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Help Center - Can I send a book later (later than the available dates OR after the date I said that I would mail)?

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Yes, sometimes you can arrange that with the requestor - see below.

PBS is dedicated to the concept of timely swapping. While of course we understand that unexpected circumstances can delay an occasional shipment, chronic late mailing is not acceptable. The longest timeframe for sending a book (from acceptance to marking mailed) is 7 days. 

  • If you are away from your home and cannot send out books within this timeframe, your account should be on Vacation Hold to prevent incoming requests. (Read How the Vacation/Hold feature works for information about using the Vacation Hold feature).

  • If you have accepted a request but know you will not be able to mail a book within the allotted time frame, you can ask the requestor's consent to mail the book late. 

    • You can contact the requestor by clicking the button on the request for the book on your My Account page--that button will be on the Books to Mail tab after you accept the request, and before you have marked it mailed.
  • If you accepted a request and something comes up unexpectedly, contact the sender to let him or her know that mailing was delayed, as soon as you have mailed the book. Most requestors don't mind a little delay, as long as they are kept informed of the situation. 

  • If you do arrange late mailing with a requestor, you must mark the book mailed before the deadline to prevent the transaction from being canceled.

If you marked the book mailed but did not mail it and you want to mail it late (more than 4 days after the date you marked it as mailed),  you MUST contact the requestor using the PM button on the transaction, to be sure that the requestor still wants the book.  (If the book has already been declared "lost", the PM button is on the "lost in mail" transaction in your Transaction Archive.)

  • If she replies that she does still want it you can mail it to her.  She can mark it received and you will get credit at that time.
    • If the book has already been declared "lost" she can mark it received from her Transaction Archive and you will get credit at that time.
  • If she replies that she does NOT want it (she may have gotten a copy from someone else in the meantime), you should NOT MAIL - you should ask us to cancel the "en route" transaction and you can repost the book for someone else to request.
  • If she does not respond to your PM, you should repost the book.  It will be offered to her automatically if she still wants a copy.
  • You should not mail a "lost" book to the original requestor unless she has confirmed that she still wants it in a Personal Message.  If you mail it and she has already gotten another copy, she will NOT be obligated to mark the book received, or to return it to you.

If you mail a book late and the book is declared "lost" by the system before it arrives, you are responsible for making sure the requestor knows how to mark it received from her Transaction Archive when it arrives. You can send her the information (and the link to the Help doc I received a book that was 'lost in the mail' in our Help Center) in a Personal Message. To handle this properly

  • Send a Personal Message making the receiver aware of how to mark "lost" books received while the book is en route, or right after you actually mail it.

  • If the book is scanned "Delivered" but still has not been marked received - and is not "lost" yet in our system, send a reminder PM to the other member. If the book is not marked received and it is declared "lost" by the system, please let us know.

  • If the book is scanned "Delivered" and it is "lost in the mail" already - send a reminder PM to the receiver and include the link to the Help doc I received a book that was 'lost in the mail'.  Give the other member 4 days or so after that PM with instructions to mark the "lost" book received. If the book is still "lost" 4 days after your PM with instructions was sent, please let us know.

Please note: if the receiver does not mark the book received, you will not get credit for the mailing - and if you got Instant or Quick Credit for the mailing, it may be removed. Late mailing does not earn Guaranteed Credit. A book that is mailed late (even with consent from the requestor) must be marked received to earn credit.

Also: If you mail a book very late without consent from the requestor, and the requestor has already gotten another copy when yours arrives, she will NOT be obligated to mark the book received, or to return it to you.

Please note that if you mail late without consent from the requestor, you risk losing eligibility for Instant/Guaranteed Credit for that swap and in your account - those are available only to accounts with good sending records.


Related Links:

How do I contact another member?
Swapping Deadlines
How the Vacation/Hold feature works