A few weeks ago I sent out a like-new hardcover copy of a popular book. Receiver got the book and immediately sent me a nasty PM accusing me of sending her the "wrong" book - a paperback instead of the posted hardcover. I KNOW I sent the hardcover b/c I had only just finished reading it myself before I posted it and I had bought it brand new at Borders just a few days before that! But the receiver insisted that I return her credit. Since I knew I had sent the right book, I told her I would only refund her credit if she sent it back to me. We agreed that she would return the book and I would give her two credits - one as a "refund" and one to cover shipping.

Well, I just got the book back - and I got scammed! In place of the beautiful new hardcover I sent her, I got a ratty paperback copy of the book! I'm REALLY pissed here I don't know what this person is trying to prove but there's no way I'm going to refund the credits now. I sent her a $30 new book and got a book back I wouldn't pay 10 cents for.

I'm not sure what I should do here. She already marked the original book received with a problem, so there's a ding on my account, but now she's threatening to report me to R&R if I don't return her credits.

Oh well maybe I'll just let it go. My husband is retiring from the Navy in September and we are going to be traveling outside the country for a while after that, so I'm going to be closing my account soon anyway.

Heck no I wouldnt let it go. I wouldnt care if I was closing my account tomorrow or in a year, I am NOT going to refund a credit (or 2) in a scam!! Let that person report you. You have the PMs, you know what you sent, and you know what you got. Let THEM work out the details. But dont bend to a scammer. Sorry for the caps...I got fired up for a second. *giggle* I am done now.

Stacy, Proud Army wife, 3rd ID

Send feedback to R&R and let them know the situation. Behavior like that should be reported so they have a record of it.

I agree with Chris...if they are doing it to you they have either done it before and got away with it or they will do it again.  Don't let it go.

If this is really a scam, it seems like a very weird way to run it.  How does he/she benefit from the "scam"?  He/she knows that they won't get any credits until the book is in your hands...and once the book is in your hands you of course won't send them any credits for it.  So, now, he/she is "out" the postage required to send it with no credit benefit.  I mean, I guess he/she benefits by getting to keep your like-new HC copy of the book.  But, they gave you a credit for it, so again, I sort of fail to see a scam here. 

Before you accuse this person of running a scam (which again, I am not sure that's what's happening here), PM them and ask what happened. 

Sounds like one to me.....I expect she'll just sell YOUR book!!

Lisa - I did already PM her and ask her what was going on. She responded with a note saying she had done what we agreed on - returned the book to me - and she wanted her two credits immediately OR ELSE she would be reporting me.

I am wondering now, though, after reading another thread, if maybe two copies of the book got sent to her. Maybe her original request timed out and then went to me, and it was someone else who sent her the crappy book she has since sent back to me. Maybe she hasn't even gotten my book yet (although by now she certainly should have if she's had time to receive this book, AND send it back to me). I am going to PM her and ask her to check her transaction archive to see if there might be a cancelled request for this book on there. If there is, she can check with that person and see if they sent her this paperback copy. If they did, then the only question will be, what the heck happened to the nice copy I sent her?

Randi - as I read the thread I came to the same conclusion as you.   I am betting your hardback copy hasn't gotten to her yet.  Please keep us up to date on this because if that's not it, then we've sure got a mystery on our hands!

Well, if she hadn't gotten the hard copy yet how did she know whom to send the book back to?  You could PM her and ask her to look in her transaction archive to see if there was a cancellation, but unless she asked you for your name & address the only way she could have sent the book back is using the wrapper it came in.

I definitely would contact R&R and let them know the story so far.  Just in case, even if it is a case of mistaken sender they should be aware so they can discount any more complaints.

Tammy I did PM her my address b/c she said she had already thrown out the wrapper - which is too bad b/c if she still had it, it would have made for a very easy way to identify who the book had come from....

I have PM'd her again, the only problem is, she seems so angry over the whole thing, I'm not sure she's going to be willing to work with me to figure out what is going on here. The extreme anger is what bothers me the most - unless she is just having a really bad week, why is it necessary to get so nasty? That's the main reason I assumed she was scamming me - the loudest accusers tend to be the ones who know THEY are actually the one in the wrong.

