Once I list an audiobook as "received," I don't necessarily listen to it the next day or even a few weeks later. It really, really irritates me that about 50% of the time I am receiving cds that skip so much they are almost unlistenable. There is no way I would dream of relisting them. I just threw 2 audiobooks directly into the trash. And they "cost" 2 credits each.

In part I am venting here, but I would like to know if there is a way, after the fact, to let other pbs members know that someone is shipping poor quality stuff. Or is there a way I can get my 2 credits back? I suppose I could contact the shipper and berate them and ask for the credits, but it just seems this happens so frequently that there should be some other way to address the problem.

The site recommends that, before you mark an audio book received, you pop each CD into your CD player and randomly play five seconds or so from various spots on each CD.  The books should have no more than 3 minor skips The way to let the site know that a member is sending bad audiobooks is to mark them received with a problem, and that's the time to ask for your credit back.

Also, before you decide a book isn't playable, try playing it on your CD player in your car, if you have one, or on any other CD player.  Some CD players read CDs much better than others, and the ones installed in cars tend to do better at playing a CD.  I know that when a CD won't play on one of my CD players, often if I try it on another, it will work.  In that case, I figure it probably played fine for the sender, and I don't mark it received with a problem.  If it is happening frequently, it could be that your player is especially sentitive to minor scratches.

That's a good point, Marilyn.  A book you can flip through and any problems will be immediately evident.  Audios are another matter.  I don't order them, but I can understand why it would be really frustrating to have that happen.  I'm not sure would a good solution would be, though.  I suppose you could PM the sender after the fact and say something like, "I just got around to trying the audio book you sent and it skipped throughout.  I'm so sad about that.... I was really looking forward to listening to it!"  I wouldn't ask for a refund, since they're under no obligation to return your credits because you marked it received in good condition.  But if I were the sender, I'd feel badly about it and return them anyway. 

I have 2 cd/cassette players.  When I order audiobooks (usually cds), I play them on one ... if I have any difficulties with skipping, etc, I will play them on the other, newer player. Sometimes it makes a difference.  I've received several audiobooks here on PBS and I've not had any problems.

I put the cd's in my computer before I mark them received .  If they rip without a problem, they usually play fine.  If they have trouble ripping, I know I may have a problem and I have to listen to that disk.  It doesn't take long for the computer to rip them.