Okay, I posted earlier about receiving a wish list book in unpostable condition.  The sender felt that I should be happy that I received it at all since it is hard to find, and doesn't want to give my credit back unless I return the book to her.  She will compensate me for returning it, but I do want to read it, although I expected  to receive a book in relatively good condition (at least postable condition) so that I could repost it if I wanted to.  Should I just be happy to have it and forget about it?  I was going to just forget about it and read it, but now I'm a little aggravated about the whole thing. 

No, if it's unpostable then the sender shouldn't have posted it - period.   What made it unpostable?   There are some things that make a book clearly unpostable and some that are more open to the interpretation of the sender/receiver (like wear).

ETA:  Never mind, I saw your previous post.  It's a little hard to tell from your description.  Just because a book has a broken spine (which would cause it to consistently fall open to one spot in the book), that doesn't mean it's unpostable.  There has to be separation between the pages, which means that the book is literally in more than one piece or has started in that direction.   If pages are loose or coming loose, then the book is defintely unpostable.

Well, some of the pages were pulling away from the binding, about 30 pages in one spot.  I was just going to let it go when I pm'd her this last time, but I've started getting aggravated about it in the last few minutes.  I just need to stop thinking about it and not worry about it I guess. 

A book being highly wished for or collectible in some way is no excuse for posting it here and expecting to get a credit for it.  It's either postable or it's not.  It doesn't make a bit of difference if they could sell the thing for $50 on Amazon or ebay, if it doesn't meet the posting guidelines, it can't be posted.  I have several collectibles that I could sell right now for at least $10 each, but per the posting guidelines, I can't post them here.  This person needs to refund your credit and chalk this one up to lesson learned.  That's what the loss of a credit and a book that may have some sort of resale value to it are all about.  Learning to read & follow the site rules.  You should inbox her the book condition guidelines from the help docs, and the quotes from there that state you don't have to return the book, and that credit & book loss are the incentive for not sending out unpostable books.  If she gives you any guff, mark it unresolved, and then forward it on to the site owners.

Your choices are:

1) send the book back and receive compensation, or

2) keep and read the book.

It seems you want a third choice which is to both read the book and receive compensation.  You do not have a third option, you need to chose which of the above two options you want.

Actually she does not have to return the book at all, that is her choice, the fact it is unpostable means she does need her credit returned.

The rules state that it is her choice whether to return the book and get another credit for doing so, but it is not mandatory. I personally would not return the book just in case they send it onto someone else because it is a WL book.

Actually, Richard, if she can piece it together enough for it to be legible, she can read the book and still get the credit back:P  Postability for a credit is the determining factor.  The basic requirement of the books you send out & order here is always that they be postable when they leave your hands.   Unless something happens to them while the receiver has them in their hands or they just plain come to the end of the road in their lifecycle, they should, within reason, be able to expect to repost them.  Once you receive a book, it's yours to offer as a free unpostable or to line the canary cage with, if you want to.  You just can't repost an unpostable book for a credit.

For the last couple of posters: Please remember that she is up to the sender's mercy for getting her credit back. It's not a given that because a receiver feels a book is unpostable that the sender MUST return the credit. It's nice/correct to do so but it's not mandatory and PBS does not get involved in demanding credits back from senders. It's solely up to the sender.

she's entitled to a credit even if she keeps the book

Entitlement is sort of the key here.  If it was unpostable she is *entitled*, but that doesnt' means she's going to get it.  The sender has control of the credit in these situations.  The requestor has the "Unresolved" option if they don't like the proposed resolution.   So, while Richard is not technically correct based on PBS Rules, he is correct in all practicality. 

Before using the Unresolved button I would PM the sender one last time and let them know I was going to do this.  This prompts some members to return a credit when they otherwise wouldn't. 

The postings from the HC are absolutely correct, you are supposed to ask for your credit back if you receive and unpostable book.  This is, of course, no guarantee you are going to get it.  The Help Center also says this:

I was still working on mine, lol, but exactly, Susan.  :-) I'm not saying you shouldn't get your credit back, but it sounds like you aren't going to.  In that case, moving on really will less stressful.

To the OP:

I just went through almost the same situation.  The sender was willing to compensate me ONE credit after I sent the book back.  (There was no way to know for sure if this would happen)

She sent me multiple pms requesting the book be returned.  I sent feedback to PBS.  As previously stated, they won't intervene.

I know your pain, but remember there are more good swaps than bad here :)

Thank you all for your help.  I'm not going to worry about it.  Since I couldn't persuade the sender to return my credit, I'm not going to argue with her about it.   If I hear back from her and she changes her mind, great, but I'm going to forget about it.  Like you said, I have had some great swaps here, some great deals, and some books in perfect condition, so I'll just remember them and forget about this.  

What Kate said.  Nobody was saying she was guaranteed to get the credit back, only that according to the rules, she was entitled to it, and she wasn't asking for more than she was entitled to by asking the sender to return it.  Angie - did you mark it unresolved?  I would.