I declined an RC this morning that was a good 15 single-spaced lines long.  As I wrote to the requester, I wasn't declining because of the length of her RC, though it was much too wordy, but because the 15 YO used PB book she was requesting did not meet one of her conditions (no slanted spines).  I would think that she gets declined often simply because of the length of her RC, and in fact she even noted in her novella that she had been told her RCs were too long and confusing and she had recently edited it but basically PBS allows members to have whatever conditions they want so she was leaving hers as it was.  Why would anyone knowingly set themselves up for declines when they've been given feedback on how to improve their RC? I have the only copy in the system at this time of that particular book, so I guess she's SOL until someone else posts a copy, and even then since the book is so old, I doubt it will be acceptable either.

I LOL at the title of your post Dawn. :)

Why would anyone knowingly set themselves up for declines when they've been given feedback on how to improve their RC?

I guess some people just want to do what they want to do but still complain when they don't get a result they want.

I had a 30 year old book request with "no smells" which I had to turn down because it was way too subjective.  It smelled like a book to me (not musty but kind of chemical smelling ink.)  She requested it twice and I turned it down twice.  I also had someone who requested that the books had to never have been stored in the garage or basement.  Most my bookshelves are in my basement of this 13 year old house.  The basement is dry but I turned the request down, twice.

Maybe when she never gets any books she'll shorten it.

I once posted an out of print/hard to find 15yr old paperback with long WL line.  The 1st person had an RC of only books in "like-new, mint condition".  Um it's a 15yr old rarely posted cheaply made paperback.  We're both lucky the book meets the minimal PBS posting guidelines.  I believe it still has a long WL line 2+yrs later and I wonder if she's still at the top or if someone was crazy enough to send ehr a copy.

I had one the other day. An Agatha Christie paperback was requested and the person wanted pristine white pages, no yellowing at all. Um, the book is how old? lol OK, granted the book wasn't printed in the 30s as a first edition but the version she chose was printed in the early 90s, nearly 20 years old. There is going to probably be some coloring change in the pages over 20 years. I declined it. 

The requester appears to not care if she has to go through a lot of turn downs to get the books in a certain condition, why does any one else care? For some people condition is more important than speed. That's their perogative with hundreds of thousands of copies of most every book out, there's a good chance an acceptable copy will come along from a member willing to send it.

It is her perogative (anyone else hearing Bobby Brown in their head?), and I don't really care. I don't have any problem with her specific conditions per se, but I do think she's missing out on getting books b/c of how long her RC is.  Her loss, however unnecessary it is.  And as I said, since the specific book she requested from me is 15 YO and mine's the only one presently  in the system, I don't anticipate her getting it anytime soon.  Again, her loss.

If someone is that picky...then they should go to Borders.

I had a 20 year old PB requested where the RCs were basically that it be in good condition with minimal wear.

I noted in my "does not meet" that it was a 20 yr old well loved paperback. 

Postable by PBS standards, but has that "I've read you many times" look.

No slanted spines.

That's pretty subjective.  I would turn down the request based on that alone.  It is the nature of any book (hardback or paperback) to have the spine slant slightly after being read.  What she is asking for here is basically a new book that has never been read.  I'm betting she doesn't have many book requests honored on that one alone.

The requester appears to not care if she has to go through a lot of turn downs to get the books in a certain condition, why does any one else care?

It's not that we care one way or another.  We are just commenting on her RC.  I could care less if she never gets a book from PBS.  She would never get one from me based just on the "no slanted spines" part of her RC.

BTW, when an RC is declined, I assume that the request goes to the next person on the FIFO list (if there is one).  Is that how it works?  Because I had the same experience someone here had that the same person requested the book twice so I had to turn her down twice.  I also assume that the person posting the book that turns down the RC doesn't lose their place in the FIFO lineup.  Is that true too?

If it were really that long, I honestly wouldn't even bother reading it. When asked for a decline reason, I would probably just type "yadda, yadda, yadda." I'm sure she'd understand--it sounds like she knows her RC isn't likely to get her many books and just doesn't care. If she doesn't care, I sure don't!

Bzzzzzt! Next!

Cheryl

I don't read the really long RCS either.  They just scream picky to me and I jsut don't want to have to take notes to follow them.
Although I will accept the APO/FPO RC which is really long.

When someone keeps getting the same RC over and over again requesting the same book-it's usually because it's the only copy in teh system and the person just keeps requesting the book over and over again.  it used to be that once an RC was turned down that copy could not be requested again. But they changed that to give people the opportunity to turn off their RCS or alter them to re-request the book. But some people don't do that and don't realize that they are requesting the book from teh same person over and over again. Or maybe they hope to annoy the other person into accepting their RC or deleting their book so it can go on the requestor's WL. 

Too bad you didn't copy it for Tome's collection. :)

I would guess that requestor doesn't have a big TBR pile! ;D

Ruth