If you received an email from PBS telling you that a book transaction was canceled, but you already mailed the book, this means you did not mark the book mailed before the deadline to do so.

• The other possibility for an email cancellation notification would be if the requestor canceled--and the requestor could not cancel once you accessed the address information from the request.  So if you obtained the address from the request and mailed the book to the correct person, the requestor could not cancel - the system did.
• If you clicked Cancel Order by mistake on a book you mailed, then you will not have gotten a cancellation email but the instructions below still apply. 

If you did not get an email notification of a cancellation, but you cannot find an outgoing request in your account, please see My request disappeared!.

If you didn't mail the book yet, see My request was canceled--I didn't mail the book yet.

A canceled transaction doesn't get credit - BUT you can try to fix this, if you act promptly after the cancellation.

What to do now:

• Log into your account

• Click My Account at the top of the site

• Choose the Transaction Archive link at the top of the My Account page

• Find the canceled book in the list

  • Make sure it is the CORRECT canceled transaction - put your cursor over the red X on the left and the words "Canceled - no response from sender in allotted time" should come up.

• Click the PM button on the right to create a Personal Message to the requestor

  • Paste this text (you can modify it to suit the situation of course) into the PM text box window

    I mailed this book [Insert title of book] but neglected to mark it mailed before the deadline, and it was canceled. Please look at your My Account main page right now - if you have an active request there for [Insert title of book] it is NOT with me--it is with a new sender. Your request must have been passed on to that person, and you will get 2 copies of this book if the new request is not canceled. If you do have an active request on your account page for this book can you cancel it? You will be getting a copy of the book from me. You can then mark my book received when it arrives, from your Transaction Archive. If you are willing to do this I really appreciate it! Just let me know if you have a new transaction on your account page, and if you are able/willing to cancel. I am very sorry about the inconvenience. I am going to mark my books mailed before the deadline from now on!

• Then wait for the requestor's response.

  • If she HAS been able to cancel, then when she receives your book she can follow the instructions in the Help doc I received a book from a canceled transaction! to mark the book received from her Transaction Archive, and you will get credit then.

  • If she has NOT been able to cancel, she will end up with 2 copies, and she will NOT be obligated to mark the canceled copy (yours) received. The Help doc I received 2 copies of the same book! explains this.

FAQs:

Q - Why did the transaction cancel?

A - Because you did not mark it mailed before the deadline to do so.

• If a book is not marked mailed before the deadline, the PBS system cannot know it was mailed
  • Contents of Personal Messages or emails from the sender/requestor will not affect the deadline
  • The deadline cannot be changed once the book request has been accepted
• The deadline is determined by the sender's choice of mailing dates:
  • If the sender clicks "I can mail" when accepting, he or she has 7 days in which to mail the book, and then mark it mailed
• The system sends "Mark Mailed" reminder emails to help you avoid cancellation.  You can see those reminders in your Club Communication file, linked from the top of your My Account page.

Q - But I used Printable Postage!  Can't the system tell the book was mailed from that?

A -  No.  If we knew for sure that every mailed package would be scanned by USPS when it was mailed and that USPS would transmit that information to us that day, we could program the rest of the system to mark a book mailed when the scan information came in.  Unfortunately, that is not possible, since the first USPS scan can happen when the book is "en route", and this can happen after the PBS deadline to mark mailed.

Q - Why is it necessary for me to contact the requestor?  Why can't the canceled request just be re-activated?

A - Because there may be a NEW request on the requestor's account page now.   If a book is not marked mailed by the deadline, it will cancel automatically, and the request will be passed along to another member offering a copy of the same book. 

• If a book is not marked mailed before the deadline, the PBS system cannot know it was mailed
  • Contents of Personal Messages or emails from the sender/requestor will not affect the deadline
  • The deadline cannot be changed once the book request has been accepted
  • The deadline to mark a book mailed is 7 days from the date the book request was accepted.

Q - But I discussed this with the requestor, and she/he knew I was going to mail the book late.  Why didn't that change the deadline?

