and they investigated, returned my credit and the person was no longer a member a few weeks later.

But...it IS theoretically possible that the person had more than one copy of those books. I have several that I got multiple copies of at FOL sales and you have to wait til one is mailed to post another copy.

Cheryl

Thanks Cheryl, but I'm pretty sure this is not a case where he happened to have two of the same book, because I ordered two books the first time and BOTH were reposted to his shelf today after going 'missing in the mail' to me on Monday.  -- I don't think so.

You could talk to a Tour Guide about this.  Maybe send a message to TPTB about it.  Re-order and see what happens?? 

ruth

I would PM the member about it, initiating it from your transaction record, so at least there will be a record of the discussion if his account should come under review. Be polite; as folks noted, we are all human, stuff happens, yes, he should have contacted you, but ....  there it is.  You might express concern that the books have not arrived and discuss filling out the lost mail form -- lots of polite approaches to use.

Good luck.

Cheers,

Catt (who is "at least a Tour Guide") :-)

I was just trying to get your ... SwapAGoat, Liesl :-)

To recap, I ordered two books on Feb 1.  The sendor accepted, and marked as mailed.  The books went 'lost in the mail' on 3/2.  On 3/5 I received a 'wish list granted' for one of the two books, I accepted.  But later checked and it was the EXACT same PBS member.  Both of my 'lost in the mail' books had been reposted by this member. (After they went 'lost' I decided to only keep one of the two on my wishlist - that is why I didn't get notification of the 2nd one being posted) 

 I decedied not to cancel the second request and see what happened.  Unfortunately, as I feared, I'm not going to get the book.  The sender accepted, printed then never mailed.  PBS cancelled the request this morning because sender never marked it mailed. 

Is there a way to tell PBS that they need to do something about this member who is not sending books.  Instead of sending it, he just  reposts ordered books after any orders for them time out.  

I admit, I'm pretty peeved about this.  There are no other copies of the book on PBS (believe me, I've wishlisted every ISBN) and the only saving grace is I'm the only wisher.  Still, I don't think this person should be allowed to keep doing this. 

I've tried to think of a reasonable explanation of how this could happen TWICE - and never get a PM from the member.  I can't come with one.  I figure unless PBS steps in, he'll repost the book again in a few days.  I sure hope no one else orders anything on his bookshelf from him - because I can only assume they will never get the books they ordered either.

thanks,

M.E -

Transaction details - same 'sender', same book.

Request 1 Transaction details:

Request Date: 2/1/2009 11:16 PM ET
Date Accepted: 2/2/2009 5:34 AM ET
Wrapper Printing(s):

• 2/3/2009 12:07 PM ET

Date Mailed: 2/4/2009 7:01 AM ET
Date Canceled: 3/2/2009 3:25 AM ET

Request 2 Transaction details:

Request Date: 3/5/2009 7:01 PM ET
Date Accepted: 3/6/2009 4:58 PM ET
Wrapper Printing(s):

• 3/6/2009 4:59 PM ET

Date Canceled: 3/12/2009 3:08 AM ET

Have you PMed the member and asked what's up? I'd PM them and ask, if they don't respond within 7 days contact the site and let them know whats happened and that the member will not respond to PMs, they will contact the member and see why he/she is not respondng to you.

Yep, you can let PBS know by hitting the contact us link down at the bottom of the page. I would let them know what happened, the senders name, etc. Hopefully they can at least contact this person and let them know that this needs to stop.

Sounds shady to me.  Either way, I hope you get your wished for books soon.  That is so disappointing to be excited when your wished for book is "sent" then never get it.  GRRRRR

What Melanie and Liesl said.  Since you have accepted the request, you need to wait until it goes lost before you can complain they have tried to scam you twice.  Have you contacted the sender about this?  Did they not respond within 7 days?  If not, then you should contact the PBS Team.

And, if the books fail to arrive again, you should first initiate a PM with the sender, then contact the PBS team if they are unresponsive.  But the onus is on you to initiate a PM with the sender to try to resolve the issue before writing to the PBS team for help.  The member may be new, may not know, may be embarassed he didn't send before and thinks you're giving him a second chance -- I can think of all sorts of reasons but you won't know until you ask him.

Cheers,

Catt

I don't understand why a person would do this?  What does he have to gain by not sending the books?

Still, I don't think this person should be allowed to keep doing this. 

What makes you think he does?  Unless I missed something, you know he did it *this time*.  It's a little odd, sure, but you don't seem to have PM'd him to ask about it so you have no idea if there truly was some sort of explanation.  (depending on location, the weather could still have been a factor; it's been brutal some places this winter)   As others have said, he won't be able to "keep doing it".  The system will send an alert if he gets too many Lost books.  You got your credits back, so except time and aggrivation you aren't out anything. 

Nobody has asked but I will what book are you looking for?  Maybe one of us has it but not posted yet.

That person is a dirty rat to quote an old movie...lol 

He didn't get any credits for them.  If he bought the PBS DC then it has to be scanned before the sender can get a credit.  So there's no real scam going on here.  He's just not a reliable PBSer.

Ah, but if that person also purchased PBS postage and DC then they got an instant credit for the books.  And probably for a a good bit less than what buying a credit in the kiosk would cost.

I always use PBS postage and DC and as soon as I mark the book mailed, I get the credit.  It doesnt have to be scanned.  If the book is lost in the mail, or if I NEVER mail it, I still keep my credit.  So like Bernhard said,  if the person is doing this and relisting the book, he is getting a credit for around 2.50.  Very cheap credit.

But he didn't mark it mailed the 2nd time.  You don't get the credit for using PBS postage and DC until it's marked mailed.  You don't get the credit for just DC until it's scanned.