I posted a British published cookery book under the ISBN on the book. It came up with the same cover photo so I paid it no mind but after mailing it I realized the title is different, for a book of postcards. So now the requester is unhappy and I'm trying to sort it out with him and with PBS. It's a booger that the ISBN isn't somehow universal.

The odd thing is I just checked the ISBN on amazon and the cookery book  came up.

ETA I feel a bit cheated as it seems it's PBS who got the ISBN on a different book, not me and now I'm out a credit which I gifted the requester after he'd marked it a RWAP. But the requester won because PBS also returned his credit,  he got the book, plus the credit from me.

Thanks for the warning.  I have the same problem with older books. Harlequin started reusing some of their ISBN numbers.  While they quit doing that fairly quickly, there are still 100 or so books out there that share ISBN numbers.

Same cover photo and same isbn but different title?  I could have easily made the same mistake.

Are postcards postable?  

Postcards are postable in book form. Pomegranate is one noted publisher of such books. Most readers probably don't tear them out and mail them. They're a kind of picture book for grown ups.

I would ask that PBS return my credit as it seems to be their error.  Have you asked them?  The requestor is not due two credits for an RWAP as only one credit was used for the request.

That sucks... While I think that a lot of people would make that mistake, I don't agree that you would be right in asking for the credit back because we have to check the does-my-book-match-this-and-that button an since it didn't...

He didn't ask for the credit, I felt obligated to gift him one but that was before I knew PBS would return his credit. I'm viewing this as a learning experience.

I have some of those postcard books. I enjoy looking through them sometimes.

I wonder if this is a pbs problem more than anything else.

Interesting that a few years ago when I got one of those postcard books (I didn't realize that's what it was when I ordered it) and contacted PBS, they told me it was unpostable and I never should have ordered it!  I was ticked that they blamed me--the requestor- rather than the member who posted it.

Many fiction novels are printed using different titles for the UK edition.  i learned that the first year I was a member since I was living in Germany and often bought the Brit books.

Marya: Sorry about that! That part of my reply was more about MSCozy's response.

Marta, when you listed the book, did the title and ISBN match?  If they matched the book you sent, you did not deserve an RWAP nor to lose a credit.  But if you missed checking that the ISBN and book title did not match with your book, then that error was on you.  It happens.  You probably check more carefully now after this incident.

The requestor got two credits and I would have asked that the book be returned.  I would go to TPTB and see what they say.  A single book request for one credit does not mean that two credits should  be given as well as them keeping the book.  Does anyone see the mistake on how this was handled ?

When I posted the book the ISBN and the cover pic matched and the erroneous title somehow slipped past me. Because the book is richley illustrated with pictures of old England I probaby assumed it was retitled, which does happen.

In that sense it's my fault, I made too many assumptions. The requester did not ask me for his credit back, but I felt obligated to give him one because I didn't know that PBS would return his credit. (In future I might not be as generous or as quick about it.) So, yes, he got 2 credits and a cookery book which he doesn't want. Since I've only given him one credit he could actually ask for yet another should I ask him to return it to me. He has asked me if I want it back, but I suggested he donate it to a charity shop. He can't post it nor could I should he return it to me .

The ISBN on the book itself shows up on amazon as being the cookery book I thought I was posting. Unfortunately it comes up as a postcard book on PBS. I did make note of this to PBS via the 'contact us' button, but their attitude is that I made a mistake, which I did, and they maintain publishers reuse ISBNs, which they do. In other words that book cannot be correctly posted on this site because PBS refuses to accommodate this book. Someone could feasibly post the post card book under with the same ISBN.

I hope someone buys the cookery book in a charity shop and enjoys the making and baking all the biscuit recipes within. And I shall be more vigilant in future.