[Dx-qsl] What to do about "not in log"?

[Alfred Laun]

On 10/2/06, Jim Reisert AD1C <jjreisert at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> I get cards from the W1 QSL bureau all the time.  Sometimes I can't find the
> QSO in my log.
>
> Should I return the card to the sender, or just throw it in the trash?
>
> If the former, what's the best way to assure that the card makes its way back
> through the bureau system?

As the manager of the ARRL Third Call Area Incoming Bureau I return
hundreds of cards through the ARRL outgoing bureau every month.  Most
of the cases are SK's or not in FCC database.  The important thing is
to have a label which says "Return to _______"  (the call of the
sending station) in the upper right hand corner if possible, but don't
cover over your call so that the sending station can see who it was
who said he was not in the log.  I have seen cases where if you just
write N-I-L somewhere on the card the sorters at ARRL HQ may be
confused and the card will come right back to the W1 bureau.   My own
label for not in log goes on to say:  "I have had the computer check
the log for that entire year and I cannot find this QSO in the log."

73, Fred Laun, K3ZO