Hello, I'd like some advice. I recently received a book that had some pretty awesome water damage, so I marked it RWAP, wrote a very nice message, requested my credit back, and waited for a response from the sender. No word came back from the member, so I waited for 7 days before going into my Transaction Archive and marking it as no response. This got the member to finally reply to me, but it was sort of a brush off: 'These are used books, I had no trouble reading it...' basically, too bad so sad. No mention of returning my credit and no credit refund is showing up on my account. It's been 3 days since her 'deal with it' response. So! Do I just call it a lost cause and mark it as unresolved, or should I PM her one more time to let her know that I'll be marking this transaction unresolved? Obviously I know these are used books, but it specifically annoys me because the book shouldn't have even been posted in the first place based on the "good condition" guidelines. Sigh...

My husband thinks I should inform her that I will be marking this transaction "unresolved" as a courtesy since it will be a strike on her record, but I don't even want to bother. What would you do? 

I am fairly new to this site and services, but even I know that posting a book with water damage is against PBS rules. Her rude and careless manner during your interactions shows that she will continue her trangressions if nobody did or said anything. 

Anyways, my advice to you, is if you believe that she will have a change of heart and offer a credit refund, then by all means, inform her of your action. But if it seems to be futile then I say, let it rip and let her deal with the consequences of her actions.

Generally when I get a response like that, if I decide to reply I generally say something like:  "Thank you for your reply.  As this book did not meet site standards and you are not willing to refund the credit, I will be marking this transaction as unresolved to close the matter."

Of course, more often than not, I simply mark as unresolved and move on as further communication really isn't worth the effort.

Thanks, ladies. I didn't want to be confrontational, but I did want to assert my point that the book should not have been sent, so I just sent another PM reminding the member of the policy and giving her one more chance to refund the credit. Even if it's for naught, at least I can feel better knowing I tried! We'll see what happens...  

: )

It's a double-black-mark on her record if you end up having to mark it unresolved.  Maybe that will give her more incentive to return the credit.

Great wording Melissa. I wish we had a like button,LOL 

I also like Melissa's wording 

If she admits in the PM that she KNEW the book was like that, then contact TPTB because usually if a member admits they knowingly broke the rules, they will step in.

I like Melissa's wording as well--but I think I'd give her a second chance to return my credit--saying what Melissa said, but changing the ending to read that "I will be forced to mark this transaction as unresolved which will result in two black marks on your account if I don't receive a refund of my credit by xxxx".

You never know--that might be enough to get her to pony up the credit.

I recently sent a book that was RWAP. The requestor condition was for a book in like-new or very good condition. The book definitely wasn't like new but I thought it would satisfy the latter conditon. The requestor wrote a note saying the book was in poor condition and wanted her credit refunded. We can argue the condition of the book (I have never sent a book in poor condition) but it boils down to making a satisfactory resolution. I have no problem refunding the credit but I would like the book back. This is the first time I have encountered such a problem on PBS and don't know the etiquette. Is it unreasonable to expect the book to be returned in exchange for a refund in credit?

Bruce -- if you wish to get the book back, then you need to reimburse the other member for the cost of postage to send it to you. You can send her a stamped self-addressed envelope, or you can mail her money or you can give her another credit to cover her postage costs.

I guess I will bite the bullet on this one and mark it up as a lesson learned. This book is definitely postable. It is not damaged in any way - no water damage, no markings, very minor wear for a paperback, just wasn't deemed in like new or very good condition by the requestor.  This is such a subjective matter. What is very good condition for one person can easily be disputed by another. So she gets the credit and the book and I'm out a credit and three bucks on an undamaged book. Oh well, not a big loss in the bigger scheme of things but I will never again ship to anyone whose conditions are subject to interpretation.

...I will never again ship to anyone whose conditions are subject to interpretation.

Yeah, Bruce -- doesn't seem fair -- that's why some of us won't accept RCs that are subjective -- but if you really think that what you sent her was in "very good condition," you do not need to refund the credit.

I think what ticks me off is that she didn't send me a message and say that  the book didn't meet her standards and ask if we could come to some resolution, she marked it RWAP and chided me about not respecting peoples RCs. So, I gave her back her credit and brush my hands of the whole matter. Lesson learned.

Bruce,

If someone receives a book that they feel is a RWAP, the proper way to go about it is to mark it as such and go from there.  No one should be messaging outside of that RWAP process as accounts need to be logged when there is a problem transaction on both sides (in case there is a pattern of either the sender or receiver constantly having RWAPs).  I understand that you don't think this was a RWAP but you had the choice to refund or not.  It's definitely a good idea to stay away from subjective RCs especially involving condition.

Well, it's been three days since my follow-up, "one more chance" PM and there's been no response. Is there a way to see if a member has actually opened and read your PM? I'm not sure how long I should wait before marking it unresolved, especially since this person didn't even reply to my initial RWAP message. My patience is not infinite, lol. But I guess I'll wait a week, since that's what the Help Center seems to recommend. 

You can go to your Personal Messages list, select From You.  Then check the Unread button.  It shows PMs that have not been viewed while on PBS.  (So they could have seen the email version of the message.)

If the response was 1) rude and 2) acknowledged that they did not follow PBS posting rules on water damage, then send PBS a copy of the PM.  That will make sure that the account is flagged to be reviewed right way, rather than after the statistical level of reported problems.

Crystal, I've never been RWAPed, but  if a member was really unhappy I would just refund the credit.  I both bought and sold on Ebay for a while and it's best just to keep your *customers* happy.....even when they are wrong.  The back-and-forth can really become a nightmare. 

I've received a number of borderline books, and 2 definite RWAPs, which I marked as such, and both of those times the users were very unfriendly about it.  It's just easier to keep my life peaceful and move on from experiences like that.  So, RWAP, respond once (best way is to just use a quote from PBS's help document on what is not postable) and then mark it unresolved if they don't offer to refund.  

 I do make a note of people who I don't want to ever trade with again and keep it on my bulletin board nexxt to cmputer.

I guess when it rains its pours, lol... I just received a second copy of the before-mentioned book (it was a title on my WL) and this one was damamged by my stupid mailman! It's pretty obviously he shoved it in my mailbox, so I'm not even sure if I'm gonna mark it RWAP since I do not think the sender failed to wrap it properly. I guess it's just not in the stars for me to get this book. I'll probably just buy a new copy!

Crystal, in the case of the second book, you should definitely mark it RWAP - Damaged by USPS. Even if the Sender isn't at fault, it's still been Received With a Problem.  This will reflect on the Post Office, not the Sender. If the Sender's wrapping had something to do with the damage, you would then ask for a refund; as you don't feel this is the case, just explain in your comments upon marking the book received that the damage was caused by the Postal Carrier, and that you're not seeking a refund of your credit as it wasn't the Sender's fault.