i asked for my credit back; the sender's book is cleaved. she responded that i was just trying to get something for nothing and that it is people like me that ruin a club like PBS.

yikes! has anyone been accused of that before?

No, I've not had a response like that.  Perhaps you could offer to email her a photo of the damage?

No, I've never gotten that as a response, and it's totally inappropriate.  I might consider contacting R&R about the message, because there's no excuse for being rude like that.

I would let R&R know about that kind of response. The sender could easily lose her account over behavior like that, it just isn't tolerated here.

Perhaps, the sender doesn't know what a cleaved spine is.  ( I only learned a short while ago).  If you could send a picture of the spine with a reminder from the help center, that might soften the sender up.  I would consider your credit gone but that might help.

Yes Susan, I have had a similar response. The person actually accused me of stealing from her only to sell the book on eBay. She also stated that she had sent out over 5 books and never received a complaint. I also have a link illustrating 2 photos of cleaved/broken spines in my RC. Needless to say, the problem/attitude was reported.

Trish, thank you for posting that photo of a cleaved spine.   I for one didn't know what the term meant.   I know a cracked/broken spine when I see one, but I didn't know the term "cleaved."  Let me ask you this:  on paperbacks, when the spine is not broken or cracked, but it sort of "curls" or "leans."  Is there a specific term for this?  Thanks

First, the respone you received was rude and accusatory and IMO not acceptable, regardless of situation.

Now, since the book condition guidelines don't use the term "cleaved" any more, I personally think that it's best not to use that terminology. If it doesn't meet the : [binding] Must be intact, with no separation on the inside or outside of the book , then it would be best to use that wording, and describe how the book sent doesn't meet that requirement.

I didn't get the response you did.  I once received a hardcover that was BARELY held together.  The repsonse I got from the sender was "enjoy the book!"  Wha....?!?!?

I got a demand for a credit back once because of a supposed cleaved spine. Book had been read exactly once and was absolutely not cleaved. I have books that are 30+ years old that aren't near being cleaved. I agree that people need to be educated on what cleaved looks like. Especially before demanding credits back.

I had a book yesterday where the (soft) cover fell off when I dropped it as I was wrapping it. I wrapped it up, sent it to the member who requested it and then PM'd her that I was returning her credit but sending the book to her anyway. She was happy to be getting the book still and would have let me keep the credit, but I don't feel right taking a credit for a book that (now) doesn't meet PBS standards. As I would have wound up donating a book in that condition to the thrift store, it might as well have gone to the member who really wanted it.

thanks for the replies and for the good photos. i realize that getting my credit back is not going to happen. i did write to R & R and asked them to monitor the communication between the sender and me regarding this matter. i hope that they see it as i and you all did--not acceptable....

i did not notice that they don't use the word "cleaved" anymore, even though i reread the book conditions info in the help section before i wrote back to her. i hope i won't have to discuss this particular book condition with anyone else in the near future!!!

thanks to all,

sue

I've actually gotten a lot worse then that on occasion. But technically speaking it's PBS members with that kind of rude attitude and who post books like that who ruin the sharing experience for everyone else Susan. I'm sorry you had such a sour experience. :(

got a response from R & R. they will be watching her account, and they said that i had been polite in my responses [maybe not always my forte in the past;-)]. of course, my credit has not been refunded.

the leaning book is called spine tilt, I think.

Trish - Thanks for the photos.  That definitely makes things a bit clearer.

Thanks Trish, for the photos.  I also didn't know what cleaved spine meant.  I have actually received books like that and thought the sender had tried to glue the spine back.  The stack that I had like that I donated to the Pink ladies at the hospital.

Great pictures, Trish (pretty steamy stuff, too! - LOL).

I had that same thing happen and was pretty shocked by it. I was going through some rather hard stuff at the time and wound up just letting it go, because I didn't have the energy to deal with it, but it certainly left a bad taste in my mouth.

I had a member tell me that I had ruined PBS for her and she took all her books off of PBS and left!  All because I requested my credit back.  The book she sent was in terrible shape.  Maybe it's best that she left.