Just out of curiosity Randi, do you still have the receipt for the book in question? If she keeps on pushing that you sent her a junky paperback can you say "Hey, I have the receipt for the book in question, I bought a hardcover and that is what I sent you."

No such luck Kristina! I can't stand paper clutter, I tend to throw things like that away almost as soon as I get home from the store, unless there is a chance I might return the items, which I'm not likely to do with a book. What I really wish I still had was the post office receipt, there would be a price difference between sending a mass market paperback and a big hardcover...

Sounds like your dealing with a nut case or a scammer. I would not refund the credits, I would send a message to R & R explaining your side of it. If you have a good record of good trades they will see that this is an unusual thing for you and probably will figure out that this person is trying to scam you.

Well, I'd send 1, to cover the cost of mailing the book. I would get in touch with R&R and also explore the possibility that she hasn't received your book yet.

R&R would be able to tell (if if she won't or can't) if 2 people were requested to send books.  But I agree that it sounds like someone trying to upgrade their keeper copy.  Spending a couple of dollars on postage is still cheaper than buying it new.

that's wrong. why would someone come on here and do something like that. it could be a big misunderstanding, but why the anger?? sounds like instead of 2 points, maybe you should send a Xanax!

I agree with the others you should report the incident to R & R as a FYI.  That way if there is something "sneeky" going on they have a head-up.

ruthie

I think she had a book time out, but it was mailed to her anyhow.  That is the scruffy copy.  Your hardback copy has not yet arrived.  That's my guess.

I hope you are able to get this worked out. If the person is no longer willing to work things out with you or before it gets too ugly, you should contact R&R with everything.

I know you don't have the book receipt but do you have any evidence of how much you paid in postage? Since a hardcover book is more expensive to ship than a paperback that would show you paid more than $2.13 to ship the ratty copy. Or, did you use delivery confirmation?

Nope I never keep receipts. I almost always clean them out of my purse and pockets the minute I get home. And I haven't been using DC lately since the last time I ran out of PBS money I haven't "recharged" my account...

I PM'd her about maybe getting a copy of the book other than the one I sent, and I haven't heard back from her yet. I'm really kind of hoping she'll realize that's what happened and either let me know or else just drop the whole thing in embarrassment...if I never hear back from her I'm going to assume that's what happened. Although as nasty as she was, if that IS the case, I wouldn't mind an apology...but I would definitely settle for never hearing from her again.

Of course, if she is a scammer (and I really hope not) I doubt she'll let it go. But I know what I sent her, and it's NOT what I got back, and there is NO WAY I am going to give her the credits back, I don't care how nasty she gets.

It could be the paperback came from another member who mailed their book to her after the mailing deadline.

I recently sent a new hardback book to someone, and when he received it he PM'd me thanking me for the book, and asking if by any chance I still had the dust jacket. I knew the book I sent was a brand new, never read hardback (my husband started to read it and didn't like the book) with a perfect dust jacket. So, I wondered what was going on....

Turns out that he got my book a couple days later. His original order had been with someone else who sent the book out and didn't mark it as being mailed before the deadline went past. So his order then bumped to my account, and I sent him out the new book. He ended up with one older copy, and the new one I sent to him.

Maybe the problem you're having now is something similar??

Haven't heard back from her yet - which I find strange considering she was so adamant about getting her credits back - I should think the fact that I still haven't sent them would have her all over me. Haven't heard anything from R&R either, so I guess she didn't report me.

That's terrible!  I wouldn't just forget about it because it's the principle of it!!!  When you become a PBS member you are supposed to uphold the integrity of the site!  If I were you I would not return any credits to this person AND I would report her to PBS because if she did this to you she probably has or will try to do it to other members as well and deserves to be kicked off the site!!!

Well - I finally heard back from her - the paperback copy must have been from someone else, because she got my copy today and admitted it was in perfect condition. However, she made no apology for being so rude and nasty - in fact, she still wants me to send her a credit for shipping the crappy PB copy to me! I told her there was no way I was going to send her a credit for a mistake that I didn't make - especially since the book she sent me is unpostable. If she doesn't like it, oh well it's not my problem anymore as far as I am concerned.