A - Once the deadline to mark mailed has been set for a request (it is set by the mailby date you choose when accepting), it can't be adjusted.   PM conversations don't affect the deadline.  So if you make an agreement with the requestor to send the book after the mail-by date, just be sure to mark mailed before the deadline (even though you have not mailed).  It is not usually OK to mark mailed more than 24 hours before mailing, but you can do this if the requestor has agreeed to late mailing (see Can I send a book later (later than the available dates OR after the date I said that I would mail)?). 

Q - But it's not like I forgot!  My computer crashed/my power went out after I had already mailed.

A - We know that this error is not due to carelessness.  No one wants to send a book and not get credit.  Computer crashes and power outages do happen.   If you have a fitful computer that crashes a lot OR it is a season when you may lose internet connection or power due to storms, you may want to get in the habit of marking mailed right before you go to mail.  That way, you will never come home from mailing and find yourself unable to mark mailed. 

• If you don't mark mailed by the deadline, it will cancel and you can simply repost the book when your power comes back on/your computer is up and running again, as explained in My request was canceled--I didn't mail the book yet.

Q- I mailed on my way out of town! 

A - The best thing would have been to mark mailed before you left your house to mail and go out of town.  If you realize you have done this, and you have no computer/account access to mark mailed from the road, you can send an email to Librarian@paperbackswap.com explaining the dilemma (and giving the book title) and if we get the email before the deadline to mark mailed, we will be happy to mark the book mailed for you.

Q - Okay, I got the cancellation notification email and I sent a PM to the requestor saying "I mailed the book. Please give me credit when you get it."  Isn't that good enough?

A - No.  Your PM needs to explain to the requestor that if there is a new request she should cancel it.  She may see the new request on her account page and have no idea that it is NOT with you.  If you are clear (and use the information given in the sample PM above) then the requestor will know what to do to prevent herself from getting 2 copies (and she will be able to mark yours received when she gets it as described in I received a book from a canceled transaction!).

Q - I didn't forget to mark mailed - I clicked "Cancel Order" by mistake after I had mailed.  Is there anything different about what I need to do in this situation?

A - Not much.  You should modify the PM text above, to say that you canceled by mistake, but otherwise you should do the same as if the system canceled.  When the requestor goes to mark your book mailed, it is possible that she won't have a "Was this Book Received?" button in the Transaction Archive (if a sender cancels, this button will not be there).  So instead she can just give you credit using the Give Credit button on your Profile or Bookshelf, as described in How do I give credits to other members?. 

Q - The requestor says she got my book but she can't mark it received from the Transaction Archive - there isn't any "Was this Book Received?" button.

A - This means that either you canceled by mistake (sender-canceled transactions won't have the button), or she removed the button using the follow-up options at some point after the cancellation.  She can just give you credit using the Give Credit button on your Profile or Bookshelf, as described in How do I give credits to other members?.  

Q - The requestor says she got my book and she marked it received, but I didn't get credit.  What happened?

A - She probably got your copy but marked the SECOND sender's copy received, from the active transaction on her My Account page.  She was obligated to do that, if a second sender sent the book.  Information about this is in the Help doc I received 2 copies of the same book!.

Q - I don't understand why you even have the Mark Mailed step.  Why is it necessary? Mailing is the important part!

A - We didn't start out having the step when we first launched in 2004.  But the need for it very quickly became apparent.  Without some idea of when the book was mailed, the system had no idea when to declare it "lost" and swaps were in chaos.  After we added the final, affirmative step of marking the book mailed to complete the sending process, everything started going much more smoothly.  If we didn't have to have that step we wouldn't.  But we know from experience that it is absolutely necessary for the sender to tell the system the book was mailed. 

Related Links:

My request was canceled--I didn't mail the book yet
My request disappeared!
Swapping Deadlines
Can I send a book later (later than the available dates OR after the date I said that I would mail)?
My book has been mailed. Am I done?
I received 2 copies of the same book!